A Goucher education occurs both inside and outside the classroom—a hallmark of the Goucher experience. Goucher students apply their talents and leadership skills in clubs and organizations, in student government, on athletic teams, in internships and community service projects, and in performing-arts productions. Through collaborations with faculty, staff and students, members of the student life division provide our students engaging, supportive and challenging experiences that promote student learning and holistic development. Our commitment to Goucher’s community principles of respect, inclusion, communication, community service/social justice and responsibility is at the core of all our endeavors. By participating in intercultural, international, service opportunities and other co-curricular experiences, students are able to actualize their leadership and citizenship potential both locally and globally.
Community Living
The living-learning environment is an integral part of the educational experience at Goucher. The community living program stresses individual and community responsibility, respect, and cooperation. The professional staff of the Office of Community Living works with student community assistants (CAs) to educate students and help them adjust to and become involved in the community. Staff also work collaboratively with the Office of Multicultural Student Services to provide a broad range of programming in the residence halls that is inclusive of diversity. Four of Goucher’s residence halls are divided into 15 houses, with 40 to 50 students living in each. A fifth residence hall, with a focus on healthy lifestyles, is divided into suites and accommodates 63 students. Our sixth residence hall is a combination of suites and apartments for 185 residents. First-year students are typically assigned to double and triple occupancy rooms. As space permits, a limited number of single rooms are available for upper class students and those with documented medical needs. The small size and intimacy of each living unit encourages the involvement of all members in the design of the residential community. Within the framework of all college policies, each house determines its own social regulations and plans and sponsors social activities and educational programs.
Goucher offers a variety of housing options, including language floors, quiet areas, substance-free housing, housing where students are committed to sustainable practices, as well as single-sex, coed, and gender-neutral floors. A nonsmoking environment is maintained in all residence halls. Students must retain full-time academic status to live on campus. Exceptions for students taking fewer than twelve credits may be made on a case-by-case basis by the Vice President and Dean of Students.
Because residential living is fundamental to the mission of the college and the experience of a Goucher student, all full-time undergraduate students are strongly encouraged to live on campus and participate in one of the college meal plans. Exceptions may be made for students who choose to commute from their permanent home address within 30 miles of Goucher’s campus. In addition, a limited number of upper-class students may receive permission to live off campus. Exceptions for special circumstances may be granted by the dean of students. For more detailed information concerning residential living, refer to the Campus Handbook, Goucher College Residence Hall Contract, and Living on Campus, a handbook for residential living.
Multicultural Student Services
The Office of Multicultural Student Services is committed to working with members of the Goucher community to foster and sustain a learning environment that is respectful, inclusive, and appreciative of diversity in its many forms. Faculty, staff, and students, along with offices such as Religious and Spiritual Life, Hillel, International Studies, and other offices regularly collaborate to cultivate an environment that is engaged in learning about difference on campus, locally, and abroad. The Office of Multicultural Student Services also works closely with students in our Educational Opportunity Program (EOP), a program specifically designed to provide support to first-generation college students. The assistant dean for multicultural student services collaborates with individuals and student groups on various programmatic initiatives, such as Women’s History Month and Pride Month celebrations. These programs provide opportunities for reflection, dialogue, and learning. Special programs and activities are also sponsored for international students through this office. Staff in the Office of Multicultural Student Services can be reached at x3355.
Advising and Counseling
Goucher College offers several programs designed to encourage student success. First-year students are assigned a faculty member who serves as their first-year adviser to assist them with curricular and academic planning. Once students declare a major, they are advised by a faculty member in their major. The Academic Center for Excellence (ACE) and the Writing Center assist students in developing study and learning strategies necessary for college success. The director of new student programs provides general advice and programming for first-year students. Members of the student life staff are available to provide professional advice in their own field of expertise. For example, issues regarding residence life are addressed by the staff of community living; career planning by the career development staff; religious concerns by the chaplain; and so on. Students may seek confidential short-term personal counseling from licensed counselors at the Student Health and Counseling Services Center or from the college chaplain. Referral for long-term counseling or therapy is coordinated by the college counselors with mental health professionals in the local area.
Health and Counseling Services
Student Health and Counseling Services offers a holistic approach to health care including preventive medicine, mental health, alternative medicine and health education and encourages students to participate fully in maintaining their physical and emotional wellness. Comprehensive outpatient primary mental and medical care services are provided on a confidential basis by licensed, certified physicians, psychologists, nurse practitioners, nurses and mental health counselors. When necessary, the staff can assist with referrals to providers in the local area. The center also offers women’s health care, allergy injections, and has a small onsite laboratory for routine procedures and pharmacy for commonly prescribed medications. Although health insurance coverage is required by the college for all students, there is no charge to utilize the health and counseling services.
Career Development Office
The Career Development Office (CDO) helps students and alumnae/i find and pursue career paths that combine their values, interests, and skills. CDO staff are committed to providing holistic and innovative approaches to life planning and professional skill development by offering a full range of services, programs, and resources.
The CDO assists students in five main areas including major and career exploration, student employment, internships, full-time employment and graduate and professional school. Students can connect with the CDO through individual appointments, walk-in and resume advising, and by participating in special events. Students may also connect with the CDO electronically through various methods including email (career@goucher.edu), website (www.goucher.edu/cdo), Facebook (CDO-Goucher) and Twitter (CDOGoucher.) Students who wish to connect with the global Goucher community to expand their network will want to join the Goucher Professional Network (GPN) within LinkedIn. GPN helps students to refine their career goals, explore internship opportunities and engage in job searching.
The office also manages the academic internship program. Complete information about academic internships can be found in this catalogue under General Education Requirements
Religious and Spiritual Life
Religious and spiritual life at Goucher touches upon each of the following areas:
- Exploration of religions and spirituality through the liberal arts curriculum
- Deep engagement with particular religious traditions
- Growth in multifaith appreciation, dialogue, learning
- Finding support through religious resources on campus and pastoral care offered to individuals and groups
- Participating with various campus constituencies to raise social justice issues and work for positive social change
Haebler Memorial Chapel and the Harry and Jeannette Weinberg Jewish Student Center are the primary locations for religious life at Goucher. The chapel is open daily from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. (and often in the evenings or on weekends) for silence, solitude, and prayer. Chaplain Cynthia Terry supports and oversees all aspects of religious and spiritual life at Goucher. Her office is located in the chapel basement. SPIRIT, Goucher’s interreligious and spiritual programming board, creates opportunities for students to explore questions and experiences of spirituality, through discussion, attend services, and more. Ask Big Questions is a dynamic, campus-wide initiative for exploring questions of import. Students, faculty, and staff all find ways to engage the big questions each semester. What Matters to Me and Why invites members of the Goucher community to share stories of their lives so that, together, we can talk about our deepest values and concerns. Goucher’s outdoor labyrinth is located next to the Chapel and is available for meditation and relaxation. Our canvas labyrinth is also available throughout each semester; groups can also arrange to use the labyrinth.
In addition, Cynthia Terry (often in collaboration with the Student Health and Counseling Center), meets with students individually and in groups, to deal with issues of grief, addiction, illness; to learn how to help a friend; to think through academic or personal decisions; to process family issues; to explore the complexities of an experience abroad and returning home.
Hillel, the Jewish student organization on campus, provides social, educational, religious, spiritual, and community service programming to Goucher students. The full-time Hillel staff, including a rabbi/director and an engagement (outreach) director, is on campus to help students plan events and provide for meaningful experiences, as well as for mentorship and counseling. Many of Hillel’s events take place in the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Jewish Student Center, which includes a full kosher dining hall, as well as a lounge space, a computing center, and a small library. Hillel provides programs open to all students, regardless of faith or background, including weekly Shabbat dinners and services, classes and discussion groups, cultural programs, opportunities to explore spirituality, Israel-related programming, and holiday observances and celebrations. Regular social justice and community service programming are hallmarks of Hillel and Goucher’s Jewish community.
Student-led religious groups provide a host of activities and initiatives for spiritual and religious engagement at Goucher, including Goucher Christian Fellowship, Goucher Hillel, Jubilate Deo! (the Goucher Catholic community), Sacred Ground (a Christian dance troupe), and the Meditation Club. In addition, there are students of other traditions who seek to find ways to connect with one another, including Muslims, Quakers, and Unitarian-Universalists. Students are encouraged to explore and seek out local religious congregations in addition to campus offerings. The Office of the Chaplain has information on local institutions recommended by Goucher students. Find more resources about religious and spiritual life at Goucher at http://www.goucher.edu/x1516.xml.
Co-Curricular Activities
The Office of Student Engagement is the hub for students’ co-curricular life at Goucher. We believe that a major component of the Goucher College experience is social: the after-class interaction with friends, classmates, faculty, and staff. Students who engage in co-curricular offerings are more likely to experience academic and personal success. Students are encouraged to continue the dialogue begun in class or simply get to know someone over a cup of coffee. The Pearlstone Student Center and the Athenaeum offer places to eat around the clock and various lounges and conference rooms in which to meet with others.
Students often go to the Gopher Hole, a popular campus hangout, evenings between 9 p.m. and 1 a.m. for a bite to eat or to study with friends. Located in the Pearlstone Student Center, the Gopher Hole is a student-run coffeehouse that offers the Goucher community affordable food and diverse activities in a relaxed atmosphere. The staff is committed to serving each customer in an efficient and friendly manner while maintaining a healthy, positive, team environment. Students with talent to share find it is the perfect venue for performing.
To find out what’s going on around campus, visit the Information Desk in the Athenaeum, scan the digital signage found in Pearlstone, Stimson, and the Athenaeum, read Goucher’s e-mail digest, or check out the Calendar of Events on the Goucher website.
Student Government Association
Goucher’s Student Government Association (SGA) serves both as a forum for debate on issues affecting the community and as an organizing body for students to act collectively to achieve positive change at Goucher. SGA facilitates dialogue and communication among the student body, faculty, staff, and administration while insuring that each of these bodies addresses student concerns. The SGA legislative body (called the Student Senate) consists of elected representatives from amongst various facets of the student body. The Student Senate is responsible for authorizing extracurricular clubs and organizations as well as regulating the monetary allocations to these organizations. Officers for SGA and its standing committees are elected in campus-wide elections each spring to form the SGA Executive Board. Meetings of the Student Senate are open to the entire Goucher community.
Clubs and Organizations
Clubs and organizations reflect student interests in special areas and offer all students a vehicle for becoming more involved in college life. The information, experiences, and opportunities for leadership associated with club membership are different from those available in the classroom; therefore, students are strongly encouraged to participate in one or more groups.
Goucher has more than 60 student organizations, in the following umbrella categories:
- Class and campus governance
- Publications and media
- Politics and activism
- Performing arts
- Faith and identity
- Academic
- Club sports
- Special interest
All clubs are organized and run by students, with a member of the staff serving as adviser to each umbrella category of organizations. Office of Student Engagement Staff members are always willing to meet with students who want to activate (or reactivate) a club or organization.
Student Publications
The college yearbook, Donnybrook Fair, is published by students in honor of the senior class. Preface, Goucher’s art and literary magazine, is published once a year. Another student-run literary magazine, The Goucher Review, publishes students’ original works on a bimonthly basis. Students are invited to submit poems, stories, plays, essays, photography, and art work. The Quindecim, the official college newspaper, is produced by students and offers an outlet for creative talent as well as training and experience for aspiring journalists, photographers, and graphic designers.
Performing Arts
Goucher students are encouraged to engage in the performing arts as both participants and observers. The Dance Department presents six to eight annual on-campus formal and informal dance concerts for enthusiastic audiences drawn from the Goucher and Baltimore communities. Chorégraphie Antique, the dance history ensemble, and the Goucher Dancers in Action perform locally and regionally. The Theatre Department stages four to six productions a year, as well as public showcases and workshops directed and designed by faculty, guest artists, and advanced students. Students are encouraged to work as actors, designers, and technicians. The student-run Open Circle Theatre and Pizzazz groups offer further production opportunities. The Music Department produces 40 to 60 public events each year. Student vocalists are invited to audition for the Goucher Chorus, Chamber Singers, and Opera Workshop or to join the Reverend’s Rebels or Red Hot Blue, informal student-directed singing groups that entertain both on and off campus. Instrumentalists are encouraged to audition for the Goucher Chamber Symphony, the Goucher Chamber Music Group, the Goucher Jazz Ensemble, and the Goucher African Drum and Dance Ensemble. Computer enthusiasts are invited to participate in the Music Department’s two computer music studios. Numerous artists and companies perform at the college during the academic year. Many events are free, and students may attend others at reduced rates. The Office of Student Engagement plans several off-campus trips each year to cultural and performing arts events. While opportunities for performance and exhibition are available to all students at all levels, public performance and exhibition are granted through audition and selection only. Adjudicators for such audition and selection are members of the Arts Division faculty. Because adjudication is a fundamental aspect of the arts professions, the entire Arts Division considers the process of evaluation, through audition or portfolio review, to be an important aspect of professional training and education in the arts.
Physical Education and Athletics
Physical Education
Students are required to take one activity course in physical education. Some of the more popular activity courses are strength training, jujitsu, yoga, ballroom dance, soccer, and Tai Chi Chuan.The Equestrian Program offers small, personalized riding classes for novice through advanced levels using a contemporary approach to hunt-seat riding. Throughout the year, students participate in horse shows and clinics both on and off campus. For a more detailed description, see the Physical Education and Athletics Department section of this catalogue.
Athletics
Goucher sponsors 18 varsity intercollegiate athletic teams that compete in Division III of the NCAA as members of the Landmark Conference. The 10 intercollegiate sports for women are basketball, cross country, field hockey, lacrosse, soccer, swimming, tennis, indoor track and field, outdoor track and field, and volleyball. The eight men’s sports are basketball, cross country, lacrosse, soccer, swimming, indoor track and field, outdoor track and field, and tennis. The equestrian team, the college’s 19th intercollegiate varsity sport, is available for both men and women and competes in Region I of the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association.
Recreation, Intramurals, and Sports Clubs
A variety of non-competitive recreational activities are sponsored throughout the year. Recent activities have included bowling, break dancing, hip hop, indoor soccer, and weightlifting. The outdoor equipment center allows students to check out camping equipment and hybrid and mountain bikes at no charge with a valid Goucher ID.
All students are encouraged to participate in intramurals or as members of sport clubs. Both programs are flexible and seek to create opportunities for those in the Goucher community to participate in team, dual, and individual sports or activities for men and women. Intramural activities are planned and directed by the Department of Physical Education and Athletics and may include the following activities: flag football, racquetball, volleyball, floor hockey, basketball, dodgeball, indoor soccer, tennis, and softball. Club sports are administered and operated by students based on current interest in competition in a given activity. The key to the success of sports clubs is student leadership and participation. Each club is formed, developed, governed, and administered by the club’s student members working with an adviser. Some of the most recent clubs have been ultimate frisbee, fencing, frisbee golf, and jujitsu. The Riding Club provides a variety of riding and non-riding events for those interested in equestrian activities.
Facilities
The Department of Physical Education and Athletics is housed in the Decker Sports and Recreation Center, which includes a large gymnasium, a cardio-fitness center, a strength and conditioning center, one racquetball and one squash court, a multipurpose room, a classroom, an athletic training room, locker rooms, and staff offices. A recreation gym and the von Borries pool are located in the adjacent Welsh Gymnasium.
Outdoor facilities include a synthetic turf field with lights, three natural-grass athletic fields, eight tennis courts, an eight-lane synthetic-surface track, a natural-grass stadium field, five miles of wooded trails, and a nine-hole Frisbee golf course. Indoor and outdoor riding rings, trails with cross-country jumps, hunt course areas, and stables are part of the equestrian facility. The college owns horses that students may use for classes. Students who wish to board privately owned horses may contact the director of the Equestrian Program for more information.
Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act
Goucher is required to prepare an annual report that includes information on participation in and expenditures for men’s and women’s athletic teams. This report is available for inspection by students, prospective students, and the public. A copy of the report is available in the office of the Physical Education and Athletics Department and can be accessed on the athletics website at http://athletics.goucher.edu/information/EADA_Report
Office of Public Safety
The Goucher College Department of Public Safety believes in the dignity and worth of all people. Its members are committed to providing quality, community-oriented public safety services. We strive to improve and maintain a high quality of community living; protect the rights and safety of our campus community; and utilize problem solving strategies to address the security concerns of students, staff, and guests. The public safety staff consists of the director, assistant director, part-time administrative staff, welcome center manager, and 17 full-time and 13 part-time officers. Officers are on duty at the communications desk and on campus patrol 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
The Public Safety Office responds to all campus emergencies, conducts investigations, issues Goucher College OneCard identification cards, and maintains the vehicle registration and parking enforcement programs. The office is located in the lower level of Heubeck Hall. Any and all on-campus emergencies, criminal activity, suspicious conditions, subjects, or vehicles should be reported immediately. (See Goucher’s Campus Handbook for information published in compliance with the Clery Act.) |
