Dear Faculty Colleagues,
Below are some updates from the Office of Advising and Co-Curricular Programs:
Advising Updates
- Class Dean support – The class deans are your partners in fostering student success!
- Dean’s Review Form – The dean’s review serves as an early academic alert that allows faculty to document and relay significant concerns related to academic performance prior to midterm grades. Upon receipt of the form, the class dean will meet with the student to determine the stressors impacting their behavior, connect the student to appropriate resources, and formulate a plan to improve in the course. If the student continues to miss class in excess of the formal warning without an excuse, faculty can notify the class dean, prompting the student’s mandatory withdrawal from the course.
- Midterm Grade Outreach – Midterm grades are due on Friday, October 21st. The Advising Team will conduct outreach during the weeks of October 24th, October 31st, and November 7th. The deadline for students to withdraw from individual courses this semester is Tuesday, November 15th.
- Meet the Team Lunches – Save the dates! Members of the Office of Advising & Co-Curricular Programs want to hear from you! Come chat it up, ask a question, or discuss a topic of concern. Faculty are invited to join us for lunch on the following dates:
October 20th – Midterm Outreach
December 12th – End-of-semester Support
All meetings are at noon. Space is limited so please RSVP at least a week before the date.
- Scenarios and Advising and Teaching (Coming Soon) – How can we work together to ensure that students are making the most out of their educational experiences? What happens when we make an advising mistake? The Office of Advising & Co-Curricular Programs will coordinate with CITLS to offer opportunities for faculty and staff to discuss promising practices and scenarios within advising and in the classroom. Stay tuned for a request for topics for a virtual, November meeting.
- Health Professions – Students are reminded that advising appointments are a great way to get them started on their health professions journey. To schedule an appointment, they can come by our offices in 218 RISC (Prof. Nancy Waters, watersn@lafayette.edu) and 101 Scott Hall (Ms. Simona Glaus, glauss@lafayette.edu) or email us directly to schedule your advising session with us. Additionally, they can let us know about their interest in health professions by emailing us at healthprofessions@lafayette.edu. To register for our upcoming Health Professions Information sessions, students can visit our website at https://healthprofessions.lafayette.edu/2022-2023-program-schedule/. They can access the information about course requirements and considerations for medical, dental, veterinary and optometry school HERE!
- Scholarships and Fellowships Opportunities – Please encourage your students, regardless of class year or GPA to consider the myriad opportunities available to them through scholarship and fellowship programs. Additionally, we encourage you to refer students to us directly by email. It is never too early (only too late) for students to get started. Students are encouraged to simply stop by 105 Scott Hall or to email Dean Goldberg to make an appointment. Dean Goldberg will help them identify opportunities and assist them throughout their journey. Sample lists of opportunities by class year are available on our website.
Additional Resources
- Academic Resource Hub – Encourage students to make Supplemental Instruction, Mentored Study Group and Drop-In Sessions part of their weekly routine for the courses that have those support structures. The Hub’s data indicates that students using these resources on average will have a 0.1 grade higher than those not utilizing the resource. Schedules are available from the course faculty and are posted in TutorTrac. Sessions are for all students and it’s not too late for students make them part of their weekly schedule. The Hub is seeking Peer Tutors for MATH 141, ECON 101, ECON 252, ECON 253 & ES 230, PHYS 133, PSYC 120. If you know of students that have the content knowledge and strong communication skills, please send them the link to “How to Become a Tutor”.
- Accessibility Services – Students registered with Accessibility Services have been reminded to request their Letter of Accommodation: a document provided by Accessibility Services which outlines the reasonable accommodations that are to be provided to the student. The letter is sent electronically to each instructor and the student is responsible for communicating directly with each faculty member regarding the accommodations and how the accommodations apply to the course. Please contact Marty Sullivan sullivma@lafayette.edu with any questions.
- Multi-language Learner Academic Support – The English for Academic Purposes Center aims to equip English learners with the reading, writing, and oral communication skills and the knowledge of US culture necessary to succeed at college.
Here are some of the programs that you can recommend to your multi-language learners that are happening this month: EAP Workshop, Conversation PARDner Program and its group chat sessions, and EAP tutors. Also, the online magazine Global Expressions: Writing Beyond the Mother Tongue is calling for paper submissions. Especially, if you are teaching a writing class, please encourage your multi-language students to submit their second language writings or become a contributor to the magazine.
If you have first-year multi-language students as your advisees, you should have received a copy of students’s EAP placement test report with advising suggestions in August. As mentioned in the test report, if they did not do very well on the test, please encourage them to use the EAP resources.
When advising international students, cultural differences as well as communication barriers can make it challenging for both student and advisor. Please check out a sample advising syllabus developed for Lafayette advisors and some tips summarized for successful communication with international students. You can also find teaching suggestions for working with multilingual students posted on the center’s website.
Please feel free to contact Tingting Kang at kangt@lafayette.edu with any questions.
- Student Academic Resources – CITLS, in partnership with several offices, has created a one-stop-spot for academic resources. Students and faculty can find information regarding accessibility services, tutoring, advising/registration, healthy living, and more! Please bookmark this site, and share this information with your students.
- Student-Athlete Academic Support – Athletics offers a range of services to student-athletes who have the dual challenge of performing well in the classroom while maintaining a commitment to Division I athletics. The Peer Mentor program matches first-year student-athletes with experienced athletes for weekly mentoring and guidance. In addition, semester-long academic coaching is provided to support select student-athletes in a variety of areas. The Structured Study program is available to all student-athletes to assist with time management and to take advantage of studying during the academic day. Lastly, student-athletes who don’t personally own a laptop may rent equipment at no cost when traveling to competitions. Please contact Carly Riepenhoff with any questions or concerns regarding student-athletes.
Thanks,
Office of Advising & Co-Curricular Programs