Bard College Catalogue

Bard College Catalogue 2012-13

Student Activities and Services

Dean of Students Office

http://inside.bard.edu/dosa

The Dean of Student Affairs Office (DOSA) is concerned with the quality of student life. The office serves as an information resource for nonacademic matters and tries to accommodate individual circumstances that ensure students’ success while at the College. DOSA and the student services staff create long-range plans to enhance ­student life and develop cocurricular experiences. The oversight for different components of student life is distributed among the dean of student affairs, associate dean of student affairs/director of first-year experience, assistant dean of student affairs/director of sophomore-year experience, and director of residence life. The director of multicultural affairs acts as the primary contact for students, staff, and faculty in promoting an inclusive campus climate. Other services include health and counseling, athletics and recreation, and student activities. Three peer groups, including residential peer counseling, peer health, and a peer crisis hotline, supplement the College’s professional support services.

Athletics and Recreation

http://www.bardathletics.com

The Department of Athletics and Recreation offers a wide range of programs to meet the needs of a variety of active lifestyles and sporting interests, from traditional intercollegiate competition to intramural sports and recreational pursuits. The College sponsors intercollegiate programs for men and women in soccer, cross-country, volleyball, swimming, tennis, lacrosse, track and field, and basketball. Men also compete in baseball and squash. Athletic teams compete under the auspices of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA Division III). Bard is also a member of various athletic conferences, including the Liberty League, United Volleyball Conference, Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference, and College Squash Association.

The Athletic Center and outdoor venues provide the setting for a range of intramural and recreational offerings. Intramural programs include soccer, basketball, floor hockey, tennis, volleyball, softball, kickball, badminton, and squash. At the club level Bard offers rugby, fencing, horseback riding, and Ultimate Frisbee.

Classes are offered in such lifetime pursuits as yoga, Pilates, spin cycling, fitness, kickboxing, karate, belly dancing, swimming, and aikido. Aerobics classes include step, Zumba, cardio kickboxing, low impact, and Tae Bo. Certification courses in CPR/AED and lifeguarding are also available. In addition, the College’s rural setting makes it easy to engage in many outdoor activities, such as running, cross-country and downhill skiing, snowboarding, hiking, cycling, mountain biking, rock climbing, and ice skating. Facilities for golf, bowling, and horseback riding are nearby.

BRAVE

BRAVE, Bard’s Response to Rape and Associated Violence Education, is a professionally directed student-service organization whose members provide anonymous and confidential crisis intervention, supportive counseling, advocacy, and ongoing education to the Bard community. Although BRAVE staff members receive particular training in issues relating to sexual assault, sexual harassment, relationship violence, and sexuality, BRAVE counselors also receive training in eating disorders, depression and suicide, sexual orientation, loneliness, isolation, anxiety, and social and academic issues. BRAVE services are available on a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week basis; call campus extension 7777 to be put in touch with a BRAVE counselor..

Career Development Office

http://inside.bard.edu/career

The mission of the Bard College Career Development Office (CDO) is to help students find a professional purpose and to offer a clear understanding of jobs in the 21st century. In addition to career counseling, job and internship guidance, and career events, CDO resources include job and internship website subscriptions and a career reference library. Informal talks, career-specific panels, and formal symposia are held throughout the year to help students learn about various ­pro­fes­sions and connect with alumni/ae and employers. The CDO hosts a website at www.collegecentral.com/bard that enables students, alumni/ae, and employers to ­connect electronically. This online board lists jobs, internships, volunteer ­oppor­tunities, and announcements of career events. The Career Development Office website, http://inside.bard.edu/career, presents the gamut of CDO services and offers the Bard Basic Job Guide, which includes sample résumés and tips for the job search. Students and alumni/ae are always welcome to use the CDO to seek assistance in exploring their career options and life’s work. 

Chaplaincy

http://inside.bard.edu/chaplaincy

The chaplaincy at Bard is committed to helping students, staff, and faculty explore and develop their spiritual identities. The College belongs to the Colleges and Universities of the Anglican Communion, but that membership does not limit the scope of religious interests. At Bard, the diverse perspectives of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, and Judaism are not only studied, but practiced.  

The chaplaincy has on staff two Episcopal priests, a Catholic priest, an imam, and a rabbi. All are available for pastoral care with students, staff, and faculty. The clergy offer study on a formal and informal basis. The chaplaincy supports and advises the Jewish Students Organization, Muslim Students Organization, Christian Fellowship, Buddhist Meditation group, Sanskrit group, and Catholic community. It helps these students organize and celebrate regular holy observances and develops programming for the campus at large. Worship services for the various faith traditions take place weekly. The chaplaincy also coordinates and ­participates in a series of ecumenical events during the school year.  

Events

Events on campus reflect academic, social, artistic, athletic, recreational, and purely casual pursuits. Distinguished scholars, artists, and performers visit Bard regularly as featured guests in the John Ashbery Poetry Series, Anthony Hecht Lectures in the Humanities, and The Bard Center’s Distinguished Scientist Lecture Series and Lecture and Performance Series. The conferences and lectures sponsored by the Levy Economics Institute and Center for Curatorial Studies are open to undergraduates, as are the concerts of The Bard College Conservatory of Music and Bard Music Festival.

Staff, faculty, and students also bring to the campus a variety of speakers and artists, arrange showings of movies nearly every night of the week, and present their own work in drama and dance concerts, recitals, musical theater, art shows, poetry and fiction readings, lectures, and films. Working with the Office of Student Activities, staff and students also organize hikes, concerts, dances, parties, comedy nights, substance-free entertainment alternatives, and athletic events. The Student Publicity and Activities Resource Center (SPARC), located in the Student Activities Office, serves as a resource for all clubs and individual students looking to plan and publicize events on campus.

Learning Commons

http://inside.bard.edu/learningcommons

The Learning Commons provides academic support to all students, offering credit-bearing courses in ESL, writing, and math, as well as one-on-one peer tutoring in all subjects offered at the College. Students may also meet with staff members for more focused assistance. Workshops are offered throughout the year on specialized topics, including the Senior Project. Critical thinking, note taking, time management, and general study skills are also addressed. Additionally, the Learning Commons administers quantitative literacy tests to help students determine which math courses they should take. Services for students with disabilities include classroom and testing accommodations (see detailed description below). Assistive technology is also available for student use.

Miscellaneous Services

College Bookstore The bookstore carries texts and other books, newspapers, magazines, art supplies, stationery, toilet articles, food items, and novelties. Students may put money into a “bookstore account” via Student Accounts to make purchases with their student ID card. Regular charge cards and Barnes & Noble gift cards in any denomination may also be used for purchases.

E-mail and Internet Services  The College issues all students with computer network user accounts that provide access to Internet, e-mail, and library services.

General IT support and antivirus software are provided for free through the Bard Information Technology Services Help Desk. A high-speed (100Mb) Ethernet connection to the campus computing network and, through that, to the Internet, is ­provided free to all students living in Bard residence halls.

Mail Service Each student has a mailbox at the Annandale-on-Hudson Post Office, located in the Bertelsmann Campus Center. The post office provides all the usual postal services and accepts UPS and private express-mail deliveries. UPS shipments can be sent through the Buildings and Grounds Office on campus. The general mailing address for the College is Bard College, PO Box 5000, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY 12504-5000.

Services for Students with Disabilities

In compliance with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, and the ADA Amendments Act of 2008, Bard College is committed to providing otherwise qualified individuals with disabilities equal access to the College’s academic courses, programs, and activities. In support of this mission, the College provides services and reasonable accommodations to self-identified students who present the appropriate documentation. Students who claim physical, learning, or psychological disabilities should register with the ­disability support coordinator in the Learning Commons at the start of the semester or as soon as the diagnosis of disability is made. The student will be asked to present documentation supporting the ­disability claim and suggested accommodations. For forms, go to www.bard.edu/admission/forms/pdfs/disability.pdf.

Students who have a properly documented disability are entitled to reasonable accommodations or modifications to help them meet academic standards and maintain normal social relationships at the College. “Reasonable” is understood to exclude any accommodation that places an undue burden on the College or would require a fundamental alteration of programs or services. Accommodations include, but are not limited to: exam modifications (extended time, alternative formats, private rooms); alternative ways of completing assignments; housing policy exemptions; and auxiliary aids and services. Particular accommodations afforded a student will be determined jointly by the student and disability support coordinator, in con-sultation with the College’s ADA coordinator and, as appropriate, other members of the faculty and student services staff. Accommodations will be based on an individualized assessment of the student’s needs; what is considered appropriate for one student may not be considered appropriate for another. The College reserves the right to refuse particular accommodations if other accommodations will serve the student’s needs equally as well and place less of a burden on the College. 

Student Counseling Service

http://inside.bard.edu/counseling

The Student Counseling Service is staffed by clinical social workers, a psychologist, two consulting psychiatrists, and a consulting nutritionist. Staff members provide short-term, problem-focused treatment; crisis intervention; and referrals to local physicians, ­psychiatrists, and psychotherapists. Appointments with the counseling service are on a first-come, first-served basis. The staff may make off-campus referrals for any students who cannot be accommodated during the course of the semester. Incoming students who are currently taking medications for an emotional condition, mood stabilization, or attention deficit disorder should make arrangements to have the medication monitored by the prescribing physician at home or should transfer their care to an ­off-campus physician in the Bard area. Likewise, students who have been in psychotherapy and anticipate continuing long-term therapy while at college should seek such care off campus; the counseling service can ­provide a list of psychiatrists and/or psychotherapists in the area. A student who is ­seeing an off-campus therapist is responsible for all arrangements, including appointments, transportation, and fees. The College health insurance policy provides limited coverage for psychotherapy with some private, ­off-campus clinicians.

Student Government and Clubs

All students are members of the Bard College Student Association, a democratic forum with three main functions: to raise issues and take action on those issues or recommend action by the College, to provide student representation on administrative and faculty committees in all matters of concern to the College community, and to administer allocated funds for student-run organizations.

The Educational Policies Committee of the Student Association makes recommendations to appropriate faculty committees and to the dean of the college. The asso­ciation’s Student Judiciary Board deals with violations of the College’s regulations regarding behavior. The Student Life Committee meets with the staff of Student Activities and the Dean of Student Affairs Offices, College administrators, health services personnel, and other student services offices to obtain information and represent the Student Association in all policies that concern student life. Two major administrative and faculty committees on which student representatives serve are the College Grievance Committee and the Committee on Vacancies. Two students are elected by other students to represent them at Board of Trustees and Board of Governors meetings.

The Student Association Planning Committee is directly responsible for the allocation and disbursement of student activity fees. A large portion of the funds goes to the Entertainment Committee, which provides extracurricular campus events such as ­concerts and other musical ­activities. The Planning Committee also allocates funds to about 90 clubs and organizations, such as the Asian American Students Organization, Bard Film Committee, Bard Free Press, Bard Musical Theater Company, Black Students Organization, Latin American Students Organization, Queer Straight Alliance, WXBC radio station, and several magazines of literature and criticism. Students form new clubs every semester, depending on interest.

Student Health Service

http://inside.bard.edu/healthservices

The College maintains an on-campus outpatient health center. The Student Health Service is staffed by four nurse practitioners, a registered nurse, and a part-time physician, under the supervision of the director of health services. The center is located in Robbins House, on the North Campus. While the College is in session, the center is open Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. There is an evening clinic on Thursdays. For illness requiring emergency care, the services of Northern Dutchess Hospital in nearby Rhinebeck are available.