February 1, 2023

Start of Spring Updates- Students

Dear Students,

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

Announcements

Spring ‘23 Add/Drop Ends February 3rd –  Please refer to the Registrar’s Website for add/drop information. At this point, all final requests to add a class require the permission of the professor and schedule changes must be completed online through Banner Self-Service. 

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)You are always welcome to schedule a meeting with your class dean to introduce yourself, discuss your plans for the semester, and/or explore opportunities that will enhance your educational experience. Let us know if you are having challenges at any point in the semester (e.g. absences, missing assignments, or stress). Meetings with us early on in the semester allows us to connect you with appropriate resources such as counseling, accessibility services, and workshops on time management and study skills.

Dean’s excuses – You are expected to meet the attendance and participation requirements for each class. We provide excused absences (dean’s excuses) for extenuating circumstances such as bereavement, family emergencies, or religious observances. Whether you have finalized plans or not, please submit requests for excused absences for spring religious observances as soon as possible!  

Resources

Academic Resource Hub – The Hub is 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 first 2 weeks of classes. Find support sessions in TutorTrac!

Accessibility Services – Students are reminded to request their Letter of Accommodation and follow up directly with each faculty member regarding the accommodations and how the accommodations apply to the course. Please contact resourcehub@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. 

Health Professions – Are you considering a career in health professions? Our HP Advising team is here to support you! Advising appointments are a great way to get you started on your health professions journey. So don’t hesitate to 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, you can let us know about your interest in health professions by emailing us at healthprofessions@lafayette.edu. We will then add your name on our HP distribution list. This way you will be able to receive the information about our HP programs, workshops, experiential opportunities tailored to health professions students and more. To register for our upcoming Health Professions Information sessions, please visit our website at https://healthprofessions.lafayette.edu/. Please be sure to check your health professions email regularly since we will be adding new programs as they become finalized!  

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. It is organized into four sections: Academic Success, Career Preparedness, Networking, and Professional Development.
  • EAP tutors are putting their one-on-one meeting hours through TutorTrac. If you want someone to work individually with you to help your English language skills, please 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. Here is the registration link.
  • The online magazine Global Expressions: Writing Beyond the Mother Tongue is calling for paper submissions and contributors. You can contact the magazine editor, Armaghan Ejaz, at ejaza@lafayette.edu if you have any questions. 
  • We are looking for Conversation PARDners for the current year. If you are a native English speaker and interested in helping incoming international students, please read this Call for Application message for details. There will be a virtual info session on February 2nd at noon.
  • Please feel free to send emails to Tingting Kang at kangt@lafayette.edu to schedule a meeting or if you have any questions. 

Scholarships & Fellowships Office – Make an appointment to meet with Dean Goldberg at externalscholarships@lafayette.edu to learn about different scholarship and fellowship opportunities regardless of your class year. Additionally, we encourage you to check out our Office website and explore the myriad opportunities available. If you are a senior or recent graduate and are interested in applying for upcoming scholarships/fellowships, please be aware of rapidly approaching deadlines. 

Student Academic Resources – Looking for a one-stop-spot for academic resources? You can find information regarding accessibility services, tutoring, advising/registration, healthy living, and more! Please bookmark this site, and share this information with your fellow classmates!

We’ll send our next update in March! 

See you in a few weeks,

Office of Advising & Co-Curricular Programs