Spring
course registration
It’s hard to believe, but in less than
two weeks your student will register for classes for the Spring
2011 semester. You may hear some of the concern about how to register
and what to take in a phone call – and you can reassure your
student that the process is easier than he thinks.
Two weeks ago your student received a registration time through
his my.sbu.edu student account. Course registration at St. Bonaventure
University is done online, but don’t worry -- your freshman
should know how to register for classes when registration day arrives.
Julie Rodriguez, associate registrar, said University 101 professors
should go over the registration process in class. She said a student’s
academic adviser will also help with the registration process.
All freshmen will register for Spring 2011 classes on Nov. 15 and
16. This semester, students whose last names start with L-Z will
register Nov. 15, and students whose last name starts with A-K will
register on Nov. 16. (That order shifts each semester.) Registration
times start at 4 p.m. Rodriguez said.
Craig Sinesiou, lecturer in the School of Education, said there
are several things your student should do before she meets with
her academic adviser to talk about registering for classes.
“First, students should check their degree audits online to
make sure they select courses that fulfill their major requirements.
I encourage students to check out courses by reading their descriptions
in the catalog and talking with other students who have taken the
course,” he said.
He said before a student meets with an adviser, she should put together
a tentative plan of courses she wants to take. That plan should
include a couple of alternative courses in case one of her first
choices is not available.
Samantha Shaver, a sophomore accounting major, said her peer coach
was also a good resource when she needed help registering for classes
her freshman year.
“I felt very comfortable registering for classes the first
time because my peer coach walked me through it ahead of time. She
was very thorough, which made registering for classes stress free,”
Shaver said.
If your student still feels uncomfortable after talking with his
adviser, peer coach and University 101 professor about registering
for classes, the registrar’s office will host a session called
“Navigating Registration.” This session is at 7 p.m.
on Nov. 2.
Sinesiou said parents should help students who are registering for
classes by asking them questions about how the classes they choose
will impact their career or how many of their choices are “core
classes,” which are classes that all students take regardless
of their major.
He also said parents should encourage students to take ownership
of the registration process with guidance of their advisers. They
should be encouraged to talk with upperclassmen, their resident
assistant (RA) and University 101 professor, who all have been through
the registration process.
“Parents should support what students want to major in, not
what parents want students to major in,” Sinesiou said.
-Robbie
Chulick
Class of 2013
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Residence hall living
As your freshman entered St. Bonaventure
University this year, she was given the opportunity to live in a
Living and Learning Community in her residence hall.
Incoming students could choose from the following themed communities:
academic major, go green, substance free, fitness, academic focus,
service learning, leadership and honors program.
The themes were created by Chris Brown, coordinator for residential
education and housing.
“A lot of researching other schools and reviewing publications
of higher education went into planning this new living arrangement
for the freshmen,” said Brown.
Last year, some students were grouped by major in “mini clusters,”
said Brown. “According to national data, students do better
if clustered by major, and we drew the same conclusion with our
data, so this year we decided to change the housing process completely
and put all of those not in a themed community into a major ‘mini
cluster.’”
Themed living communities have been offered before. Previously,
freshmen classes were offered the academic focus and fitness themes.
They were also offered their choice of residence halls.
This year, Brown said, "we changed the way we asked freshmen
(about their housing preferences). Instead of asking them what building
they wanted, we asked what environment they would like to live in.”
Themed groups were placed on certain floors depending on how many
students chose to live in them. Each theme has two sections, one
for males and one for females. The mini-clusters by major have multiple
sections.
The themed-communities participate in a variety of activities, Brown
said.
For example, "service learning communities participated in
BonaResponds food packing on 9/11 this year, and then followed with
a reflection," he said. "The fitness floor did a program
on protein shakes and smoothies, while enjoying some."
Brown said resident assistants (RAs) think of activities, but also
work to “identify other people, like a guest star, to come
in and give a presentation. This is a great opportunity to get to
know faculty and staff outside the classroom and in a social setting.”
During the process of hiring RAs, applicants were asked what type
of community they wished to live in. RAs for freshman floors were
informed where they would live over the summer. Brown said the training
process for RAs helped us to learn their interests and abilities,
which made it easier to place them with a specific themed community.
"We are looking forward to continuing themed living communities.
Successful ones will be continued, less successful ones will be
switched out.” said Brown.
“There are no new ideas for themes just yet, but we are planning
on clustering students around their University 101 courses,”
he added.
-Claire Rose Mangine
Class of 2013
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Social networking
“The Social Network,” a movie
about the origin of Facebook, was released in theaters throughout
the United States on Oct. 1. The success of the two-hour-long film
provides an interesting biography for the website and reaffirms
its status of “top social-networking site.”
Ninety percent of college students have a Facebook account. Facebook,
Google and each student’s university website rank as the top
three websites visited by college students, according to the “Collegiate
Success Guide” on Facebook Awareness.
“The site was created by students…and began as a network
strictly for Harvard University in 2004,” according to the
guide. “It (Facebook) allows people to create individual profiles
and connects them with both friends and others whom they may have
never met.”
In September 2006, Facebook opened its doors to everyone, no longer
requiring school e-mail addresses for members.
Facebook can encourage students at St. Bonaventure University to
get involved in many ways. St. Bonaventure University athletics,
student organizations and media are all on Facebook. WSBU-FM and
the Campus Activities Board use their Facebook accounts to inform
and “invite” students to different activities on campus.
Lauren Morris sometimes attends events she’s invited to on
Facebook. “If it’s something I’ve heard about
around campus and then I’m reminded by Facebook , I usually
go,” said Morris, a political science and international studies
double major.
Other St. Bonaventure-related groups on Facebook include Bona’s
Goes Green, Bona Carpool Network and Study Abroad. Private groups
exist for each “accepted” group of incoming freshmen
(e.g.: Accepted: Official St. Bonaventure University Class of 2014
group). These groups are a great way for students with similar interests
to connect with each other.
With more than 500 million active users world-wide, a variety of
people use Facebook. Strangers, parents and grandparents, younger
siblings, professors, university officials and even potential employers
are on Facebook. Students and job-seeking individuals, especially,
should be aware of the last-mentioned group of people - potential
employers.
According to a study conducted by Harris Interactive for Careerbuilder.com,
“Facebook is the most popular destination for employers to
do their online sleuthing, followed by LinkedIn and MySpace. In
addition, 7 percent followed job candidates on Twitter.” Fifty-six
percent of the 2,667 managers and human resource workers listed
provocative photos as the biggest reason for not hiring someone.
Drinking and drug use references determined the decision for the
other 44 percent.
Sam Shaver considers each of her pictures before she posts it on
Facebook. “I think to myself ‘is this a picture I really
want everyone to see,’” said Shaver, a sophomore accounting
major.
Junior Mike Leet would even consider deleting his Facebook entirely.
“It’s pointless,” said Leet, a business information
systems major. “Plus it could affect me getting a job in the
future and stuff like that.”
Like Facebook, Twitter, a social media site, is beginning to grow
in popularity since its 2006 origin.
“Twitter is a rich source of instantly updated information,”
according to the website, www.twitter.com.
According to the technology blog “ReadWriteWeb,” Kevin
Thau, a Twitter executive said: “Twitter is for news. Twitter
is for content. Twitter is for information.” With Twitter,
anyone can make an account and follow news from his favorite sports
teams, bands, authors and other public figures and places.
Like Facebook, many St. Bonaventure University groups and organizations
are on Twitter. They share links with information, including postings
about upcoming events and recent publications. Bona’s students
can follow the university (@stbonaventure), the radio station (@wsbu),
The Bona Venture (@The_BV), The Laurel (@laurelatbonas) and other
student groups and organizations through “tweets.” And
parents, like students, can follow the University or various groups
through Facebook and Twitter.
-Meaghan O’Rourke
Class of 2013
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My View: Mt Irenaeus
Between
homework, studying and the transition to residence hall life, there
is no shortage of things to be stressed about in the life of a first-year
college student. Having a place to get away from it all, even if
just for a short time, is priceless.
For students at St. Bonaventure, that sanctuary is Mt. Irenaeus,
a Franciscan retreat geared toward providing Bona students with
a getaway they can use to learn more about themselves and each other.
The Mountain, as it’s known, welcomes people of all faith
traditions.
The fast-paced hustle of living on any college campus is enough
to make a student overlook his or her faith in a higher power, whatever
that might be. It can leave the feeling that the student is living
each day like a television rerun.
But at Mt. Irenaeus, there is no place you can’t see God.
On the Mountain, your student looks over miles of patchwork forests
painted with all the colors of fall, and sees a beautiful man-made
pond and several rustic gardens with farm-fresh fruit that will
undoubtedly be served at the meal during that day’s retreat.
It is very difficult to visit the Mountain and fail to notice the
beauty divinely instilled in the natural world.
But the most effective and encouraged way to find God at Mt. Irenaeus
is through the people there. Whether they’re friars, visitors
or Mountain Community Leaders, they may initially appear to be strangers
in the eyes of a first-time visitor. By the end of the day, however,
they will have become three-dimensional and beautiful people.
My first Mountain experience as a freshman found me plopped among
a group of young men I barely knew. I had already built preconceived
notions about all of them, as any teenager might. But the prayer
service offered in the ornately carved wooden chapel that night
peeled back the layers I had thought were the people I was with.
All around me, with the guidance of Fr. Dan Riley, O.F.M., and Br.
Kevin Kriso, O.F.M., the participants in the men’s overnight
retreat were confessing their fears, their hopes and dreams, and
the passions in life that kept the flame burning inside of them.
The lackluster attitude of teenagers being forced to go to Mass
by persistent parents was nowhere to be found. This was a real and
practical embrace of what we were, an embrace of God in the way
we saw fit and a clear rite of self-acceptance. The people around
me were not static characters with only names and faces, but real
people with a true need for faith in their lives.
Fr. Dan encourages visitors not to walk in an organized procession
up to the chapel for Mass or service, but to find their own unique
way to their destination, as we all must do in life. In much the
same way, we must all find our own way to the Mountain, or into
our own thoughts and faith if we wish to be in touch with ourselves.
It’s up to the individual student to get back in touch with
himself, but there will be nothing to regret once contact has been
made.
Learn more about Mt. Irenaeus at www.mounti.com.
-Kevin Cooley
Class of 2014
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WHAT'S
GOING ON . . .
Upcoming events on campus include:
Ongoing
- Math Lab available for drop-in assistance in
mathematics
Friday-Saturday, 10/29-30 - Overnight at Mt.
Irenaeus
Saturday, 10/30 - Men's Soccer vs. George Washington
Saturday, 10/30 - Rafting Trip
Saturday, 10/30 - Halloween Dance Party
Sunday, 10/31 - SBU Band and Choir Concert
Sunday, 10/31 - Men's Soccer vs. Richmond
Monday, 11/1 - Library Workshop: Databases (students
will learn advanced searching tips and techniques to save time and
help them find the best resources)
Tuesday, 11/2 - Library Workshop: Citing Resources (students
will learn about the library’s citation manager, Noodletools)
Tuesday, 11/2 - Special Olympics Soccer Coaching Clinic
Wednesday, 11/3 - Bonnies Basketball Tipoff Luncheon
Wednesday, 11/3 - Tent of the Nations - Daoud Nassar
Wednesday, 11/3 - CAB Travel - Buffalo Sabres vs. Boston
Bruins
Thursday, 11/4 - Special Olympics Coaching General Session
Thursday, 11/4 - Live music from Jason Olcese in
Cafe La Verna
Thursday, 11/4 - Library Workshop: Wildcard (database
or citation topics will be discussed, depending upon the preference
of workshop attendees)
Friday, 11/5 - Women's Basketball
v.s Edinboro
Saturday, 11/6 - Men's Soccer vs. Duquesne
Saturday, 11/6 - The Mountain Auction benefit in
support of Mt.
Irenaeus
Monday, 11/8 - Talent Show at the QCA
Thursday, 11/11 - Health, Safety and Wellness Fair
Thursday, 11/11 - A Soul's Journey to God - Minhhang K.
Huynh
Thursday, 11/11 - Comedian Hasan Minhaj in the
Skeller
Saturday, 11/13 - Men's and Women's Swimming and Diving
vs. Cleveland State
Sunday, 11/14 - Buffalo Bills vs. Detroit Lions
Sunday, 11/14 - SBU Chamber Music Concert
Thursday, 11/18 - SBU Jazz Band Concert
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