Fall 2021 Gathering Days

Faculty, staff, and student colleagues are looking forward to seeing YOU in person this fall term!!

Gathering Days, when all Iliff's hybrid courses have REQUIRED class time ON CAMPUS in Denver, will be October 10 - 16, 2021.

 

Note #1: Attendance for the on-campus portion of all hybrid courses is required in order to receive credit for the course. Consult the Masters Student Handbook.

Note #2: Courses that normally meet weekly on campus, will meet ONLINE in week 5 of the term (during Gathering Days), in order to avoid scheduling conflicts for you.

 

Students entering Iliff this fall will begin with Orientation at 3:00 pm Sunday, October 10th and start course sessions Monday morning. Monday through Friday are scheduled both morning and afternoon. Thursday will be a required retreat day in which we will do cohort building and replenish spiritually. You will be done with IPVC and a short closing ritual at 3:30 pm, Saturday, October 16th. (Don't schedule flying out of Denver before 6:00 pm that evening--you won't make it to the airport and through security in less than 2 hours).

 

Students in your second, third, plus years will come to campus according to when the courses you registered for are meeting.  Each course has "on campus" time one full afternoon AND the following morning. Faculty and staff are eager to meet our 2nd year students in person for the first time, and to catch up with everyone else!

 

You will find a block schedule showing all the events currently scheduled for Gathering Days in the attachment at the bottom of this email. Gathering Days events are also all listed and updated on the Google Calendar called "Gathering Days Calendar". You can add this calendar to your iliff.edu Google Calendar if you like.

 

Travel and Getting Around Denver: 

If you fly to Denver: plan a minimum of two hours between your flight arrival or departure and when you must be on campus at Iliff. It is a large airport, 45 min distant from Iliff, and under construction. Uber/Lyft and taxi service is readily available. Car rentals, though available, seem to be more expensive this year. RTD LightRail line A starts at the airport and connects to lines that come to within 15 min walk of Iliff and also connect to bus line #24 that stops at Iliff.

 

If you drive to Denver: parking at Iliff is $2/hour, maximum of $10/day. Pay with a credit card at the kiosk next to the lot. University of Denver (DU) manages the lot; Iliff can't "fix" tickets.  :-(

 

If you take the train to Denver: the Amtrak station is located next to the downtown light rail station (RTD) which can bring you to the north side of DU, a lovely 15 minute walk to Iliff's location.

 

Iliff is on bus line #24 (runs north/south on University Blvd) and is one block south of the bus line #21 that runs east/west on Evans. The "trip planner" at RTD-Denver.com is excellent and can show you exactly how to get from one address to another at the time of day on the day you want to travel.  Mobile ticketing allows you to purchase fares in advance on your phone. $3 per ride, but $10.50 to or from the airport.

 

Housing:

Nearby hotels were not interested in working with Iliff on a block of rooms at a discount this year. (Bother!) The closest hotels are Fairfield Inn (on Mexico at S. Colorado) and LaQuinta (on Buchtel). Many students have found that renting through AirBnB is less expensive, particularly if a group of students rents an entire house with several bedrooms. Iliff itself does not have housing on campus.

If you look at the RTD LightRail map, you might find an AirBnB or hotel deal near a stop that is further away from Iliff but that gives you easy access.

The "Iliff Connect" Facebook group is a great place to share or learn about discoveries with other Iliffians. The group can be found publicly but is a private group (request membership to access).

 

Meals:

Plan to have breakfast and dinner off campus. Student Senate is presently recruiting student organizations to offer lunch on-campus. There are at least 16 low price restaurants within 2 blocks walk of Iliff, and 15 more 4 to 6 blocks away.

Special (free) meals to note: Sunday, 6:30pm Entering students meal at President Wolfe's home

Thursday, 6:00pm Second year students meal at President Wolfe's home

 

Special Events to Plan to Attend:

Sunday, October 10th, mid-day inVISIBLE/hyperVISIBLE exhibit at RedLine Contemporary Art and panel discussion by AAPI scholars at Iliff. Details forthcoming.

Tuesday, Oct 12th, 7:00pm Dr. Kwok Pui Lan, whose work is read in several Iliff courses, is offering the distinguished Everding Lecture on campus. This is an amazing opportunity to hear about her next groundbreaking work. She continues to inspire both activists and pastors.

Wednesday, Oct 13th, 5:10pm-6:10pm Heather Jarvis, national expert on student loans, will present about the technical options you need to know to minimize your student loan burden. She will also be available all day Thursday for private, 1to1 appointments focused on your specific situation. Details about how to sign up will be forthcoming.

Wednesday, Oct 13th, 6:00pm-8:00pm Reception and program honoring Prof. Jeffrey Mahan on his retirement. Students are especially encouraged to attend!

Friday, Oct 15th,  Student Senate promises to plan a fun activity - watch for announcements of details.

 

Word of caution as you look ahead:  It is tempting to think that you will be able to catch up on reading or on an assignment in the evenings during Gathering Days.  I hear from students that this turns out to be grossly unrealistic. The hours spent interacting with one another in class exhaust even the extroverts among us. So plan to be caught up before you arrive in Denver, and save yourself some grief.

 

One last thing, bring your favorite water bottle. Denver's altitude requires everyone to drink a LOT more water in order to avoid the brain fog and/or physical manifestations of altitude sickness. Check out the official Denver Visitors Guide to learn about our places and spaces, and our weather, as well as tips about visiting us in the mile high city.

 

Questions? Don't hesitate to be in touch with me or with your advisor, and consider attending the Gathering Days discussion that I invited you to earlier this week.   

I look forward to meeting and knowing you. See you on campus SOON!!

 

Cathie Kelsey [e-mail]