Franklin & Marshall College

Dear Parents,

The fall semester has come and gone and many of our students are home for a long winter break. I already miss the buzz of a busy campus and look forward to the beginning of the spring semester on Tuesday, January 17. College Houses and Theme Houses open at 8:30 a.m. on Sunday, January 15. There are no classes on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Monday, January 16.

A warm welcome to our newest cohort of Spring Option students, who arrive for orientation on Saturday, January 14! Please join me in welcoming them to the F&M Family.
Warm wishes to you and yours during this holiday season!

All the best,

Maura Condon Umble '83
Director of Parent Relations
maura.umble@fandm.edu
717-291-3888

Appel Health Services wants parents to know...

One of the pleasures of working in the college health profession is the opportunity to help students become independent adults in charge of their own lives. When we see first-year students, it is often the first time they have been to a doctor’s office without a parent in the waiting room. By the time they are seniors, they have learned to manage their own health care needs and, if we have done our jobs, learned how to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Some things you should know about Appel Health Services:

• Appel is one of only 238 college health centers in the United States and 11 in Pennsylvania to by accredited by the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care (AAAHC), which accredits all types of ambulatory centers, surgery centers, clinics, etc.

• Our name is pronounced like the fruit. Dr. Appel, for whom we are named, said it that way, and we do, too.

• Our hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday. After-hours care is available at one of two nearby emergency rooms; a student who goes to an ER should schedule follow-up care at Appel.

• Appel’s function is much the same as your family doctor’s office, but we also offer urgent-care services. We provide routine laboratory testing and services and draw blood to send to outside labs at the request of a practitioner. Students also can schedule routine allergy injections at Appel.

• Our full-time medical director, Amy Myers, M.D., is a board-certified family physician with extensive experience in private practice and as a college team physician with certification in sports medicine.

• Two nurse practitioners, Cindee Abachnou, CRNP, and Jan Masland, CRNP, provide additional clinical patient hours.

• A staff of registered nurses triage patients and provide health and wellness education.

F&M students are often anxious about missing classes and campus activities when they become ill. Even a common cold can push that anxious feeling to a sense of urgency that they be "made better." A calming word from parents can go a long way toward realistic expectations for what modern medicine can and cannot do.

• We typically see students the day they call for an appointment (class schedule permitting). Occasionally we will see an ill student the next day.

• If we recommend that an ill student should not attend classes, we will put him or her on a short-term medical leave to excuse them from attending.

• Students sometime perceive a negative test result as a "misdiagnosis." Having their mono blood test come back negative is a good result.

• As responsible practitioners, we avoid inappropriate use of antibiotics. Overuse of antibiotics is how the MRSA infection developed. We all need to protect ourselves from the serious problem of drug resistance. You can help your student understand that a viral illness will get better by itself and that an antibiotic will not hasten that. Appel provides treatment for viral symptoms with fever and pain medications, anesthetic gargle and throat lozenges, nasal lavage (Neti Pots), decongestants and cough medications, as well as "flu and cold packs" that contain Gatorade, tea bags, bouillon, Tylenol and crackers.

The staff at Appel is here to keep your student healthy and well educated about staying that way for their four years with us. Your partnership in that endeavor is welcome and encouraged.

Upcoming Parent Gathering in Manhattan

If you live or work in the New York City area, you are invited for a wine and hors d'oeuvres reception for F&M parents on Thursday, January 12, from 6 - 8 p.m. This event will feature our new Associate Vice President for Student and Post-Graduate Development, Beth Throne '95. Beth is eager to discuss with parents the College’s new approach to supporting students and young alumni in their preparation for life after college. And our new Vice President and Dean of Admission and Financial Aid, Daniel Lugo, will be present to discuss his plans for enhancing our recruitment efforts. Your F&M student is welcome to join you.

Please join us for a fun Franklin & Marshall evening!

New York City Regional Parent Gathering
Thursday, January 12, 6 - 8 p.m.
At the home of Ruth Lazarus P'12 & Michael Feldberg P'12 (parents of Ben Feldberg '12)
1120 Fifth Ave., #14C (between 93rd & 94th)
New York, NY 10128

Click here to RSVP.

Commencement 2012

Franklin & Marshall’s graduation ceremony will be held at 10 a.m. on Saturday, May 12. I suggest that families arrive by noon on Friday, May 11. There is a family picnic lunch that day, followed by the Awards Program (students find out closer to the date whether they are receiving an award) and the Baccalaureate Program, which is a lovely event for all seniors and their families. On Saturday, the commencement ceremony typically lasts approximately 2.5 hours and will be followed by a short reception for all.

Campus Wi-Fi Service Extended to College Row/College Hill

President Porterfield recently announced that, as a result of an Idea Group recommendation, the campus’ wireless Internet service will immediately be extended to College Row and College Hill, enhancing residents’ ability to engage in coursework and research and ensuring that we can all stay connected as a community.

Dirty Laundry?

Does laundry pile up in your student’s room? Now is a great time to sign up for a Festiva Laundry student plan for the spring semester! Festiva picks up and drops off on campus and offers F&M students up to 40 percent off regular wash-dry-fold prices. (Normal-use green bag plan: $295 per semester; heavy-use purple bag plan: $475 per semester.) Go to their website for details.

Question of the Month: "How and when are students notified of their fall semester grades?"

Fall semester grades are posted to students’ transcripts once per day at 6 a.m. during the grade-collection period (through December 30, 2011). Students may view their transcripts at any time on their myDiplomat accounts.

Grade reports are not automatically mailed. If your student needs to provide a record of his/her grades, he/she should file a transcript request with the Registrar’s Office through myDiplomat (under the Academics link, there is a link for "Request a Transcript"), or in person in Diagnothian Hall. Please note that by federal law, the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, the College is not permitted to share a student’s grades with anyone without the student’s consent.

Calendar Year-End Giving

Many families review their charitable giving at this time. To facilitate your review, we want to make sure you have some important details about giving to F&M in the 2011 tax year.

To make end-of-year giving as easy as possible, some basic mechanics are provided below. Most importantly, please know that I am here to support you should any questions arise. Feel free to email or call me at any time if I might be of assistance.

• Gifts of appreciated securities can be a tax-wise way to support Franklin & Marshall. Transfer instructions and account information can be found here. If you intend to make gifts using stocks or mutual funds, it is best to initiate that transfer early (before the College closes on December 22 for winter break.) If you have questions regarding stock transfers, please do not hesitate to call me or my colleague, Becky Wile, at 717-291-4330.

• Gifts sent by mail must be postmarked by December 31 to be credited in the 2011 tax year. If you wish to give by mail in the final days of 2011, we recommend you use the United States Postal Service (not third-party carriers such as FedEx) and consider giving by check. The mailing address is: Gift Accounting, Development Office, Franklin & Marshall College, P.O. Box 3003, Lancaster, PA 17604.

• Gifts by credit card can be made securely online through midnight on December 31. If you intend to make a last-minute gift to F&M in 2011, your best option is to do so online (Please refrain from sending a credit card gift by mail in the final days of the calendar year if tax implications are a concern; in order for your gift to be credited in 2011, it must be received and charged to your card by December 3)

Whether you are considering a donation to the College’s highest priority -- the Franklin & Marshall Fund -- or any number of other worthy opportunities to benefit students and faculty, please know how grateful we are for your support.