23 December 2009
Dear Parents:
As I write, final examination period has ended, grades have been posted, our first substantial snow has fallen, and the campus is quiet and still. The end of a semester brings with it an assortment of feelings, not the least of which is fatigue. After fifteen weeks of intensive study and other activities, your daughters and sons have returned home much in need of rest and, in some instances, reassurance. Please encourage them to take advantage of this time away from school to reconnect with friends and loved ones and to take stock of the ways they have grown during their first term at Notre Dame.
Academic Performance
The academic progress made thus far by the class of 2013 is indeed extraordinary. The students with whom I have met seem well integrated into campus life and enthusiastic about their classes and other activities. The feedback I have received from our First Year of Studies (FYS) advisors, and faculty elsewhere in the University, indicates that your sons and daughters are working productively; prioritizing tasks and managing time effectively; and making good use of the many educational resources available to them. Some have already made decisions as to an intended college and major. Several have begun already to plan for their sophomore year. Many have enjoyed remarkable success in the classroom. In a few instances, they are even participating in research projects sponsored by faculty that will result in significant disciplinary advances and that will have an impact on our common life.
Assessment, Contemplation, and Planning
Course grades are now available to students via the InsideND web portal. Those receiving a Grade Point Average (GPA) of 3.616 or better will be placed on the Dean’s List. Those with a GPA of less than 1.7 will be placed on academic probation for Spring 2010. It is important that students adopt an integrated strategy when assessing their academic performance in which course grades, written evaluations on assignments and projects, and progress toward first-year and personal learning objectives are evaluated. Such an approach helps students to determine where they stand in relation to institutional, disciplinary, and individual goals.
To this end, I recommend that first-year students utilize two strategies to chart their academic progress. The first is compilation of a learning portfolio consisting of the examinations, essays, and final projects submitted each term. The collecting, reviewing, and cataloging of undergraduate work is often a post-graduation afterthought. This is unfortunate because a portfolio of this kind can be consulted throughout a student’s four years at the University. The second is the writing of a brief meditation detailing one’s progress, lingering questions, and aspirations at the end of each term. This essay can be a valuable tool for vocational discernment and mentoring, one that can be shared with advisors and parents.
Next week, I will send an e-mail inviting first-year students to take a retrospective look at their first semester at Notre Dame for the purposes of self-evaluation. It will encourage them to write a one to two page meditation that assesses progress toward their own academic goals and the objectives established for the first year experience. These reflective essays should be sent electronically to their FYS advisors, who will read and use them in providing academic guidance during the spring semester. Please encourage your daughters and sons to take advantage of this important opportunity. You might also invite them to share some of their insights with you.
Down Time – Looking Toward Spring 2010
The first semester beyond high school is taxing for most students. The academic demands are substantial. The adjustment to new living arrangements is often difficult. Finding the right balance between engagement and disengagement is a challenge. Please encourage your sons and daughters to use this time away from Notre Dame to rest, recover, and refocus. Help them to survey the distance covered in their collegiate journey thus far. When they return in January, they will be preparing in earnest to enter either one of several colleges – e.g., Arts and Letters, Business, Engineering, or Science – or our School of Architecture. The decision as to which will be their final destination will be straightforward for some. For others, it will require considerable soul searching. FYS faculty will be available to assist them as they weigh various options.
In addition to our one-to-one mentoring, students will be able to attend Majors Night, an event organized by Student Government, at which information about undergraduate majors and minors will be made available. During the spring, we will also hold several special events aimed at reaching out to first-year students. The first will be our First Word lecture series, in which faculty and other invitees will offer advice on making the most of the initial year of college. The second will be our Professors Unplugged dinner, which will feature music, a meal, and informal conversation between faculty and students. The third will be a Dean’s Town Hall Meeting for first-year students. This will be a free-flowing question and answer session allowing students to raise issues of concern and to pose queries about any aspect of their educational experience at Notre Dame thus far. These initiatives will be under the direction of Mr. Sean Wernert, one of our first-year advisors. Additional information about these activities will be forthcoming.
Permission to Explore
Our metaphors for the learning process have a direct impact on the ways in which we experience its joys and opportunities. For those, like myself, who envision it as a journey, it involves exploration, movement, and maturation. At times, students that have just arrived at Notre Dame place the first of these – exploration – on the metaphorical “back burner” so that more pressing tasks can be accomplished. Often, these include completing university requirements or getting started on a major. Clearly, attentiveness to such matters is pivotal. However, one must also leave room for random “aha” moments to occur, for serendipity to manifest, for the whisperings of the Spirit to be heard within. Please encourage the members of the Class of 2013 to see themselves as intellectual explorers whose peregrinations can open new vistas of opportunity, and be a source of hope for our global community.
May the approaching Holiday Season be filled with joy, celebration, and peace for you and those you hold dear. May the close of one year and the beginning of another find us open to the subtleties of Grace, receptive to the call of Wisdom, and warmed by the brightly burning fire of Love.
Sincerely,
(The Rev.) Hugh R. Page, Jr., DMin, PhD
Dean, First Year of Studies
Associate Professor of Theology and Africana Studies
