February 20, 2019

Advisees needing help with current courses?
Peer-to-peer learning opportunities can help.

As we near spring break and mid-terms, you may hear from students who are struggling in their courses. Barnard has two free peer-to-peer tutoring programs for students to choose from depending on their needs. Here’s how to advise students about their options:

• Larger group-based: Barnard’s FREE group-based help sessions are held on a regular weekly schedule - allowing for students to drop-in when they need assistance - and are grouped by subject.  Details can be found here: https://barnard.edu/dos/academic-support/peer-to-peer/group.
• Individual/smaller group-based: For students who need more assistance than can be provided in group-based tutoring, Barnard provides FREE small group/one-on-one tutoring through the Dean of Studies Office. This tutoring service pairs students with a specific peer tutor for the semester, and sessions are either one-on-one or small groups of two to three students. More information can be found here: https://barnard.edu/dos/academic-support/peer-to-peer/individual.

If you have questions, contact Evelyn Leong in the Dean of Studies office at 4-2024.

Questions about Midterm policies?

The days are getting longer, which means we are approaching the middle of the semester. You may have started scheduling various types of assessment of your students - what we often call "midterms."  

Midterms are not a College requirement at Barnard, and the culture of some departments is to give them, while others do not. The type of assessment or evaluation is also entirely up to the individual instructor or their department.

Some advisers have noticed recently that more and more students are approaching their instructors with special requests, such as deferring an exam due to illness or anxiety. Unlike final exams, which follow a schedule set by the University and are, therefore, subject to deferred exam policies, midterm scheduling is a matter for each individual instructor to handle. Your advisee or student does not need permission from the Deans' Office to take a make-up exam or change their scheduling. Instructors have the professional judgement and authority to make the call.

If, however, your advisee or student has registered with the Office of Disability Services, then the student will have to include ODS in making sure their accommodations are being managed. Please encourage them to be in touch with the Office of Disability Services.

And speaking of ODS, we hope you've had a chance to stop by Milbank 009 to say hello to our new Director of ODS Holly Tedder! Holly comes to us from The Juilliard School where she held a similar position. Holly has also been a college registrar, and has lots of advising experience, so please reach out to her if you have any questions about your students with special accommodations.