Overview
The Office of Student Services provides educational, personal, and professional support to promote student development and success. The Office of Student Services, in collaboration with other staff and faculty, enhances the mission of the University by providing an inclusive campus community, promoting leadership opportunities and providing resources and programming to facility academic success.
Student Life
Housing and Residence Life
Harrisburg University does not own housing facilities. However, there are a variety of housing options available through local housing partners. These facilities vary from the more traditional college-style apartment setting with shared living space to the more independent, fully furnished high-rise apartment. The majority of these facilities are within a few blocks of the University. The Office of Student Services can assist the student to find optional housing, if necessary.
Student Activities
Student activities promote and enhance leadership, involvement, and engagement with the campus community. The student can create, attend, and lead programs or clubs of specific interest with assistance and guidance of the Office of Student Services.
Student Government Association (SGA)
The SGA serves as the liaison to various campus constituent groups and advocates for the student body. The SGA encourages the student to be more active in the community, to help maintain a positive image for relationships to grow within the community, and to give direction for programs or clubs to prosper.
Student Success
Academic Advising
Academic advising can be a critical component in educational progress. A Success Coordinator is assigned to each undergraduate student. The Success Coordinator guides the student to explore academic goals and assists in course selection for their academic program. The Office of Student Services supports the faculty’s role in advising; in addition, it also supports the student to access resources and develop strategies when non-academic factors affect a student’s ability to achieve. Individual student advising is provided for the student throughout the period of enrollment. This advising is focused on academic success strategies such as time management, study skills, career aptitude, decision making, and goal setting.
Orientation and First-Year Experience
Orientation and Welcome Weekend provide the student an opportunity to become familiar with the University and housing facilities; technology services; academic support services; policies; and local entertainment, food, and transportation options. Most importantly, these programs provide the opportunity to meet other new students and other members of the University community.
Orientation begins with enrollment in our Student Orientation Portal through Canvas, and students navigate their way through the resources available to them, learn about the HU curriculum, and what it means to be a part of the HU community. Following this, on the day after Move-In day, Welcome Weekend provides students the opportunity to engage with the incoming class of new students through various activities. Activities include acclimating to the campus and surrounding area, discovering student resources, and learning the tools to be prepared for the upcoming semester. This is also when students will meet their Connection Leaders, who will help them acclimate into the HU community through their first year.
The first-time undergraduate student is enrolled in many of the same courses as other first-year students in the initial academic year. This creates a learning community in which the student develops a bond with other students and faculty. Additionally, the student obtains the necessary foundational skills needed for academic achievement in the program. SEMR 100 - Cornerstone is designed to help the student transition to the University setting and to provide resources and guidance on how to responsibly manage all the major components of University life.
One-on-One Advising and Counseling
Individual student advising is provided for the student throughout the period of enrollment. This advising is focused on academic success strategies such as time management, study skills, career aptitude, decision making, and goal setting. If Student Services staff determine that a student would benefit from personal counseling, referrals are available. For more information, contact the Office of Student Services.
Tutoring Program
A student may request the assistance of a tutor to supplement classroom instruction. The tutor usually meets individually with the student. A tutor may be requested by selecting “Tutoring” on the home page of MyHU or contacting the Office of Student Services. Additionally, group tutoring sessions are sometimes available; the student can attend without an appointment. A student who is interested in becoming a tutor should contact the Office of Student Services. For more information, contact tutoring@HarrisburgU.edu.
Online Tutoring
Smarthinking™ is an online tutoring service that is free to the student. A student may submit an essay to a professional tutor for review or feedback, complete a mock interview, attend video sessions, and review resumes. This site is accessed directly through Canvas, the University’s course management system.
Technology Literacy Program
Technology literacy tutorials at www.Lynda.com are available to a student if technology skill improvement is needed. This site is accessed directly through Canvas, the University’s course management system.
Connection Leader and Mentoring Program
The Connection Leader program is a peer mentor program that aids in the successful transition of new students to collegiate life and expectations. First-year students are assigned a peer mentor who engages with the student in orientation, Welcome Weekend, and throughout the student’s first-year at HU. Peer mentors are returning students who serve as leaders and mentors by guiding a group of new students. The selection of peer mentor candidates is completed during the spring semester for the fall semester of the following academic year.
Health and Mental Health Services
Health Services
Medical services are not provided on any campus location. Local medical facilities are listed on the Student Services Sharepoint site: https://myharrisburgu.sharepoint.com/sites/StudentServices/SitePages/Resources.aspx
Mental Health Services
For students in the Harrisburg area that can commute to campus and reside in Pennsylvania, short-term mental health services are available. Students should contact counseling@harrisburgu.edu or call 717-901-5100 ext. 1727.
For students that do not reside in Pennsylvania or in a commutable distance to the physical campus, students may contact counseling@harrisburgu.edu or 717-901-5100 ext. 1727 for referral services in the student’s location. More information can be found at the Student Services Sharepoint site: https://myharrisburgu.sharepoint.com/sites/SSCounseling/Sitepages/counseling.aspx.
HU also provides 24/7 support for students through a Student Assistance Program offered by BHS. BHS provides in-the-moment support for students in crisis or referrals for various services such as mental health care, medical care, legal advice, and food assistance. The BHS website also has a list of valuable resources. For more information, go to the Student Services Sharepont site: https://myharrisburgu.sharepoint.com/sites/SSCounseling/Sitepages/counseling.aspx or call 800-327-2251 or online resources at https://portal.bhsonline.com.
Student Concerns and Complaints
The Office of Student Services offers guidance to the student when uncertainty exists about the appropriate process to address a topic, concern, or problem. A request for assistance may be submitted to obtain clarification of a policy or procedure. The request is then reviewed and a recommended course of action is provided in a timely manner.
Accessibility Support Services
Harrisburg University of Science and Technology welcomes diversity among its students and, in accordance to the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, seeks to provide reasonable and effective support services. The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 prohibit discrimination on the basis of disability and require the University to make reasonable accommodations for those otherwise qualified individuals with a disability who request accommodations. The applicant must provide recent documentation (within 3 years) of any disability that may affect learning to ensure that appropriate accommodations are considered. Please reach out to ADA@harrisburgu.edu for questions regarding proper documentation as well as support services provided.
Textbook Services
Textbooks are made available at the time of registration for student purchase through the services of MBS Direct, which has an online store at http://bookstore.mbsdirect.net/harrisburgu.htm for new and used textbook purchase or rentals. A complete textbook listing is available on MBS Direct. Textbooks and other supplies (if specified for a course) must be obtained by the student prior to the first day of class.
Additional online textbook purchase and rental options are available through companies such as Amazon. Book retailers carry a small selection of texts but may also have the ability to process online textbooks orders.
University Library
The mission of the Harrisburg University Library is to support the mission of the University by enabling excellence in teaching and learning by providing robust access to information resources, integrating information literacy skills throughout the curriculum, and providing physical and virtual spaces for free intellectual curiosity, learning, collaboration, and knowledge sharing and creation. Library services include:
- collaboration between the librarians and faculty to integrate information literacy skill development and use of information resources into the curriculum;
- access to a wide range of information sources selected to enhance course-based and independent learning, such as:
- online databases of articles from newspapers, magazines, and scholarly journals;
- streaming multimedia such as documentaries and video learning courses;
- electronic books; and
- a self-service library located in the Learning Commons offering physical-format books, games, and periodicals;
- research guidance for students by phone, e-mail, chat, or in person consultation;
- partnerships with other libraries to provide access to their information sources, free of charge to our students and faculty; and
- group study rooms which may be reserved in advance through a librarian.
For more information including reporting of lost or damaged items and replacement charges see the Student Handbook.
For more information, visit the library’s website at http://library.harrisburgu.edu. Electronic content is available on the website 24 hours a day from on- or off-campus. Off-campus use requires authentication with valid University credentials.
Technology Services
Information Technology Services is responsible for connecting students, faculty, and staff to technology resources in support of the University’s mission. Technology services include:
- a robust and reliable infrastructure to enable excellence in learning;
- a required laptop program and an entirely wireless campus to facilitate mobile computing and access to content;
- high-end classroom technologies to enhance interactivity and the capture and distribution of classroom content;
- access to enterprise software applications such as our course management system;
- MyHU; Office365 email and productivity suite; and many other course-related software programs;
- the Harrisburg University Campus Card services, which enables building access, pay-forprint, and book checkout from the library while serving primarily as the official university identification; and,
- training, orientation, and support for all university technology services.
For more information, contact the IT Helpdesk.
Experiential Education
Harrisburg University is committed to the benefits provided by experiential learning. To realize this commitment all Harrisburg University students - regardless of major - complete an internship as well as two semester long projects of at least 135 hours in their field. An internship and projects allow the student to apply classroom experiences to the workplace at an off-site placement and in projects, where students test ideas and develop competencies and skills. These requirements provide practical and applied experience with their program goals and learning objectives as they are implemented in the working world. Students collaborate with partners external to the University for their internship experiences and are highly encouraged to engage with external partners on their projects as well. Students also enroll in a 1 credit seminar course each year. These seminar courses are designed to guide students through their competency development and experiential learning requirements. For more information, contact explearning@harrisburgu.edu
Experiential Education Advising - The student should meet with the academic advisor and the Office of Experiential Learning during the second year for information about experiential programs. The student should also obtain a recommended sequence of experiences for the program of study selected.
Career Services
Career advising begins during the first year of study. The student obtains career counseling from the academic advisor, the Office of Experiential Programs, and the Office of Workforce Development, through classroom instruction in the seminar courses and on-site experience during the internship and project process. The following services are offered for enrolled students and alumni: career counseling, assessment inventories, career exploration, professional development resources, events and programs, graduate and professional school advising, mock interviews, resume review, and mentoring. All of these efforts are available to encourage the student to begin planning early for eventual entry into the workplace. The University partners with private sector and public sector employers and staffing agencies to provide support and resources for the student during a career search. For more information, contact CareerServices@HarrisburgU.edu.
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