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Introducing . . .
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A warm welcome to our newest CID employee Kelly Thompson, Academic Computing Technician. She comes to us as a former student worker with much energy and initiative. Kelly is a great addition to the CID family. She will be replacing Jonathan Paul, who has moved on to Network Support Services. Welcome, Kelly, to the USF family! |
The USF Master Plan
USF has been reassessing its campus and reevaluating the needs of the students. From this appraisal has come The USF Master Plan. This Master Plan is a reaffirmation of the dedication that USF has to its students and the community. Many physical changes have begun and will continue, for many years, to take place for the betterment of the USF campus in Joliet, IL. The biggest and best so far is the acquisition of the Mother House, the convent cornerstone of USF’s heritage, which is located on the USF campus. Renovation has begun on a section in the Mother House known as the Taylor Wing, where the College of Nursing has moved from their previous home at Provena St. Joseph Medical Center, Joliet, IL. The nursing instructors and students have been settling in the past few weeks getting used to their new offices and classrooms. Conference roomsand offices along with a food venue are also on tap for the Mother House. But the Master Plan isn’t just the Mother House – it’s the whole campus!
Marian Dorm – Extreme Makeover!
Another undertaking this past summer was - The Marian Dorm EXTREME MAKEOVER! This makeover is in conjunction with the Campus Master Plan, and is giving a whole new look and feel to the dorms, both inside and out. This student housing, along with the offices of the Academic and Information Support Services, are being renovated for the Fall, 2005 semester. The best part is that the complete renovation is being completed in just over 4 months! It sounds impossible, but true! The new and improved Marian Dorm, when completed, will have 2 exterior court yards – one private court yard with a grilling area, and one with seating to enjoy the great outdoors. The dorm rooms have also received a face lift, along with the bathrooms in the mix of single and double rooms. Also, a laundry facility on each floor along with a study lounge equipped with computers and wireless access will make both laundry and school work a lot more accessible. An expanded gaming area and large social lounge will round out the new amenities offered to the Marian Hall residents. This makes Marion Hall quite an attractive living space for residential students. Along with Marion's new look, campus beautification has been ongoing all summer.Taylor Street, has begun to be turned into a boulevard, with the developing courtesy of the City of Joliet.
The Future
The full Master Plan, including more student housing, abundant student and faculty parking, expansion of the Recreation Center, St. Albert Hall addition, and a sports field, will not see final culmination for about 15 years, but work on this is continual and ongoing.
Keep checking back on the Master Plan website, as it will be updated with news and photos of the construction and Master Plan progress!
USF Online Resources
There are no better online resource for a USF Online student than the University of St. Francis Website. In the last newsletter, we began exploring the website, looking at the different available services that would assist the online student. We looked at the USF Online area, where you’ll find help and technical support. This is also where you’ll find the Problem Report which you can fill out if you are having trouble accessing some aspect of your class. This problem report is checked consistently by our technical support staff to assist you day and night. We also investigated the resources for Online Students area, which contains handy sites such as the USF Library and the Online Bookstore.
There is one document that should become the nearest and dearest friend of the online student - the Student User Guide. This is located in two areas: on the web under the heading Resources for Online Students, and in each and every class in the left hand margin.
This 27-page printable document contains all of the instructions necessary to successfully engage in an online class. Let’s see what’s in the Guide:
- Assignments – This section takes you through step by step through the assignment area and how to properly submit an assignment.
- Course Content – Shows you the course content area where all of the course lectures, except discussions, are listed.
- Discussions – Step by step instructions on reading, posting and replying to discussions.
- Email – Step by step instructions on reading and replying to email sent and received from within WebCT.
- Print Notes - Instructions on how to use the Print Notes area, which allows you to print more than one lecture at a time.
- Quizes/Tests - Describes the area where assessments are given. Shows how to access and take an exam posted in this area.
- Student Home Pages – Sometimes the instructor will ask the students to post a Student Home Page which allows the class and instructor to "get to know" each other better. The directions on how to assemble a home page within WebCT are listed in this section.
- Center for Instructional Delivery - Lists the contact information for CID should you need to contact them for technical assistance.
All in all, this comprehensive guide should answer most, if not all of the online student’s concerns when it comes to using WebCT. If, however, it does not, please don’t hesitate to contact The Center for Instructional Delivery at (815) 740-5080 where we’ll be happy to assist you further.
Is Your Work Your Own? - Citing Sources
A major part of the college experience is writing papers. Each and every paper written needs to make sure the sentences and paragraphs used are properly cited. This means giving credit for their information and contribution to your paper. If credit is not given, it’s called plagiarism – someone else’s work used as your own without proper credit being connoted.
The credit may be given in the form of a footnote or parenthetical citation on a bibliography or works cited page. There are many different ways to cite, and individual instructors may have very specified perimeters for which to follow. Some of the different styles of citations are APA, University of Chicago/ Turabian, and MLA styles. Your instructor will usually inform the class which style will be utilized in the assignment.
The University of St. Francis Library has put on their website guides to the most frequently used styles of citations. The Duke University Research Guide also explores specific ways to cite newspapers, journals, magazines and books within your paper.
An indispensable website which aids in the composition of a bibliography is the almost effortless Easy Bib. This website is a free bibliography service which, when pertinent information is entered, will formulate an MLA bibliography . For an additional subscription fee, Easy Bib will also formulate APA bibliographies, too.
Citing sources is in integral part of the paper process. No matter what method you use to formulate your citations, make sure you cite correctly and give credit where credit is due.
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