Wilkes University welcomes students to campus for its 90th academic year during Welcome Weekend from Aug. 25 to 28. The weekend of events is a prelude to the start of classes on Monday, Aug. 29.
Welcome Weekend
Move-in for first-year and transfer students will be held on Thursday, Aug. 25. Students begin moving in as early as 9 a.m. and continue throughout the day. Upperclassmen move in on Saturday and Sunday. Details can be found here.
Welcome Weekend features activities for first-year students including movie night, Colonel Carnival, an after-hours art gala, glow games and goat yoga. It also offers academic success workshops focusing on ways that students can organize tasks, assignments and study time.
The New Class
Wilkes’ Class of 2026 and 2028 has approximately 500 new students. In addition, 75 full-time transfer students and more than 500 new graduate students will attend the University. This brings the total number of students enrolled in all of Wilkes’ programs to over 5,000.
Highlights from the first-year class:
- Over 200 students are from Luzerne and Lackawanna counties, earning a Hometown Advantage Award.
- Nearly half are the first in their families to pursue a four-year degree.
- Seven students will join the Bonner Leaders Program, bringing the total to 15 participants in the second year.
- The Honors Program welcomes 41 incoming first-year students, two transfer students and two international students. With seven current students who were accepted this year, the total number of honors students grows to 173.
- With this year’s new students, the Barre Scholars Program features 87 students.
- Athletics welcomed 130 new student-athletes.
In addition, 16 new faculty members will mark their first semester at Wilkes, teaching classes in history, microbiology, mechanical engineering, neuroscience, nursing, psychology, sociology/criminology and theatre.
Academic Developments
This will mark the first academic year under a streamlined structure of three distinctive academic units: the College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Business and Engineering and the College of Health and Education. All of Wilkes University’s existing academic programs will be offered within this new structure, with some important additional programs noted below.
New Programs
With a focus on innovation, new program launches this year include:
- Cannabis Chemistry (BS) prepares students for a career in an expanding industry with an increasing need for qualified scientists specializing in growing techniques, compound extraction and product quality control and analysis.
- The Cannabis Production and CBD Extraction certificate program, aimed at current pharmacy, biology and chemistry students, as well as those working in the industry, teaches CBD extraction and hemp growing techniques to properly and safely meet public demand.
- The MBA Stackable certificate program allows students to explore high-level business topics to gain skills to enhance their careers or earn their first credits toward an MBA.
Campus Enhancements
Upon their return, students will enjoy a revamped dining hall to enhance their campus dining experience. The Henry Student Center Dining Hall offers new grills, food lines and a better flow for an enhanced dining experience.
Work continues on the Nesbitt School of Pharmacy space in the Stark Learning Center. Once complete this cutting-edge space will feature four new classrooms and two new collaboration rooms, as well as a new care lab and conference room. The project is partially funded through a $2 million in Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program funding from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Moveable seating, new projection technology, powered retractable screens, visual display boards and television monitors seen from every corner of the rooms will usher in an enhanced era of teaching and scholarship, hands-on learning and mentoring. In addition, the exterior portals facing S. River St. on the first floor of Stark Learning Center have been enclosed in glass, beautifying the space inside and out while creating the best environment for learning and scholarship.
Wilkes in the Media:
Student Move In Day at Wilkes University | WBRE Aug. 25, 2022
