October 3, 2023

October Student Updates from the Office of Advising and Co-Curricular Programs

Dear Students,

We hope your semester is going well. The Office of Advising & Co-Curricular Programs has put together some information and resources that we hope will be helpful as we approach the midpoint of the semester!

Spring Registration – Stay tuned for announcements for spring ‘24 registration which will include some new changes to the Banner Self-Service registration interface. We will work closely with the Registrar’s Office in hopes of a smooth transition. Registration PINs will be distributed to advisors later on in the month. We encourage you to reach out to your advisor to review your course interests and answer your advising questions. Remember, you must meet with your advisor to retrieve your registration PIN.

Class Dean support – The class deans are your partners in success! 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. Midterm grade outreach will begin in late October; please respond to your emails from our team.

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. Please contact Bailey’s Health center for health-related excuses.

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

Academic Resource Hub – The Hub has partnered with 75+ peer educators to provide academic support programming through Supplemental Instruction, Mentored Study Groups, and Individual Peer Tutoring. Sessions run September 3rd through December 8th. No sessions over fall break. Students can find the resources associated with supported classes in TracCloud, the Hub’s appointment management system. Want to add to your experience at Lafayette? Starting October 30th, students can submit the Hub’s Spring 2024 application for peer educator and SI leader positions. Email resourcehub@lafayette.edu with any questions.

College Transition Workshops – Dean Abigail Close is hosting 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- Are you considering a career in health professions? Our HP Advising team is here to support you! Get acquainted with all of the information at our website here. 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 to our HP distribution list. This way you will be able to receive information about our HP programs, workshops, experiential opportunities tailored to health professions students, and more. You can access our programming information including the upcoming Pre-application Meeting for Juniors and Seniors (10/4/23) directly on our 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 to provide academic support services for multi-language learners. Such services include workshops, ENG100 class, Conversation PARDner group chats, one-on-one English language tutoring sessions, the center’s Spaces site for language learning materials, etc.

This semester, the EAP Center is offering a new program called EAP First Year Institute, where we will be discussing topics including campus resources, academic writing and reading, U.S. classroom, ChatGPT, academic integrity, college academic technology tools, and cultural diversity. Here is a link to the program flyer.
Meanwhile, the online magazine Global Expressions: Writing Beyond the Mother Tongue is calling for paper submissions. The purpose of this magazine is to celebrate and recognize the multi-language writers at Lafayette College and develop intercultural communications within our community by showcasing the writings written by multi-language writers. This is a very good platform for you to publish your second language writings. There is no specific requirement for the content or the genre of the article. It can be an essay from one of your writing classes; it can be a story that you want to share with other people about living in the US; it can also be a poem about friendship.
Here are some useful resources that were recently added to the center’s website: Four-Year Academic Success Plan for International Students, a collection of useful technology tools and websites that are frequently used in the academic setting at Lafayette College, 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,
To learn more about the resources and programs provided by the EAP Center, please visit the center’s website: https://advising.lafayette.edu/eap/. You can also 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. Sophomores and Juniors: many opportunities have deadlines beginning in November, if you are interested please make an appointment with me to find out more.

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!

See you in a few weeks,