Welcome Back and Post-Midterm Check-in and Info

Oct. 14, 2020

Welcome back from fall break!  I hope you had a relaxing long weekend and feel refreshed and ready for the second half of the semester.

Mid-Term Check In

As you plan ahead for the second half of the semester, now is a good time to assess how things are going for you academically.  Please don’t feel like you have to think through your choices alone!

Mid-term grades (posted only for some 100 and 200-level courses) can be seen inTigerHub.  If you haven’t received feedback on how you’re doing in a course, talk with your professor or preceptor during office hours to discuss your progress.  Congratulate yourself on your successes, and try to see lower grades as an opportunity to make some changes in your approach to a class.  There’s still plenty of time to improve!  We are here to help you connect with the people and offices that can support you, and we’re happy to talk with you about your options.   Please feel free to schedule a meeting with me by using my Calendly Calendar --  https://calendly.com/mlazenprinceton/advising-appointments.  I am here to help!

In the meantime, you may want to consult the McGraw website to explore your options for academic support.  Individual McGraw Learning Strategies Consultations can be a great way to get one-on-one coaching on everything from note-taking strategies to time management. You can even sign up for 1-1 tutoringfor many courses (for tutoring in anything you don’t see there, see me).

The PDF Option and Dropping Courses

Between now and 11:59 on November 4, you may change your grading option for a course from “Graded” to “Pass/D/Fail” via Tiger Hub.  Taking a course PDF can be a good way to manage academic stress because it allows you to focus on improving your performance in courses you are taking for a grade.  We highly recommend that you discuss the decision with your AB or BSE academic adviser or with me before electing the PDF option.  As you consider whether to PDF a course, I also encourage you to talk with your PAAs for their perspective. 

As you know, the PDF policy has been modified this semester due to Covid-19. Students will be able to elect the P/D/F option for all undergraduate courses and faculty will be able to designate courses as P/D/F only.  Departments may, however, require students to take departmental pre-requisites and/or departmental requirements for a grade.  We expect to have a full list of each department’s policies soon. In the meantime, you can search each department’s website for information.  (Econ and SPIA, for instance, have reverted to requiring all prereqs and departmentals to be taken for a grade)  Any course that students elect to P/D/F will not count against the student’s total allocation of four P/D/F courses.

The final deadline to DROP a class this term is Wednesday, November 4 at 11:59 pm.  To drop a course, you must get approval from your academic adviser before using TigerHub to drop the course (email approval is fine).  Any drop that will result in a course deficiency must also be discussed with me or Dean Stirk.

Questions?  Contact your AB or BSE academic adviser, or feel free to come talk with me.

Spring Course Enrollment

I will send you information about enrollment for spring term courses soon, as well as reminders about academic deadlines – so be sure to keep an eye out for these messages.  

Don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or concerns, or if you’d like to discuss your academic progress.  Please take care, and I look forward to seeing you soon.

Best,

Dr. Lazen