Dear Faculty Colleagues,
The Office of Advising & Co-Curricular Programs has put together some information and resources that we hope will be helpful over the next few weeks.
Midterm Grade Outreach – We are conducting outreach to students who received midterm grades. Students are also being encouraged to speak with their professor(s) for more information and guidance regarding their chances for improvement. Data is being collected on the number of unique midterm grades in relation to withdrawals for the spring semester.
Fall ’23 Registration is this month – Please check the Registrar’s Office website for the registration announcement. Student PINs were sent via email last week. Now is a good time to reach out to your advisor to schedule an appointment. Summer registration begins April 11th.
Class Dean Support – The class deans are your partners in success.
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)
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.
Academic Resource Hub – Are you teaching a course that could benefit from having peer support readily available and set up prior to the start of the fall semester but you are not sure of the support options we offer? Visit our website to learn more about the Hub’s Support programming. If you know students that are strong in content knowledge and have the communication skills to be a peer tutor or SI/MSG Leaders, help us fill our fall roster by sharing the Hub’s application for Fall 2023 positions. Fall positions are filled in April, May, and June with orientation sessions August 27 through September 5th. You are welcome to send resourcehub@lafayette.edu names of any students that qualify for these roles and the Hub will contact them. The Hub has partnered with 75+ peer educators this spring semester to provide academic support programming through Supplemental Instruction, Mentored Study Groups and Individual Peer Tutoring. Students can find these support sessions in TutorTrac!
Accessibility Services – The Final Exam Proctoring Request Survey opened on Monday, April 3rd. When requesting final exam dates and times for proctoring at the Hub, students are expected to request the date and time posted in the Final Exam Schedule. Alternate dates/times need approval of faculty. If you have any questions regarding exam proctoring and/or accommodations, please contact Marty Sullivan sullivma@lafayette.edu
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.
If you have multi-language students and think it would be beneficial for them to have more practices on academic writing, please encourage them to take the ENG 100 Introduction to Academic Writing course. Click here to read more on how to recommend students on selecting W courses.
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.
We started the first session of the Global Expression Speaking Institute on 2/24. The purpose of this program is to 1) improve your English pronunciation and speaking skills and 2) help you adapt to the US culture. Students who successfully completed the 6 sessions and the speaking activities will receive a completion certificate at the end of the program. If you want to recommend any students to attend some of the sessions, please forward this message to them or contact Tingting Kang at kangt@lafayette.edu. Our last meeting will be held on 4/14, from 12:15 to 1:15 in Scott Hall 104. Food will be provided.
To provide more notoriety and increase the number of contributors, the online magazine Global Expressions: Writing Beyond the Mother Tongue is holding a writing contest during March and April to encourage students to submit writings about culture in different languages. Use this link to learn about the program. You can contact the magazine editor, Armaghan Ejaz, at ejaza@lafayette.edu if you have any questions.
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 and an article about internationalization of the curriculum 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 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.
We will send our final update in May,
Office of Advising & Co-Curricular Programs