Academic Resources and Support Services

Academic Advising

Academic advising is an important resource available to all students and a joint responsibility between student and adviser. Entering first-year students in the undergraduate college are assigned a first-year/sophomore adviser from among the faculty. Recognizing that academic interests may change, advisers are not always assigned based on intended major.

Students are encouraged to talk with any faculty member to learn about academic and career opportunities in her or his discipline. First-year/sophomore advisers guide students in course selection during the first two years at the College, encourage the exploration of a variety of disciplines and inform students of appropriate educational opportunities and resources that will foster their academic growth and career development.

Students typically declare a major during the second semester of their sophomore year. At that time, a faculty adviser in the major area is assigned. Major area advisers assist students in selecting appropriate upper-level courses in the major that are congruent with their educational goals. They also assist students in selecting internships and offer advice regarding entrance to graduate school, professional school or the workforce.

Faculty advisers are available for matriculated students in associate degree programs, adult bachelor’s degree programs and the Teacher Intern Program.

An advising handbook is distributed to students during orientation or on matriculation. The handbook includes a checklist for graduation requirements, student and adviser responsibilities, academic policies and procedures and sample forms. Questions concerning advising should be directed to the associate dean for academic advising.

Academic Success Center

The Academic Success Center, located on the second floor of the John Stewart Memorial Library, offers a variety of learning support services to Wilson College students. These services include: writing lab assistance with written assignments; Returning to Learning workshops for incoming Adult Degree Programs students; in-class and supplemental workshops on study skills, note-taking, time management, test-taking and research paper documentation; and resource materials on academic writing and study skills, college success, etc. Disability support and peer tutoring services are also coordinated through the ASC center.

Artists-in-Residency Program

Each summer, Wilson College invites a number of visual and performing artists to participate in a residency program lasting one to two weeks. The artists are offered free housing and free studio space and are expected to engage our students in critique and studio practice. While here, artists have ample private studio time and the opportunity to engage in dialog with other artists and exhibit or perform their work. At the end of the residency, the visual artists are asked to donate one work of art produced during their residency to Wilson College’s permanent collection.

Barron Blewett Hunnicutt Gallery (in Hankey Center)

The Barron Blewett Hunnicutt Gallery is named in memory of Barron Blewett Hunnicutt, art historian and member of the Department of Fine Arts faculty of Wilson College from 1980 to 1983. In her teaching and scholarship, Hunnicutt specialized in the art of the Roman, early Christian and Medieval periods. Ancient Egyptian, Greek and Roman objects from the Wilson College Classics Collection are on permanent display in the Hunnicutt Gallery, while others form a study collection that plays an important role in the study and interpretation of the ancient world in archeology, classics, fine arts and history classes.

Bogigian Gallery

The Bogigian Gallery is a showplace for students and the community to experience the offerings of the visual arts at Wilson College. The gallery is a crucial teaching tool for the fine arts program and mission, with a commitment to excellence and professionalism in each exhibition.

The Bogigian Gallery is named in honor of Hagop Bogigian, a benefactor of Wilson College. Bogigian came to America from Armenia in 1876 and became a successful businessperson and activist against human injustice. The gallery exhibits a variety of media and artists, focusing on local, regional and national talents. There are two exhibitions each semester, with an annual student exhibition, biannual faculty/staff exhibition and annual exhibition for summer artists-in-residence.

Computing Facilities

Wilson College has three computer labs, as well as computers, in each residence hall and the library that are available for student use. All computers have access to email and the Internet. The entire campus has wireless Internet access.

English for Academic Purposes Instruction

Students who do not speak English as their native language are invited to join Wilson’s English for Academic Purposes program. EAP placement will be determined during international student orientation through portfolio analysis, a short placement exam and TOEFL scores.

Three intermediate-advanced classes are offered each year for academic credit, along with a variety of noncredit evening classes. Classes focus on all areas of language skills, including reading, writing, listening, speaking and culture. Discussions, lectures, guest speakers and student projects are supplemented by area field trips.

The Hankey Center – C. Elizabeth Boyd ’33 Archives

The Hankey Center was made possible through the generosity of the Hankey family, including retired Capt. Joan R. Hankey ’59, U.S. Navy, and Susan Hankey Cribbs ’69. The center was dedicated on June 7, 2003, and today houses the C. Elizabeth Boyd ’33 Archives (the college archives) and the Barron Blewett Hunnicutt Classics Gallery. It also is home to the offices of the Hankey Center director. The archives, named for registrar emerita and former college archivist C. Elizabeth Boyd, preserves the institutional memory of the College through official college records, personal papers and memorabilia and is thus a rich source of information regarding the history, traditions and culture of Wilson College.

The Hankey Center provides spaces appropriate for researchers, classroom instruction, presentations and exhibits of archival materials and the classics collection. A climate-controlled storage facility helps ensure preservation of Wilson’s history. Staffed by a professional archivist, the center works closely with the teaching faculty to provide primary sources necessary for student research.

Helen M. Beach ’24 Veterinary Medical Center

The Helen M. Beach ’24 Veterinary Medical Center provides a clinical education resource for students pursuing a career in veterinary medical technology. The building houses a variety of clinical equipment and workspaces, including a small animal surgery suite, four anesthesia machines, an electrocardiograph, anesthesia monitoring equipment, treatment and surgical preparatory rooms, recovery room, isolation room and clinical skills laboratory. The facility also contains USDA-approved housing for dogs, cats and laboratory animal species.

John Stewart Memorial Library

The original John Stewart Memorial Library was renovated and opened in spring 2016. The library features a new, state-of-the-art learning commons equipped to meet the needs of today’s students. The learning commons houses academic support services, writing labs, “smart” classrooms, commuter lounge, college store and an outdoor plaza that connects to the academic quad.

On the library’s website, more than 90,000 academic e-books are also available to Wilson students, faculty and staff, as well as access to more than 75 online databases containing full-text books and articles from newspapers, magazines and scholarly journals.

In addition to traditional reference services, the library conducts the “Your Personal Librarian” program, linking entering freshmen with a librarian who remains available to that student for individual research assistance for their entire time at the college. The library’s professional staff also conducts group information literacy workshops and seminars for students and faculty.

Wilson College holds memberships in (the Online Computer Library Center, LYRASIS, and Associated College Libraries of Central Pennsylvania, all of which assure students and faculty ready access to periodicals and books held by other libraries and vendors throughout the region and the country. Interlibrary loans are provided free of charge.

Penn Hall Equestrian Center

The equestrian center, located within a five-minute walk from the center of the campus, is equipped with two indoor riding arenas: the Hawthorne Arena and the Olive Delp Overly Cook arena (100 by 300 feet and 76 by 204 feet, respectively), which feature shadowless lighting and sand/sawdust footing. The center also houses the outdoor Kitts Arena with racetrack/sand footing, three stables with 71 stalls, 20 acres of fenced paddocks and pastures and ample space for riding outdoors. Stabling for student boarders is offered on a space-available basis.

Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society

The purpose of Phi Beta Kappa is to recognize and encourage scholarship, friendship and cultural interests and to support excellence and integrity in the pursuit of the arts and sciences.

Students may be inducted into the society in their junior or senior year. Members are chosen by a committee of the local chapter, Nu of Pennsylvania, based on a combination of the following criteria:

• Grade-point average (3.25 seniors, 3.75 juniors).
• At least three-quarters of the coursework completed in courses designated as liberal arts or sciences by the committee. Applied, technical and pre-professional courses do not count toward the minimum requirement. A list of courses designated as liberal arts is available in the library.
• A college-level math course (MAT 096 and MAT 098 are not considered college level).
• Completion of the equivalent of a college-level intermediate course sequence in a foreign language.
• Completion of the equivalent of at least two years of coursework while enrolled at Wilson. Nominations can be made in the third semester (equivalent of third full-time semester).
• A breadth of coursework across the liberal arts and sciences with a variety of courses taken outside the major. Students interested in membership in Phi Beta Kappa honor society should discuss their interest with their freshman/sophomore adviser to plan coursework accordingly.

The Richard Alsina Fulton Center for Sustainability Studies

In 1994, Wilson’s Center for Sustainability Studies was established in conjunction with the academic program in environmental studies (see environmental studies program description). Generously endowed in 1999 in memory of Richard Alsina Fulton, a devoted environmentalist and farmer, by his wife, Susan Breakefield Fulton ’61, the main purpose of the Fulton Center is to create programs that contribute to the development of a more just and sustainable society by furthering the understanding of the relationships between humans and the natural environment.

The FCSS cooperates with many academic departments to provide hands-on learning opportunities related to sustainability issues. Areas of interest include food, food production and food safety, alternative energy, recycling, composting, ecological stewardship and community-building. Facilities available for student and public use consist of a pavilion, historic barn, passive solar greenhouses, solar electric demonstration units, interpretive wetland and nature trail and organic gardens – all located on the certified-organic, seven-acre college farm.

The FCSS supports and promotes sustainable agriculture through a model community-supported agriculture (CSA) program in which community members pay the farmer an annual membership fee in return for a weekly share of produce during the growing season, as well as through Chambersburg’s seasonal farmers market, a campus market stand and by providing food to our campus dining services.

Additional components of the FCSS include the Robyn Van En Center, which serves as a national clearinghouse of CSA information; and unique composting initiatives in whichh food, animal and yard wastes are combined to produce fertile soil amendments. Seasonal and specialized internships are available to enhance student learning and longer-term apprenticeships are available for those who want to dig deeper into sustainable agriculture.