2 New Visitor Spots in SOE Parking Lot

We've always had the 30 minute visitor spot next to the back door of the School of Education, but we've just added 4 additional 2 additional visitor spots in the parking lot next to the handicapped parking spots. No time limits given on these spots.

So now when you come in for advising or other appointments you may not have to park on the street!

If you're graduating May or August 2009....

There are several things you need to do.

First, you need to tell yourself you're going to attend commencement.

If you are graduating in May or August, you are eligible to participate in the commencement ceremony held May 16. I strongly encourage you to participate in the graduation ceremony. Many of us travel in professional and personal circles where we know many people with graduate degrees and may lose sight of what a tremendous accomplishment this is...but if you look nationally, the number of people with masters degrees is a small percentage of the population. This is a great accomplishment. You should be proud of yourself and consider participating in commencement. And, if you don't want to do it for yourself, do it for your family, spouse, significant other, and your kids who have shared the graduate school experience with you and who will want to celebrate this accomplishment with you as well!

Second, you need to complete a graduation application.

• To get to the online graduation application, go to MYDUSIS
• Click on the Student Services tab
• At the bottom of the left colum is the channel for the grad app
• As you complete the application, be sure you print it. If you are not given the option to print it, it may not have "taken"

Finally, you need to order your graduation gown!

You will rent a cap, gown and hood (you get to keep the tassel! :-) I'm quoting the bookstore when I say that you need to place your order before January 6 or you get "the crappy robes." After all this work, you at least deserve the high quality robes! To order your robes or ask any questions, go in to the bookstore, call or email:

Judy Elings
jelings@nebook.com
515-274-3401

Judy will be able to tell you the information she needs to include with the order (hat size, etc.). Payment is due when you place your order.

We'll see you at graduation!

Spring Registration Times

In case you have not already seen it, here is the schedule for spring registration:

If you earned 27 credits or more by the end of summer semester, you can begin registering Monday, Nov 3, 3:00 PM

If you earned 15 - 26.999 credits by the end of summer semester, you can begin registering Tuesday, Nov 4, 3:00 PM

If you earned 0 - 14.999 credits by the end of summer semester, you can begin registering Wednesday, Nov 5, 3:00 PM

As always, you can register for classes through MYDUSIS.

Deadline for December Graduates

If you are planning to graduate this December (end of Fall semester):

1. Congratulations!
   
2. You must complete a Graduation Application and submit it by October 1! The form is available electronically under the student tab on BlueView.

APA Tutorial

Now that we're a few weeks in to fall semester and you are working on prework and other papers for classes...it's time for a reminder on APA and the resources that are available to you!

We now have an APA tutorial available through BlueView.
To access the tutorial:

We also have APA resources on the ALOP website (including my favorite "cheat sheet" by Degelman and Harris at Vanguard University). The ALOP website also has general writing support (keep scrolling to see it all!).

As a student, you can also get one-on-one feedback on your papers (and other writing-related help) through the Drake Writing Workshop. It's a great, but underused, resource for you!

New Drake Email

As you know, last weekend the Drake email system was updated. This means several things for you:

• your email has CHANGED. Your email is now Firstname.Lastname@Drake.edu (of course using your first and last name!)
  
• when you go into BlueView and click on "email" you will see a new logon screen (and then a new email interface)
  
• when you log in to webmail you use your email name (Firstname.Lastname), not your student ID number

Why do you care about Drake email? Because all your class info and all official Drake communications will be sent to your Drake email!

If you have questions about the new email, feel free to call the Drake help desk at 515-271-3001.

Advisee Blog Survey Results

Thanks to those of you who completed the (very short!) Advisee Blog survey. Here are the results:

Q1: will you read the advisee blog if it contains content interesting or useful to you?

• The majority of the respondents said "yes." Although several people said they forget to look at it and appreciate email reminders to check the blog.

Q2: What would you like to see as content for our advisee blog?

• There was a 3-way tie for first place: Logistical and administration information and topics related to Training & Development, and Technology
  
• There was a 2-way tie for second place: Topics related to Leadership and Higher Ed
  
• Third place: Topics related to HR

So here's my plan:
Q1:

• I will continue to send email reminders
  
• I will add a post later in the semester on blog aggregators so you can, if you're interested, set up your own blog aggregator and make it easier to keep up with new posts in this blog and others!
  A blog "aggregator" or blog "reader" goes out and finds the new blog posts for all the blogs you have selected and presents all the new posts in one place (it "aggregates" them). This means you can go to one place and read all your blogs--a real time saver!

Q2:

• I'll continue to include logistical and administrative info in the blog but will also add Training & Development and Technology posts. To a lesser degree I'll add Leadership and Higher Ed posts too.
  
• For the fall, I'll be keeping a separate technology blog as part of ALOP 298--Using Emerging Technologies for Learning. I started this blog for class last year and will continue to add to it. Some of the posts may be a little "techie" but others should be interesting! So feel free to check it out last year's posts! (they won't all be on the screen-- click the "2007" on the right side of the screen to see the 2007 posts)

Thanks again for your feedback!