Frequently Asked Questions | Parent Handbook Will we receive a copy of our student’s grades? No. Parents are not informed by the university of their student’s grades. The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA) protects the student’s records. Grades are made available to students, and we encourage you to talk with your student about his/her grades. Are jobs available for students who choose to work? Yes. Within the university, approximately 1,500 students will have on campus employment. Campus employment provides excellent opportunities to consider and connect their work experience to their career possibilities with an emphasis on vocation. Employment on campus is also excellent training for students with limited experience as well as those students who have significant work experience. Experience, convenience and flexibility are major attractions to campus employment. Federal work-study is not a requirement to get a job on campus. The Student Employment Office, located in Ramstad Hall, also manages the Washington State Work Study program. This program is designed to provide paraprofessional work experience for students in fields related to their career goals. If my student indicates some difficulty with adjusting to college life and social relationships, whom could he/she contact? There are several offices and people who are prepared to assist in this area. Contacts are welcomed by Counseling, Campus Ministry, Residential Life staff, faculty advisers and the Student Life Office. Are there opportunities for my student to participate in a study abroad program? Yes. In our interdependent world we must take students farther in their undergraduate education than ever before. Students who have lived and studied abroad have a greater understanding of our global community and are also building their resumes as undergraduates. The Wang Center for International Programs assists students in identifying the programs and internship opportunities that best suit their needs. Students can select semester-, year-, or month-long programs. With over 65 programs in 33 countries to choose from, students are encouraged to explore the off-campus options as early as their freshman year so that they can fulfill prerequisite requirements for the programs. What kind of academic support is available outside the classroom? A number of campus offices offer free academic support to all undergraduate students at PLU. Whether students are struggling in a subject or wanting to enhance their academic performance and learning potential, the following offices are great places to visit: The Academic Assistance Center (AAC) offers peer tutoring in most academic subjects. Faculty-approved student peer tutors are available for half-hour, individual tutoring appointments, and many host weekly group review sessions or specific test-review sessions. Tutors also staff the drop-in math, computer science, and geoscience labs and facilitate weekly foreign language conversation groups. In addition to peer tutoring, the AAC offers individualized study strategy planning, subject-specific study handouts, workshops on a variety of study skills, and free flashcards. In the PLU Writing Center, trained student writing consultants are available to offer feedback to writers at every stage of the writing process. A student may bring an assignment, an idea, or a draft to the center, where he or she meets individually with a peer writing consultant. The emphasis of the center’s work is on helping students become better writers, rather than just fixing individual pieces of writing. Students may receive feedback on papers composed for any academic discipline, as well as resumes, job application letters, and graduate school applications. The Language Resource Center (LRC) provides a multimedia environment of hardware, software, and learning resources that facilitate and promote the research and study of the world’s languages and cultures. At present, materials are available for study of Chinese, French, German, Greek, Latin, Norwegian, Sign (American), and Spanish. The LRC offers interactive programs on CD-ROM and is staffed by PLU language faculty and students. The LRC website (www.plu.edu/~lrc) gives students anytime, anywhere access to the language placement exams as well as multimedia resources for PLU language classes. What is “J” term? The four-week term in January provides opportunity for intensive study of a single subject or topic. This includes courses in a student’s major, general university requirement courses, and special elective offerings unique to the intensive one-month January format. All first-year students are required to take one of an array of courses during J–Term. Does PLU provide a way for parents to remember a birthday or special event in their student’s life? Yes. The Send a Smile Gift Program is designed to help make someone’s day. Convenient on-campus delivery of flowers, celebration cakes, local movie theatre tickets and many other gifts can be ordered here. Go to www.plu.edu/~dining/gift.htm to order a special treat for your PLU student. Dining Services can provide more information on the special services provided. In addition to Dining Services, several student clubs and organizations provide opportunities for parents to surprise their student with something special. That information will be sent to parents periodically. When may parents visit? This is a matter between parents and the student. Parents are welcome to visit any time but must observe the visitation policy. Please consider designated events such as Family Weekend from November 10 - 12 as a special time to visit. Parents are always welcome to eat in the dining halls with their son/daughter using the student Dining Services card, or on a cash basis. What publications will parents receive? The Pacific Lutheran Scene Magazine is published and mailed to alumni, parents and friends four times a year. In order to receive all communications from PLU, please direct address changes to the Office of Alumni and Parent Relations. Please make sure you are set to receive online communications from the university by providing your email address when you register for Orientation. Parents may order the student newspaper, The Mooring Mast, by writing to The Mooring Mast, PLU, Tacoma, WA 98447. Visit PLU’s website at www.plu.edu for current campus information. What is Annual Giving? Q Club is the annual giving program at PLU and is the university’s general fundraising campaign. Gifts from alumni, parents and friends support the immediate needs of the university in four critical areas (scholarships, academic excellence, campus life and the area of greatest need). Contributions make a PLU education better by ensuring quality teaching with the latest resources, and access to essential scholarship dollars to meet the financial need of all students. You can join these dedicated friends of PLU with a gift of any size. For more information, call the Office of Development at 253-535-7177. What if my student is having trouble choosing a major? Your student should first contact his/her academic advisor or the Advising Office. Other important resource offices are Counseling and Career Development. Remember, for most of our students the first year of college is exploratory; except for students considering elementary education, music, engineering or nursing, taking a year to decide should not affect timely graduation! Back to HANDBOOK Home Page » Related information (listed alpha)...
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