Reimagined Family Weekend Celebrations Underway

Families are invited to welcome Champlain into their homes with a new virtual engagement series this fall.

Many things have changed at Champlain due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but one thing that hasn’t changed is how much we encourage parents and families to engage with Champlain. Our students’ families are a crucial part of their success over their four years, and we want them to be an active part of our Champlain community. Therefore, we’ve taken Family Weekend virtual this year with the Bringing Campus Home: The Champlain Family Virtual Engagement Series. 

“The planning group that put this proposal together for the President’s Cabinet knew we needed to find a way to offer the kinds of experiences everyone loves about Family Weekend,” said Shaylea Scribner, Advancement Project Manager at Champlain. “Now, more than ever, families want to be engaged with Champlain,”

Instead of the traditional Family Weekend model in which families are invited to campus for a weekend to get a feel for Champlain’s atmosphere and attend a few informational sessions, the Virtual Engagement Series invites families to join Champlain students and faculty from October through December in a variety of webinars, workshops, and events. These events are categorized into one of five focus areas: Academics, Champlain Experience, Internship & Career Success, Parent & Family Relations, and Well-being & Student Support. 

In the remaining days of October, for example, families are welcome to attend “Lunch & Learn: Give Your LinkedIn a Fresh Look,” “Champlain Connect: Concord, NH,” and “Corona-Silence: Bouncing Back during a Crisis.” With each activity, you’ll receive a Beaver Buck and be entered into a raffle which awards winners with Champlain/Vermont themed gifts at the end of the semester. BeaverBucks, which are available for purchase, support the Champlain Fund which provides students with scholarships, service-learning opportunities, study-abroad programs, and much more.

“There are too many unknowns in our world right now,” says Scribner. “We want to provide as much information, support, and transparency to Champlain Families as we can so they know their students are in the right place.”

To learn more about the Family Virtual Engagement Series and upcoming events, visit our webpage here.