Communication
“Christendom College respects the maturity and independence of all students enrolled in the College, and therefore the administration and faculty support a student-first mentality. Students are the primary correspondents with the College for all financial, Student Life, and academic communication. However, Christendom College also believes the years of study in an undergraduate institution are a transitional period from youth to mature adulthood and admits access of records to parents who claim a student as their dependent. This is done to cultivate a three-fold relationship among the College administration, the student, and the student’s parents in order that students may develop themselves while attending Christendom College.” (Student Handbook, IX)
- Christendom College will send Midterm Deficiency Reports to the parents of freshman students; however, after their freshman year, only the students will be notified of their deficiencies.
- If you have any questions about Christendom College’s academic policies and/or curriculum, your student’s current academic performance, or the academic resources available on campus, please contact Dr. Kevin Tracy, the Academic Dean, at kevin.tracy@christendom.edu or by calling 540.551.9229.
Attendance Policy
- Being in class is essential for academic success. If a student must miss a class, they must contact the professor in advance and provide an explanation for their absence.
- If a student misses 12 MWF classes, 8 TTH, or 4 weekly classes, then they will automatically fail the course.
GPA Standards
- If a student fails to achieve a minimum 1.000 GPA in his first semester, he will be dismissed from the College without probation.
- Academic Warning: A student with a semester GPA below 2.000 but above 1.699 is on Academic Warning for the following semester. Two consecutive warnings result in Academic Probation.
- Academic Probation: A student with a semester GPA below 1.700 OR two or more consecutive semesters of warning-category GPAs is on Academic Probation for the following semester.
- Two semesters of Academic Probation (or the equivalent four semesters of Academic Warning) results in dismissal from the College. Students may apply for readmission after showing evidence of improved ability to engage the academic program at Christendom College. Please contact the Academic Dean for more details.
Scholarships
- If you are concerned about your student’s scholarship and its corresponding GPA standards, please contact Scott Kay at scott.kay@christendom.edu or (540) 551-9163
Academic Resources
Committed to creating an individualized, personal plan for success with each student, Christendom College offers the academic resources to assist your student in their academic pursuits. Please encourage your student to take advantage of these resources:
- Free Tutoring: Students needing help with Calculus, Statistics, Latin, or other languages can take advantage of peer-run tutoring, available every week in the St. John the Evangelist Library. There is no cost to students, and this arrangement is overseen by Faculty members.
- Personalized Mentorship: This system, under the direction of Maribeth Kelly and Dr. Thomas Stanford, pairs a student with an upperclassman who has excelled in the particular class in which the student is struggling. The upperclassman meets with the student in need on a regular basis to ensure success in his or her studies.
- Writing Center: All students can bring their class papers to the Writing Center Staff, open five nights a week in the St. John the Evangelist Library (Room 208), for review. The students working in the Writing Center are hand-picked by English professor Dr. Lisa Marciano, and they are the “best of the best” at writing papers. They will work with students on paper topics, structuring outlines, proofreading, and editing. Their offerings are invaluable!
- Easy Access to Professors: Christendom professors are very approachable, and are more than willing to meet with their students to discuss any problems they are having in class or to give them deeper insights into the subject matter previously taught. Each professor has office hours, and students who are struggling are encouraged to meet with their professor to find out what needs to be done in order to be successful in the class.
- Study Groups & Sessions: Before each quiz or test, normally students get together in small groups to study together and to learn from each other how the can achieve their best on the upcoming quiz or test. Sometimes, even the professors hold extra-curricular study sessions for the students, working with them to be successful in their academic pursuits.
- Academic Success Coach: Miss Kaelan Damitz is the Academic Success Coach. She works with students who are struggling academically and encourages them to take advantage of the many academic aids on campus. She meets individually with students on a weekly basis and inspires, motivates, and challenges them to achieve their academic goals. If you have any questions about the academic resources available on campus, please contact Kaelan Damitz at kaelan.damitz@christendom.edu.
Accommodation Services
Christendom College provides academic accommodations to students with diagnosed disabilities or learning impairments so that they may have equal access to the education and formation available to our students. A disability is defined as a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities. Disclosing a student’s disability is voluntary and optional; however, if the student wants to receive academic accommodations, it is the student’s responsibility to provide medical documentation from a diagnosing medical professional that includes both a diagnosis as well as recommended accommodations for the student’s success in a college environment. To learn more about Christendom’s accommodation services, visit this page.