Student College Relationship

 
 
Professor GordonColby treats students as adults and expects students to be responsible for managing their lives and their relationship with the College.  We do, however, understand that students are in the process of learning and refining the skills they need to be engaged community members and successful adults.  Accordingly, the Division of Student Affairs provides a full range of support systems and services to help students succeed in all aspects of their lives and education at Colby.

The core of the Colby-Student relationship is detailed in the following list:

  • We care about our students.  Really.  We care about their health and happiness and safety and success.  We want them to enjoy and do well in their classes.  We want them to thrive personally and socially.  We want them to have fun.  And we will be there to help them get the most out of their Colby experience.
  • A positive experience exists for all Colby students.  Colby is not a one-size-fits-all proposition.  To the contrary, there is a unique Colby education for every Colby student.  The challenge for your student is to commit to identifying and achieving their own special Colby.  They must be prepared to embrace periods of discomfort.  They have to be willing to question their beliefs.  And we - faculty and staff and parents and families - have to encourage students to explore new ideas and paths of inquiry.

 
group discussion
  • Students must be responsible for themselves and for their experience. Above all else, we want students to grow in their understanding of themselves and the world in which they live. We want them to be challenged and to learn to handle adversity on their own. So our version of caring is not always warm and fuzzy. On the other hand, it's not really about "tough love" either. It is about trusting and believing in our students' ability to be engaged, thoughtful, and responsible members of this community and providing support and guidance while setting high expectations for them.
  • Colby is entirely about students. More to the point, Colby is about students learning and growing and maturing as a person. Our objective is to help students to become capable, competent, and independent adults. We believe that there are learning opportunities for students in all aspects of their lives on campus and when faculty or staff or family members act as surrogates for students we deprive them of a chance to learn.

We want them to be challenged and to learn to handle adversity on their own.  So our version of caring is not always warm and fuzzy.  On the other hand, it's not really about "tough love" either.  It is about trusting and believing in our students' ability to be engaged, thoughtful, and responsible members of this community.