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 – Beginning Monday, August 15, Banner Self- Service will open for students to make schedule adjustments. Many students may reach out to secure their The Registrar’s Office has provided some additional information through their website: https://registrar.lafayette.edu/course-and-exam-schedule/add-drop-announcement-fall-2022/.
- Class Dean support – The class deans are your partners in fostering student success! Within the first two weeks of the semester, we will meet with students on academic probation and warning to ensure they have a sound plan for the fall.
- Dean’s excuses – Students are expected to meet your attendance and participation requirements. During the first week of 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 the college success academic 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.
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 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.
We plan to send out updates from our office each month!
See you in a few weeks,
Office of Advising & Co-Curricular Programs