Dear Faculty Colleagues,

The Office of Advising & Co-Curricular Programs has put together some information and resources that we hope will be helpful in the first few weeks of the spring semester!

Announcements

Spring ‘23 Add/Drop Ends on February 3rd All requests to add a class require the permission of the professor and schedule changes must be completed online through Banner Self-Service. Many students may reach out to secure their PINs. The Registrar’s Office has provided some additional information through their website.

Class Dean Support The class deans are your partners in success, and we have some recent updates:

  • Alexis Smith, First-Year Class Dean (Class of 2026)
  • Brandon Morris, Sophomore Class Dean (Class of 2025)
  • Abby Close, Junior Class Dean (Class of 2024)
  • Chris Selena, Senior Class Dean (Class of 2023)

Each dean has sent out an email to their respective class to welcome them back to campus.

Dean’s excuses Students are expected to meet your attendance and participation requirements. During the first weeks of the semester, we may provide students with excused absences for extenuating circumstances such as bereavement, family emergencies, or religious observances. We have already asked students to submit their requests for excused absences for spring religious observances as soon as possible! Students with health-related absences should be referred to Bailey’s Health Center. 

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. The deadline for students to withdraw from individual courses this semester is Monday, April 17th.

Resources

Academic Resource Hub – The Hub will be partnering with 50+ peer educators to provide academic support programming through Supplemental Instruction, Mentored Study Groups and Individual Peer Tutoring. The SI Leaders, MSG Leaders and Individual Peer Tutors will receive orientation training and be establishing their session schedules over the course of the 1st week of classes. Students can find support sessions in TutorTrac

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

College Transition Workshops – Students can register for an individual or small group time management workshop with Dean Abigail Close. Sessions are designed to review each students’ course schedules and syllabi to better understand how to organize their daily, weekly, and semester plans. The ultimate goal is to have students learn how to visualize their time so they can better prepare for the busy points in the semester.

First Generation Student Support To further the visibility of Lafayette College’s first-generation population, this directory was created to highlight faculty and administrators who identify as first-generation college students themselves. We hope that by highlighting our first-generation faculty and administrators that students will be able to expand their network of connections on campus. Click here to join the directory!

Health Professions – Students interested in a career in Health Professions are encouraged to let us know about their interest by emailing us at healthprofessions@lafayette.edu. Additionally, they can register for an individual advising appointment with Prof. Waters (RISC 218, watersn@lafayette.edu) or Ms. Simona Glaus (101 Scott Hall,  glauss@lafayette.edu) via email. Information about our upcoming Health Professions events can be found at https://healthprofessions.lafayette.edu/

Multi-language Learner Academic Support The English for Academic Purposes Center has updated the academic support services for multi-language learners on the center’s website. 

  • A Four-Year Academic Success Plan for International Students is designed to assist international students in honing learning strategies, as well as developing mindset and personal management skills, throughout their undergraduate studies at Lafayette College. Academic advisors could also use this Four-Year Plan to ensure students stay on the right track during their academic and personal journey at Lafayette College.
  • EAP tutors are putting their one-on-one meeting hours through TutorTrac. Students can work individually with EAP tutors on their English spoken and written skills. Visit the program’s website to learn more.
  • Global Expressions Speaking Institute is calling for registration. The purpose of this program is to improve students’ English pronunciation and speaking skills and help them adapt to the US culture. Participants will be exploring different technologies, such as Kaltura and machine voice recognition, during the program and receive a completion certificate after attending the 6 one-hour sessions and completing the required speaking activities. This program is open to all class years. The Spring 2023 registration deadline is Thursday, February 2nd.
  • The online magazine Global Expressions: Writing Beyond the Mother Tongue is calling for paper submissions and contributors. Contact the magazine editor, Armaghan Ejaz, at ejaza@lafayette.edu for any questions.
  • We are looking for Conversation PARDners for the current year. Please share this opportunity with your American students who are interested in helping incoming international students. You can read this Call for Application message for details. There will be a virtual info session on February 2nd at noon.
  • 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 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 SupportAthletics 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.


We will send our next update in March before spring break! 

 See you in a few weeks,

Office of Advising & Co-Curricular Programs