Parent Newsletter August 2008
Dr. Dawn Remmers, Director, University Advising, Student Success and Testing Services, University of Texas at Arlington
Welcome Back! Classes begin in three short weeks and it’s been a busy summer filled with orientations and helping students with summer and fall class selections.
Improvements are everywhere – UT Arlington has been busy with road improvements campus-wide over the past several months and these improvements will help students as they get around campus. You can read more about campus improvements and campus expansions in the UT Arlington Master Plan.
This month’s newsletter highlights Maverick Scholars. A Maverick Scholar can be any new UT Arlington Student who chooses to join together with other new freshmen who share the same major or area of interest. These students are actively involved in a Freshmen Interest Group or “FIG.” Read more about “FIGs” and Learning Communities in the Topic of the Month section.
The University will also be kicking off “Maverick Stampede,” a series of activities and events designed to welcome incoming and returning students beginning August 21st and running through September 5th. Also, don’t miss the MavsMeet Convocation which begins at 4:00pm, Friday, August 22nd.
Other events during this time include the MavsMeet After Party, the Mav Cookout featuring the Activities Fair Day, Waffleopolis, Welcome Back Splash, residence hall move-ins, and parent/student information tours and sessions.
Students are also encouraged to attend many of the academic open house events going on during this time period as well.
by Angel Taylor, Associate Director, Student Success Programs
Maverick Scholars Freshman Interest Groups and Learning Communities
Freshman Interest Groups (FIGs)
A FIG is a group of 15-25 freshmen who have the same partially built class schedule as other students with their same major or area of interest. Being a part of a FIG allows freshmen to easily transition into college life while providing innovative learning environments inside and outside the classroom.
There are three types of FIGs:
1. Residential FIG students reside exclusively in Kalpana Chawla (KC) Hall
2. Fusion FIG students are divided. Half reside in KC Hall, while the other half reside anywhere they choose – whether it be on-campus, or off-campus
3. Classic FIG students reside anywhere they choose on or off campus
FIG Benefits
A partially built schedule takes the guess work out of course registration! Students receive reserved seating in required core courses and enroll in a freshman seminar geared toward college success strategies. Students also receive reserved bed space in KC Hall (Residential and Fusion only).
Other benefits include expedited advising and registration,
personal attention from a peer mentor, faculty and staff;
enrollment in some sophomore-only courses (Business FIGs); and formalized study groups (Residential and Fusion only).
Students also receive out-of-class programming and field trips (Residential and Fusion only); and, benefit from lasting friendships and positive memories!
There are no additional costs associated with the FIG program.
2008-2009 Freshman Interest Groups
Architecture & Interior Design
Business
Education, Psychology, Social Work, and Sociology
Engineering
Gateway
Honors
Liberal Arts
Nursing
Science and Math
UT CAP
Undeclared
Learning Communities (LCs)
An LC is a group of 50 students ranging in classification from freshmen to seniors who share the same academic major or interest and who live in the same part of KC Hall. Our Learning Communities foster an environment rich with study groups, major-related programming, and peer assistance. LCs differ from FIGs in that they do not require a shared course schedule. LCs are a perfect option for transfer students who want to dive into UT Arlington’s on campus community.
Here is a list of available Learning Communities for 2008-2009:
Arts & Society – Interdisciplinary studies, Education, Liberal Arts, Social Work, International Studies, and Modern Languages;
Business Inc. – Accounting, Economics, Management, and Marketing;
Designing The 21st Century – Architecture and Interior Design;
Engineering – Engineering Your Future;
Healthy Lifestyles – Nursing and Kinesiology Majors;
Science & Discovery – Biology, Mathematics, Physics, and Psychology.
by Lynne Von Roeder, M.Ed., Academic Advisor, University of Texas at Arlington
How Participation in a Freshman Interest Group (FIG) Can Help Your Career
I don’t know about you, but when I was an undergraduate, I was involved in an early version of a FIG. It was a living-learning experience at TCU. The girl’s dorm, or Residence Hall, as they’re now called, and one of the guys dorms had academic and social activities together. Most of us were also students in the Honors program so we had classes together too. We studied together at night in the dorm living rooms and supported each other through all the ups and downs of college life. We celebrated a couple of years ago at our 25th reunion.
The friends I made in that environment became lifelong friends. Due to our wonderful experience, we became more than just graduates of TCU, we became active alumni. This has broadened our circle even more.
How can this help a student’s career during and after college? Well, a career for one thing! For example, I thought I wanted to be a lawyer. My dad had a college friend that worked for a big law firm in Houston. Through that contact, I ended up working for them several summers and holidays. As far as jobs after college, when you have a close network of friends, you have people in many different fields that can give you information on job openings and their companies.
Your student’s college life should be academically fulfilling but it is so much richer if you have a good circle of friends. So encourage your student to participate in a FIG, not just for freshman year but for life.
by Liz Hannabas, Coordinator of Advisor Outreach, University of Texas at Arlington
Hans Gatterdam, Executive Director of the Office of Admissions, Records and Registration
Have you wondered how your student was enrolled in the University and who was responsible for that process? Meet this month’s Maverick – Executive Director of the Office of Admissions, Records and Registration, Hans Gatterdam.
Hans works with a staff of people who support the University mission – “helping students enroll and then succeed by providing world-class customer service to faculty, staff, students, their families, and others; with a particular emphasis toward processes related to academic records, academic progress, enrollment data, classroom support, and academic certification.”
Hans, who has worked at UT Arlington for six years, oversees these processes that take a student from prospective status all the way through graduation using the University’s student information system – MyMav.
Hans received special recognition for his work on the MyMav project and says the change to this system was needed to stay in step with current technologies which would better serve the needs of our current and prospective students. “We’re always striving to make our interaction with students as easy and quick as we can so that their involvement with our office is transparent and they can focus on what they are here for – an education. To that end, we have now completed two years with the new PeopleSoft Student Information System (MyMav). New applicants can now check their admissions status online, view their admissions decision, see if they have met the Texas Success Initiative requirements, pay their application fee, and make address changes online.”
Focus on improvement and focus on the end result is what Hans does each day. His ideal Maverick – “Someone willing to think independently and do what they need to do to reach their goals, whether that be in school, in work, or in life.”
“We know we have a lot more to do and look forward to implementing some new features in the 9.0 release of PeopleSoft, including the electronic receipt of high school transcripts, and the electronic posting of transfer credit directly into our student system.”
Hans says the University has come a long way, but says there’s still a lot of technology to be utilized to go the next step.
The University Advising Center and Student Success salute Hans on his focus and hard work to keep moving forward – Congratulations!
UT Arlington is a Carnegie Doctoral/Research Extensive University
Over the past eight years, total research expenditures have increased 54 percent, and federally supported research has increased 211 percent. During the same time period, enrollment has risen 24 percent, and the University’s endowment has grown 29 percent. Research activities are expected to increase steadily during the next several years. Click here to view faculty awards and sponsored expenditures.
Former University of Arkansas Dean is now UT Arlington’s Chief Academic Officer
Donald R. Bobbitt’s first day at UT Arlington was July 1st. He succeeds Ronald L. Elsenbaumer, who has served as interim provost and vice president for academic affairs since fall 2007. Dr. Elsenbaumer will become vice president for research and federal relations. Kelsey Downum, interim vice president for research, will be senior associate vice president for research.
New Dean named for School of Urban and Public Affairs
Dr. Barbara Becker has been named dean of the School of Urban and Public Affairs (SUPA) at The University of Texas at Arlington. Dr. Becker has more than two decades of experience in higher education and for the last 10 years has served as director of the School of Planning and the Planning Degree Program at the University of Arizona.
Karl Petruso chosen to be Honors Dean
President Spaniolo announced that Karl Petruso, professor and director of the Anthropology Program in UT Arlington’s College of Liberal Arts and associate dean of the Honors College since 2002, has agreed to become the new dean of the Honors College, effective September 1.
Dr. Petruso has been at UT Arlington since 1990. Among his responsibilities in the Honors College are oversight of the College’s study abroad programs; the Washington, D.C. Archer Fellowship program sponsored by the UT System; summer undergraduate research assistantships; and the Honors College thesis/creative project process.
“We are fortunate to have someone of the caliber of Karl Petruso to assume the deanship,” said President Spaniolo. “He is widely respected and well suited to become the next dean of the Honors College.”
Scholarships available for math students at UT Arlington
Two major issues in higher education today are rising tuition costs and the shortage of students majoring in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) programs. That is why a $483,000 National Science Foundation Grant to the Department of Mathematics at The University of Texas at Arlington is such good news. The grant enables the university to award scholarships of up to $10,000 a year to academically able students with financial need. The grant will continue until 2012.
Department of Mathematics Chair Jianping Zhu said the department will give out about a dozen scholarships each year, maybe asmany as 15, since many of the students also will qualify for other scholarships or financial aid. The grant project is called SURGE, Scholarships for Undergraduates to Reach Goals in Education. Zhu, along with mathematics professors Tuncay Aktosun, Ruth Gornet, Hristo V. Kojouharov and Barbara A. Shipman, will provide the SURGE program students with strong mentoring and other support to ensure they complete their degrees in a timely manner and are well-prepared to enter the workforce, where employment opportunities are abundant, or to continue to graduate school.
Associate dean of nursing selected to research, help develop nurse leadership
Dr. Beth Mancini, professor and associate dean for undergraduate nursing programs in The University of Texas at Arlington’s School of Nursing, (Maverick of the Month, Aug., 2007) has been appointed to the Baylor Health Care Research Professorship.
Established in August 2007, the $100,000 professorship will allow UT Arlington and Baylor Health Care System hospitals to collaborate on research regarding leadership development among nurses.
Specifically, Mancini will focus on strategies that help translate research into nursing practice with a special emphasis on developing nurse leaders at the managerial/supervisory level. She will hold the appointment for three years.
Important Dates to Remember
August 21 “Maverick Stampede” begins!
August 25 First day of Fall 2008 classes
September 10 Fall Census Date
October 31 Last day to drop with automatic “W”
Important Dates Beyond the Fall term
Is your student looking for some fun activities? Campus Recreation keeps its calendar busy with events all semester long. Click here to view all upcoming events.
UT Arlington Housing – UT Arlington Housing
UT Arlington Financial Aid – UT Arlington Financial Aid
Academic Calendar | Featured Events | Full Calendar
To view archived copies of this newsletter visit www.uta.edu/studentsuccess-home and click on the Parent E-Newsletter link at the bottom of the page