Questions Parents Ask

Yes, Mr. John Felio, Associate Vice President for Student Life, serves as the parent liaison for the Division of Student Life. John can be reached at jfelio@siena.edu or by calling 518-783-2328.

No. Students do not have to come to Siena to register for classes. You will be registered for your first semester courses by our professional staff. This will take place during the month of June. Before we do this, we will gather a great deal of information on your interests, preferences, and background. You will provide some of this on the “Registration Interest Form” accessed on the "Ready Siena" webpage. We take this information and that which is on your high school transcript and your Siena application, look at your intended major, and then we will create schedules for you. You also have the opportunity to communicate with us over the summer with additional information, preferences or questions. Further, we will communicate with you if we have any questions or concerns. Additionally, if, after we speak with you, it is determined that you should come to Siena and meet with us to discuss your options, we'll set up a time.

Contact the Registrar’s Office at 518-783-2310 and they will verify that a student is enrolled and sign the appropriate form.

Siena College has an Emergency Operations Plan. Siena takes all incidents affecting students, faculty and staff safety as serious and time sensitive. Please visit the Emergency Information website at https://www.siena.edu/emergencyinfo.

You can change or update your Emergency Contact information in Banner Self Service under the Personal Information area.

The Health Services Office is open Monday through Friday, 8:30 am – 4:30 pm while school is session. Services are provided by registered nurses, nurse practitioners, physician assistants in collaboration with a physician, all of whom are affiliated with St. Peter’s Health Partners. Students are encouraged to call the office for a same day appointment. Medical records are confidential and we cannot release medical information to any third party, including parents, unless we have a signed waiver by your student. After hours, if you student needs emergency care, they will be transported to St. Peter’s Hospital.

All full time registered students are required to have health insurance coverage and must provide verification of coverage annually. Full time students are automatically enrolled into the CDPHP Student Health Plan offered by Siena College. If you presently are covered by another health insurance plan, you may process a waiver. Remaining in or waiving out of the health insurance plan is an annual decision, effective for the entire academic year. The insurance fee will remain on your e-bill until a waiver is approved by the Student Life Compliance Officer. Those choosing to waive the insurance MUST renew their waiver EACH YEAR. All fall waivers must be submitted by the date set on compliance site: https://community.siena.edu/student-life/departments/compliance-risk/student-health-insurance/. Other changes to enrollment/waiver status can only be processed in the case of a qualifying event (e.g., loss of insurance coverage).

Siena has the NEMT (Non-Emergency Medical Transport Program). Siena has made arrangements with a local taxi company to provide transportation for students for emergency room visits that do not require an ambulance and/or for off-campus medical appointments and permit the students to charge the fee to their student account. For more information please visit https://community.siena.edu/student-life/departments/health-services/non-emergency-medical-transport-service.

Students are encouraged to notify their professor for a missed class due to illness. Each faculty member maintains their own attendance policy. The Health Services office will work with the student and/or their treating practitioner if the absence is more than three (3) days and requires a Medical Leave notice to be issued from the Dean of Students office. Contact Health Services at 518-783-2554.

Payments can be made in person or online via the Siena Student Account Center (S.A.C). Students, parents and Authorized Participants can now view their real-time account activity and payment options by logging https://siena.afford.com.

Student grades are accessible on-line through Web for Students. Grades are not sent home. We encourage students to give their parent’s access to their Web for Students account.

Freshman cannot have vehicles on campus. For information on parking and vehicles, please visit https://www.siena.edu/student-life/safety-parking/parking-information.

The College reserves the right, without student consent, to notify parents of students in health or safety emergencies, in cases of alcohol and/or drug policy violations, if the student is under 21, and if a student has been disciplined for non-forcible sex offenses or violent crimes that are violations of Siena College’s Code of Conduct. The College also reserves the right to provide notification to parents of students of other types of disciplinary actions with a signed release from the student. Parental notification of all types of disciplinary actions will usually be in writing after the case has been resolved in accordance with the conduct review process. Finally, the College may, but is not required to, provide information from a student’s disciplinary record to parents of dependent students. The College will do so, however, only upon evidence from the parents that his or her child is a dependent student, as that term is defined in section 152 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.

Disclosure of a student's confidential education records requires prior written consent of the student (unless disclosure is permitted under certain exceptions to FERPA set forth in Section 99.31 of the FERPA Regulations). A student's written consent may be obtained by using the applicable FERPA form. The form is available online at https://community.siena.edu/assets/file_manager/insecure_file/FERPA_Release.pdf.