Academic Resources

Library Course Reserve Information

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Some faculty make course reading, viewing, and listening materials available to students through Library Course Reserves. All Fall 2020 reserves are electronic, accessible 24/7 on any device. In Moodle, click on the “Course Reserve” or the “Resource List” link to get to course reserve materials. For non-Moodle courses, click on the “Course Reserve” link on the library homepage (https://www.wesleyan.edu/libr/research/coursereserve.html). Then click on “Access Online Reserve for Courses not in Moodle.” On the Course Reserve Lists page, click “Find Lists” to find your course.  Contact reference@wesleyan.edu for help.

Library Reopening

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Library buildings reopen on Monday and students will once again have access to study seats and the collections.

  • The library buildings reopen to campus only 8:30am this Monday, September 7 for normal semester hours – card access is required
  • Seating is limited based on social distancing guidelines – PPE is required
  • Stacks are closed – starting Monday, Sept 7, students can request books via the catalog for contactless pickup in Olin and Science
  • For students studying remotely, we are mailing books upon request
  • Course reserves are fully online
  • For the latest details on library services this semester, go here:  https://www.wesleyan.edu/libr/services.html

For more information, please contact:

Andrew W. White
Caleb T. Winchester University Librarian
awhite02@wesleyan.edu
860-685-2570

Effective Learning in a Digital Environment Webinar 9/9

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Effective Learning in a Digital Environment – Student Academic Resources Webinar
Sep 9, 2020 06:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Student Academic Resources understands that digital learning environments can be challenging, and increased screen time can be exhausting, but there are strategies that can help! Laura Patey, Dean for Academic Advancement, and Crystal Rose Hill, Accessibility Specialist, will review strategies, tools, and resources students can use for learning effectively in a digital environment.

ADD TO YOUR GOOGLE CALENDAR!

Please click the link below to join the webinar:
https://wesleyan.zoom.us/j/97917755368?pwd=UjlCL1ZRWkgwWjFOeXJ4QmpIUm1Udz09

Webinar ID: 979 1775 5368
Passcode: 472035

Or iPhone one-tap :
US: +19294362866,,97917755368#  or +13017158592,,97917755368#

Or Telephone:
Dial(for higher quality, dial a number based on your current location):
US: +1 929 436 2866  or +1 301 715 8592  or +1 312 626 6799  or +1 669 900 6833  or +1 253 215 8782  or +1 346 248 7799

International numbers available: https://wesleyan.zoom.us/u/aeIsEdvcfb

Tips for Learning in a Digital Environment

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Some students have asked about approaches to managing attending classes remotely during the initial period of quarantine on campus. Specifically, students who share a room with a roommate have asked about how to best approach learning when both roommates have a class at the same time.  Several options exist for students who have these schedule conflicts. Some students will plan to use noise-cancelling headphones while attending classes, while others have asked about alternative spaces that may be available. While we expect students to remain in their residences during the two-week quarantine, you may use lounges or study rooms in your residence, or sit outside your residence by yourself when these conflicts arise.  We understand that this may be challenging during the first week of classes, we are hopeful that as campus opens up following the initial quarantine students will be able to manage these situations more easily.

Student Academic Resources has also put together some resources and tips for students specific to learning in a digital environment. We would like to highlight the recommendation that students pay attention to building a balanced schedule that includes no more than two Zoom lectures in one day. Be sure to be attentive to giving yourself breaks from sitting in front of a screen and build in time to move around.

Check out the Semester Planning Calendars that are available on the Student Academic Resources page

Fall 2020 Writing Support

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Working on your writing? Don’t go it alone! Instead, make a free one-on-one appointment with peer writing tutors at the Writing Workshop. Trained to help Wesleyan writers at any stage of the writing process, writing tutors are available, by appointment, Sunday -Thursday for online appointments. Make an appointment by going to Wesportal→ Academics→ Writing Workshop Account. You’ll be asked to make an account before being brought to our online scheduler.

Want semester long support? Apply for a writing mentor who will work with you for an hour every week. Earn a .25 credit for working with a peer tutor on writing skills like organization, time management, and concision. Learn more at the Writing Workshop website or email the Ford Fellow at writingworks@wesleyan.edu.

Academic and Personal Support Resources

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Wesleyan offers a variety of academic and personal support services for students. With the semester about to begin, you should familiarize yourself with these resources so that you will know where to go when you or someone you know needs to ask for help.

Student Academic Resources
Student Academic Resources (SAR) coordinates programs for intellectual enrichment and academic support.  SAR staff members are available to meet with any student individually throughout the year. Staff members can assist students in developing academic skills or connecting with other resources on campus.

Academic Peer Advisors
The APA Program provides students with a well-informed resource about the course registration process and academic resources beginning with New Student Orientation and continuing throughout the year. Peer advisors are juniors and seniors who work during New Student Orientation (NSO) and throughout the academic year to enhance student access to academic resources.

Deans Peer Tutoring Program
Peer tutors provide supplementary course-content instruction for students who request them. Peer tutoring is provided free of charge; students can receive up to two hours of tutoring each week per course for which they are matched with a tutor. Peer tutors are employed by the University, and paid by the Deans’ Office.  Tutor-tutee matches are made as quickly as possible. While students may be referred to use the Deans’ Peer Tutoring Program, tutees are self-identified, and must complete a request for tutoring in order to be matched with a tutor.

Math Workshop
The Math Workshop is open Sunday through Thursday from 7-10pm. The staff members on duty are either experienced undergraduates or math graduate students. The staff offers a drop-in tutoring service, available to all members of the Wesleyan community. Staff members provide a friendly, relaxed atmosphere while answering questions about mathematics.

Writing Workshop
The Writing Workshop supports Wesleyan students in all aspects of their academic writing. Writing tutors strive to meet writers where they are in the writing process.  That may mean brainstorming a new assignment, reviewing the structure of a draft, tinkering with the details of an essay before it is submitted to an instructor, or mastering important skills. The Writing Workshop supports students with particular writing tasks while also cultivating spaces on campus for students to develop their voice, perspective, and values as writers.

The Resource Center
The Resource Center (RC) seeks to support, empower, and engage students with underrepresented and marginalized identities at Wesleyan University. The center’s areas of focus include promoting dialogue and coalition building around the intersections of race, ethnicity, nationality, socioeconomic status, disability, gender, sexuality, sustainability, spirituality, and social and political activism.  Whether you want to reserve one of our homey meeting spaces, need help with a personal or organizational issue related to social differences, looking for employment opportunities, have a great program idea, want to promote some of the great work that you are already doing in the community, or just want to know what is happening in the center, please reach out to the Resource Center.

Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS)
CAPS provides comprehensive short-term mental health services through multidisciplinary integration with Davison Health Center and WesWell. Students who utilize CAPS psychotherapy services may discuss in confidence any worries, distressing feelings, or difficult situations they are currently experiencing. The goal of CAPS is to assist students as they navigate through life’s challenges within the context of a highly rigorous and demanding academic environment.

Office of Religious and Spiritual Life
The Chaplains from Wesleyan’s Office of Religious and Spiritual Life have been appointed by the University to ensure and promote the spiritual and religious well-being of the campus community. We do this by providing leadership, counseling, and programming that promotes holistic student development and by nurturing many diverse and vibrant religious communities at Wesleyan. The Chaplains are committed to welcoming students of all genders and sexual identities, of all secular and religious traditions, and from all cultural backgrounds. Please feel free to e-mail/call us to schedule a visit or attend one of our programs.

WesWell
WesWell, the Office of Health Education, is an integral part of Wesleyan University’s Health Services. WesWell understands the impact of student health on academic performance and is committed to providing services that are designed to develop healthy behaviors and prevent health concerns that may interfere with academic and personal success.  Health initiatives are evidence-informed, based on Standards of Practice for Health Promotion in Higher Education and data collected from Wesleyan University students.

SHAPE
The Office of Support, Healing, Activism, and Prevention Education (SHAPE) is dedicated to reimagining a world without interpersonal violence, through supportive resources for those who have experienced harm, trauma-informed, healing-centered prevention education programming and trainings, self-care and wellness workshops, and supporting student activism within the Wesleyan University community.  This mission is in service of a larger vision to dismantle intersecting systems of oppression which create conditions for interpersonal violence to occur, and to educate the greater Wesleyan University community about these acts of violence and responding to them in a healing-centered way.  This vision is realized through courageous actions of self-reflection, intervention, and empathetic action.

A Message from the University Librarian on Library Services for Students, Fall 2020

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With the start of this most unusual semester nearly upon us, I write to let you know you can see full details and connect with library services and people here: https://www.wesleyan.edu/libr/services.html

Changes for the fall semester include:

  • Contactless request and pickup for circulating collections and ILL
  • We can make arrangements to get books to you if you are studying remotely
  • Course reserves fully online
  • Special Collections & Archives open by appointment only
  • Limited individual study seats, group study, and meeting rooms

As of this writing, we are planning on reopening both Olin and Science Libraries on August 24th for limited hours, with regular semester hours scheduled to begin August 31st. You are required to wear your mask and observe all campus social distancing guidelines when visiting or studying in the libraries.

I also invite you to join the library in our on-going work towards building and sustaining an antiracist environment. You can see our action steps here: http://wescollections.blogs.wesleyan.edu/2020/06/16/black-lives-matter-a-message-from-the-wesleyan-university-library/. 

We look forward to seeing you again very soon, both on campus and online.

Andrew White, University Librarian
awhite02@wesleyan.edu

Do You Think You’ll Want to Go Abroad?

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It might seem really far off, but many of the non-English speaking programs require 2 or more years of language, so if you want to go abroad during junior year, you should consider taking the language for the country you want to study in your first year. Note that many languages require that you begin a language during fall semesters. You can explore the study abroad programs here and also see the contact information for any questions that come up.

Health Professions Coursework Zoom Session

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Presented by Mildred Rodríguez, PhD, Health Professions Advisor

Wednesday, 29 July 2020
11:00 AM – 12:00 PM (Eastern Standard Time)
Register in advance for this meeting:

https://wesleyan.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJAucuCopzkiE92_fXS4yVDFvlDI0_x2PQB4  

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

This overview will assist students in developing a schedule that will incorporate at least one of the science pre-requisite courses for the health profession of your interest. Additionally, the goal is to encourage students to explore other areas of study and develop competencies that overlap across disciplines. There will be time for questions in the last 20 to 25 minutes of the overview.

Presented by the Gordon Career Center
Co-Sponsored by the American Medical Student Association, Wesleyan Chapter
Co-Sponsored by Minority Association of Premedical Students, Wesleyan Chapter
Co-Sponsored by the National Organization on Rare Diseases Student Association of Connecticut
Co-Sponsored by the Wesleyan Pre-Veterinary Medicine Club