Dear Faculty Colleagues,
As you prepare for the upcoming semester, 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.
- Course Adjustment Information – The schedule adjustment period began on Monday, August 14th and will continue through Friday, September 1st. Many students may reach out to secure their PINs. Lookout for an email from the Provost’s Office regarding some helpful information. The Registrar’s Office has provided some additional information about the add/drop period on their website: https://registrar.lafayette.edu/course-and-exam-schedule/add-drop-announcement-fall-2023/.
- Class Dean support – The class deans are your partners in fostering student success! Stay tuned for information regarding our fall scenarios in advising series which include open meetings related to registration and declaration of major.
- Dean’s excuses – Students are expected to meet your attendance and participation requirements. Throughout the semester, we may provide students with excused absences for extenuating circumstances such as bereavement, family emergencies, or religious observances. Students with health-related absences should be referred to Bailey’s Health Center.
- Academic Resource Hub – The Hub is partnering with 75+ 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. Sessions begin September 3rd and end on December 8th. Students can find the resources associated with supported classes in TracCloud, the Hub’s appointment and session tracking system. Faculty access to TracCloud coming soon! Email resourcehub@lafayette.edu with any questions.
- 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 – This semester, Dean Abigail Close will host a series of Academic Success Workshops. While many are designed to assist first-year students with their transition to both the campus and academic classroom, every student may also find value in attending a session. For a complete list of what is being offered, click here!
- Health Professions – If you have students expressing interest in a career in Health Professions, please encourage them to review our HP website here. You can direct them to alert us of 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 on our HP website at this link. We will be adding new programs as they become finalized.
- Multi-language Learner Academic Support – The English for Academic Purposes Center will continue on providing academic support services for multi-language learners. Such services include workshops, ENG100 class, Conversation PARDner Program, one-on-one English language tutoring sessions, the center’s Spaces site for language learning materials, etc.
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.
To better support the incoming first-year international students transitioning to the academic life in the U.S., the EAP Center is offering a new program called EAP First Year Institute, where we will be discussing topics include campus resources, academic writing and reading, U.S. classroom, ChatGPT, academic integrity, college academic technology tools, and cultural diversity. Please encourage your students to sign up. Here is a link to the program flyer. The registration deadline is Wednesday, August 30, at 4:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time.
The incoming first-year multi-language students have completed the EAP placement test provided by the center last week. Similar to last year, if you are having one of them as your advisees, please look out for the test report sent by the center through email in the coming week, where you can find further advising suggestions.
When advising international students, cultural differences as well as communication barriers can make it challenging for both student and advisor. Please check out the Four-Year Academic Success Plan for International Students, a sample advising syllabus developed for Lafayette advisors, some tips summarized for successful communication with international students, and a series of videos discussing areas that were mentioned by many international students as areas important but unfamiliar when they were adjusting to college life.
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.
- Scholarships & Fellowships Office – Please encourage students to make an appointment to meet with Dean Goldberg at externalscholarships@lafayette.edu to learn about different scholarship and fellowship opportunities regardless of their class year. The earlier students are made aware of the diverse opportunities available to them, the earlier and better prepared they are to put forward competitive applications. Additionally, we encourage you to check out our Office website to explore the myriad opportunities available. Additionally, please be aware that seniors or recent graduates may be reaching out to you for letters of recommendation for a variety of postgraduate scholarship and fellowship opportunities. Many of those opportunities have to go through our campus application process (with draft LORs due during the first week of September) as they entail Lafayette nomination or endorsement prior to official submission.
- Speech and Debate – The award-winning Lafayette Speech and Debate team (also known as Forensics) is hosting our annual tournament on our campus on Oct. 14-15.
We need your help!!!
Judges are necessary to operate the tournament. Each round of student performances is observed and ranked by a judge. The competitors will be involved in events like Drama, Poetry, Impromptu, and Persuasion. That is where Lafayette faculty and staff can be part of the action. Don’t worry if you have ZERO experience. The team will provide informational packets and training sessions. After one round you’ll be an expert and you will be amazed by what the students have accomplished.
Each round is a little over an hour. The team really appreciates anyone who is able to judge two or three rounds… or even the day. Even a single round would be a huge help too! If you have questions or would like to sign up to judge, please contact Scott Placke at plackeh@lafayette.edu. We are hoping to have our judges signed up by Friday, Sept. 29.
- 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. Study hall 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 plan to send out updates from our office each month!
See you soon!
Office of Advising & Co-Curricular Programs