Dedicated to making the transition from high school or another college a positive one, Douglass College provides a number of programs for the new student.
First-Year Residences. Most first-year students live in one of three residences: Katzenbach, Lippincott, or Gibbons. The staff in the first-year residences include a graduate residence director, undergraduate resident assistants (RAs), and undergraduate peer academic leaders. Together, the staff help students adjust to college, develop communication and problem-solving skills, understand their responsibilities as members of a residential community, and become successful in their academic pursuits.
Placement Tests and Course Selection. Admitted first-year students are invited to campus in May for placement testing, academic advising, and course selection. Transfer students are invited to campus in July for academic advising and course registration. Parents also are invited to participate in programs and activities designed for their special interests.
Fall Orientation. All new students participate in a fall orientation program designed to introduce them to Douglass College staff members and one another, and to familiarize them with resources, policies, and procedures.
Shaping a Life. All first-year students enroll in Shaping a Life, an interdisciplinary course designed to make students think about women`s roles in shaping the world in which we live. Students examine the lives and achievements of other women through biography, autobiography, and oral history, studying the ways that women`s lives are shaped in the living and in the telling. A lecture series integrated into the course provides students with the opportunity to hear prominent women from diverse backgrounds speak about their lives. The course is designed to develop critical thinking, reading, and writing skills, and to provide a solid introduction to the research process.
