Amidst an unprecedented campus environment, student directors and coordinators worked hard to provide an exceptional O-Week experience for the Rice Class of 2024.

When Rice professors learned the university would be offering a dual-delivery system for courses during the fall 2020 semester — a combination of in-person and online classes due to the ongoing pandemic — they did what you’d expect at an institution renowned for its commitment to quality teaching. Across the university, professors learned everything they could about designing and teaching courses online, thanks to the Adaptive Course Design Institute offered by Rice’s Center for Teaching Excellence (CTE).

The Center for Civic Leadership has gathered a list of resources, service opportunities and ways for students to stay creatively engaged while staying safe during the pandemic.

An elegantly imagined college dormitory designed for use during a pandemic has won top honors for a duo of Rice University students in the 2020 American Institute of Architects Houston (AIAH) Gulf Coast Green Student Competition.

This summer, the Association of Rice Alumni welcomed incoming Owls and their families to Rice University through Virtual New Student Celebrations! More than 1,000 members of the Rice community all over the country joined us for these unique events, bringing together new students, current students, parents and alumni. Watch a video where alumni, current students and parents share advice for the class of 2024.

While Rice is unable to hold large-scale, in-person events this semester, the university is bringing the intellectual vibrancy, culture and creativity of campus life to you. Save the dates for Owl Together 2020, a new and exciting virtual event that combines the best of Families Weekend and Homecoming & Reunion into one exciting week, Oct. 26–Nov. 1!

Our campus store now sells face coverings for you and your Owl to express your Rice spirit. Check out the store website to see these new offerings.

The Glasscock School for Continuing Studies has a robust program available to explore the arts, humanities, creative writing and more. Now is a great time to explore online offerings and take advantage of exciting learning opportunities open to the Rice community and beyond.

Rice students deserve to have the best possible undergraduate experience, and the university is committed to creating an environment where they can feed their curiosity and actively contribute to solutions. You can help meet this goal. Your gift to the Rice Annual Fund will help ensure that all students have the opportunities to make the most out of their time at Rice.

The Center for Career Development is excited to continue offering the Owl Edge Externship, a job-shadowing program. During the university's winter recess and spring break, students will be matched to a host (you!) to learn more about a career path. We invite you to help Rice students gain a professional advantage —build their "Owl Edge" — by serving as a career mentor! This can be done through a 1:1 conversation, multiple conversations with various team members or even a small virtual group session. We are accepting hosts through Oct. 14.

Join the Association of Rice Alumni in making #VirtuOWLConnections with the Rice community of students, alumni, parents and friends as we adjust to a new normal in the wake of COVID-19. While we can’t be together in person, we can always stay connected with our global Rice family through virtual events and connections.

• Parent Resources
• Rice Parent to Parent Network Facebook group
• Center for Career Development Resources
• Rice Academic Calendars
• Archived Newsletters