Academic Assistance Center
253.535.7518
www.plu.edu/~aast
The Academic Assistance Center provides students with trained, certified peer tutors and a comfortable environment where learning, risk taking, and discovery can occur. Registered PLU students use the free services of the center to develop effective study strategies and to supplement or reinforce their classroom experience.
Tutoring takes place on campus, usually in the Academic Assistance Center located in the Library. However, study and test-review sessions may occur in separate locations such as the science or music buildings, and drop-in math tutoring is available in the Apple Pi Math Lab, located in Memorial Gym 101. Students taking foreign languages can attend weekly informal conversation groups led by our language tutors. All ability levels are welcome at these conversations.
Tutoring sessions are set up by advance appointment (drop-ins may not find tutors available). During fall and spring semesters, the center, located in Library 124, is open Monday through Thursday from 9:00 a.m. until 9:00 p.m., Friday from 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m., and Sunday from 4:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. Hours and services are limited during J-term and summer sessions. Students should stop by the office, call, or e-mail to learn more about our services or request an appointment. The Academic Assistance website provides information on tutoring and weekly updates on study sessions.
Accessibility
253.535.7206
www.plu.edu/~slif/ct
The university complies with the American with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and provides reasonable accommodations to students with documented disabilities. Coordination of services is through the Counseling and Testing Office.
PLU Bookstore
253.535.7665
luteworld.plu.edu (open 24/7/365)
The PLU Bookstore is owned and operated by Pacific Lutheran University for the benefit of students, faculty, and staff. The bookstore sells textbooks required for classes. Supplies, gifts, cards, and convenience store items are also available. Computer software at discounted prices is available or can be special ordered. Personal computer systems at educational prices can be purchased through the bookstore. Special book orders are welcome.
PLU Northwest is a unique gift shop located at 407 Garfield Street in historic Parkland. Featuring Northwest pottery, clothing, and foods, the store also offers books and gifts depicting Northwest themes and authors. Stop by to see our new line of Scandinavian gifts.
Campus Ministry
253.535.7464
www.plu.edu/~cmin
Pacific Lutheran University by its very nature is a place for the interaction between faith and reason. Opportunities for the mutual celebration of that faith on campus are rich and diverse.
Chapel worship is held Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings during each semester. The University Congregation worships and celebrates the Lord's Supper each Saturday evening and Sunday morning. The University Pastors are available to provide care, support, and spiritual direction to the university community.
Several denominations and religious groups have organizations on campus. Numerous student-initiated Bible study and fellowship groups are offered. The Campus Ministry Office is available to provide resources or to connect individuals with organizations that can meet a variety of ministry needs.
The Campus Ministry Council, an elected student and faculty committee, coordinates these activities in a spirit of openness and mutual respect.
Campus Safety and Information
253.535.7441
www.plu.edu/~slif/cs
The personal safety of the PLU community is the number one goal of Campus Safety and Information. Campus safety officers are available to escort students, provide vehicle jump starts, unlock inadvertently locked vehicles, assist in changing tires, respond to medical emergencies and fire alarms, and provide general telephone information services.
Visitor information is available 24 hours a day seven days a week through the Campus Safety Office. Vehicle registration for parking on campus is available through the Campus Safety webpage 24 hours a day. A PLU ePass is required.
Pacific Lutheran University is private property and the university reserves the right to restrict access to the campus and buildings.
Career Development
253.535.7459
www.plu.edu/~slif/cd
Career Development strives to provide a program of career development and life planning with an emphasis of vocation. Students are assisted in integrating their personal values and aptitudes with career choices through individual counseling, workshops, and residence hall presentations. The office staff assist students and first-year alumni in developing job-search techniques by providing an extensive career library of opportunities in specific majors, industry directories, and employment forecasts. Additionally, the office coordinates a schedule of recruiters from industry, business, government, and graduate schools.
The center coordinates and promotes full-time employment and nonacademic internships. These listings include local, national, and international openings. Specially selected forums throughout the year also bring students and employers together, in order to help students find work that is both financially and personally rewarding.
A comprehensive list of services is outlined on the center's website including a link to the online program, plu.erecruiting.com. This program is a fully integrated employment and recruiting service available to students 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Students may access job listings, post their resumes, and contact employers from any computer with an Internet connection.
Computing and Telecommunications
(see Information Resources)
Conferences and Events
253.535.7450
www.plu.edu/~events
Conferences and Events schedules university facilities for dances, psychology experiments, study sessions, concerts, films, events, conferences, and meetings held on campus. Students interested in scheduling an event must first work with Student Involvement and Leadership (253.535.7195) for approval and to develop an event plan prior to contacting Conferences and Events to reserve facilities.
Counseling and Testing Services
253.535.7206
www.plu.edu/~slif/ct
Counseling and Testing Services assists students in coping with personal and developmental issues. Trained and experienced psychologists offer individual assessments and counseling, and a consulting psychiatrist is available for evaluations and possible medications. A variety of interest and personality inventories are available to assist students with career planning, educational adjustment, and personal problems and issues. Services for students with disabilities are also available.
Dining Services
253.535.7472
www.plu.edu/~dining
Dining Services, owned and operated by Pacific Lutheran University, is available to all students, faculty, staff, and their guests. Students living on campus are required to be on a meal plan. “Grab and Go” items are available during peak lunch hours. No deductions are made for students eating fewer meals than previously contracted for unless granted by the director of dining services.
Residential students are offered three meal options: any 20, 15, or 10 meals per week. Students living off campus are encouraged to select one of these meal plans or the flexible meal plan offered only to off-campus students.
Students with special dietary requirements, specifically approved in writing by a physician, can in most cases be accommodated by contacting the dining services director. This service is provided at no extra cost.
Visitors may eat in any of the facilities.
Diversity Center
253.535.8750
www.plu.edu/~dcenter
Pacific Lutheran University is committed to the mission of providing a diverse and inclusive education for all students. Graduates of PLU are people capable of effective lives in an expanding, diverse world. Every student at PLU is required to take a course in Alternative Perspectives and in Cross-Cultural Perspectives. Multicul-turalism, outside of the classroom, is experienced through social and educational programming from a variety of sources. The Committee for Educational and Cultural Programming, ASPLU, Diversity Coalition, and different student clubs and organizations that support underrepresented populations at PLU all work together to create a campus climate that is welcoming of all students.
The Diversity Center is staffed by a Director and Diversity Advocates. Diversity Advocates are diverse PLU students working together to bring multicultural awareness to our campus and surrounding communities. They provide support to students and clubs that work with diversity-related issues and raising and sustaining general awareness on campus about current educational, political, and social issues related to race, ethnicity, gender, age, and sexuality. They are available to help all students, staff, and faculty who have interest in areas of multiculturalism. The Diversity Center is located on the ground floor of the University Center, across from Campus Ministry.
Other campus resources in the area of multiculturalism are:
• the Office of Student Involvement and Leadership helps different clubs and organizations that support the efforts of underrepresented populations programs and work within the PLU community;
• Associated Students of Pacific Lutheran University (ASPLU) has a formal position of the Director of Diversity, who, along with the student-comprised Diversity Coalition, programs events both social and educational for the entire student body on a variety of multicultural issues; and
• the University Diversity Committee and the Committee for Educational and Cultural Programming both further the university's mission of multiculturalism through policy review and event planning on both a social and educational level in the area of multiculturalism that integrates both the academe and student life.
The Elliott Press
253.535.7387
www.plu.edu/~ppa/ElliotPress.html
The Elliott Press is PLU's studio laboratory for the publishing arts. With the press's large collection of letterpress type and equipment, students design and produce printed texts using the hand-controlled techniques that flourish today in the lively art form known as fine printing. In addition to its own publishing program, the press houses a growing collection of innovative book works and is a working museum, where visitors may watch and try their hands at the technology pioneered by Gutenberg.
Grievance Procedures
Policies and procedures at the university are intended to maintain an orderly educational environment conducive to student learning and development. In order to fulfill institutional responsibility and at the same time follow procedures that are fair, consistent, and protective of each person's rights, appropriate grievance procedures have been established. If a student has reason to believe that an academic or administrative action is unjust, capricious, or discriminatory, these procedures are available for the student to seek redress.
The university has a team of grievance officers to facilitate the grievance process. The grievance officers are Kathleen Farrell (253.535.8871), Susan Mann (253.535.7187), Patricia Roundy (253.535.8786), Kathy Russell (253.535.7643), Richard Seeger (253.535.8786), and Merlin Simpson (253.535.8779). Any of the grievance officers may be contacted to receive assistance.
Copies of grievance procedures are available for review at the office of each grievance officer. Students with disabilities who want o appeal a decision regarding an accomodation shoould contact the Director of Counseling and Testing (253.535.7206), the ADA Greivance Officer.
The Health Center
253.535.7337
www.plu.edu/~slif/hs
The Health Center, “health care away from home,” is staffed with a nurse practitioner and two physician assistants. A physician is available for consultation and referral. Services available include care for illness and injury; physical exams, including pap smears; birth control; and pregnancy testing and counseling. Also offered are allergy shots; immunizations; sexually transmitted disease information, testing, and treatment; consultations on eating disorders, substance abuse, tobacco usage, travel guidelines and immunizations; and health education on a wide variety of health concerns.
Sickness and Accident Insurance is available to all students on a voluntary basis. The Health Center strongly urges all students to have medical insurance. Information about various insurance policies can be found on the Health Center website listed above.
Immunization Policy states that all students born after December 31, 1956 are required to provide on the university health history form an immunization records of two measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccinations after their first birthday. This information must be on file before a student is permitted to register. Also recommended are Hepatitis B and meningitis immunizations.
International students, faculty, and scholars from countries at risk will be required to have a tuberculosis skin test..This test will be done at the Health Center after arrival at the university. The cost is $20.
Questions about the immunization policy should be directed to the Health Center.
Information Resources
(Library and Computing Services)
253.535.7500
www.plu.edu/~libr
Information Resources (IR)—computing and library brought together into one organization—is here to help students be successful. Most IR services are located in Mortvedt Library, but the main public computer room is on the lower level of the University Center, and Television Services and Audio Services are located on the second floor of the Hauge Administration Building.
Personalized assistance in computing, library, and multimedia services can be obtained from IR information professionals in a variety of ways. Here are some good starting points:
• For assistance with computer accounts, email, supported software, and related resources, stop by the User Support help desk in the lower level of the library, call the student help desk at 253.535.5398, email them at comptelc@plu.edu, or visit http://www.plu.edu/~comptelc/.
• For help obtaining the best information on a topic or learning effective research strategies, go to the reference desk on the main level of the library, call 253.535.7507, send email to ref@plu.edu, or visit http://www.plu.edu/~libr/libinfo/ref.html.
• For assistance with multimedia collections, equipment, and services, call 253.535.7509, send email to media@plu.edu, or visit http://www.plu.edu/~media.
Computer accounts are essential for all PLU students. PLU ePass accounts are automatically set up for new students, including an account username and password. After receiving the account name and preliminary password, activate the account and change the password. This allows access to PLU's ePass system, which enables use of email, an expanding set of online student services, a rich collection of electronic research sources and tools, and other services and resources for the exclusive use of the PLU community.
Check out books and multimedia collections and equipment with your student ID card. This card with the barcode on the back serves as a PLU library card.
Computer rooms are located throughout campus. The largest is in University Center and may be viewed through a live webcam to see if computers are available before students set out for the lab. The library has concentrations of computers as well, especially the Haley Center for work with electronic information resources, the Language Resource Center for foreign language learning, and the Digital Media Center for working with digital web, audio, and video technologies. Art, business, communication and theatre, computer science, education, mathematics, nursing, psychology, and the Rieke Science Center maintain other computer labs and technology-rich classrooms, for which access may be limited to specific departments or programs.
Residence hall rooms all have Ethernet network connections. To connect to the network, an Ethernet card and network communication software are needed on the student's computer in addition to ePass access. Modems are needed only for off-campus connections. For information on setting up a computer for residence hall access to the network (ResNet), follow the instructions in the ResNet handbook or contact the student help desk. Ethernet cards for most computers are available at the PLU Bookstore.
Off-campus students need a modem and an Internet service provider (ISP) in addition to the PLU ePass. An ISP usually entails a monthly charge. Additional information on connecting to the PLU network from off campus can be found at http://www.plu.edu/~comptelc/support/access_internet.html
Special library collections, in addition to a large collection of books and articles in both print and digital format, include the Scandinavian Immigrant Experience Collection, regional Lutheran church archives, and the Nisqually Plains Collection—all in the Archives and Special Collections Department. Elsewhere in the library are a K-12 curriculum collection and a children's literature collection.
International Student Services
253.535.7194
www.plu.edu/~admi/internatl.html
International Student Services provides assistance to international
students in adjusting to the university and in meeting both education
and personal needs. Services include orientation, registration, and
on-campus liaison with other university offices. Assistance with
immigration and government regulations as well as immigration
procedures regarding temporary travel, work applications, and
extensions of stay is available.
KPLU-FM, National Public Radio
253.535.7758
www.kplu.org
KPLU is a public radio station licensed by the Federal Communications Commission to the Board of Regents of Pacific Lutheran University in the Tacoma/Seattle area at 88.5 FM. With a network of eight booster signals, KPLU extends its service throughout Western Washington. Public radio stations are authorized by the federal government as noncommercial to offer alternative programming not found on commercial radio.
Recognized for its programming excellence, KPLU 88.5, National Public Radio (NPR), is one of the nation's leading public radio stations. KPLU broadcasts NPR news, local and regional news, and jazz to more than 280,000 listeners per week. The KPLU news team files hundreds of stories for national broadcast with NPR each year.
KPLU streams its exclusive, award-winning jazz, and news 24 hours a day on its website. KPLU is also now a leader in worldwide jazz listening.
PLU is the only independent university in the Northwest operating a full-power NPR member station.
Library Services (see Information Resources)
Middle College
253.535.7643
www.plu.edu/~midcol
PLU offers a special six-week summer program for high school juniors and seniors and for first-year college students. Called Middle College, the program is designed to ease the transition from high school to college by sharpening learning skills that are essential to successful completion of a college or university program.
Middle College has both an academic program and an advising and testing component. All students are thoroughly tested and evaluated in private sessions with regard to their reading, writing, verbal, and mathematical skills. In addition, career advising is provided. The aim of Middle College advising is to assess each student's talents and interests in order to provide direction and goals for the college experience.
The academic program offers a chance to improve specific learning skills essential to college success. The classes, offered at several levels in several disciplines, are for Middle College students only, thereby allowing small class size and close contact between students and faculty. All students take a study skills course, which serves as a core of the program. In addition, students may select two courses from among those offered each year. Each student's program is individualized to promote maximum growth.
New Student Orientation
253.535.7195
www.plu.edu/~slif/orient
New student orientation endeavors to assist students and their families with the transition to PLU. The four-day fall program introduces students to many dimensions of PLU life. Fall orientation includes meeting with a faculty advisor, talking in small groups with other new students, becoming acquainted with campus services, and having some relaxed time with other students before classes begin. Special activities are also planned that respond to concerns of families of new students. While January and spring orientations are more condensed, they also provide new students with an introduction to academic life and cocurricular activities.
Off-Campus Student Services
253.535.7195
www.plu.edu/~offcamp
Student Involvement and Leadership (SIL) provides off-campus students with a relaxing office and supportive staff. Off-campus students are invited to seek involvement, resources, and support through this office. SIL partners with ASPLU to coordinate communication and programming and to advocate for nonresidential students. In addition, the following resources are available:
• Lounges: especially designed for off-campus students, on the lower level of the University Center, the upper level of the Hauge Administration Building, the first floor of Rieke Science Center, and the University Gallery in Ingram Hall
• Meal plans: PLU's FlexPlan (25 meals per academic year) and LutePoints are convenient and economical meal options for off-campus students
• Off-campus housing: If you are looking for off-campus housing, check the off-campus notebooks in Residential Life and the bulletin boards in the UC.
• ASPLU: Four elected members of ASPLU student government are off-campus senators.
Center for Public Service
253.535.7173
253.535.7652
www.plu.edu/~pubsrvc
The Center for Public Service connects the PLU campus to the surrounding communities by providing opportunities for students, staff, and faculty to serve community needs as part of their university experience.
There are many ways PLU people can become involved in community service at PLU. They can work with all ages—preschoolers through senior citizens—at the Family and Children's Center, a coalition of social service agencies housed together in PLU's East Campus that closely cooperates with the Center for Public Service. Students can also become involved in community work through academic service-learning classes that explore the relationship between an academic subject and community service experience. The Center for Public Service is a resource to faculty teaching these courses, which are available in many departments, and can help students find out about them. For a variety of volunteer work, individuals and student groups can also use the Volunteer Center, part of the Center for Public Service, to browse through listings of over 100 volunteer opportunities on and near the PLU campus and to learn about residence hall or student-club service projects.
To find out more about how to become engaged in the community, call the Center for Public Service, or stop by Ramstad Room 116.
Residential Life
253.535.7200
www.plu.edu/~rlif
The university requires that all full-time (12 or more semester hours) students live and eat on campus unless the student meets one of the three following conditions: (1) is living at home with parent(s), legal guardian(s), spouse, or child(ren); (2) is 20 years of age or older on or before September 1 for the academic year or Feburary 1 for spring semester; or (3) has attained junior status (60 semester hours) on or before September 1 for the academic year or February 1 for spring semester.
As a residential campus, Pacific Lutheran University offers students a valuable experience in community living. The university recognizes the importance of nonclassroom activities in providing an education. The aim of residential living is to help students grow personally, socially, culturally, and spiritually.
Campus residences are organized into communities in which each individual counts as a person. New knowledge shared with friends in the residence halls takes on a very personal meaning. Men and women of many backgrounds and cultures live on campus; therefore, students in residence halls have a unique opportunity to broaden their cultural horizons.
The university cares about the quality of life on campus. The attractive and comfortable residence halls enrich the quality of life and enhance the learning process. The university offers opportunities for student leadership experience, formal and informal programs, and peer associations. The student governing bodies are strong and actively participate in campus life.
A selection of modern, attractive halls, each with its own traditions and unique advantages, offers students the opportunity to establish a comfortable living pattern. All halls include informal lounges, study rooms, recreation areas, and common kitchen and laundry facilities.
Most of the halls are co-educational. Although they are housed in separate wings, men and women in co-ed halls share lounge and recreation facilities and common residence government, and participate jointly in all hall activities. One all-women's hall is available for those women who desire this living experience.
An all single-room hall has been established for those 20 years of age or older, or who have attained a minimum of junior status. This independent living environment is intended to meet the needs of the older student.
South Hall, an apartment-style residence, is designed for students who are 20 years of age or older, or who have attained a minimum of junior status. This living option provides for some added independence while continuing the many benefits of campus living.
Responsibilities of Community Life
Within any community certain regulations are necessary. Pacific Lutheran University adopts only those standards believed to be reasonably necessary and admits students with the expectation that they will comply with those standards. All members of the university community are expected to respect the rights and integrity of others. Conduct which is detrimental to students, faculty, staff, or the university, or which violates local, state, or federal laws, may be grounds for sanctions or for dismissal. The university prohibits the possession or consumption of alcoholic beverages on campus and limits the hours when students may have visitors of the opposite sex in their residence hall rooms. The code of conduct for all students is available online at www.plu.edu/print/handbook.html.
Student Activities
253.535.7195
www.plu.edu/pluexper/interest/act.html
Student activities are regarded as essential factors in higher education. Some are related to courses of instruction such as drama, music, and physical education; others are connected more closely to recreational and social life. Involvement in student activities provides practical experience and at the same time develops an understanding of self in relation to others. Cocurricular programs include student government (Associated Students of PLU and Residence Hall Association), sports activities (varsity, intramural, and club sports), student media (newspaper, social justice journal, artistic magazine, radio, and television), student clubs and organizations, and community service programs. With over 100 student activities in which to become involved, there is sure to be at least one which will enrich a person's college experience.
Student Life
253.535.7191
www.plu.edu/~slif
The quality of life cultivated and fostered within the university is an essential component of the academic community. The environment produced is conducive to a life of vigorous and creative scholarship. Pacific Lutheran University also recognizes that liberal education is for the total person and that a complementary relationship exists between students' intellectual development and the satisfaction of their other individual needs. Interaction with persons of differing life experiences, application of classroom knowledge to personal goals and aspirations, and cocurricular experiences are all available and total components of education at PLU. In a time when there is a need for meaningful community, the campus facilitates genuine relationships among members of the university from diverse religious, racial, and cultural backgrounds. All of the services and facilities provided are intended to complement the academic program. The services reflect changing student needs, and the opportunities for student participation include virtually all aspects of the university. Individual attention is given to students' concerns, including a variety of specific services outlined here and on the web at www.plu.edu/~slif/.
Student Services Center
253.535.7161
800.678.3243
www.plu.edu/~ssvc
The Student Services Center, located in Hauge Administration Building, room 102, assists students, families, and the PLU community with registration, financial aid, account financing, veteran's assistance, Perkins/Nursing loans, and other general university questions. If you have any other additional questions or concerns and are not sure whom to contact, call us. Innovative customer services are provided with a dedication to assist and educate students through the academic process with financial assistance and resources.
To access information on a student's financial aid, billing inquiries, schedules, etc. you must have the student's identification numbers and Personal Identification Number (PIN). A PIN is assigned to each student attending PLU. This security is part of the university's policy regarding the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) of 1974. It is the student's right to give this number to a parent or a significant other for access. Anyone transacting business on a student's behalf will need the PLU ID number and PIN or information will not be released.
Summer Sessions
253.535.7126
www.plu.edu/~summer
An extensive summer school curriculum is available to all qualified persons. In addition, summer session typically is a time when the faculty offer innovative, experimental courses, which cover a broad range of contemporary issues and perspectives in many fields. The summer session consists of three discrete four-week terms and a one-week workshop session and begins the last week of May. Many courses are taught in the evening, two nights per week for nine weeks. Master of Business Administration courses are taught during two six-week terms, two nights per week. Designed for undergraduates and graduate students alike, the summer program serves teachers and administrators seeking credentials and special courses, first-year students desiring to account financing, veteran's assistance, by the schools and departments. Nonmatriculated students who enroll for the summer session need only submit a letter of academic standing or give other evidence of being prepared for college work.
A complete Summer Session Catalog, outlining the curriculum as well as special institutes, workshops, and seminars, is printed each spring and is available by calling or by viewing it online.
Volunteer Center
253.535.8318
www.plu.edu/~voluntr
PLU's Volunteer Center, run by students and housed in the Center for Public Service, seeks to give students opportunities to put to work their dreams for a better world. The Volunteer Center has listings for over 100 organizations who need volunteers. Students can stop by and browse through the placement lists, or make an appointment with one of the Volunteer Center coordinators who help match students with organizations. Class projects, residence hall group activities, one day or several, the Volunteer Center can help students help!
Women's Center
253.535.8759
www.plu.edu/~womencen
The Women's Center is an on-campus resource center that serves students, staff, and faculty. Located on lower campus in the little blue house next to the softball field (1004 124th Street South), the center provides advocacy, resources, and educational programming for and about women and gender equity. Both women and men are welcome to use the resources of the Women's Center and encouraged to take advantage of the safe, supportive, and confidential atmosphere for support or network groups. The staff at the Women's Center offers confidential support and assistance in dealing with sexual harassment, rape or sexual assault, and dating/relationship issues. Throughout the year, the center also provides a variety of opportunities for gathering and celebration.
Writing Center
253.535.8709
www.plu.edu/~writing
The Writing Center provides a place for students to meet with trained student consultants to discuss their academic, creative, and professional writing. Student staff members help writers generate topics, develop focus, organize material, and clarify ideas. In an atmosphere that is comfortable and removed from the classroom setting, student readers and writers talk seriously about ideas and writing strategies. Most sessions are one-hour meetings, but drop-in students with brief essays or questions are welcome.
The Writing Center is open Monday through Thursday from 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and Sunday from 4:00 to 9:00 p.m. These hours may vary slightly from semester to semester.