FYI from FYE - June 2020
To the Class of 2024
Dear Class of 2024,
What momentous times you are living through—profound upheavals in your personal lives and in the lives of your communities. I suspect that high school graduation and going “off to college” have been expectations that you and/or your family have held for years. The fact of their predictability does not diminish the commotion that often accompanies those events. Still, it is a time for CELEBRATION! I hope you took some comfort in last week’s Important Update from President Glotzbach and President-Elect Conner which makes clear that “each possible scenario involving on-campus instruction would have the members of the new entering class, the Class of 2024, in residence during the fall.” With that in mind, we have put this FYI from FYE Newsletter together to make it clear that the Office of the First-Year Experience and many other offices around campus, are directing our energies to ensure that Skidmore College is a place that you are happy to call home.
Many of you have, by now, had a conversation with your summer advisor and begun to think about the kinds of courses you might like to take this fall given your various goals, interests, and curiosities. If you have not had such a conversation make sure to do so very soon! Your summer advisor wants to get to know you, as do we! If you have not told us already, we want to know what we should call you (see “What Shall We Call You?” below). We want to know what you think about any or all of the Stories of Your Life and Others. As you will see below, there are several more bits of information we need from you as we prepare for your arrival. In particular, we need information on your housing preferences and your health. Additionally, your classmates want to get to know you; be sure to join the Class of 2024 Facebook page to give them a chance!
Now is the time for you to begin taking ownership of your life and your education—to pay careful attention to the many opportunities in front of you and also the many responsibilities of adulthood and membership in the college community. Make good (informed!) decisions and do everything in your power to be sure you get what you need from your college experience from beginning to end, and we will be here to support you throughout.
Until we meet, I hope you will read the contents of this Newsletter carefully and also reflect on President-elect Conner’s words:
This is a challenging time in our nation, as we grapple with the devastating COVID-19 pandemic and with racial injustice and the decades-long suffering that it continues to inflict… we have to acknowledge that, grapple with it, and find ways to take care of ourselves and one another while we look toward a brighter future… This is precisely why the learning and leadership that a liberal arts college like Skidmore provides is more necessary to America than ever before.
What will you take away from your Skidmore College experience that will allow you to contribute to a brighter future? We look forward to helping you answer that question and live up to those answers in the years to come.
Sincerely,
Amon Emeka
Director of the First-Year Experience
Associate Professor of Sociology
Dates and DEADLINES
June
| Activity | Due Date |
|---|---|
| Check Skidmore email | Daily! |
| Talk with summer advisors | June 1 - June 22 |
Upcoming Deadlines
| Activity | Due Date |
|---|---|
| Submit ID picture | July 1-August 15 |
| Mail in Health Services forms | Due August 1 |
| Write RAP | July 1-August 30 |
| Complete online alcohol education class | August 1-30 |
| Register for Skidmore Urgent Notification System (SUNS) | Ongoing |
For a list of dates and deadlines, visit the FYE Dates and Deadlines page. For dates, deadlines, and links to complete tasks, please visit the FYE Checklist.
Missed our May newsletter? Please visit the May 2020 FYI from FYE.
WHAT SHALL WE CALL YOU?
Skidmore College recognizes the importance that a change of name might have to members of the College community. A preferred name is not a legal name, but is generally used to change how others refer to you. For this purpose, Skidmore College community members may identify a preferred name to be recorded in certain college systems, such as: “Display Name” in Office 365 (email), Brightspace (the Spring), class rosters, advising lists, your student ID card, and the student directory. A preferred name will not be reflected on, among other things, a student’s official academic record, diplomas, transcripts, or financial/student employee official records. If your preferred name is not being used in our correspondence to you, please email the Registrar's Office at registrar@skidmore.edu with your legal first name and your preferred first name.
Updates from our campus partners
Academic advising 
By now, many members of the Class of 2024 have already talked on the phone with Skidmore summer advisers — faculty and staff members who volunteer to help incoming students prepare for the fall academic semester and answer questions about academic departments and programs. Administered by the Office of Academic Advising, the program runs from June 1-22 and will ultimately reach all first-year students.
Says Kim Marsella, who directs Academic Advising, “To the best of our ability, we have paired students with faculty and staff who share academic interests. In addition to welcoming students to the College, our advisers help them establish connections, discuss academic goals and interests, and answer questions about the curriculum and academic opportunities.” One of the best parts of the program is that faculty and staff truly look forward to helping new students.
Follow-up advising sessions will be scheduled when the College’s fall plans are finalized in order to assist students with course registration. In the meantime, you may want to take advantage of the Summer Advising Hub, which provides one place to access summer advising and fall registration links. If you have questions, feel free to contact the Office at advising@skidmore.edu or 518-580-5720.
Health and wellness
The Department of Health Promotions staff and student peer health educators (PHEs) are hard at work making sure its services can be rolled out this fall, including:
- Wellness Coaching
- Victim Advocacy
- Alcohol and Other Drug-related Services
- Weeks of Welcome Program (a robust calendar of substance-free opportunities for social and intellectual engagement)
In addition, Director of Health Promotion Jen McDonald says she is “thrilled to announce that we have accepted 10 first-year students and one transfer student (selected from a pool of over 50 interviewed applicants) into the Peer Health Education training program for this fall.
Counseling
As you can imagine, the combination of remote learning in the recent spring semester and the importance of flexibility for the upcoming fall semester have kept the Counseling Center staff on its toes, enhancing its website and getting up to speed on providing telehealth appointments.
Says Director of Counseling Andrew Demaree, “While the exact nature of our services for the coming year will evolve and be informed by the world around us, we look forward to providing a range of services to support students across a variety of living and learning situations this fall.”
Speaking of preparing for the fall, any student who is interested in connecting with a local clinician for more open-ended or specialized support this coming year is encouraged to reach out to the Counseling Center this summer, so they can answer questions and offer tailored referral recommendations. You may call us at 518-580-5555.
Helpful weblinks include frequently asked questions and detailed information for parents. And you may be interested in learning that Skidmore was recently named one of the healthiest college campuses, receiving an Active Minds Healthy Campus Award.
Dining Services
Having effectively implemented local health department and CDC guidelines and regulations this past spring semester, Dining Services is once again hard at work ensuring that Murray-Aikins Dining Hall will be as safe as possible this fall while maintaining its top-notch food offerings. According to Dining Services Director Mark Miller, plans include:
- Social distancing measures
- Menus that exclude self-service stations
- Multiple sanitation stations
- More frequent cleaning of high-touch areas, and of course
- Continuing to provide students with the very best food possible
Religious and Spiritual Life
Want to know what’s going on with religious life, interfaith collaboration, mindfulness programming, and more, asks Religious and Spiritual Life Director Parker Diggory? Fill out our new interest form for incoming and returning students. Get a sneak peek at our Mindfulness Program with guided meditations recorded by the program coordinator, Jennifer Schmid-Fareed.
We are looking forward to events such as:
- Online challah baking classes
- Trivia challenges with student clubs
- Coordinating with Community Service to promote volunteer opportunities with flexible locations, and
- Training for students interested in interfaith collaboration (on or off campus)
See the Religious and Spiritual Life website.
Housing Questionnaire
If you were not available to submit your questionnaire during the June 8-June 15 time period, please contact the Office of Residential Life as soon as possible, via email or phone: 518-580-5765.
Summer Reading on the Web
While the July newsletter will have more information about this year's summer reading selection —Stories of Your Life and Others — please start reading and be sure to visit the 2020 Summer Reading page. Plus, check out our new story on the book.
CLASS OF 2024 ON FACEBOOK
If you haven't done so already, please join the FYE at Skidmore Facebook group. This is a closed group for students in the Class of 2024 only, so if you'd like to join, please visit the page and send a friend request.
If you do not use your legal name for your Facebook account, please include your legal name in your friend request or email Matt Clark, the Class of 2024 Facebook student liaison, to let him know your username.
A NOTE FROM HEALTH SERVICES
Welcome to Skidmore! The staff at Health Services is committed to supporting the health and wellness of all Skidmore students. Now, more than ever, your health matters and we look forward to meeting you. During these unprecedented times, Health Services is working diligently to provide a healthy and safe environment for students seeking medical care. We will be providing regular updates on our services as well as updates about the ways we are working with campus partners to keep our community safer throughout the summer.
Please feel free to visit our website for downloadable copies of all required health forms for incoming students and a comprehensive list of our services. All students are required to register for the online student health web portal, complete the portal forms, and submit the paper forms online by August 1. We know that the COVID 19 pandemic might make it harder to get appointments with providers. If you have yet to schedule an appointment for a physical and/or immunizations, we ask that you do so soon. If you have questions or concerns about being able to submit your health forms by August 1, please contact us directly so we can problem-solve with you about how to meet this Skidmore and New York state set of requirements.
Students should periodically check their Skidmore email including their Junk folder for notifications.
As a reminder, all students attending Skidmore need to have proof of U.S.-based health insurance. Skidmore offers a reasonably priced, primary student insurance plan. During the month of June the Bursar's Office will be providing information about the health insurance plan available to Skidmore students. Additional information may be obtained by calling the Bursar's Office at 518-580-5831.
If you have a chronic medical condition, we would encourage you and your family to reach out to us before arriving on campus. If there are any services that we can provide or that you have questions about, feel free to call us at 518-580-5550 or email us. We’re here to help, even before you arrive on campus.
See you soon!
Patty Bosen, FNP
Clinical Director, Health Services
Phone: (518) 580-5550
Fax: (518) 580-5556