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Academics
The online Student Handbook is produced as a resource for the
students, faculty, staff, and administration of Dickinson College. Content
is subject to change. Please contact the appropriate person or office to obtain
the most current information.
Location: Biddle House Phone Number: 717-245-1080
Office Hours: Monday –
Friday, 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m
All
students have academic advisors who are faculty members. Throughout your
college career, your academic advisor will serve as a consultant in planning
your academic career and in finding information on which to base your decisions.
Your advisor will also act as a mentor with whom you can explore ideas. As an
entering first-year or transfer student you have been assigned to your first
advisor. In almost every case the First-Year Seminar professor is your first
academic advisor. Advisors for transfer students are assigned individually.
Most students continue with their first advisor until they are ready to declare
a major. After the first semester, if you wish to change advisors, you may ask
another member of the faculty to become your advisor. When you declare a major,
you will change to a “major advisor” who will be a faculty member in the
department in which you major.
In
addition to your academic advisor, there is a class dean for each class. Class
deans serve as additional resources for academic advisors and general academic
questions or concerns you may have. Shalom Staub is the first-year class dean, Damon Yarnell is the sophomore and junior class dean, and Shirley King is the
senior class dean. Dean Yarnell and Dean King are located in the Office of
Academic Advising in Biddle House and can be reached at 717-245-1080. Dean
Staub is located in Old West and can be reached at 717-245-1080.
Dickinson College is committed to making reasonable
accommodations to ensure that the college’s programs and facilities are
accessible to all students on a nondiscriminatory basis. If you have a
physical, learning, or other type of disability, please contact Disability
Services at 717-245-1734 as early in the semester as possible. Marni Jones,
Director of Learning Skills and Disability Services, will review procedures
and provide assistance in answering questions about accommodations and other
resources available to students. Also, please take a few moments to view the
information and resources available through the Disability Services Web site.
For more information regarding accommodations for disabilities in the academic
or living environment, please refer to the policy section of this handbook (Disability
Services: Documentation and
Accommodations).
Among the academic resources available to Dickinson students
are workshops and individual sessions to assist students in developing time
management and organizational skills, study skills, test-taking strategies,
note-taking strategies, and active reading skills. Please visit the Learning Skills and Study Strategies Web site for resources including times and
locations of workshops (generally the first 6 weeks of classes),
weekly and semester planners, links to study-support websites, and
a number of tips and power-point presentations to assist students
with academic success. One-on-one sessions with a
learning skills specialist or trained peer advisor, as well as workshops for groups can be
arranged through the Office of Learning Skills at 717-245-1734.
The Office of Academic Advising has trained peer advisors
working in Biddle House Monday through Friday, from noon to 4:30 p.m. Peer advisors
are available to assist students with time management, study strategies, and
questions related to using the Banner system for Course Request and Schedule
Adjustment periods each term. Peer advisors are also available to present
programs on campus regarding basic academic issues and preparing students to
meet with faculty advisors. For additional information please view the Advising Web site or contact the Office of Academic Advising at 717-245-1080 to speak
with a peer advisor.
Many academic departments set up regularly scheduled group
study and/or tutoring sessions to support courses in their discipline.
Departments that provide tutoring sessions will post the schedule each
semester. Check in the department office for details. If the department does
not have group study sessions and you believe you could benefit by working with
a tutor, contact your professor to express your desire for support through
tutoring. The Office of Academic
Advising hires tutors on an as-needed basis for courses that are necessary to
fulfill graduation requirements. Tutors are provided at the request of
students, but only with the approval of professors. You can obtain a form to
request a peer tutor at the Office of Academic Advising, located on the first
floor of Biddle House.
Upper-class students who are interested in becoming peer
tutors should view our Web site or call 717-245-1080 for more information.
There
are five areas of pre-professional advising: Pre-Engineering, Pre-Master’s of
Business Administration, Pre-Health, Pre-Law and Teacher Education. If you
are thinking about a career in one of these areas, contact the appropriate
advisor for information and help as you plan your program. The earlier you
begin to plan for specific requirements for pre-professional preparation, the
more options you will likely have for your choice of major, to study abroad or
to include internships in your program.
Pre-Engineering: For students
who would like to enter the engineering field but also want a liberal arts
education, Dickinson College offers such an opportunity through two options:
the Binary Engineering Program (or 3/2 Program) and preparation for regular
admission to an engineering school after completion of the Dickinson degree.
Although both of these programs require some planning, the Binary Engineering
Program requires careful planning for the three years at Dickinson. Contact: Professor
Hans Pfister (pfister@dickinson.edu; 717-245-1307).
Pre-Business/Management: Criteria for
admission to MBA programs are: quality of full-time work experience, GMAT
score, cumulative grade point average, letters of recommendation and
extracurricular activities. Almost all graduate programs strongly encourage potential
students to gain full-time work before applying. Persons with strong
interpersonal skills, creativity, an ability to engage in critical thinking and
an ability to communicate effectively are the most successful in business. For
this reason, any liberal arts major can provide a solid base on which to build
a successful business career. Contact: Professor Dave Sarcone (sarconed@dickinson.edu; 717-245-1261).
Pre-Health: If you are
planning to apply to medical, dental, veterinary, optometry or podiatry school
after graduation, you should speak with Professor Mike Holden, Chair of the
Committee for the Pre-Health Professions (CHP). The CHP consists of faculty
advisors and the Career Center pre-health advisor. Most professional schools
expect applicants to have completed specific courses in biology, chemistry,
physics and mathematics. Your pre-health advisors can help you through the
application process and with taking the Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT).
Most professional schools expect a letter of evaluation from a group such as
Dickinson’s CHP. The committee’s evaluation is based partly on a file of faculty
evaluations that you collect during your first three years at Dickinson.
Contact: Professor Mike Holden (holden@dickinson.edu; 717-245-1481).
Pre-Law: Dickinson has
a long history of sending its graduates to some of the most prestigious law
schools in the nation. Law school admissions committees agree that the most
appropriate and beneficial preparation for law school is a traditional liberal
arts education combined with relevant extracurricular experiences. The pre-law
advisor is available to help you through the process, from deciding if law
is the right career field for you through the law school application
process. Contact: Laura Kilko, Associate Director,
Career Center (kilkol@dickinson.edu; 717-245-1740).
Teacher
Education:
Dickinson College offers certification in secondary education for the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. For a complete listing of the areas of
certification, information on requirements and necessary forms, see the Education Department’s
Web site.
Students who are enrolling should refer to the sequence of courses required for
teacher certification. Contact: Professor Pamela Nesselrod (nesselrp@dickinson.edu; 717-245-1037).
Dickinson College uses a two semester calendar. For
the fall semester, there is a mid-term pause in October and a Thanksgiving
vacation in November. Break runs from the middle of December to the middle of
January. During the spring semester, a week-long vacation is provided in March
and the semester ends in mid-May.
Consult the online Dickinson College Bulletin for
important and current information for Dickinson students (degree and
non-degree) regarding academic policies, requirements and courses.
Location: Stern Center Phone Number: 717‐245‐1341
Office Hours: Monday – Friday, 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Dickinson has emerged as one of
the nation’s top institutions for foreign-language majors, and it offers one of
the world’s most respected off-campus study programs. Our global curriculum includes 13 foreign languages and a spectrum
of interdisciplinary programs, such as international business & management
and Africana, East Asian, Middle East, Latin American and Russian studies.
However, students in all majors have ample opportunities to hone their
linguistic and intercultural skills, whether on the internationally vibrant
Carlisle campus, or within one of the college’s international partner
communities.
Approximately two‐thirds of
Dickinson students will study away from campus for a semester, a year, a
short-term, or a summer program during their four years here. Students
encounter cultures, values, beliefs, and attitudes different from their own and
develop a new self‐awareness through study all over the world. Academic
year and/or semester Dickinson Programs abroad are located in Italy, France,
Germany, Cameroon, England, Japan, China, Spain, Russia, Mexico, Australia, Argentina, Ecuador, and
South Korea. Dickinson Partner Programs are also available and often target a
specific academic discipline that may not be represented on a Dickinson
program. Partner programs allow students to apply their Dickinson
financial aid to the programs and continue to pay their regular Dickinson
comprehensive fee. Students seeking an academic option beyond the scope of
Dickinson and Dickinson Partner programs may explore non‐Dickinson programs. In
all instances, students should consult with the staff of the Center for Global Study and Engagement
about application requirements and deadlines.
There are also programs in the
United States to which students may apply through the Center for Global Study and Engagement. In addition to the Dickinson-in-New York program (specifically for
majors in economics and international business & management), Dickinson
Partner programs include a semester of study at The Washington Center
in Washington, DC, the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York City, or the
Thunderbird School of Global Management in Glendale, Arizona. For information
on any of the programs listed above, consult our website.
Studying
off campus is a privilege, it is not a right; the key is planning ahead.
Programs have a variety of GPA requirements and course prerequisites. If
you think you may want to study off campus, you should start mapping out your
major and the courses you need to take. You should also discuss course
selections with your advisor. Financial aid should be planned carefully as
well, and students may consult with the Center for Global Study and Engagement and with the
Financial Aid Office for more information about financial aid policies and
application procedures. Contact the Center for Global Study and Engagement for more
information at 717‐245‐1341, or stop by the Stern Center for Global Education.
Location: Waidner-Spahr
Library, Ground Floor Phone Number: 717-245‐1767
The
Multilingual Writing Center assists writers of all levels and abilities who are
working on essays written in Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian,
Japanese, Russian, or Spanish. Trained tutors and Overseas Assistants work
one-on-one with writers on a variety of concerns, including understanding the
assignment; generating ideas; compiling evidence; developing ideas;
organizing material; crafting sentences; and improving grammar, vocabulary, and
punctuation. Walk‐in appointments are welcome if a tutor is available, but it
is recommended that you schedule an appointment in advance at
717‐245‐1767.
Location: Waidner‐Spahr Library, Main Level Phone Number: 717-245‐1620
The Norman M. Eberly Writing Center assists writers of all
levels and abilities who are working on papers written in English. Trained
tutors work one-on-one with writers on a variety of concerns, including
understanding the assignment; generating ideas; compiling evidence;
developing ideas; organizing material; structuring paragraphs; and
improving grammar and punctuation. Walk‐in appointments are welcome if a tutor
is available, but it
is recommended that you schedule an appointment in advance at
717‐245‐1620.
Location: Biddle House Phone Number: 717-245-1315
Office Hours: Monday –
Friday, 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
The
Registrar’s Office maintains and issues official and unofficial transcripts,
prepares information for fall, spring and summer course offerings, reports
grades to students and advisors, reviews credentials of transfer applicants and
readmitted students to assign credit toward the degree and distribution
requirements, and clears seniors for graduation by checking for completion of
graduation requirements. The Course Request Period, which is the process by
which you request classes, is also overseen by the Registrar’s Office. The
Course Request Period for the upcoming semester occurs about two-thirds of the
way through the current semester. You are encouraged not to wait until the last
minute to work with your advisor on your overall academic program and course
schedule. The best time to find your advisor is during his or her office hours.
All students request courses online during the time announced by the
Registrar’s Office.
In order to request a course, students must have the required
prerequisites. Students must be registered for at least one class
and have selected their housing option by June 15 prior to
returning to the college for the fall semester. Students who have
not registered for class and selected housing by June 15 will be
placed in an Administratively Inactive status and will not be
allowed to return to the college until the following spring
semester.
For detailed information regarding the Schedule Adjustment Period
(when you can make changes to your schedule), visit our web site
and review the academic information links. Please be advised that
it is best to make all schedule changes for the upcoming semester
before leaving for the semester or summer break.
If
you are thinking about changing a course, speak to your advisor. Your advisor
will be able to offer guidance about the wisdom of dropping the course.
Generally, you should not have a problem with switching into another open
class, provided you qualify for the course and decide to make the change before
the Add/Drop deadline. The Add/Drop Period begins the first day of classes and
ends five (5) days later.
Interim
grades are issued at Roll Call for all students in every course. Roll Call
grades indicate how you are doing in a course at that time. If you are doing
poorly in a course, you may decide to withdraw from an individual course up to
ten (10) days after Roll Call. You may use this option for only two courses
during your Dickinson career and you cannot withdraw from a Physical Education
course. When you withdraw from a course, a grade of “W” is permanently entered
into your transcript, indicating that you started a course and withdrew from it
after the normal Add/Drop Period. “W” grades are not factored into your
cumulative grade point average by the college. However, if you are planning to
go to graduate school, check with the graduate schools you are interested in
regarding their policy for withdrawn courses. Some schools re-calculate your
grade point average to factor in “W” grades.
Unofficial
transcripts are available to students on Banner Self-Service through the
Dickinson Gateway. If you need an official transcript, for application to
graduate schools, scholarships, internships or other needs, you must complete a
Transcript
Request form in
the Registrar’s Office or online. Your signature is required to authorize the
release of your transcript, along with the institution or organization name and
address to whom the transcript is to be sent. Or you may e-mail your transcript request, including your full name, complete home
address, telephone number where you can be reached, your birth date, your
social security number or student ID, your dates of attendance, and the name
and address of the institution or organization to which the transcript is to be
sent. Loans and student account balances must be current to have a transcript
sent. Official transcripts cannot be released to students. However, if your
application instructions require that you include an official transcript with
the other application materials, the Registrar’s office will provide it to you
in a sealed envelope (a word of caution: if the seal is broken on the
transcript envelope, the transcript will probably not be accepted).
The
Registrar’s Office is the place to go if you are interested in taking classes at
another college or university during the summer or January term. They can help
you determine if a course taken elsewhere will count toward a general education
requirement or a major or a minor. Decisions about whether or not a course
counts are made on a case-by-case basis. If you want a course taken at another
institution to count toward a general graduation requirement or toward a major
or minor, you will need to talk to the chair of the department in which you
want the class to count. The department chair will need to review the course
syllabus and description. Depending on the school, you may be able to obtain
this information from the Internet. Keep in mind that only the credit will
transfer for courses taken at other institutions in which a grade of “C” or
better is earned. The grade is posted to your Dickinson transcript but is not
figured into your cumulative grade point average. You must complete the Enrollment in
Another Institution form and obtain approval before taking the course. Important Note: If you hand-carry an
official transcript from the other institution, be sure not to open it, as an opened
transcript is no longer considered official and cannot be used by the
Registrar’s Office to transfer credit.
The
Central
Pennsylvania Consortium also provides the opportunity for Dickinson students to take a
single course, register for a semester or register for a whole year at Franklin
& Marshall College or Gettysburg College. Courses taken at another
Consortium college during the fall or spring semester are considered
in-residence credit and unlike courses taken at non-consortium institutions,
the grade(s) will transfer. Through this program, students have a wider range
of faculty and courses available to them. To find out more about this program,
contact the Registrar’s Office at 717-245-1315.
Location: Waidner-Spahr
Library, Lower Level Phone Number: 717-245-1000
Office Hours: User Services
Help Desk: Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.
The
Dickinson campus is completely networked. Each student’s residence hall room
has at least one wired network connection per occupant. Wired connections for
laptops are also available in the HUB, the Waidner-Spahr Library and some
classroom buildings. Wireless internet accessis available at many campus locations,
including the HUB, Library, Rector Science Complex, and most student
residences. The entire campus
network is connected to the Internet through a fractional T3 line.
Library
& Information Services (LIS) supports computers running Microsoft Windows XP, Vista, and Windows 7, and Mac OS 10.4
or higher. Whether or not you bring your
own computer, you are assigned an e-mail address which you must use while
enrolled and may continue to use after you graduate. For more information
regarding e-mail communication, please see the “Electronic Communications with
Students” policy in the policy section of this handbook. Network storage is
provided for each student. You may create your own personal web pages on the
college’s web server. The college uses Microsoft Office as its standard office
suite. LIS offers short seminars, in-class sessions and on-line documentation
with tips for using supported software and hardware.
There
are public computer rooms that you may use throughout campus. Some of these
computer labs also have laser printers to which you may direct your output.
Some departments have their own labs configured for your use while you are
taking their courses. There are more than 80 “smart” classrooms that are
equipped with data projectors and network connections for classroom use. LIS
has several locations that provide equipment for scanning images, video editing
and other multimedia applications. Within the college’s Responsible Use Policy, students have unlimited
access to the network. You must read and agree to this policy before you will
be able to connect your personal computer to the campus network. To view this
policy and all Dickinson computing policies, visit our Web site.
Students
are strongly encouraged to bring their own personal computers to campus. All
student-owned computers that meet the minimum requirements may connect to the
campus network and the Internet. For the recommended computer configuration,
visit our Web site.
Assistance
with computing may be obtained via email or by calling the LIS Help
Desk at 717-245-1000. If your personal computer is having a problem, the ResNet
Services Annex (RSA) may be able to help. Specially trained student techs can
provide assistance with your operating system, network connection and malware
removal. The RSA can be contacted via email or by calling 717-254-8108.
Phone Number: 717-245-1397
- Circulation Desk and Reference Assistance
Hours -
Academic Year:
(see Web site for hours
related to pauses, breaks, registration week, final exams and summer school)
Monday – Thursday, 8 a.m. – 2 a.m. Friday, 8 a.m. – 10 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. –
10 p.m.; Sunday, 10 a.m. – 2 a.m.
The
Dickinson College Library is one of the finest liberal arts college libraries in
the United States. Centrally located on-campus, the library provides a variety
of research, study and learning spaces; multi-media collections; personalized
services; and social events.
The
main library occupies three floors and includes group study rooms, individual
study carrels, electronic classrooms and a wide variety of reading and study
spaces. Wireless Internet access is available throughout the building. The
library offers over 75 public computing workstations and connections to the
campus network throughout the building, and laptops may be borrowed for use
within the building. Thirteen study rooms are also available, many of which
contain TV/video/DVD players. Two study rooms contain computers with large
screen displays for group work or practicing presentations. Study rooms may be
reserved in advance for groups. The lower level of the library houses the
Information Commons, a computing facility for individuals and groups, as well
as the Archives and Special Collections Department, where unique historic
materials are available for personal or course-related research. On the upper
level, the East Asian Reading Room houses a collection of approximately 10,000
monograph titles in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. Several science reading
rooms on campus house current journals for Biology (Dana Hall) and Astronomy,
Physics, Computer Science, Mathematics and Chemistry (Tome Hall). The Geology
reading room in Kaufman Hall houses a large collection of geological maps.
Nine
librarians are available to provide group instruction and personal help guiding
you through all stages of the research process. Research assistance from a
librarian is available during reference service hours by asking for the on-call
librarian at the Circulation Desk, or by e-mail, IM or phone. Liaison
librarians assigned to academic departments also keep office hours by
appointment. A total of twenty-four staff members provide many additional
services, including checking out materials, finding items on reserve for
classes, obtaining materials requested from other libraries, and acquiring and
making available all the print and electronic resources available through the
library.
The
library’s collection is rich and interdisciplinary, consisting of over 700,000
books and e-books, 168,000 microforms, 25,000 audio-visual materials and 40,000 print and
electronic journals. Music scores and government documents are also part of the
collection. Over 190 on-line databases, many of them containing full-text
resources, are available from the library’s Web site. The electronic
information resources are available 24/7, both on-campus and off, by logging
into the campus network from anywhere in the world. The Archives and Special
Collections department maintains an exceptional collection of rare books,
diaries, letters, photographs and official college records. Students are
encouraged to use these primary source materials in their research. The
library’s own holdings are supplemented by interlibrary loan services and by
PALCI, a network of regional academic libraries that offer rapid access to over
20 million titles. For leisure reading, the “Dickinson Reads” collection
includes contemporary graphic novels, literary award winners and best sellers.
DVDs of recent and classic films, documentaries and selected television series and
music CDs are available for check-out, and many other documentaries are available through online streaming. Current and historical newspapers from around the world
are available. The library also mounts special book displays by and about
Clarke Forum speakers and other campus and world events.
The
library Web site provides access to the library catalog, on-line journals, databases
and self-help research guides, as well as information about the library
and its services. Digital tools available include a downloadable Web browser
toolbar with library shortcuts and RefWorks®, a web-based service for saving and storing
citations and generating your own properly formatted bibliographies. You can
also add library channels to your Dickinson Gateway account.
The
library hosts many fun and informative social events. Monthly receptions
provide a casual forum for learning about faculty research. In April, students
can read their own original poems or just listen to others during the Poetry
Month reading event. “Food for Thought” snack night during finals week provides
a late evening break from studying with PB&J, cereal and other treats. The
Photography Club receptions and exhibits throughout the year highlight the work
of Dickinson students.