Guide To Teaching and Learning

What Incoming Students Are Told Through Orientation

What Incoming Students Are Told During Orientation

As a part of orientation, incoming first year students take Narwhal Transitions, a self-directed six-week course in Canvas. It offers an overview of New School history, financial aid, opportunities for involvement, student support and advocacy, campus resources, the code of conduct, and life in the residential halls. It also acquaints students with advising, academic integrity, wellness and safety. 

Below are excerpts and summaries of what is communicated to students about a variety of topics.

Academic Advising

What is an advisor? “Advisors . . . will show you how to navigate university systems and procedures. They also act as a liaison between you and other university staff and will acquaint you with procedures for communicating with faculty . . . when policy questions such as academic integrity, grade appeals, and academic standing arise.”

Examples of issues and topics advisors address:

• Help with registration and adding/dropping classes and concerns with transfer credits
• Understanding degree requirements and declaring/changing major, minor, program, or college
• Concerns regarding faculty or class
• Discussing leave of absence
• Connecting to New School resources and services, curricular exploration, and help identifying personal, co-curricular, and extra-curricular goals

Academic Integrity

Academic Integrity. The New School views academic integrity as the duty of every community member to:

• Claim authorship for his or her own work and only for that work AND
• Recognize the contributions of others accurately and completely

What is academic dishonesty? 

• Cheating: Using unauthorized materials, information, or study aids to gain an academic advantage during quizzes, exams, presentations, or projects.
  • You wrote a final paper using ChatGPT and the ideas presented are not
• Tampering: Altering or interfering with the work of others, including destruction or defacement.
• Assisting: Helping someone commit and act of academic dishonesty, including (but not limited to) purchasing papers, changing grades, or taking tests for someone else.
  • Your friend forgot their laptop so you log-on to Canvas through their account and take a quiz for them.
• Fabrication: Presenting misleading information, making deceptive statements, falsifying documents, research, or listing fictitious references.
  • You alter the number of participants in a research project to demonstrate more favorable results.
• Plagiarism: Submitting another person’s work (words, ideas, creations) without giving proper credit, or reusing one’s own.
  • Your roommate took a class the year before you, and you use their final paper as your own. 

Why does academic dishonesty happen?

Use of AI Tools

ChatGPT, Midjourney and Other AI Tools: Students are instructed to “check with your instructors directly about their expectations as they may have different guidelines for using ChatGPT and other AI tools in their classes.”

[Faculty may wish to reference these resources in the Guide to Teaching and Learning for understanding and talking about Generative AI with their students.]

Accommodations and Accessibility

Accommodations. To request academic and housing-related accommodations, including requests for assistance animals:

• Submit the university’s Disability Self-Identification Form.
• Email studentdisability@newschool.edu to schedule a meeting with Student Disability Services. 
• Read and follow guidance for submitting documentation.
• Use Accommodate to receive an accommodations letter to share with faculty. 

[Faculty may wish to reference these resources in the Guide to Teaching and Learning on making your classroom more accessible regardless of whether you have students who require accommodations.]

Wellness 

The Nine Dimensions of Wellness. Students are reminded that “wellness is central to [their] success, and it’s multi-dimensional.” More detailed explanations of the Nine Dimensions of Wellness are introduced and accompanied by this short video (5 min.).

• Emotional Wellness involves acknowledging and accepting your feelings and the feelings of others. 
• Physical Wellness includes taking care of your body for optimal functioning.
• Social Wellness focuses on building loving and supportive relationships and contributing to a healthy society. 
• Cultural Wellness involves suspending judgment of others and striving to understand and appreciate differences and similarities among people.
• Intellectual Wellness integrates our academic and personal pursuits with a drive to learn about and explore the world, supporting our cognitive health and aligning with our academic and career aspirations. [Note: students are encouraged to get to know their faculty and stay curious.]
• Spiritual wellness involves searching to create a personal sense of life’s meaning, purpose, and direction through everyday experiences. 
• Occupational Wellness focuses on building and making good use of your knowledge, skills, and talents wherever you are academically or professionally.
• Environmental Wellness explores how your surroundings influence how safe, comfortable, and healthy you are where you live, work, and study. 
• Financial Wellness involves accessing resources and securing your financial security. 

Students are also provided information about New School health, wellness, and counseling services and related programming.  

Safety

Campus Safety. Students are introduced to New School Alerts (the University’s emergency notification system) and reminded of the below supports. 

Where To Go

• Campus Security Office, 68 Fifth Avenue, mezzanine level
• Student Health Services, 80 Fifth Avenue, 3rd floor
• List Courtyard (general assembly point), 66 West 12th Street
• Beth Israel Hospital ER, East 16th Street between First and Second Avenues
• View Campus Map

Student Code of Conduct 

The Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards receives, investigates, and resolves alleged violations of the Student Code of Conduct. Students are instructed to read the Student Code of Conduct on their own and advised that they are required to abide by it. 

The Narwhal Pledge

Being a member of the New School community means accepting responsibility for adhering to and upholding the The Narwhal Pledge. You and your students may decide to consider its principles as you establish community agreements.

The Narwhal Pledge

In accordance with its mission, The New School strives to prepare students to be active and participatory members in a diverse and global society. This requires New School students to intentionally cultivate, through words and actions, a learning environment that is dynamic and inclusive. These principles will guide the ways our community works with, cares for, and engages members from diverging backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences.

To support our educational community, students who have chosen to join The New School agree to abide by the following principles:

• Dignity: We affirm that recognizing the inherent dignity of all students is necessary to maintain a climate of justice and safety.
• Empowerment: We strive to consciously create empowered spaces both inside and outside of the classroom for people of all races, ethnicities, sexual orientations, gender identities, socio-economic statuses, ages, abilities, and beliefs.
• Anti-Discrimination: We agree that discrimination of any kind has no place at The New School.
• Expression: We acknowledge that each member of our community has the right to freely express their thoughts, ideas, and beliefs with an understanding that disagreement and unpopular or controversial opinions are a part of an enriching learning experience.
• Responsibility: We understand that each of us is accountable for our words, choices, and actions and the impact they may have on the large community.

The responsibility for upholding the above principles, as well as abiding by existing policies, rules, and procedures, is shared by all members of the campus community. Students may contact the Office of Student Advocacy for more information.