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Academic Counseling for Intercollegiate Athletics

In cooperation with the Academic Center for Enrichment, the Athletics Department at Saint Francis University provides a comprehensive Student-athlete Development Program and NCAA Life Skills Program. All first-year student-athletes begin their road to success with supervised study, academic monitoring, free tutorial services, and a Life Skills program committed to helping student-athletes focus on academic excellence, athletic excellence, personal development, career development, and community service. These programs are available to student-athletes throughout their years at Saint Francis University. Student-athletes may also receive individual or group counseling that provides strategic intervention for specific concerns such as: time management, goal setting, precompetition or test anxiety, mental preparation, and moral development.

Office of Multicultural Affairs

The Saint Francis University Office of Multicultural Affairs is designed to promote cultural awareness and understanding on campus and it surrounding communities. The office provides leadership to the university in its endeavor to create a campus characterized by equal access and respected participation for all groups and individuals, where diversity is not simply tolerated but valued. The Center for Multicultural Affairs is located in Ave Maria Hall and serves as a place to meet, to coordinate and facilitate activities that celebrate diversity, and to enhance the development of a multicultural community.

The Office of Multicultural Affairs assists students in their educational, cultural and developmental growth in order to promote the students’ overall success. The community’s understanding of the university’s diversity initiatives comes from a variety of sources and messages, including informal dialog among students, faculty, staff and administrators as well as through the public media. In addition, formal co-curricular opportunities further dialogue in the classroom, offices, residence halls, dining hall and student center on campus.

The Office of Multicultural Affairs creates an inclusive environment by furthering the campus’ multicultural dialog and by giving a voice to students of color as they embrace the Saint Francis University community and share a rich tradition of cultures and values which provides a positive affect on life at Saint Francis.

The Office of Multicultural Affairs embodies the mission of the University and is committed to:

• Academic/Social/Personal Development
• Cultural Development
• Programs and Workshops

which are achieved by:

• Academic/Social/Personal Development
  Peer Mentors who facilitate the needs of minority students as they relate to academic, social and personal adjustments.
• Cultural Development
  The Multicultural Awareness Society (MAS), a student organization serves as the voice of the minority students, and is an inclusive organization which strives to increase multicultural awareness and celebrates cultural diversity.
• Programs and Workshops
  The Office, along with members of MAS, present programs, lead workshops, and facilitate discussions on topics such as diversity, prejudice, racism, sexism, and community building.

For additional information or questions, please contact: Lynne Banks, Assistant to The Vice President for Student Development, x3002, lbanks@francis.edu.

Upward Bound

Director: Ms. Anne Heinzeroth

A federal TRIO Program funded through the U.S. Department of Education, the Upward Bound Program at Saint Francis University has prepared over 2,500 disadvantaged high school students for the rigors of postsecondary education since 1966. Provided at no cost to participants, the program offers a wide variety of academic, career, cultural and social development activities for 110 high school students from Cambria County. Each participant must come from a low income family and/or be a potential first generation college student. In addition, students must attend a high school in the target area, be enrolled in the academic curriculum, and have a minimum academic G.P.A. of 77%. From September through May the students participate in Saturday follow-ups held on campus and tutorials held after school in their communities. Additional academic year activities include college visits, SAT cram sessions, FAFSA completion nights, and college fairs. In addition to SAT and college application fee waivers, the staff provides students with assistance completing their college and scholarship applications. During a six-week residential summer program students attend academic classes in math, lab sciences, composition, literature, foreign languages, and social sciences. Bridge students take Saint Francis University courses for credit. The program also sponsors daily tutorials, a work-study component, volunteer opportunities, and cultural events for students. The program’s postsecondary sending rate is 93% with 76% of alumni earning a degree within five years of high school graduation. Among the program’s alumni are physicians, engineers, educators, nurses, lawyers, business people, and physical therapists; they are employed by such companies as Alcoa, Chase Manhattan Bank, General Electric, Hewlett-Packard, and State Farm. The program is housed in the Library and Learning Commons.

Military Science/Army ROTC

The Military Science Program enables a student to be commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Army after successful completion of the program and attainment of the baccalaureate degree. Reserve Officers’ Training Corps activities stimulate self-discipline, develop responsibility, promote personal integrity, enhance the value of a liberal arts education, and develop leadership qualities. Coursework consists of one course each semester and a summer camp between sophomore and junior, or junior and senior, years. No formal commitment is necessary until after the sophomore year, and all credits are accepted toward graduation. For further information, contact the Department of Military Science.