815 North Broadway
Saratoga Springs,
New York, 12866
SKIDMORE PHONE
518-580-5000
Cocurricular Environment
Skidmore College recognizes that students' experiences outside
the classroom are as challenging and educational as those within.
Thus the college offers many services to help students make
the best use of their cocurricular time. The Office of the Dean
of Student Affairs is responsible for coordinating these services,
which include student academic affairs, international programs,
counseling, multicultural student affairs, health services,
opportunity programs, residential life, religious life, career
planning, student activities, and volunteer services. Members
of the student affairs staff work together to provide effective
student-life programs for the Skidmore community.
STUDENT
SERVICES
Academic
Advising and Programs
The Office of the Dean of Studies, in cooperation with the faculty
and the student affairs staff, provides academic guidance to
students, contributes to academic policy and curricular decisions,
and coordinates a wide range of academic programs. The Dean
of Studies Office assigns each first-year and entering advanced-standing
student to a member of the faculty who can advise the student
about course scheduling, about the college's general academic
requirements, and about the student's particular field of interest.
Students may seek further advice on these and other issues from
the office. Questions about leaves of absence, academic standing,
choice of major, study abroad, internships, peer tutoring, study
skills, disabilities, academic integrity, honors and prizes,
graduate fellowships, international student activities, and
other academic opportunities and difficulties may be referred
to this office. The Dean of Studies Office also publishes the
yearly Student Academic Handbook and the Faculty Advising Handbook. These booklets survey all academic programs
and policies at Skidmore College.
International
Programs
The Office of International Programs organizes a wide range of opportunities
abroad for students and faculty. The office maintains a study-abroad
library, advises students on program choices and application
procedures, helps orient students to the cultural and personal
challenges they will encounter abroad, and helps reintegrate
students into the life of the college when they return from
study abroad. The office provides administrative oversight for
Skidmore's Paris, Madrid, Alcalá, London, Beijing, and India programs and provides support to
other Skidmore programs abroad and Skidmore affiliations.
Campus
Life
The Office of Campus Life, composed of the Chaplain's Office, First-Year Experience, Leadership Activities Office, Multicultural Student Affairs Office, and Volunteer Office, promotes effective citizenship, social responsibility, and multicultural and interfaith understanding. Through advising, training, and a diverse array of cocurricular learning experiences, the Campus Life staff focuses its work with students on the individual in relation to others and helps shape a campus environment in which students are eager and able to engage successfully in the life of the College. The associate dean of student affairs and dean for first-year students leads the Campus Life Office staff, which includes the director of multicultural student affairs, the chaplains, the coordinators of Jewish student life and Catholic student life, the coordinator of leadership activities, and the coordinator of volunteer services.
First-Year Experience:
The Office of the Dean for First-Year Students provides support to entering new students in their transition and adjustment to college and their successful integration into the Skidmore community. Through programs such as fall and mid-year orientation, skills-building workshops, the Leadership Institute, and programs that raise awareness about the challenges that college students typically face, first-year students learn to balance freedom and responsibility, develop strategies for success, and make connections to campus life that foster personal contribution and satisfaction. The dean for first-year students serves as an advisor to first-year class officers and to the honors floors, Adams House and Hathorn House. The dean is also a member of the Honors Forum Council.
Intercultural Center:
The Intercultural Center in Case College Center provides a program
of co-curricular activities that welcomes, acknowledges, and
celebrates diverse traditions. The center offers a visual presence
and an annual calendar of programs, seminars, workshops, and
exhibits that support academic programs and faculty whose teaching and scholarship is broadly concerned with diversity. The Intercultural Center is a common meeting place for such organizations as the Asian Cultural Association, RAICES, Ujima, Network, Skidmore Pride Alliance, and the Jewish Student Union. It also serves as a meeting center for interfaith activities. The Center promotes an intercultural exchange of ideas and traditions among students, faculty, and staff that leads to a greater understanding of one's citizenship in a global community.
Leadership Activities:
The Leadership Activities Office provides advising and training to students who serve in various leadership capacities in the Student Government Association (SGA) and in student clubs and organizations. The staff helps plan and coordinate major co-curricular activities, entertainment, class events, and weekends. In addition, the office sponsors a number of leadership skills-development programs for current and aspiring leaders. Special attention is given to the overall quality and diversity of the co-curricular life program and to the development of program initiatives that promote school spirit, healthy social interaction, and social responsibility.
Multicultural Student Affairs:
The Multicultural Student Affairs Office provides advising and program support that serves to create a sense of camaraderie for those students who identify themselves as multicultural (African American, Latino, Asian American, and Native American [ALANA] students) and to educate the larger community about diversity. The office collaborates with various academic departments, administrative offices, and college committees in the sponsorship of programs that prepare students to meet the challenges of an increasingly diverse and changing world. The director serves as an academic and personal development advisor to multicultural students and assists student cultural organizations with the planning and implementation of campuswide programs that celebrate cultural traditions and embrace the ideals of a multicultural community.
Religious Life: Skidmore
College is respectful of and responsive to those in the community
who practice the religion of their choice, providing, as often
as possible, options to the Skidmore community that are inclusive
both in tone and content. Skidmore welcomes student religious
groups whose purposes are in harmony with the educational goals
of the college and whose activities are open to the college
community. Indeed, Skidmore embraces religious pluralism in
its desire to be a vitally diverse community, though its practices
and policies are secular in nature and its imperative is to
ensure that students can meet the academic requirements of the
New York State Department of Education.
The Chaplain's Office addresses many of the critical issues that face contemporary college students. Through a multifaith approach to religious life on campus, the office provides worship and fellowship experiences for Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Jewish students, and facilitates those of other faith backgrounds in finding appropriate resources in the area. Students, faculty, and staff are invited for interreligious dialogue through biweekly discussions on current events, academic lectures, and activities designed to address the character of both individuals and communities. Through projects addressing social justice concerns, retreats, and partnerships with neighboring religious communities, the Chaplain's Office helps students seeking means to address issues of identity and well-being.
Faculty and administrators exercise the fullest measure of good
faith to insure that students are able to fulfill their religious
obligations and practices without suffering any loss of grade
or programmatic access. Absences for religious observances will
not be counted among the number of "allowed absences" per course.
Faculty members have the responsibility to make available to
each student who is absent from class because of religious obligations
the opportunity to make up any missed coursework, exams, or
course requirements. Because Skidmore calendar policy prohibits
scheduling activities during study and exam periods, student
clubs and organizations desiring to schedule religious observances
during these periods may do so only by notifying the dean of
the faculty in writing and by following the scheduling procedures
of the Office of Leadership Activities.
Volunteer Services: The
Volunteer Office facilitates programs that foster an awareness of an individual's place within a community and the role she or he can play to help those lacking in a variety of life necessities. The coordinator of volunter services supports faculty in their endeavors to engage students in service-learning experiences throughout Saratoga County. The coordinator also works with the Skidmore-Schuylerville School District partnership, Expanding Horizons, to promote school activities that draw upon Skidmore students' knowledge, talents, and skills. The student organization Benef-action, to which the coordinator also serves as an advisor, sponsors many fund-raising activities on campus for local charities and promotes participation in a variety of national volunteer programs such as Special Olympics, Make A Difference Day, and walk-a-thons.
Residential
Life
Skidmore provides a cocurricular environment that enhances and
enriches the academic program through opportunities for personal
and social growth, self-discovery, and an appreciation of one's
responsibilities to others. At Skidmore, residential living
is an integral part of the student's education. At its best,
residential living fosters a sense of community; facilitates
the integration of the individual into campus activities and
organizations; exposes students in a direct and personal way
to a pluralistic community of people with divergent points of
view, values, lifestyles, and background experiences; encourages
an atmosphere of free and wide-ranging expression of ideas;
and develops in each person capacities for self-direction and
deep concern for others.
Residential life is not always comfortable, supportive, or secure.
Interpersonal tensions, serious value conflicts, and discomfort
caused by living in close proximity with large numbers of students
are not unusual. Learning to respond maturely, responsibly,
and creatively to adversity are important elements in self-growth.
Skidmore provides resources through its residence-hall staff,
Counseling Center, Chaplain's Office, and other student affairs
staff, to help students adjust to residential life.
Skidmore regards its students as maturing adults
and expects them to accept a large measure of responsibility
for their personal and social lives. Skidmore's room-change
and off-campus living policies reflect the belief that students
often learn more about themselves and others by working through
difficult situations rather than escaping them.
All continuing full-time students and students returning from
leaves of absence are required to participate in the room selection
process, held each spring semester (Moore Hall is considered
"on campus"). Room selection is a random-drawing procedure giving
preference to class (seniors choose first, juniors choose second,
etc.). The procedure provides students with a wide range of
living options, including college-supervised residence apartments.
All first-year students are required to live in college-supervised
housing, except those living at home with a parent or guardian
at the start of their freshman year. All students living in
the residence-hall system sign a room and board agreement that
outlines their rights and responsibilities.
The residence halls, central to life on campus, offer a diversity
of programs and are supervised by a network of trained upperclass
students. Hall councils, composed of elected student representatives, develop a variety
of events and programs for the halls.
Moore
and Keyes Quadrangles
Moore Quad consists of Kimball, Penfield,
Wilmarth, and McClellan residence halls. Each hall houses approximately
140 students on three floors in single, double, or triple rooms.
In addition, each of the halls has a large living room. There
are kitchenette facilities, a study room, and a small lounge
on each floor.
Keyes Quad has comparable facilities. Howe, Rounds, and Wait
residence halls accommodate 340 students, while Jonsson Tower
houses another 280. The latter, a twelve-story building, is
the tallest on campus. Atop Jonsson Tower is the penthouse,
with lounge and kitchen facilities for hall use and other college
activities.
Wiecking
Hall (formerly Skidmore Hall)
This facility, located just south of McClellan and Penfield,
accommodates 128 students on three floors of single and double
rooms. By design, the building's flexible arrangement provides
opportunities for both privacy and social interaction. The seminar
area on the first floor is designed to integrate academic and
residential life.
Scribner
Village Apartments
Intended for upperclass men and women, Scribner Village houses
283 students. There are fifteen houses containing fifty-six
units that accommodate four, five, six, or seven students. Each
apartment is fully furnished and has an appropriately equipped
kitchen. Students living in Scribner Village may elect to join
the meal plan or to prepare their own food in the apartment
kitchen.
Moore
Hall
Moore Hall is a residence hall and dining facility located on
Union Avenue in downtown Saratoga Springs, approximately two
miles from campus. This structure accommodates 160 students
on five floors. There are traditional "double-loaded corridors,"
lavatory facilities, and lounge areas on each floor. A glass-enclosed,
circular dining room serves the residents of the building. A
Skidmore bus provides transportation to and from the campus
for residents of Moore Hall.
Off
Campus
In consideration of Skidmore's commitment to an educational
philosophy that supports the importance of living in campus
housing and in consideration of its financial obligations, all
freshman full-time students must live in college-supervised
housing. However, for a limited number of upperclassmen, the
option of living off campus is available through the room selection
process. (See the Room Selection Guide for specific options
and requirements.) Preference is first given to seniors, and
then to juniors. Exceptions to this policy may be made in the
following situations: students living with a parent and/or guardian
and commuting daily, students who turn twenty-two years old
before the start of the academic year, married students, and
students with children.
Health
Services
Health Services provides the general range of
services that you would expect to receive from a family
health care provider. This includes but is not limited to treatment
of general medical problems, injuries, sexually transmitted
diseases, and provision of immunizations, birth control counseling,
and gynecologic examinations. Health Services provides
a limited on-site laboratory that can assist with many common health care needs. Throat cultures, specialized blood tests, gynecological and STD tests are sent to an outside laboratory.
Referrals to specialists, both in the local community and in
neighboring cities, can be arranged as need arises. Health Services
also provides educational opportunities that focus on increasing
health awareness, health maintenance, and illness prevention.
There is no charge for visits to the office. Students (or their health insurers)
are responsible for bills relating to emergency room visits,
outside laboratory and X-ray tests, visits to specialists, immunizations,
and medications. All students are required to complete
a health form and immunization record in order to register for
classes. Proof of U.S.-based medical insurance is mandatory,
and may be purchased through the college for a nominal fee.
All visits are confidential; no information is shared without
a student's express permission.
The Health Services staff includes a physician-director, nurse
practitioners, college-health certified registered nurses, a health educator, and
other clinical and administrative staff with decades of experience
working with college students. The office is located on the
first floor of Jonsson Tower.
Counseling
The Counseling Center provides consultation, assessment, and
short-term therapy on an individual
and group basis without charge. Provisions for substance-abuse
assessment, treatment, education, and referral can be arranged
through this office. Students requiring long-term counseling
may be referred to private community resources when appropriate
and feasible. The office is staffed by mental health professionals
from several disciplines (clinical social work, psychology,
and psychiatry). All consultations are fully confidential.
Career
Services
The Office of Career Services offers a wide array of services
that help all interested students and alumni clarify their career
goals and pursue career or graduate school opportunities. The
following services are available to Skidmore students and alumni:
Career counseling is provided during in-person, individual appointments, at which a professional career counselor facilitates
exploration of personal values, interests, skills, and aspirations—the
building blocks of satisfying academic- and work-related decisions. Advising
on graduate/professional school; career
research; internship and job search; resume and cover letter development; and interview preparation is available in person and by phone appointment.
The Career Services Web site (hudson2.skidmore.edu/administration/career)
has an extensive array of links to research, networking, internship/job/recruiting, and graduate school resources for students and alumni. A computer lab and an extensive collection of books and directories are available in the office's reference center to support an individual's efforts.
In addition to subscribing to numerous job-listing resources, the office regularly publishes newsletters to keep the student body aware of pertinent opportunities and their deadlines. Students who register with the office will also receive targeted e-mail regarding special job/internship opportunities.
Our Alumni/Parent Career Network has more than 2,000 volunteers
prepared to help people explore the world of work and to identify
appropriate job and internship leads. Many career advisors volunteer
to sponsor students who participate in the annual Job Shadowing
Program. Students can spend one to five days on the job, shadowing
a sponsor.
Networking programs in regions including New York City and on-campus
events such as the "A-B-C" (Alumni Back to Campus) program link students with alumni.
These events are useful both for gathering information about
potential career options and for identifying job and internship leads.
Our MonsterTrak recruiting program for seniors and recent graduates includes on- and off-campus
interview opportunities. Recruiting events for seniors, such as the ECCD Boston
and New York City career days, and virtual career fairs, sponsored
in cooperation with groups of colleges, offer additional opportunities.
Services and programs for underclass students include internship
registration for targeted e-mail service, job shadowing program, and advising
regarding choice of majors/career. The staff are happy to
talk with all students and encourage early involvement with
the office. Students are encouraged to initiate contact during their
first year.
