Seahawk Family Liaison
The Seahawk Family Liaison can be contacted at (240) 895-4388 or email families@smcm.edu .
This is a one stop shopping where you can notify the school about your student’s needs or get answers to all of your questions. We will connect you to the person or resources to help your student be successful.
Resources to Help Students
The staff in the Office of Student Success Services (OS3), the St. Mary’s faculty members, and your students academic advisors want to help students be successful.
Wellness Center
The Wellness Center offers same day/next day urgent counseling sessions. Call 240-895-4289 to set up an appointment.
Walk-in hours are Mondays – Fridays, 1 – 3 PM. No appointment needed!
Students can also use the Protocall toll free helpline 24/7. (240) 895-4200.
Dictionary
We know that there are lots of terms and acronyms used on campus that may be new to you. To help our students and family members, we put together a Dictionary of Terms and Acronyms that explains important information relating to Academics, Admissions, Athletics, Business Office, Financial Aid, Registrar, Student Life, and Title IX. We hope this resource is useful to you.
Absences
OS3 does not “grant” excused absences. We will send a notification to a student’s instructors to let them know that the student will be absent from class (assuming that the student or family member notifies us in a timely manner) and to ask the instructors to work with the student to get caught up on whatever was missed during the class(es). Unlike high school, there is no “excused absence” policy in college. As you may know, College policy states that students are allowed two absences for each course; after two absences, it is entirely within the instructor’s purview whether or not to count the absence toward the student’s grade based on the instructor’s established attendance policy.
Ideas to help students find success.
Meet instructors out of class. Students can ask what they can do to get back on track in the course.
Prepare for class and attend class (even if they’ve missed a few).
Complete readings, make an outline, talk in class (even if they ask only one question),
Use course TA’s. No TA, then talk with their instructor or email OS3 about getting a free tutor (tutoring@smcm.edu).
Work with a Peer Academic Success Strategies (PASS) Specialist. These are students trained to help them with academic coaching (time management, note-taking, getting organized, creating an academic action plan, breaking up large assignments into chunks, etc.). They have walk-in hours (no appointment needed) on Tuesdays from 4-6 PM and Wednesdays from 5-7 PM (in person in Glendening 254 or on Zoom:
https://smcm.zoom.us/j/87979631288,
Meeting ID: 879 7963 1288
Passcode: 348540
They can also meet 1:1 with a PASS Specialist (one time or repeat meetings, either in-person or online). Please call 240-895-4388 to schedule an appointment.
Contact OS3 (OS3@smcm.edu or 240-895-4388) to schedule an academic coaching session (for help with time management, study skills, procrastination, exam prep, motivation, etc.) with a professional staff member.
If they are in the DB program, contact FJ Talley for assistance (fjtalley@smcm.edu or 240-895-2185).
If they receive accommodations, they can contact Megan Pietryka for assistance (adasupport@smcm.edu or 240-895-2250).
They can contact their academic advisor for additional support.
Tools to help students navigate through a semester:
If they are having a hard time with a lot of screen-based reading, consider downloading a PDF reading software: here’s one that’s free and downloads as a Chrome extension.
Use free text to speech software: https://elearningindustry.com/14-free-text-to-speech-tools-educators-tts-teachers
Before they drop a course talk with their advisor or an OS3 staff member. They can either complete the hard copy Add/Drop form (they do not need the instructor’s signature to drop a class) or email the Registrar’s Office at registrar@smcm.edu (include their name, ID number, the department code, course number and section number, e.g. EDUC180-01) before the April 1 deadline for dropping courses. Note: Dropping a course may impact financial aid and/or housing (for resident students).
If they currently have academic accommodations (or think that they may need academic accommodations), please reach out to Megan Pietryka at adasupport@smcm.edu to explore whether new accommodations can be added to support them this semester.
Remember, we are here to help students be successful in their courses.
Videos from OS3 Family Presentations
- Are you living in My Basement? Webinar Recording (Passcode: +@dU4Q2$)
- Explaining the New FAFSA
- Helping Your Student Prepare for Summer & Next Year
- Helping Your Student Recover From a Challenging Semester
- How to Help Your Student Academically
- SMP vs Senior Capstone
- Summer Plans More than a Suntan
- Supporting Your Student During Finals
- The F Words, FAFSA, FERPA, Financial Aid
- What to Expect for Spring Semester
- What to Expect When You’re Expecting…Your Student Home for Break
Advice Articles
- Advice and Quality Time During Spring Break
- Communicating With the College: Why, How, and When?
- Developing a Good Sleep Routine
- Helping Your Student With Mental Health Self-Care
- Moving Home After Graduation
- Parenting a Perfectionist
- Questions Every Parent Should Ask Their First Year Student
- What Can You Do with a Liberal Arts Degree
- What to Do If You Don’t Have a Major