Academic Advising Portal

For a PDF Quick Sheet Guide that describes the Gen Ed requirements and some academic policies, click here.

Campus Map. This interactive campus map shows the locations of all buildings, parking lots, emergency “blue phones” and other locations of interest at Bates College.

Recommended Entry Course Page: This page includes information that 1) briefly summarizes the field of study of each academic unit, 2) highlights introductory courses or entry points for students who might be interested in that field of study, and 3) explains how those entry courses also fulfill requirements of the General Education Program (Major + 1, 5 MOIs, 3 Ws).

The General Education Program: This page provides a helpful summary of the Bates general education requirements, which includes the Major +1, 5 MOIs, and 3 Ws). For a rationale for the program please see either the college catalog or review this PDF about “Exploring the Bates Curriculum.” Students and faculty may find the advising pyramid graphic helpful as it visually depicts all of the requirements of the general education and illustrates how the 5MOIs can be understood as a foundation on which a Bates educational experience may be built. For answers to Frequently-Asked Questions about the MOIs, please see this document prepared by the Registrar. In addition, you can watch the video below, which explains the general education requirements at Bates.

Academic Policies are discussed in the Bates Catalog. To review these polices, go to the Catalog, click on “Academic Program” at the top. Then, click on “Academic Policies.”

Registrar. The Office of the Registrar and Academic Systems maintains the permanent academic records of all students. The Registrar is located at Libbey Forum on Mountain Avenue and can be reached at registrar@bates.edu. The office oversees and provides services related to the curriculum, course registration, production of the Course Schedule each term, classroom scheduling, grades, management of applying non-Bates credit to your Bates degree, e.g., AP credit, transcripts, transfer credit, enrollment certifications, independent study, and diplomas. It also maintains the “First Day of Class Meeting Drop Policy.” And, there are a number of resources that the Registrar maintains to assist faculty in a range of activities, including but not limited to guides on Garnet Gateway; major, minor, and concentration declaration; course planning; and creation and implementation of the scheduling grids that are used to generate the course schedules by term.

Academic Integrity Policy, Plagiarism, and Unintentional Misuse of Sources: Violations of academic integrity are among the most serious offenses that students can commit; any violation may result in consequences at both the course and institutional levels. As contributors to an ongoing scholarly and creative conversation that depends upon thoughtful and fair acknowledgment and treatment of the inquiries, reflections, and expressions of others, each member of the Bates community is expected to use and represent the work of others fairly and honestly; to acknowledge the work of others fully and accurately through proper attribution and citation; and to produce their own work unless collaboration is allowed.

Course Deferrals: Students are expected to complete all work assigned by faculty by the end of finals. In turn, faculty are expected to provide students with clear guidelines in their syllabi and in class discussions regarding all assignments, including test dates and paper deadlines. The College recognizes that circumstances beyond the control of the student may occasionally necessitate the extension of a deadline for some course work beyond the end of the semester. In the interest of fairness and equity to all students, the reasons for such deferrals must be limited in scope. For more information on circumstances in which a course deferral is warranted and the processes to obtain a deferral go here.

Repeating Courses. Students may repeat a course only if they have received a grade of F for the course or have withdrawn and received a grade of W, with the exception of certain courses which may be repeated for credit, as determined by the Committee on Curriculum Review. Course descriptions note if a course may be repeated for credit. An F grade remains in the student’s grade point average even if the course is repeated. Consequently, if a student fails or withdraws from a course and enrolls in it in a future term, both instances of the course will be considered when Satisfactory Academic Progress is calculated. More information can be found at the Bates Catalog. Click on Academic Program and then click on Academic Policies to find more information.

Make-Up Exams. The policy and parameters for making up missed exams is here. Accessible Education may be able to proctor a make-up exam. Requests for a make-up exam can be completed here. Please note that qualifying absences for makeup exams include those related to NCAA athletic competitions, observance of a significant religious holiday, illness, severe medical or psychological issues, personal emergencies, and debate competitions. For absences that fall outside of these categories, arrangements must be made directly between the student and instructor to make up the exam. All students who need to make up an exam due to illness must receive clearance from Bates Health Services prior to submitting your makeup exam request.

Academic Standing Committee: The Academic Standing Committee is made up of faculty and staff members from different departments. This committee is responsible for evaluation of a student’s progress and evaluates petitions for exceptions to academic standards, policies, and procedures. Additionally, the Committee reviews requests for registration adjustments that are not considered purely administrative in nature. Students who believe their situation may warrant an exemption from a College academic policy or requirement may submit a Petition to the Committee on Academic Standing. Petitions are typically reviewed weekly when classes are in session. Students can find the petition form, instructions, and committee review timeline on the Academic Standing Committee website. Any questions about the petition process can also be sent to academicstanding@bates.edu

Academic Appeals Procedures:  Bates’ commitment to fairness and consistency supports an appeal process that affords students the opportunity to have certain significant decisions affecting their academic work and status reviewed. If a student has reasonable grounds to believe that a faculty member has assigned a final grade or taken other academic action that significantly departs from established course-specific policies, is inconsistent with established College policies, or is grossly unfair for other reasons, the student may follow the appeal procedures described at this site to obtain equitable review of the matter. It is the student’s responsibility to make a timely, compelling case.

Exam Scheduling. If students are seeking information regarding whether an in-term exam or a final exam can be rescheduled, then they should review the policies stated here.

Satisfactory Academic Progress refers to both the number of credits and the GPA threshold that a student must maintain over their time at Bates. Federal law requires the college to establish standards of satisfactory progress toward the degree and to monitor each recipient of federal aid to ensure that the student is making satisfactory progress according to those standards. However, Bates applies Satisfactory Academic Progress standards to all students, regardless of financial aid status. The concept of satisfactory progress mandates the monitoring of both grade point average (GPA) — qualitative progress — and the number of credits completed — quantitative progress. The academic standing of students is reviewed twice a year: following the fall semester and following Short Term, when both the winter semester and Short Term are considered. Short Term is considered part of the student’s cumulative GPA and is included when calculating good standing or probation. A brief guide to GPA and Credit Thresholds as well as to guidelines in cases of academic dismissal is here. Full information on the GPA and credit thresholds is in the discussion of “Satisfactory Academic Progress,” can be found in the Academic Policies section of the Catalog.

Confidentiality of Records: The confidentiality of Bates student records is protected under provisions of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA). This law specifies rights of access by a student, her or his parents (or guardians), and others to the student’s educational record, the release of “directory information,” the location of these records, and procedures for correcting the records. Students and parents are notified of these rights in the Student Handbook and College Catalog; entering students are asked to sign a FERPA Release Form indicating any third party to whom records may be released on a regular basis such as parents or guardians. Educational records maintained by the College consist of the records in the offices of Student Affairs, Registrar, Student Financial Services, Career Services, Financial Aid, and faculty advisors.

Course Attendance Policies: Information about course attendance policy and absences.

Pass/Fail Grade Policy. Over the course of their Bates career, students may take a total of 2 Bates courses in the fall or winter semester on a pass/fail basis, with a maximum of 1 course per semester. Students may not elect to take a Short Term course pass/fail. The following conditions apply:

  1. Students may declare or change a pass/fail option until the final day to add a course. Students may change from a pass/fail option to a letter grade option until the final day to drop a course.
  2. Students taking a course pass/fail are not identified as such on class rosters. Faculty members submit a regular letter grade (A, B, C, D, F) to the registrar, who converts the letter grade to a pass or a fail. A grade of D-minus or above is considered a passing grade. Unless the student chooses to inform the instructor, only the student, the student’s advisor, and the registrar know the grading mode the student has elected for the course.
  3. Departments and programs decide whether a course taken pass/fail can be used to satisfy major and minor requirements. This information appears in catalog entry for each major and minor.
  4. Courses taken pass/fail are not computed in the student’s grade point average.
  5. Courses taken pass/fail may not be used toward General Education requirements. In other words, all MOIs and all Ws (including thesis/capstone if that is the W3 and FYS, which is the predominant W1) must be taken for a letter grade. All courses within a General Education Concentration must also be taken for a letter-grade.

Leaves of Absence, Withdrawals, and Dismissals. Students may take a leave of absence or withdraw voluntarily from the college at any time by meeting with the Director of Student Support Services. There are a variety of reasons why a student may choose to take a leave or to withdraw from the college. If you are considering one of these options, we encourage you to meet with the Director of Student Support Services early on to begin a conversation regarding your options and to be sure you have enough time to plan accordingly.

Degree Requirements for the Bachelor of Science: Bachelor of science requirements. Candidates for the bachelor of science degree must complete CHEM 107A; CHEM 108A; MATH 106 or 206; PHYS 108 or s31. Students with Advanced Placement credit, International Baccalaureate credit, A-Level credit, or approved transfer credit may fulfill the requirement for one or more of these courses. Students must declare their intention to earn the B.S. degree no later than the end of the first semester of their senior year. Pass/fail may not apply to courses for the B.S. requirements.

Religious Holiday Observance: Bates recognizes the right of students to fulfill their religious obligations and practices. In recognition of Bates’ commitment to a diverse and inclusive student body and the variety of religions observed and practiced by our students, faculty are encouraged to consult the Multifaith Calendars posted online by the Office of the Multifaith Chaplain when developing course syllabi so that conflicts between in class examinations and major religious holidays may be avoided. Given the range of faiths embraced by our students, it may not be possible to avoid all conflicts between scheduled examinations and religious holidays. Students are expected to approach the instructor within the first 3 weeks of the semester if there is a conflict between a scheduled examination, paper, or project due date and a significant religious holiday observed by the student. This timely communication with the faculty member ensures that the student may observe significant religious holidays and make alternative arrangements to complete course assignments without academic penalty. The Office of Accessible Education will continue to be available to proctor makeup exams for students who miss an exam due to observance of a significant religious holiday, illness, severe medical or psychological issues, or personal emergencies.

The Peer Learning Commons (PLC): The PLC is students’ central hub for academic support at Bates. Located in the ground level of Ladd Library, the PLC houses the Student Academic Support Center (SASC) and the Student Writing and Language Center (SWLC). Each of these Centers are staffed by peer tutors and professional staff to assist students in engaging their academic work across the curriculum as well as in developing study skills ranging from time management and note-taking to inclusive study group practices.

Student Academic Support Center (SASC). SASC provides support for introductory and intermediate level courses in mathematics, statistics, programming, natural sciences, life sciences, and quantitative social sciences. SASC is located in the Peer Learning Commons on the Ground Floor of Ladd Library (you can enter either through the ground level Ladd door across from Chase Hall and Carnegie Science or you can enter the main level Ladd door, make 2 left turns and go down the stairs). SASC is open for drop-in support on the Ground Floor of Ladd Library at the following times: Mondays – Thursdays from 11am to 4 pm & 6 pm to 9 pm; Fridays from 11am to 3pm; Sundays from 6 pm to 9 pm. You can also make an appointment by using Penji. Instructions on how to do so are here.

Student Writing & Language Center (SWLC). SWLC, located in the Peer Learning Commons on the ground floor of Ladd Library, empowers Bates students in becoming more effective writers, language-users, communicators, thinkers, and learners by providing a supportive environment for idea generation, collaboration, drafting, writing, reading, revising, editing, studying, speaking, and presenting. SWLC tutors are Bates students trained to listen to and guide their peers in using writing and language to achieve students’ personal and academic goals. The SWLC serves all writers at any stage of the writing process. Our peer writing tutors can help students develop strategies for: understanding a writing assignment; coming up with ideas to write about; understanding feedback from professors; outlining and drafting; using your voice; integrating and citing sources; revising your drafts; editing and proofreading final drafts. You can also make an appointment by using Penji. Instructions on how to do so are here.

Accessible Education: Accessible Education is committed to ensuring full access to both academic and co-curricular programming college wide for students with disabilities.  It is located on the lower level of Ladd Library. It is open Monday through Friday from 8:00am to 4:30pm and is available at 207-786-6222 or accessibility@bates.edu.

Student Research Support and Funding: A distinctive characteristic of a Bates education is the emphasis on student research. At Bates, we help students to develop the skills and background they need to undertake research projects throughout their time at Bates. The Dean of Faculty office offers a wide variety of research funding during both the academic year and during the summer to assist students in conducting research during their entire time at Bates and not only for senior thesis and capstone support. Tips for preparing a strong proposal to apply for research support from Bates can be found here. The Dean of Faculty has prepared a Student Research Handbook that can assist students in utilizing any research funding provided by Bates.

Library and Research Support: The research librarians in Ladd Library can assist students in learning how to utilize all of the available resources to conduct research.

Advising Guides for Particular Fields of Study: Some academic units or divisions have created advising guides that inform students about particular courses they should take if they want to major in a particular field of study.

Computing Support: If your advisee has computer and/or laptop needs, e.g. their current laptop is being repaired, please refer them to their Student Support Advisor. The SSA will then connect the student to resources which may include a loaner laptop.

Pre-Health Professions Information and Pathways: Students interested in pursuing a health profession should be sure to review all of the resources at this site put together by the pre-health advisors at the Center for Purposeful Work. It is important that students considering a pre-health pathway take CHEM 107, which is only offered in the Fall semester.

Credit for AP, IB and A-Levels: Bates offers some credit to students for work done in accredited advanced courses in high school. Students should review the information on the Registrar’s Office website about non-Bates credit for details on earning credit for high school coursework.

Transfer Credit: Students should review the transfer credit policy on the Registrar’s Office website and consult with the Registrar’s Office if they have questions about their transfer credit.

Language Placement Tests: The distinct language departments at Bates have different approaches to language placement given a student’s previous experience with the language. For more information regarding language instruction and at what level a student might begin their language study at Bates, please click on the relevant links listed below:

Math Placement Tests: The first math course a student takes depends on their background. In most cases, it will be MATH 105 (Calculus I), 106 (Calculus II), 205 (Linear Algebra), or 206 (Multivariable Calculus). If a student has AP, IB, or A-level credit for just MATH 105 (Calculus I), sign up for MATH 106 (Calculus II) or beyond. If a student also has AP, IB, or A-level credit for MATH 106 (Calculus II), sign up for MATH 205 (Linear Algebra) or MATH 206 (Multivariable Calculus). Even if a student does not have official credit, if they have a strong background in Calculus, we urge them to sign up for the next level after what they have completed.  Successful completion of MATH 106 (Calculus II) fulfills any Bates requirements for MATH 105 (Calculus I).  Successful completion of MATH 206 fulfills any Bates requirements for both MATH 105 (Calculus I) and MATH 106 (Calculus II).  This includes the Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree.  Please take the non-binding, anonymous math placement exam to further assess which course best suits you. If you have further questions and would like to contact someone, please consult Mathematics Department Contacts.

Chemistry Placement: First-year students who want to take chemistry in their first semester should register for CHEM-107 (any section.) Those students with AP/IB/A-level credit should consult Selecting Your First Chemistry Course.

Center for Global Education: The Center for Global Education is the hub of global learning and cross-cultural engagement for students, faculty and staff of Bates. Resources for faculty to advise students considering global education opportunities and programs can be found here. In addition, the Center for Global Education provides advising, programming, and resources for international students and for all students seeking to study off-campus. For an overview of all of the off-campus study opportunities at Bates, please view this video. You can find more information on semester/year off-campus study and Short Term off-campus study on the relevant websites.

Workshop video and presentation slides

Timeline of the Course Registration Process

  • Monday, October 21, 2024 – All-student email goes out from Engel at or near 7 AM (detailing the registration process and timeline, pointing students to set up appointments with advisors, pointing students to the “how to” videos at the Student Advising Portal, and highlighting important information by class year)
  • Friday, October 25, 2024 – Final/Complete Winter 2025 Course Schedule visible on Garnet Gateway or or near 4 PM Eastern
  • Monday, October 28, 2024 – Academic Advisors can begin having advising meetings with their advisees (general recommendation: when scheduling meetings, remind students to come prepared to the meeting, e.g., they should review their Degree Audits, review the course schedule, begin to identify possible courses) – email templates are available at the Academic Advising Portal
  • Friday, November 1, 2024 – Students can begin to register at 9 AM Eastern for up to 4.5 Bates Credits (Round 1)
  • Friday, November 8, 2024 – Registration (Round 1) closes at 4 PM Eastern
  • Tuesday, November 12, 2024 – Round 1 results are made available to students on Garnet Gateway. If students have 4 credits and are satisfied with results they are done and no further action is necessary; they can adjust schedules once the Add/Drop period opens.
  • Wednesday, November 13, 2024 – Petitioning (Round 2): If a student selected a course that they did not get into at the end of Round 1, they can submit a short petition on Garnet Gateway (1 to 2 sentences) detailing their reasons for seeking admission to an open seat in the class. They can do so until 11:59 PM on Sunday, November 17, 2024
  • Monday, November 18 to Sunday, November 24 – Faculty review, accept, or reject petitions on Garnet Gateway.
  • Monday, December 2, 2024 – Updated schedules available for students to review on Garnet Gateway
  • Tuesday, December 3, 2024 – Add/Drop (Round 3) opens to students. Students can adjust their schedules up to 5.5 credits by adding and/or dropping courses from their schedule. Adding will continue into the third week of the Winter semester (the latter half with permission of instructor only). Drop deadline is later—usually late February.

The above video goes through the steps of course selection and registration. Below are the relevant dates of the process for Winter 2025 classes:

Timeline of the Course Registration Process

  • Monday, October 21, 2024 – All-student email goes out from Engel at or near 7 AM (detailing the registration process and timeline, pointing students to set up appointments with advisors, pointing students to the “how to” videos at the Student Advising Portal, and highlighting important information by class year)
  • Friday, October 25, 2024 – Final/Complete Winter 2025 Course Schedule visible on Garnet Gateway or or near 4 PM Eastern
  • Monday, October 28, 2024 – Academic Advisors can begin having advising meetings with their advisees (general recommendation: when scheduling meetings, remind students to come prepared to the meeting, e.g., they should review their Degree Audits, review the course schedule, begin to identify possible courses) – email templates are available at the Academic Advising Portal
  • Friday, November 1, 2024 – Students can begin to register at 9 AM Eastern for up to 4.5 Bates Credits (Round 1)
  • Friday, November 8, 2024 – Registration (Round 1) closes at 4 PM Eastern
  • Tuesday, November 12, 2024 – Round 1 results are made available to students on Garnet Gateway. If students have 4 credits and are satisfied with results they are done and no further action is necessary; they can adjust schedules once the Add/Drop period opens.
  • Wednesday, November 13, 2024 – Petitioning (Round 2): If a student selected a course that they did not get into at the end of Round 1, they can submit a short petition on Garnet Gateway (1 to 2 sentences) detailing their reasons for seeking admission to an open seat in the class. They can do so until 11:59 PM on Sunday, November 17, 2024
  • Monday, November 18 to Sunday, November 24 – Faculty review, accept, or reject petitions on Garnet Gateway.
  • Monday, December 2, 2024 – Updated schedules available for students to review on Garnet Gateway
  • Tuesday, December 3, 2024 – Add/Drop (Round 3) opens to students. Students can adjust their schedules up to 5.5 credits by adding and/or dropping courses from their schedule. Adding will continue into the third week of the Winter semester (the latter half with permission of instructor only). Drop deadline is later—usually late February.

If you have questions, please see your academic advisor first. Your academic advisor is listed at the top of your Degree Audit; they are also included at the landing page (called “My Success Network”) at BatesReach.

Bates utilizes an “Advising Team” approach whereby each student has a network of support. In the BatesReach system, this network is referred to as “My Success Network,” and it includes 1) a student’s Academic Advisor, Student Support Advisor, Athletic Coach (if the student is a student-athlete), and all of the student’s faculty instructors during a given semester.

Each first-year student has a set of three advisors–their Academic Advisor, their Student Support Advisor, and their Junior Advisor–and each has a different role. The Academic Advisor is most often a student’s First-Year Seminar until the student declares a major. Then the academic advisor is a faculty member in that major field of study (if a student declares two majors, they work with an Academic Advisor in each field of study, and if a student declares a minor, they also have an Academic Advisor in that minor field of study). Here is a bit more information about each role:

Academic Advisor: Until a student declares a major (no later than March 1 of their second year), their pre-major academic advisor is most often their First-Year Seminar instructor. Once a student declares a major, a faculty member within that academic unit becomes their academic advisor. The academic advisor helps students explore the curriculum to discover their interests and to fulfill general education requirements, e.g., 5 Mode of Inquiry credits, Major + 1 (where the “+ 1” can be a second major, a minor, or a General Education Concentration), 3 W credits, 32 total credits toward degree (including 2 short-term courses, each short-term course counts as 0.5 credits).

Student Support Advisor (SSA): The Student Support Advisor supports student success by ensuring they know whom to go to when they need guidance, assistance, or just someone to talk to. Students are assigned a Student Support Advisor prior to their matriculation and remain with their advisor for the duration of their enrollment at Bates. While your pre-major academic advisor – who is your First-Year Seminar (FYS) instructor – provides the primary academic advising for students, Student Support Advisors are an additional point of contact and support for students who have concerns or questions about their academic plans.

Residential Junior Advisor (JA): At Bates, all first-year students live within First-Year Centers in the residence halls. Each FYC has an assigned junior advisor (a residential advisor often a sophomore or junior) who serves as a key peer resource to assist students in navigating opportunities at Bates. Most common questions about residence life at Bates, e.g., housing accommodation, roommate information, etc., are answered at the Office of Residence Life and Health Education website.

Student Affairs. This is the main website for Student Affairs. The overarching goal in Student Affairs is to support every student for a successful Bates experience, and to help prepare students for rewarding and engaged lives after Bates. The site contains links to all offices within Student Affairs as well as key resources such as BatesReach. You can also access the Student Advising Hub at this site.

Overview of Student Support Resources: This brief document summarizes a range of health and wellness and other support resources at Bates. It provides information on health-related, community, confidential, and emergency response resources and can be a good first step in identifying the appropriate resource for your student.

Information on Student Support Advisors: The Student Support Advisor program supports student success by ensuring they know whom to go to when they need guidance, assistance, or just someone to talk to. Students are assigned a Student Support Advisor prior to their matriculation and remain with their advisor for the duration of their enrollment at Bates.

Student Conduct and Community Standards. In keeping with the College’s mission to encourage student development, and to foster leadership, service, and creativity, certain policies and community standards have been established to further these educational goals. An overview of the College Code of Student Conduct and Disciplinary Procedures is here. Conduct includes matters of Academic Integrity and matters of Social Conduct including but not limited to actions against persons or property as well as alcohol and marijuana use policy.

BatesReach: Student Affairs has launched BatesReach: an online tool that will make it easier for students to reach out to their advisors and professors. In order to help students develop and maintain strong connections with faculty and staff across campus, and to enhance student success, a new online tool has been implemented called, BatesReach. The purpose of BatesReach is to help students succeed by connecting the student to faculty and staff that are in a position to help by virtue of their role with the student. To help you navigate BatesReach, we have developed training materials that include both documentation and videos with step-by-step instructions on how to use many of the features within BatesReach. See https://www.bates.edu/student-affairs/batesreach-training-materials/

Residence Life: At Bates, all first-year students live within First-Year Centers in the residence halls. Each FYC has an assigned junior advisor (a residential advisor, often a sophomore or junior) who serves as a key peer resource to assist students in navigating opportunities at Bates. Most common questions about residence life at Bates, e.g. housing accommodation, roommate information, etc., are answered at the Office of Residence Life and Health Education website. Specific questions regarding move-in dates and move-out deadlines are addressed on the 2023-24 residence life calendar. Questions not addressed at these resources can be directed to housing@bates.edu.

Information on Accessible Education support: Accessible Education is committed to ensuring full access to both academic and co-curricular programming college wide for students with disabilities.  Accessible Education is also a resource to faculty and staff and work collaboratively with campus partners to remove barriers to access and implement solutions.

Bates Health Services: Health Services strives to enhance each student’s wellbeing by providing comprehensive confidential health care, and encouraging informed participation in all health-related decisions.

Information on Counseling and Psychological Services: Counseling & Psychological Services (CAPS) strives to enhance each student’s well being by providing comprehensive, confidential mental health care and by encouraging informed, individual participation on mental health-related decisions. Counseling is free to all Bates students.

Confidential Resource Advisor (CRA): The CRA (formerly known as the Sexual Assault Victim Advocate of SAVA) provides confidential advocacy and support for survivors of sexual violence, dating and domestic violence, stalking, and other types of sexual harassment and sexual misconduct. The CRA can be contacted at cra@bates.edu or 207-753-6996.

Bates Care Collaborative: The Bates CARE Collaborative (BCC) is a multidisciplinary team that provides coordinated, proactive, and person-centered support for students, faculty, and staff, who may be in distress and/or exhibiting concerning behaviors. If you have an immediate concern or an emergency, please contact Security at 207-786-6254, or their emergency line at 207-786-6111. Otherwise please click on the Report A Concern button on the top right side of this page. If you have any questions, please contact BCC members via email at batescarecollaborative@bates.edu. *Please note this email is only monitored during regular business hours.

Financial Support Resources: This resource is for students seeking information on financial support for their Bates education. First, To be considered for need-based financial aid from Bates, you must indicate that you will be applying for financial aid on your admission application and provide all of the materials shown below by the applicable deadline. Bates is committed to meeting 100% of the full demonstrated financial need of every admitted student, regardless of citizenship or immigration status. Financial aid at Bates is renewable for up to four years, provided that financial aid application forms are submitted on time, the student’s family continues to demonstrate eligibility according to institutional standards and the student meets satisfactory academic progress. Families applying for renewal of Bates financial aid must complete the CSS Profile and FAFSA and provide copies of family income tax returns and other materials annually. Deadlines for Financial Aid consideration are here.

Student Emergency Fund. The Student Emergency Fund (SEF) was established with the intention of providing short-term financial assistance to on-campus students experiencing unforeseen and emergent situations during the academic year that would likely impact a student’s ability to remain enrolled at the college. Student Emergency funding requests are reviewed weekly by the Student Emergency Fund Committee.  The committee will respond to requests within two business days. Note that the committee does not review requests over the weekend. Students can apply for Student Emergency Funding by completing this form. When submitting a request, students should be aware that a request may be funded wholly, partially or denied.  The student will be notified of the decision via email.  Student Emergency Funding applications will only be viewed by and shared with the Student Emergency Fund committee unless additional information is necessary from an appropriate department or staff member. Please note the there are eligibility requirements for an application to the SEF to be considered, and those requirements are detailed here.

Well-Being Initiative: We know that definitions of well-being are culturally defined and unique for each individual and that well-being can be uniquely challenging for college students who have many academic, extracurricular, and social demands that can affect their ability to thrive. The Well-Being Initiative is a hub for information and resources on 9 dimensions of Well-Being: 1) Academic, 2) Environmental, 3) Financial, 4) Mental, 5) Occupational, 6) Physical, 7) Relational, 8) Social, and 9) Spiritual. This page also contains a link for more immediate support as well. Just click on the “Need Support Now” button at the upper right.

Information on the Multi-faith Chaplaincy and Support It Offers: The Multifaith Chaplaincy warmly and creatively nurtures the religious, spiritual, secular, and searching community at Bates College, encouraging students to live into fullness and build deeper connection. Through radically inclusive hospitality, we strive to provide spaces for deep sacred expression, devotional exploration, community connection, reflective contemplation, and compassionate transformation.

Student Center for Belonging and Community: The Student Center for Belonging and Community supports the Bates College community by providing educational cultural programming to students. The Student Center for Belonging and Community is a welcoming environment that has comfortable lounge spaces, a computer lab, a conference room, a community kitchen, and much more.

SPARQ!–LGBTQIAP2+ Support: SPARQ! is a network of resources sponsored by the OIE that strive to support students’ positive development of gender, (a)sexuality, and (a)romantic identity. We offer peer mentoring, ally education, and targeted programming focused on specific LGBTQIAP2+ identities accessible to the entire Bates community.

Center for Purposeful Work. Preparing students for lives of meaningful work lies at the heart of the liberal arts mission. Purposeful Work at Bates is about helping students discover the joy and power that arise from aligning who they are with what they do. As our core values, we work with students to: engage in exploration and reflection, find community and connection, and embrace equity and inclusion. We guide students in their discovery of their interests and strengths, their expressions of purposeful work, and their career pathways through appointments, assessments, infused courses, job shadows, and events and opportunities posted on Handshake.

Center for Global Education: The Center for Global Education is the place to explore off-campus study and for support for international students. All international students are welcome to join our programming, events, and seek support advising from CGE staff. There are many ways to be an international student and the CGE supports you whether you hold a visa to study in the USA, are a dual citizen, or even a US citizen who has never lived in the USA. All members of the international circle are welcome.

Please review the presentation, which is about 45 minutes in length, that provides information on academic policies. This information is not only valuable to faculty in their role as academic advisors but as course instructors given that much of the policy reviewed is applicable even if the instructor is not advising in a given semester.

The information is provided as a video. The slide deck and, a full transcript of the video are available as well..

Academic Advising Refresher 2023-24–Asynchronous Resources

Learning Goals for Using These Resources:

  • Review with faculty in their role as academic advisors–for pre-major students as well as for students in their majors and minors–the range of academic policies, practices, and resources available to support their advising.
  • Review General Education requirements (5 MOI courses, 3 W courses, Major + 1, 2 short term courses, and a minimum of 32 credits toward degree)
  • Review the range of technological tools to support faculty in their role as academic advisors including but not limited to: Academic Advising Portal, Degree Audit, and BatesReach.
  • Discuss the different roles of the Academic Advisor and the Student Support Advisor (SSA) as well as how these positions can partner with each other.
  • Learn about critical student support resources including but not limited to: health and wellbeing programs and resources, Accessible Education, Student Academic Support Center, Student Writing and Language Center, the Kessler Scholars Program
  • Review important dates and deadlines for both faculty and students during the 2023-24 Academic Year

1. General Education Requirements, Course Registration Processes, Degree Audit, and FERPA

If you have questions, contact Steve Engel, Associate Dean of Faculty or Megan McHenry, Registrar

Goals:

  • Review the General Education Requirements
  • Review the information available at and how to read Degree Audit including how to use the “What If” function as an advising tool
  • Explore the General Education Concentrations by using the Catalog
  • Lifting Registration Holds and Opportunities for Advising Meetings at set times throughout the year

See slides here

2. Advising Portals and Academic Policies and Resources

If you have questions see Steve Engel, Associate Dean of Faculty or Jimmy Riley, Director of Community Standards and Residence Life

Goals:

  • Review the Academic Advising Portal and Student Advising Portal with particular focus on Academic Policies and Academic Resources
  • Review particular policies including but not limited to 1) Academic Progress, 2) Course/Grade Deferrals, 3) Academic Appeals, and 4) Academic Integrity
  • Review how faculty and students can utilize the portals to identify resources and supports throughout the College

See slides here

3. Accessible Education

If you have questions about Accessible Education, contact Carson Dockum, Director of Accessible Education; if you have questions about FERPA, contact Megan McHenry, Registrar

Goals:

  • Review why and how Bates is federally obligated to support educational access to all of its students
  • Review how students can utilize the resources of the Office of Accessible Education, and what supports the Office can make available to students and faculty
  • Review FERPA guidelines and provide examples of best practice to remain in FERPA compliance 

See slides here

4. The Student Support Advisors

If you have questions see Jess Berry, Assistant Dean of Accessible Education and Student Support

Goals:

  • Review the role and responsibilities of the Student Support Advisor (SSA)
  • Discuss how the SSA can partner with the Academic Advisor to support our students

See slides here

5. Using Bates Reach

If you have questions, contact Jess Berry, Assistant Dean of Accessible Education or Vince Bellina, Information Technology Program Manager

Goals:

  • Review how to utilize BatesReach including but not limited to: how to raise a flag and which flags for what purposes
  • Discuss what happens once a flag is raised
  • Review the self-help resources available to learn to use BatesReach
  • Discuss who lowers a flag, when a flag is lowered, and what it means when a flag is lowered

See video recording here

6. Title IX Overview

Goals:

  • Review required reporting 

See slides here

7. Health and Well-Being Programs and Resources at Bates

If you have questions, you can contact any of the following people:

  • Wayne Assing, Director of Counseling and Psychological Services
  • Brenna Callahan, Student Health Support and Outreach Specialist
  • Andee Bucciarelli, Assoc. Director of Residence Life for Health Ed. & Deputy Title IX Coord. for Students
  • Nick Cooke, Associate A.D. for Athletic Performance
  • Molly Newton, Senior Associate Dean of Students for Residence Life and Health Education
  • Blake Reilly, Associate Dean of Students and Director of Operations

Goals:

  • Review the health and wellness programs and supports offered by Bates Health Services, Counseling and Psychological Services, and the Multifaith Chaplaincy
  • Discuss possible scenarios in which these resources might be utilized and how to connect students with these resources

See slides here

8. The Kessler Scholar Initiative

If you have questions please contact Dri Huber, Assistant Dean and Director of First-Generation Programs

Goals: 

  • Review what the Kessler Scholars Program is and how it is related to supporting for first-generation student
  • Review the supports and resources available to Kessler Scholars including but not limited to Kessler clusters in FYS, Kessler Programming, the Kessler Learning Community for FYS instructors and SSAs

See slides here

9. Student Academic & Writing Support Resources (@ the Peer Learning Commons – Ground Level Ladd)

If you have questions about the Student Academic Support Center, please contact Grace Coulombe, Director of Student Academic Support; if you have questions about the Student Writing and Language Center, please contact Bridget Fullerton, Director of Student Writing

Goals:

  • Discuss the new reorganization of student academic support resources and the 2 new Centers that are housed in the Peer Learning Commons: 1) the Student Academic Support Center (SASC) and 2) the Student Writing and Language Center (SWLC)
  • Review the resources that each Center offers and how students can access them and how advisors can refer students to these resources
  • Review particular resources available to first-year student focused on learning skills and learning strategies (the FYE Workshops) and how these connect to in-person resources at SASC

For a Peer Learning Commons overview, see this handout. For talking points about SWLC, see this handout and for information on SASC see this handout . See the slides for all of this material here.

The Advising Workshop Series is a new collaborative initiative of the Dean of Faculty and the Dean of Students and is organized by Associate Dean of Faculty Stephen Engel. It offers faculty (in their roles as academic advisors) and staff (in their roles as student support advisors) opportunities to gain information, share ideas, and work in community with one another. The series responds to what three years of FYS instructors/pre-major academic advisors have said they wanted: 1) consistent opportunities to learn more about college resources to support students, 2) clear information on academic policy, and 3) a community through which to learn and share practices in advising. And these workshops are meant to provide opportunities for professional development in academic advising, which is a metric used in promotion and tenure consideration for faculty. 

The workshops are 55 minutes long and offered twice (at a lunch hour and during the late afternoon) so that they are accessible given faculty and staff schedules. Workshops will be recorded via class capture, and recordings will be hosted on a password-protected section of this Academic Advising Portal. Workshops are weighted toward the front-end of each semester given the need to get information to advisors earlier in the semester. Such a weighting also aligns with the need to get information to academic advisors prior to course-registration meetings, which are key points of contact between advisor and students.

Videos and presentation materials from workshop sessions.

Winter 2023 Schedule

Community, Connection, and Reflection: The First-Year Experience Program at Bates

·      Wednesday, January 18, 2023 (Noon to 12:55 PM) – Lunch “go through the line”—Commons 221

BatesReach Review Session

·      Wednesday, February 1, 2023 (Noon to 12:55 PM) – Lunch “go through the line”–Commons 221

Student Support Resources: Health and Wellness

·      Wednesday, February 8, 2023 (Noon to 12:55 PM) – Lunch “go through the line”–Commons 226

Accessible Education Resources

·      Wednesday, February 15, 2023 (Noon to 12:55 PM) – Lunch “go through the line”–Commons 221

Making the Most of an Advising Meeting during the Advising and Course Registration Week

·      Wednesday, March 1, 2023 (Noon to 12:55 PM) – Lunch “go through the line”–Commons 221

Fall 2022 Schedule

From Admission to Graduation: New Resources for Advisors and Students 

  • Wednesday, September 7, 2022 (Noon to 12:55 PM) – Lunch “go throughline”– Commons 221
  • Thursday, September 8, 2022 (4:15 PM to 5:10 PM) – Snack provided–Commons 226

FERPA, Accessible Education, and Title IX Mandatory Reporting

  • Wednesday, September 14, 2022 (Noon to 12:55 PM) – Lunch “go through line” – Commons 221
  • Thursday, September 15, 2022 (4:15 PM to 5:10 PM) – Snack provided – Commons 226

Student Academic Support Resources: The Library, the Academic Resource Commons, the Writing and Language Center, and the Math & Statistics Workshop

  • Wednesday, September 21, 2022 (Noon to 12:55 PM) – Lunch “go through line”–Commons 221
  • Thursday, September 22, 2022 (4:15 PM to 5:10 PM) – Snack provided–Commons 226

Bobcat First and the Kessler Initiative: Support and Resources for First-Generation Students

  • Wednesday, September 28 (Noon to 12:55 PM) – Lunch “go through line”–Commons 201
  • Thursday, September 29 (4:15 to 5:10 PM) – Snack provided–Commons 226

Supporting Student Health and Wellness

  • Wednesday, October 5, 2022 (Noon to 12:55 PM) – Lunch “go through line”–Commons 221
  • Thursday, October 6, 2022 (4:15 to 5:10 PM) – Snack provided–Commons 226

Student Leaders and Peer-to-Peer Community Building

  • Wednesday, October 12, 2022 (Noon to 12:55 PM) – Lunch “go through line”–Commons 221

Making the Most of an Advising Meeting during the Advising and Course Registration Week

  • Wednesday, October 26, 2022 (Noon to 12:55 PM) – Lunch provided–Commons 221

Global Education and Study Abroad

  • Wednesday, November 2, 2022 (Noon to 12:55 PM) – Lunch “go through line”–Commons 221

Financial Services, Resources, and Supports for Students 

  • Wednesday, November 9, 2022 (Noon to 12:55 PM) – Lunch “go through line”–Commons 221

Advising Meeting Resources (requires login): This page has useful resources for advisors as the prepare to meet with their advisees.