I N S I D E T H I S

I S S U E :

Advising Week 1

ELI Spotlight 2

Emailing Your

Instructor

3

Are you Career

Plans in FOCUS

3

Online Test

Taking

Resources

4

ELI Student Life 6

Get Involved 6

S P R I N G 2 0 1 5 V O L U M E 6 , I S S U E 1

ELI Bulletin Board

News from ELI to you!

The ELI Bulletin Board is

published by the Extended

Learning Institute of

Northern Virginia

Community College to keep

the ELI community informed

and connected.

We welcome comments

and contributions from

students, faculty, and staff.

Contact elistulife@nvcc.edu

for details.

E X T E N D E D L E A R N I N G

I N S T I T U T E

www.nvcc.edu/ELI

703.323.3347

1.888.4DL.NVCC

WRITERS WANTED

NOVA Advising Week NOVA connect with an

ELI Counselor for assistance.

Priority registration for the fall

semester will begin on April

14. All current students will be

assigned a priority registration

date. During advising week

access NOVAConnect to

identify your priority registration

date. Open registration begins on

May 5.

Success Tip: Figure out a calendar

system that works for you! Are

you using a paper calendar or

electronic calendar? Do you set

alerts on your phone or

computer? Try out a few

different ways to see what works

best for you! You have a lot to

keep track of as you get

registered for your classes, and

then once classes start! Get

organized. Let us know what

works best for you!

Advising week is offered every

fall and spring semester at NOVA

as a time for students to reflect

upon their academic goals and

career development in

preparation for planning and

evaluating their schedule for next

semester. Advising week for the

Fall 2015 semester will be held

from April 6 – April 10. Get the

most out of advising week by

following the steps below:

1) Attend a Getting Ready for Your

Next Semester webinar. Learn

more about the webinar and

register for an upcoming

session.

2) Use the Student Success

Planner to build your academic

plan and compare your plan to

program requirements.

3) Review your Advisement

Report. Access NOVAConnect

to view your report.

4) Take a moment to reflect

upon your career planning. If you

need more information about

career options or would like to

learn about a resource to help

you build a career plan consider

attending a Focus on Your Career

Planning webinar. Learn more

about the webinar and register

for an upcoming session.

5. Communicate with your

advisor about your academic and

career goals. Be sure to take a

moment to review your plans for

both the summer term

(registration is occurring now)

and the fall semester. Plan to

have your academic

plan, advisement report, and/or

career plan handy when

communicating with your

advisor. If you have not declared

program of study or are not

pursuing a specific program at

Welcome services. Best wishes for the

rest of your courses and we

look forward to seeing you next

semester!

Hello ELI Students,

We hope everyone is having a

wonderful Spring semester! We

encourage you to take a look

through this issue of our

newsletter to learn more

information about student

success while taking classes at

ELI. With summer and fall

semester right around the

corner, we encourage you to

look at the 2015 registration

dates and contact your advisor

as soon as possible for advising

assistance. Please visit our

website for more information

regarding our resources and

P A G E 2

FOLLOW US!

Like NOVA ELIfe

on Facebook

Follow us on

twitter!

@NOVAELIfe

Read our Student

Blog! ELIfe

PLAN HEAD!

Spring/Summer 2014 Semester

May 10 - Spring class and

exam end date.

May 18 - (12-8-6 week)

1st summer semester start

date.

May 24 - (1st 6-week)

Refund date

May 26– (1st 8-week)

Refund date.

May 30- (1st 12-week)

Refund date

June 1- (2nd 8-week)

Summer semester start date

Jun 3 - (1st 8- week)

Inactive student drop date

June 11- (1st 12-week)

Inactive student drop date

June 15- (3rd 8-week)

Summer semester start date

June 18- (2nd 8-week)

Inactive student drop date

E L I B U L L E T I N B O A R D

ELI Spotlight: #1 Tip for Students in Online Classes

Check out the below entry

from one of our ELI student

bloggers, Rebecca! She has

been taking ELI classes for

two semesters and has some

tips for ELI students.

It’s Sunday afternoon and I’m

scrambling to finish a paper by

the 5pm deadline. I am just

about to submit my paper at

4:55pm but I decide to

proofread it one more time. By

the time I finish, it is a couple

minutes after 5pm. Okay, I’ll

go submit it now. It’s only two

minutes, right?

WRONG! As I click

on the assignment I

am startled to

discover that the

submission page has

disappeared off of

blackboard!

Yes, this did

actually happened to me last

semester. Luckily I emailed

the professor and was able

to turn in my assignment,

although I did lose a lot of

points. Don’t let this happen

to you!

Online classes are great

because they let you have

flexibility in your schedule.

However without a physical

class everyday to remind

you what is due, it’s easy to

get behind if you don’t pace

yourself. My #1 tip for

students new to online

classes is keep track of your

course deadlines and your

professor’s policy on

deadlines.

Here are five things to look

for on your syllabus:

1) What day of the week

and time are assignments

due?

The day and time of

deadlines may vary for

different courses. In my

experience most classes

have Sunday deadlines but

the times may vary.

For

example,

last

semester

one of my

courses

had a

Sunday

5pm

deadline, another had a

Sunday 11:59pm deadline

and another had a Monday

6am deadline. It’s helpful to

write deadlines on a

calendar (especially if you

are taking multiple courses,

so you don’t get caught off

guard by a busy week)

2) Are there any midweek

deadlines?

Once in awhile there may be

a group project or

discussion board posting

with a midweek deadline,

leaving time later in the

week for comments from

classmates.

3) Are there any strict

deadlines?

Some professors have strict

weekly deadlines while

others will accept all work

right up until the course end

date.

4) Do exams have to be

taken during a certain

window?

Are exams only available for

a limited time? Can you take

them early or late?

5) Does your instructor

accept late work?

Some Instructors will let

you turn in work a day or

two late if you email them

and explain the situation.

Other instructors will accept

late work but take points off.

Others are very strict about

deadlines and will not accept

work even a minute late.

We’ve all been there: You

have a busy week and

struggle to find the time.

You have last minute

computer problems. These

things can and will happen.

Avoid a stressful situation by

learning about your course

deadlines and professor’s

policy before they do!

Do you enjoy writing? Do you want to get more experience writing in a blogging

format? Become one of our ELI Student Bloggers and have your post highlighted in

our ELI Newsletter! Email elistulife@nvcc.edu for more information!

P A G E 3 V O L U M E 6 , I S S U E 1

4. If you are writing your instructor because

you have a problem, include a proposed

solution in your email. The instructor may or

may not agree with your suggestion.

Regardless, it does demonstrate to your

instructor you are taking the initiative to

actively work towards resolving the situation.

5. Sign your email with your complete

first and last name along with your

student ID number.

6. Read through your email to check for

spelling and punctuation errors. Make

sure all of your sentences are complete

and do not contain any abbreviations or

other modified text that is used in text

messaging.

7. If your email is lengthy, have a second

set of eyes proofread your email for

clarity. This will be an opportunity to

make sure you have clearly articulated

what it is you wanted to say.

8. Send your email.

Need to email your instructor and not sure

where to start? These ten easy to follow

steps will help you get that email written and

the send button hit in no time!

1. Use your NOVA student email account to

send your email. All correspondence relating

to your courses should come from and go to

your NOVA email address. Email messages

originating from other email addresses may

go directly to your instructors SPAM folder

and go unnoticed.

2. Make your subject line meaningful. Your

instructor likely teaches multiple courses and

may even teach on other campuses. Include

the course and section number along with a

quick description of why you are writing your

instructor.

An example might look like this:

Subject: PSY 200-E05W, Question about grade

calculations

3. Briefly and politely state the reason you

are writing. Be sure to include all of the

relevant information pertaining to your

question and leave out anything that does not

relate directly to the situation.

9. Allow adequate time for a response

from your instructor. Many ELI

instructors also teach campus based

courses so they are not always sitting at

their computer in their

office. Often you will find

information in the syllabus

relating to how soon you

should expect a response

from your instructor.

10. Once you have received a response

from your instructor, acknowledge it. A

simple “Thank you” may be all that is

needed. If your instructor asks you

questions in their response to your

email, be sure to answer all of them

thoroughly.

This post was adapted

from www.wikihow.com/Email-a-professor by

the ELI Success Coaches to help you develop

skills to effectively communicate through

email to your instructor ELI Success Coach-

es can be reached at

elisuccess@nvcc.edu or 703.764.5076.

Ten Quick Steps To Emailing Your Instructor

As you plan your summer and/or fall

schedules, prepare to transfer or get

ready to begin a new job, take a moment

to focus on your career development.

Are you attending NOVA to pursue a

certificate or degree, but unsure about

what career options might be available to

you? Have you decided on a

major, but have difficulty

answering the question – “What

can I do with a major in _____?

Do you need to fine tune your

skills or add to your skill set in

preparation for a career change?

Learn more about career

options by utilizing FOCUS 2, an online

interactive self-guided career and

education planning system that can help

you:

- Select a major based on your interests

and aspirations

- Discover occupations matching your

personal preferences and attributes

- Map out your career plans,

present and future

- Make informed career

decisions

FOCUS 2 is free for NOVA

students. Access the system at NOVA’s

Career Services website.

Simply click on the “FOCUS 2” button,

create your free account, and begin your

exploration.

Also check ELI’s webinar schedule for

offerings of the Exploring Career Options

webinar. This 45 minute webinar will

focus on using various online resources

to research career options. The

relationship between programs of study

at NOVA, college majors, and career

options will be discussed. Resources

presented will provide information on

nature of work, educational

requirements, job outlook, and wages.

-Written by: Christy Jensen, ELI Career

Counselor

Are Your Career Plans In FOCUS

P A G E 4

E L I B U L L E T I N B O A R D

Plan For Success on Your Next Test: A Compilation of ELI Testing Resources

Does your heart start pounding when a

test is placed in front of you? Do you

know the material but your mind goes

blank? These are just a few of the common

challenges students face when taking a test.

With final exams approaching, ELI offers a

wide variety of resources that will

empower you and promote your testing

success.

Take a moment now and explore the

following resources to promote your way

to an ‘A’.

If you learn best hearing or speaking

(auditory learner), you will welcome the

workshops offered through Student Lingo.

These free workshops are presented

online by a facilitator in an engaging format.

Each workshop is about 30 minutes and

include the following topics:

- How to Reduce Text Anxiety

- Taking Tests Online: Success Strategies

If you prefer to read (visual learner) the

short ELife Blog posts referenced below are

just for you! These Blog posts offer timely

tips to help you organize and prepare for

your next test:

Mid Semester Testing Tips Test Taking Skills to Promote Your

Success

Test Taking Strategies to Bolster Your

Confidence

Studying for Finals: Consider this 4-Day

Study Plan

Test Taking Strategy Tips

Working Through Test Anxiety

If you prefer to be actively involved and

busy as you learn (kinesthetic learner)

you may enjoy the following study

methods:

Quizlet or Study Stack Apps: Take your

practice tests and review your flash

cards on the go using these apps which

will enable you to create flash cards

along with practice

tests and quizzes.

If you prefer,

consider the tried

and true flash cards

made from index

cards. This allows

kinesthetic learners

to flip around the

cards, write notes

and review at any

location, walking,

standing or sitting (as with an app). Just

flip the cards while you are studying and

walk around as you review. Write cues

on the cards to help you remember.

You can even be creative and develop a

game using your flashcards.

If memory/recall is a challenge when

studying for your tests, consider

exploring the ELife Blog posts highlighted

below which are focused on strategies

to trigger memory:

How to Get the Most from Your

Memory

Tips for Remembering

Trick Your Memory Into Remembering

Stress and anxiety is another common

challenge many students experience

when testing. To combat your stress,

click to view a short video on stress,

facilitated by ELI’s PED instructor, Dr.

Gamal Aboshadi. It will provide a better

understanding of stress and empower

you with valuable techniques to

promote relaxation as you study and

prepare to go to the testing center.

No matter what your learning style, as

you plan for success on your next test,

be sure to take time to

put these resources

into action! If you have

questions or would

benefit from additional

strategies, reach out to

an ELI Success Coach

today by calling

703.764.0120 or

elisuccess@nvcc.edu.

From test taking

strategies to time

management, we are

here to answer your questions and help

you access resources that will

empower you to navigate the semester

and pave your way to a successful

academic journey.

For additional opportunities to

promote your success, take advantage

of our Tacking Math Anxiety Webinar:

Math can be a difficult subject no

matter how smart you are. Learn how

to study more efficiently for

mathematics and apply relaxing

techniques to reduce your anxieties.

Review a recorded session.

Written by Adrienne, ELI Student

Success Coach

P A G E 5 V O L U M E 6 , I S S U E 1

Get Involved: Join an ELI Club or Interest Group

T H A N K Y O U T O A L L W H O C O N T R I B U T E D T O T H E E L I B U L L E T I N B O A R D !

C O N T A C T E L I S T U L I F E @ N V C C . E D U F O R M O R E I N F O R M A T I O N O N H O W T O S U B M I T

A N A R T I C L E .

ELI Student Life ELIfe hosted many events for students both virtually and in-person to help online students develop stronger

connections to ELI, to NOVA, and to each other. Some of these student life events included ELI’s Leadership

Common Experience, March Madness Tournament, Women in Leadership webinar series and many more! Don’t

miss these upcoming events :

ELI 40th Birthday Celebration – The Extended Learning Institute is turning 40! ELI will be visiting all six campuses and invite students to join us in celebrating 40 years of online learning at NOVA! Festivities will include birthday

treats, party games, and learn more about options with online learning at NOVA!

ELI Spring Fling- Join us at the Manassas campus for our ELI/ Manassas Spring Fling! Food games and activities will

be provided. Learn more about options with online learning at NOVA!

Preparing for Finals Webinars – Are you ready for Finals Week? ELI can help you prepare! The How to Prepare for Finals webinar will focus on topics and strategies to help ease anxiety and help you study smart such as Visit our

ELI webinar page for upcoming sessions.

ELI Book Club- Need a Break from course-related reading? Join in with the ELI

BookClub and give your brain a much-needed rest from citations and footnotes!

How I Live Now, by Meg Rosoff, is an imagined, but wholly realistic, story of war in the

21stcentury of near-modern-day London, told from the perspectives of a visiting American

teenager and her British cousins. Though the book is set in the near future, can we relate

to what happens?

Read the book, watch the film (released in 2013) and then join us for an online chat session

#ELIbookclub. Please contact ELI’s library at ELI-Library@nvcc.edu.

Health And Wellness Group- Discusses topics related to aspects of holistic health

and wellness. Also be eligible to Participate the ELI Pedometer Challenge! Compete and

share experiences with other students by tracking your average daily steps as well as

create personal health and wellness goals. Visit their Google Community .

ELI Student Bloggers- This group will be geared toward students who enjoy to write or blog

and are interested in pursuing a career in media and/or journalism. Members of this group will

directly contribute to the ELIfe student blog. Develop your overall virtual portfolio by further

improving your writing skills within a blogging format! Become a member for the summer 2015

semester! Email elistulife@nvcc.edu for more information.

Have you heard about our ELI clubs and interest groups? Connect with other online students outside of the

classroom around common interests while taking online classes. Are you interested in how to start a club or

interest group with ELI? Email elistulife@nvcc.edu for more info!