MARCH 20 DEADLINE ALERT: Senior FAQ: I need to take a couple of classes this summer to finish my degree; can I "walk" in Commencement this May?

 

Short answer: in some cases, with permission; request deadline = March 20.

Longer answer (also explained on the Deans Office website):

 

For students within 2 classes (no more than 8 credits) of graduating:

Students expected to complete degree requirements in the summer of that calendar year and who will be within 2 courses (totaling no more than 8 credits) of completing their degree requirements at the culmination of the Spring semester. While such students may participate in Commencement exercises, the degree will not be conferred until October. Approval for anticipated October graduates to participate in the May ceremony in the same calendar year must be obtained from the Senior Class Dean, and students must have a detailed plan for completion of their remaining credits.

Great! How do I get this approval?

1. Email seniorclassdean@barnard.edu, using subject line "permission to walk with credits pending"
2. In your email, please note the total number of credits you still need and when/where you plan to take them.
3. Please do this as soon as you are sure of your plans, so we can add you to the list! Deadline = March 20.
   

 

For students who will need more than 2 courses/8 credits or need to take classes beyond the summer:

In extremely rare circumstances, a student with more than 2 courses (or more than 8 credits) remaining for degree completion at the end of the Spring semester may be approved by the Dean for Academic Planning and Class Advising to participate in the May Commencement ceremonies. Please note that requests from students who need more than a semester's worth of credit after this May -- or who plan to be enrolled next fall -- are unlikely to be approved.

OK! I get that this may not be approved, but how would I request this special approval?

1. Email htedder@barnard.edu to request permission
2. In your email, please explain any extenuating circumstances and note the total number of credits you still need and when/where you plan to take them.
3. Please do this as soon as you are sure of your plans, so we can add you the list if approved! Deadline = March 20.
   

What if I want or need to participate in next year's Commencement ceremony?

Students whose degrees are conferred in October but who did not participate in the Commencement ceremony of that calendar year may request to the Dean of the College to participate during the ceremony the following May.

Resource Reminder

Particularly with all that is going on in the world and on campus these days, we know that you don't stop having feelings just because you're busy with schoolwork, and we want to remind you of the many  resources on campus where you can find peers, professionals, and space to get some support.  Below are just a few examples:

Furman Counseling Center offers several forms of support for Barnard students:

• Students may visit Furman for free individual counseling. To learn more about how individual counseling works and why it may be of help to you at certain moments in your Barnard career, visit this page of the Furman website.
  

• Our counselors offer one-hour workshops throughout the year to help students develop personal skills in a variety of areas, such as maintaining balance, stress management, romantic well-being, and smart emotional living. Watch for announcements and flyers about these workshops on the FY Blog and in the residence halls.

• Furman also offers free and confidential support groups to our students.  To join one of our groups, or for more information, please call our front desk at 212.854.2092.

Your class deans are available to meet with you by appointment and during walk-in hours.  Click this link to find your dean's appointment link. Need to see someone but can't find an available time that fits in your schedule? Call the Deans Office for Advising and Support 212-854-2024 any time 9-5, Monday through Friday.

• Worried about a class? Confused about registration?  Just need a friendly, nonjudgmental listener?  Have a question but aren't sure whom to ask?  We're here for all this and more.

The Wellness Spot is the health promotion program and wellness center at Barnard College. Our mission is to promote the health and wellness of Barnard students through a variety of programming activities. Our philosophical approach to wellness focuses on an integration of body, mind and spirit, which moves us toward a more proactive, healthier existence. We use as our model the Wellness Wheel which includes physical, intellectual, occupational, emotional, social and spiritual, service and cultural dimensions which represent all aspects of human growth. The open center of the wellness wheel reflects the notion that each "spoke" impacts on the others and that we cannot be truly healthy if we neglect any aspect of the wheel. However, it is important to remember that gaining total wellness is a journey and a process that continues throughout life.

Res Life staff are on site, trained, and ready to listen and support you.

Being Barnard's mission is to provide a holistic approach to sexual violence prevention through campus wide campaigns, educational programming, one on one health consultation services, community building, outreach, advocacy, and intervention. Sexual assault and interpersonal violence affect students of all genders, identities, and backgrounds and are widely recognized to not be isolated issues but part of a much larger societal picture. As such, it is our hope that by addressing a multitude of interwoven topics such as healthy relationships and sexuality, affirmative consent, personal boundaries, self care, bystander intervention, and social identities & power that we may help reduce and, one day, eliminate sexual
assault and violence from our campus and global communities.

Contact:  Want to know how to get involved? General questions and inquiries about the initiative can be directed to the Being Barnard office - BeingBarnard@barnard.edu!

Office of Title IX and Nondiscrimination

Barnard College is committed to providing an environment free from discrimination, harassment, and retaliation. The Nondiscrimination and Title IX Office endeavors to work collaboratively across campus to further the goal that faculty, staff, and students be able to work and study in a campus community free from discrimination and harassment. As such, the Office provides outreach, education, supportive consultation, and response services to all members of the Barnard community. Dr. Elizabeth Scott-Francis, Executive Director for CARES Outreach and Response, serves as the Title IX Coordinator for the College. 

We are operating in-person on the First Floor of Elliott Hall
Monday through Friday (closed on holidays) from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Email: nondiscrimination@barnard.edu
Phone: 212-854-3362 (CARES Response Line; indicate you're calling to speak with the Title IX Coordinator)

Columbia Sexual Violence Response & Rape Crisis/Anti-Violence Support Center 

105 Hewitt 212-854-HELP (4357)

The Rape Crisis /Anti-Violence Support Center (also referred to as the RCC or Center) provides peer and professional advocacy and education to the entire University student community. If you are a survivor of sexual assault and would like to talk to someone immediately, call 212-854-HELP to speak to someone and/or schedule a time to meet. Advocates assist survivors by accompanying them to the hospital, health services, the police, public safety, court, campus disciplinary proceedings and other resources. They also help survivors make informed decisions about reporting and disciplinary options. Advocates receive a minimum of 50 hours of training and are supervised by Columbia and Barnard counseling clinicians.

Learn more about sexual violence resources through men's peer education, RCC peer educators, and other advocacy/outreach services.

Nightline is an anonymous, nonjudgmental peer listening hotline that primarily serves the Columbia/Barnard community and its affiliates by providing them with a listening and referral service. Staffed by committed, caring, and trained Columbia/Barnard undergraduates, Nightline offers a safe space for you to talk about anything that is on your mind. Operating by the mottos, "We are here to listen" and "We are here to get you through the night," Nightline is here to listen to anything you have to say; no problem is too big or too small.

• Nightline is here to listen every night of the academic year from 10:00PM-3:00AM at (212) 854-7777.

• Anonymous: All Nightline peer listeners, excluding the Directors of Nightline (who no longer take calls) are anonymous, and remain so during the entirety of their time at Barnard/Columbia. Callers also have the privilege of anonymity--listeners do not ask callers to identify themselves, nor do they have means to gather this information. The phones used by Nightline have no caller ID.

• Nonjudgmental: No matter what you want to talk about, be it sexual orientation, depression, eating disorders, family, friends, or just stress, we are willing to listen and will never judge a caller on what you have to say. No problem is too big or too small.

Opportunity: Apply to be a Student Speaker at Commencement! DEADLINE MARCH 24

Some of the best and most moving parts of Barnard Commencement are the speeches given by graduating seniors.  They each share something meaningful about the academic or extracurricular experience at Barnard -- giving fellow grads, families, faculty, staff, and guests the chance to hear, directly from students, what you have gotten out of your time here.

Who are student speakers?
One of them could be you!

The Senior Class President will speak, and the Barnard Commencement Committee selects two additional speakers based on an application process that includes a written speech and an audition video.

1. ACADEMIC REFLECTIONS SPEAKER
This graduate focuses on the academic experience at Barnard; they can speak about any meaningful experience, such as a project or thesis, a great course taken, a transformative relationship with an adviser or professor, a book that was important, or something similar.

2. SENIOR REFLECTIONS SPEAKER
This graduate focuses on an aspect of the Barnard experience beyond the classroom that was important to the Class's four years, tying personal experience to the larger, shared experiences of the Class. Speakers can, for example, discuss an event of campus,  local, or national importance, and how it impacted the class, or can reflect on one or more special campus events, traditions, or things that occurred over the past four years that were special to the Class of 2024.

Speeches should be no more than 3 minutes when read aloud.

Fill out THIS FORM -- including (1) an uploaded draft of your speech and (2) a link to a video of you delivering this speech (format: unlisted Youtube video) -- no later than March 24, 11:59pm EDT.
 

https://forms.gle/Db2EPnhmvafPgm2q7

See examples of past student speeches in the  2023 commencement video (Academic Reflections at 32:56, Senior Reflections at 47:19)

 

Opportunity: Apply OR nominate another senior to be a Senior Marshal! DEADLINE MARCH 24

The Barnard Commencement Committee is seeking applicants to be Senior Marshals

What's a Senior Marshal?
It could be you.
 

WHAT IS A SENIOR MARSHAL AND WHY SHOULD YOU APPLY OR NOMINATE A BARNARD SENIOR FOR THIS ROLE?
Senior Marshals are students who are honored at Commencement for their leadership at Barnard with a ceremonial role, a special cord on their gown, front row seating, and a special place as the first students called up to the stage.

WHAT DO SENIOR MARSHALS DO?
In addition to these honors, the Senior Marshals' main function is to assist in the procession and attend Baccalaureate. The Committee will look for nominees who are, in one or more ways, outstanding members of the Barnard community and who have made exemplary contributions to the campus community.

The responsibilities of being a senior marshal include:
* attendance at required training session (to be scheduled during the week of May 6th)
* attendance at Commencement rehearsal, which will take place on Monday, May 13 (times TBA) in the Event Oval (Diana Center)
* attendance at Baccalaureate Service, which will take place on Sunday, May 12, at 9am, in St. Paul's Chapel at Columbia
* attendance at the Barnard commencement ceremony on Wednesday, May 15 (availability required in the morning prior to the Commencement ceremonies)

WHO IS ELIGIBLE?

To be eligible for consideration, applicants must:

* be Barnard seniors participating in May 2024 Commencement and

* be and remain in good standing (academic and disciplinary).

HOW DO I APPLY / NOMINATE?

Use this form to:

• Apply to be a Senior Marshal (only Barnard seniors participating in May 2024 commencement are eligible).
• Nominate a Barnard senior for the role of Senior Marshal

You may submit the form multiple times if you want to apply and/or nominate one or more seniors for this honor.

https://forms.gle/MdWxRfqJx7kwTaoT6

Use the Columbia University Projected Final Exam Schedule to plan ahead for your last finals week

Source: Mortarboard 1943, Barnard Digital Collections

Planning ahead for the end of your last semester?  The Columbia University Projected Final Exam Schedule is here to help. Days and times are accurate; the only difference between the "projected" exam schedule and the full schedule is the latter will also have locations.

The detailed, class-by-class list for both Columbia and Barnard classes should become available online after midterms

Note the following instructions regarding exam conflicts or exam hardship for Barnard students:

Students will occasionally have two exams scheduled for the same time. If you have exam conflict (two exams at the same time) or exam hardship (defined as three exams within a 24-hour period or four exams within a 48-hour period), please fill out this form.

Examinations are not rescheduled to accommodate travel plans.

Need a study buddy or group but don't know people in a class? The Barnard Study Group Padlet has you covered!

Why study alone when you can find a fellow Barnard student to work with?

Scan the QR code below to start or join a study group:

Senior FAQ: my schedule/grade/etc looks one way in SSOL or Courseworks, and a different way in Student Planning (a.k.a. selfservice.barnard.edu) -- which is correct?

Many of you have been asking about discrepancies between your schedule or grades on SSOL or Courseworks at Student Planning / selfservice.barnard.edu.  

In particular, there is a known issue that has been reported to CUIT, where students who earned grades of D in courses where they elected the Pass/D/Fail option are seeing the correct grade of D on the Barnard transcript and an incorrect grade of P in SSOL.

We know this can be disconcerting so, please remember that, as a Barnard student, your official academic record is the one in Student Planning.

 This means you should:

- Check your schedule on Student Planning to confirm you are registered (green) for all classes, labs, and discussion sections this semester and that you have successfully dropped anything you're not taking

- Use the Unofficial Transcript in Student Planning if you need to review your grades and GPA and confirm which were P/D/F and which were letter-graded

Senior year FACT OR FICTION: Caps and gowns for Barnard graduating seniors are free?

FACT OR FICTION:
Is it true that Barnard graduating seniors get caps and gowns for free?

YES; this is FACT. Cost for cap & gown is included in tuition and fees for Barnard graduating seniors. If you see your CC/SEAS/GS friends ordering and paying for regalia or going to a "Grad Fair" in February at the CU Bookstore, don't worry about it -- just stay tuned for more information about a festive event to get your free cap and gown at Barnard in late March. If you can't come to this event, you can go to the CU Bookstore with your BCID to pick it up any day after then, up to the last day of classes.

Heard a rumor and want to know if it's true?  Submit requests for this series to SeniorClassDean@barnard.edu

Accessibility Week March 4-8

 The Diversity Council, Office of DEI, CEP, and CARDS are excited to invite all Barnard community members to the fourth annual Accessibility Week, which will take place from March 4-8, 2024 featuring Keynote Speaker, Sarah Silverman, PhD. Accessibility is everyone's responsibility, and Accessibility Week is a week of community-wide programming focused on disability inclusion and social justice.

Please check out our Disability and Access website for more resources including an intro guide on Digital Accessibility by Elana Altman (IMATS). 

Find out more and RSVP to any or all the week's events via this link.

Special thanks to our partners: BLAIS, IMATS, and Health & Wellness

 

What to do if you wanted to drop a class but missed the deadline

The deadline to drop a class was February 20.  Just realizing now that you meant to drop something or that it might be a good idea to drop something?

Don't panic!

Class feeling difficult?
Leaving the class may not be necessary -  consider office hours, help rooms, or requesting a tutor through our free Peer-to-Peer Learning program.  Writing Fellows, Speaking Fellows, and Personal Librarians are also here to help!

If worrying about the grade is crowding out your ability to focus on learning and you don't need the class for a major or minor, you may also consider taking it Pass/D/Fail.
P/D/F deadline: March 21, 11:30pm (on SSOL, does not require permission; if unavailable on SSOL there is a Slate Form)

Really need to get out of a class?
It is not too late to withdraw from a class with a W, as long as you will still be in 12 credits total, and still be on track to graduate on your planned schedule.  Remember that a W is a non-punitive grade that simply indicates that you followed proper procedure to leave a class in progress.
Withdraw-with-a-W deadline: March 21, 4:30pm (Slate form and adviser approval needed)

SENIOR FAQ: How to download a pdf of your degree audit

Q: I'm filling out a form that asks for a PDF of my degree audit. How do I get one?

A: By following these steps:

1. Navigate to your degree audit in Student Planning:

2. Click the "Print" icon in the upper right, just above the orange warning text:

3. In the Print dialogue window, select "Destination: Adobe PDF" or "Print to PDF" depending on your operating system, being sure to select "color" if that is an option.

4. Depending on how your computer is configured, this will open a new doc in Adobe or ask you where you want to save your new PDF.  If your browser asks how you would like to open the file, do NOT select "Open in browser."  Instead select "open in Adobe Acrobat" or whatever PDF-viewing software you have (e.g. Preview on a Mac)

5. Give it a recognizable name and note where you are saving it, so you can find it and upload it to your Slate form.

 

Academic Workshop on March 5!

The Registrar's Office and Access Barnard will be hosting an upcoming academic workshop on Tuesday, March 5th from 4-5PM. Feel free to stop by in-person in Milstein LL001 or on Zoom if you want to attend virtually! You can use the QR code on the flyer to register if you are interested.

Furman Counseling Center invites you to consider joining a group

The following opportunities for group support and skill-building are available this spring:

How to drop a class by the Feb 20 deadline

Friday, 1/26/2024 was the deadline to add a class, but you can still drop up to the February 20 deadline (after the drop deadline, you can withdraw with a W on or before March 21)

Follow the easy online steps below to drop a class on or before the deadline. 

1. Contact your adviser to discuss and obtain their approval

Best practice is to have an advising conversation where you discuss options and any possible implications of this drop on your full-time status or your graduation progress, but depending on how much you and your adviser have already discussed things, they may agree to review and approve your form without such a meeting

 

2. Submit the online Drop Request Form

You will only be able to drop online if your adviser grants permission. Be sure that you are not attempting to drop below 12 credits unless approved via CARDS or as a final-semester senior  -- the system will not allow drop below 12 credits without additional approval.

 

3. As soon as your adviser grants permission, you will receive an email informing you that you have permission to drop the class(es) discussed.

While this adviser permission is for the specific class you request, functionally it reopens your ability to drop in general, so be sure to drop the right class and nothing else.

 

4. **do NOT forget this step!!!** You will have two days to drop the class online via Student Planning.*

If you don't drop within the 2-day window, you will need to request permission again. 

*Note that you must drop on or before the drop deadline if you want the class removed from your transcript.

 

After-Hours Clinician Service Change for Students

 

 

Reminder from our friends at Furman and PCHS:

Beginning in February, instead of calling a separate after-hours clinician number, students will reach Access Nurse, the new after-hours triage nurse service, by calling the main office number for either the PCHS (212-854-2091) or Furman Counseling Center (212-854-2092). The separate after-hours clinician number will no longer be operational after February 1.