It’s February already and time to think about updating the blog for the Fall 2012 semester.
If you’ve been with me for a while, there will be a lot of familiar topics but I’m always on the lookout for new things. I have a short list of new things and if you have ideas, I’m always open for suggestions.
February and March will be pretty slow, so there won’t be too many updates. But once we hit April, things will start up pretty regularly.
Stay in touch!
Classes started yesterday and the most valuable thing I can say to anyone but especially to new students is: GO TO CLASS!
All the time. Well, unless you have the creeping crud. No offense, we don’t want you then. If you’re up, walking around, doing anything — go to class.
Attending class does some valuable things for you:
–shows the instructor you are willing to make an effort
–you learn more that way
–you get the handouts and assignments
–the instructor will explain things to you
–you learn who your classmates are and you can ask them for help
You may even… gasp!… do well in your classes!
Here’s the secret “stupid question” that you never ask: “Did I miss anything?”
Of course you missed something! You weren’t there. Class doesn’t stop because you’re not there!
The question is: “What did I miss?” And it’s asked politely…..
See you around!
Are you ready? I’m not! LOL
Things you should be considering:
–do you have books?
–do you know where your classrooms are?
–print your schedule before you come to campus; it’s easier!
–have you done: MMR, Residence Form, financial aid verification (if you needed to).
–looking for a job? If you’re eligible for work study, check out the job listings inside Genesis.
–have you logged into: Genesis, outlook.com email?
–have you been to a New Student Orientation? One last session in Batavia tomorrow!
Ready or not, we’ll see you on Monday!
Classes start in 5 days! ::grin::
Tomorrow (Thursday) there’s a session in Arcade in the late morning and Warsaw in the evening.
Friday is the humongous NSO in Batavia. You still need to sign up but we have a HUGE group of students coming! Don’t let that stop you, we’d love to see you here.
Ready for classes? I’m not!
There is a never-ending discussion about what should be on the college website. What is its purpose and what should be ‘up front’ — and everything should be easy to find!
It’s always a good discussion because the various folk that guide the content on the web site come from various areas of the college and everyone with a stake in the www.genesee.edu web site gets to put in their 2 cents. The discussion alone is valuable since we have to defend our positions and, in explaining our position, it makes us think it through more.
There is a strong element of marketing to any website, especially a college website. It is there to inform people about what the college has to offer and to entice students (and their parents) into looking closer at the college. Hopefully, once someone looks closer, he/she enrolls at the college.
The other part of the web site is informational. Faculty, staff and students rely on the web site for information they need when doing business (the academic calendar, course descriptions, directions to campus centers, etc). These people already have a relationship with the college, we do not need to ‘entice’ these people, they need information to stay at the college.
No one argues that we shouldn’t do both. It’s the balance, sometimes, that is difficult.
About a year ago, the XKCD web site (www.xkcd.com) put up the perfect cartoon that displays the two sides of the dilemma.
Clicky to make it larger (and more legible).
If you’re reading, tell me what you look for on Genesee’s web sites…. If there are things or information you cannot find, tell me that, too!
While there’s no New Student Orientation in Batavia this week 
, there still are orientations you can attend.
Wednesday, August 10 is a double header with Orientations in Warsaw in the afternoon (starting at 1:00 pm) and Dansville in the evening (at 6:00 pm).
Friday has 2 sessions at Medina, one from 12:00 noon to 2:00 pm and a second session at 3:00 pm to 5:00 pm.
It’s useful to come and meet the staff at the center, we’ll take care of any technical issues and there’ll even be some food!
Join us!
Over the weekend, network accounts for ALL students for the Fall semester were created. ALL means literally that — whether this is your first time at Genesee, you were here in the Spring or here all summer or it’s your bazillionth semester… your network account password for Fall has been reset.
Starting July 29, more yellow letters were sent to ALL (same definition of all) registered students about the network username and password. If you register after July 29, you’ll get a letter from us. If we know where you live, but that’s a discussion for another day.
The password in the yellow letter WILL work. It will let you log into a campus computer and it will let you access Library databases remotely. Go to the Library web site (http://www.genesee.edu/library) and then click on databases and try to access one of the databases. The password on the yellow letter should work. Oh, right. It’s case sensitive. Those are mostly upper-case letters. Enter them in CAPS.
Yes, it’s an ugly password. The only way to get it reset (well, besides calling the help desk) is to come to campus and use it once to log into a computer. Once you’re logged in with the ugly password (which, remember, is case sensitive), press CTRL-ALT-DEL on the keyboard again and one of the options will be to “change a password”… click on that and enter the ugly password, a new password and type the new password a second time. (That’s what “confirm password” means — type it again.)
Okay, we’ll reset the password in T207 in Batavia. Get into the line that forms the first week of classes and we’ll reset it for you. But it’s easier to bring the yellow letter with you and change it yourself.
Genesee uses technology as an integral part of instruction. Whether you are taking a fully online, video point-to-point, hybrid or fully face-to-face class, you will be expected to use technology.
To support that, we offer a number of Technical Orientations that go over the basics you need to know. We cover:
There are two types of Technical Orientation: in person and online.
In Person Technical Orientations
These will be held on Saturday, August 20 starting at 9:00 am in T102 on the Batavia Campus. The session will include information on “How to Be A Successful Online Student” as well as hands-on technical session.
Online Technical Orientations
These sessions are held in Elluminate, a webinar/conferencing software. Since this is completely online, you can access the Online Technical Orientations from any location — home, work, a library. You only need a computer and speakers (or headphones) to participate.
If you’ve never participated on an online conference before, information on that can be found on the Elluminate web site in their instructions for First Time Participants. Check it out before the orientation date and plan to log in about 10 minutes before the scheduled start time.
The August 16 webinar will be recorded so anyone who could not attend a webinar in person and who would like to review the information can do so.
In Person Assistance
If you are attending classes in Batavia, you can always get help in the Open Lab (T207) or the Assisted Learning Lab (D209). Help in using technology is available in both locations.
At a campus center, there are often lab assistants available; ask at the desk when someone might be available to help.
This is a MUST do if you need/want to use your financial aid toward purchasing textbooks or the meal plans in the Cafe.
Log into Genesis, click on Student Services then on Financial Aid Information. Look for the “My Award Information” option and then the “Authorize Funds for Bookstore Use” (it’s one click for both the bookstore and the meal plans).
Select the Fall 2011 term and then Submit.
Select "Fall 2011"
Click the boxes and Submit, again.
Click on the pic for something you can actually come close to being able to read.
You can use your financial aid in the bookstore and the Cafe starting August 15 (one week before start of classes). If you order books now, the Bookstore will hold them until August 15 before shipping them out to you (or the nearest campus center).
This is one of those ‘preaching to the choir’ posts but I’m going to do it anyway.
One of the things we (the general College ‘we’ not just me) do is have to send you information or ask questions. In an effort to be ‘green’ and cost conscious, we send you a number of emails, primarily to your Genesee email address.
That means that you need to check that Genesee email account semi-regularly. And even more regularly the closer we get to the start of the semester.
The Business Office will remind you about any bills you owe, you get the famous “Information for All Students” (which can also be found here), the Health Office reminds you if you haven’t turned in your forms, etc, etc, etc.
Student email is found at www.outlook.com and, if you are registered for Fall you already have an account. The username is the same as your Genesis username but the password is separate.
If you need help with your email username and password, call the Help Desk at 1-866-614-5004 for help. If you’re in Batavia, you can come to T207 for help.
And, again, this sounds faintly silly but… open the paper mail we send to you? There are a number of things that get sent by USPS mail to your home address and we consider it all important. If you’re not sure if it’s important to you, call us (or drop me a note) and we’ll double check for you.
