Parent & Family Resources

Parents and Families Guide

The was designed to provide you with useful information. We hope that you will keep this information handy and refer to it often when you have questions about parenting a college student, and about College  policies and procedures.  If you are unable to find the answer to your question, we have included contact names and phone numbers for many of the offices and departments on campus, as well as a list of whom to contact if you have questions on specific areas not covered here. You will also find a list of Important Dates in the Guide.

The staff in the Office of Student Success Services (OS3), the St. Mary's faculty members, and your students academic advisors want to help students be successful.

• Counseling Center
  The Counseling Center provides professional and confidential services in order to support the psychological and emotional development of students. Walk-in hours do not require an appointment and are Mondays - Fridays, 1 - 3 PM. Call 240-895-4289 to set up an appointment. Students can also use the Protocall toll free helpline 24/7.  (240) 895-4200.
• Dictionary
  We know that there are lots of terms and acronyms used on campus that may be new to you. To help our students and family members, we put together a  that explains important information relating to Academics, Admissions, Athletics, Business Office, Financial Aid, Registrar, Student Life, and Title IX. We hope this resource is useful to you.

 

Absences

OS3 does not "grant" excused absences. We will send a notification to a student's instructors to let them know that the student will be absent from class (assuming that the student or family member notifies us in a timely manner) and to ask the instructors to work with the student to get caught up on whatever was missed during the class(es). Unlike high school, there is no "excused absence" policy in college. As you may know, College policy states that students are allowed two absences for each course; after two absences, it is entirely within the instructor's purview whether or not to count the absence toward the student's grade based on the instructor's established attendance policy.

Ideas to help students find success.

• Meet instructors out of class. Most professor post their office/visiting hours in their syllabus. Students can ask what they can do to get back on track in the course, ask specific questions about content, or talk about career opportunities and more!
• Prepare for class and attend class (even if they've missed a few).
• Complete readings, make an outline combining their reading and class notes, talk in class (even if they ask only one question).
• Utilize course TA’s. If there isn't a TA, then meet with their instructor about specific content challenges, or email OS3 about getting a free tutor (tutoring@smcm.edu).
• Contact OS3 (OS3@smcm.edu or 240-895-4388) to schedule an academic coaching session (for help with time management, study skills, procrastination, exam prep, motivation, etc.) with a professional staff member.
• Work with a Peer Academic Success Strategies (PASS) Specialist. These are students trained to help them with academic coaching (time management, note-taking, getting organized, creating an academic action plan, breaking up large assignments into chunks, etc.). Please email pass@smcm.edu or call 240-895-4388 to schedule an appointment.
• Before they drop a course talk with their advisor or an OS3 staff member.
• Contact their advisor for additional advice and support

If they receive accommodations, they can contact the Office of Accessibility Services for assistance (adasupport@smcm.edu or 240-895-2250).

(Note: These videos were recorded before April 2026, they are archived and are maintained for historical, research, or recordkeeping purposes only.)