August 27, 2024

Welcome to the first issue of The Campus Experience Newsletter, a weekly newsletter for residential students brought to you by the Campus Experience (Office of Residential Experience and Campus Housing). Take a look each week for on campus living tips, reminders from Campus Housing, upcoming events, and Residence Hall spotlights!

Helpful Resources for the First Week of Classes

Campus Map: St. Mary's Campus Map

Academic Calendar: The semester begins Monday, August 26 and ends December 15. Undergraduate students will have a Midterm Break (October 17-18) and Thanksgiving Recess (November 25 - December 1). Please view the Academic Calendar for other important dates.

Parking on Campus: Students must purchase a parking permit to park on campus. Parking permits can be purchased via the Parking Portal. The yearly permit is for the academic year: August 1-July 31.

More information about parking permits can be found here!

Bookstore: The Saint Mary’s College Bookstore is integrated with Barnes & Noble to provide students and visitors with all of the things they need. On the ground floor of the bookstore, textbooks can be rented and bought for courses on campus. The shop is also filled with snacks, drinks, supplies, and various SMC merchandise. The bookstore is always a great place to buy gifts and grab a snack before class. Please view their website for hours.

SMC ID: All residential students will need an SMC ID to use their meal plan in Oliver Hall and the Coffee Shop as well as accessing the Recreation Center and checking books out at the library. You can also use your ID to ride the County Connection #6 for free! If you haven't picked up your ID card yet, you can do so in Campus Housing.

Library: Library hours can be found here! There are also ample study spaces on the first, second, and third floor. There is a computer lab downstairs (both Macs and PCs); several printers can be found in the library and can be accessed via the Cloud Printer service on any device allowing students to print. Each student is given $25 worth of printing, which equates to 500 black and white one-sided pages. You just need your SMC ID# and email address.

Dining on Campus: We have a few dining options: Oliver Dining Hall, Cafe Louis, Forager Food Truck, and 1928 Pub (the Pub is open to all students with food and drink options for all ages). Please see Dining Hours to see the hours of each establishment. There are a few vending machines scattered throughout campus that offer drinks and snacks.

GaelPantry is also open to SMC students in need, please view their page to schedule an appointment to pick up food essentials: Mission of Ministry's Gael Pantry

Canvas: You will use Canvas for all of your classes. Once you are registered, you should see all your classes on Canvas. Instructors are asked to upload booklists, assignments, projects and the syllabus. This ensures consistency across the program for students, as well as continuity and documentation for the course. If you need assistance in navigating Canvas for your courses, please refer to the Canvas page . Please contact IT Services at servicedesk@stmarys-ca.edu or (925) 631-4266 or submit a ticket through the ITS Self-Service Portal if you need further support.

Counseling and Psychological Services: Confidential services available at no additional cost to St. Mary's students at CAPS. The therapists at Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) can help you explore different ways to deal with life's transitions and assist you with more serious concerns-all in a confidential, culturally sensitive, supportive environment. You can find more information about their services here.

Campus Housing

Reduction of Cleaning Services in Residence Halls

Starting July 1st, the cleaning services for townhouse and suite-style housing has been reduced to once per month. During these monthly cleanings, custodial staff will continue to provide essential services such as bathroom cleaning, trash removal, vacuuming, and the replenishment of toilet paper and trash bags. We understand that this is a significant change, so please plan accordingly.

We are currently coordinating with Facilities to finalize the monthly cleaning schedule. We appreciate your patience and cooperation as we navigate these changes.

Meet the Residence Hall Association!

Hi Gaels!

My name is Erin Colville and I am the chairwoman for RHA (Residence Hall Association). We plan events for residential students, and we have so many fun events planned for this year. We will be showing movies every Monday night in Dryden from 9:00-11:00 pm, and check our instagram @smc_rha for information on all other events. Hope to see you soon!

RHA Executive Team (from left to right)

Angelica Buncio | Administrative Coordinator

Connor McGilvray | Recreation & Wellness Coordinator

Cohen Ryan | Inclusion & Belonging Coordinator

Erin Colville | Chair-woman

Emma Shaughnessy | Vice Chair

Halsey Brumitt | Publicity Coordinator

Taylor Alcozer | Late Night Event Coordinator

Get ready for Sunday, September 8

All first year students are invited to First Year Olympics hosted by the Recreation Center. Bring your friends and compete in both active and minute to win it type games!

12:30 – 1:00pm - arrive at De la Salle Lawn

1:00pm - Opening Ceremony & Games

3:00pm- First Round of Competitions

4:30pm- Closing Ceremony at the pool

Waivers: Going Digital - All Participants will need to sign a waiver.   Waivers must be signed prior to competition on Sept 8th. 

T-shirts: All members of your hall receive a t-shirt. This t-shirt must be worn at the First Year Olympics.  Choose one elected person from your hall to compete in the “Most Creative T-shirt” contest. Points are awarded for the winning hall. The t-shirt contest will be judged at opening ceremonies.  

Attendance:  We will be counting all the participants in each hall at the opening and closing ceremony. Encourage participation, it could be a deciding factor to win.

Sportsmanship: Every participant will be judged on good sportsmanship throughout each competition. Please no profanity or arguments with the officials.

Team Cheer: Your team will be judged on a team cheer. Be creative and have fun! The team cheer will be judged at opening ceremonies.

Team Flag: Your team will be judged on the decoration and use of your team flag. We will supply you with the poll for the flag on the day of the event.  

Tricycle Race: Pedal the tricycle around the designated course, first one to complete in the quickest amount of time is the winner. For safety reasons, players must weigh no more than 135lbs. Participants must pedal the tricycle to move forward and are not allowed to use feet to push forward.

Sports Competitions: Your hall will be competing in the following sports: Dodgeball & Volleyball. 

Canoe Building & Race: Each hall will be given cardboard and duct tape to build a canoe. 2 lengths of the pool with 2 different people.  One person in the boat at all times. This competition will be judged on design and race winner. Make sure your participants bring a change of clothes.  Only cardboard and duct tape supplies given to the hall are allowed.  Canoes must have walls (no surf boards/paddle boards). Canoe’s are not allowed to enter the pool until the starting whistle is blown. 

Residential Reminders

Vintage Halls = Vintage Plumbing

With well loved vintage halls comes vintage plumbing. A reminder to please clean your shower drains on a regular basis to ensure drains are not clogged and water buildup does not occur. If you are missing a drain screen or need your drain to be cleared, please submit a work order.

Bug off! Effective ways to keep pests away

With the change in weather comes an increase in pests looking for warmth and food. When it comes to dealing with insects, prevention is always better! Some helpful tips include keeping your kitchen, dining, bathroom, and sleeping rooms clean. This looks like regularly taking out trash, properly storing food, and returning Oliver Hall dishes to collection containers or Oliver Hall promptly. Make sure to regularly vacuum your floor and clean up any spills. If you have concerns about pests in your space, make sure to submit a work order.

Moisture Mitigation

To mitigate moisture in the halls, please work to keep windows open (as much as possible) and fans running (especially in bathrooms). Residents are also encouraged to not over decorate external walls to decrease moisture buildup.

Oliver Hall dishes

GEC would like to remind residents that all reusable dishes and silverware should be returned directly to Oliver Hall. Dishes should not be left in hallways, next to internal or external doorways, or on top of trashcans. Let's all do our part to keep campus clean!

Campus Dining Options

*For the Labor Day Holiday on 9/2, Oliver Hall will follow the weekend schedule*

We want to know!

Did you know you can mobile order at the coffee shop using the EveryDay app?

Need to get in touch?

Office of Residential Experience | reslife@stmarys-ca.edu | 925-631-4236

Campus Housing | housing@stmarys-ca.edu | 925-631-4241

Congratulations! You read the entire newsletter! Stop by the Residential Experience Office in De La Salle 117 Monday-Friday from 9:00 AM - 4:30 PM to pick up a prize.