OUS Newsletter 2005-2006

Contents

Greetings from OUS
OASIS Activities for September 2005

Transfer Credit Questions
National & International Scholarship Dates and Deadlines

Special Announcement

Greetings from OUS!

Warm Greetings! for the 2005-06 Academic Year. It feels as though we skipped from the end of Spring semester over summer (except for the heat!) and right into Fall semester! I hope your advising, classes and other activities are going well. We have many exciting events happening at UNL this fall semester and we will try to keep you abreast of them. Please visit the OUS website for information and links to these events.

You will hear much this year about the importance of retaining our undergraduate students. Please encourage first year and entering transfer students to attend UNL's second annual

Mid Semester: Checking It Out! on September 27 or 28 from 7:00PM to 8:30PM at the Nebraska Union. Last year over 1100 students attended the event and evaluations indicated the students found the event to be very helpful, as well as enjoyable. There will be free food and Pepsi products again this year, as well as skits by the NSE leaders and sessions led by UNL faculty and staff. Pat McBride, Director of New Student Enrollment, is providing great leadership again this year and you will be hearing from both Pat and me about the event.

The Office of the SVCAA is sponsoring a number of presentations for UNL faculty and staff that are directed to enhancing the UNL learning environment.

The first is scheduled for Friday, September 30 from 10:30 to 12:00 in the Nebraska Union Auditorium. Charles L. Nutt of the National Academic Advising Association will present Advising for Student Success and Retention: A Review of Promising Practices. Academic advisors are particularly encouraged to attend.

To help us begin to rethink our General Education program, Carol Geary Schneider, President of the American Association of Colleges and Universities will be joining us on October 6. Her presentation for faculty and staff is from 1:00 to 2:30 in the Nebraska Union Auditorium. Please plan to attend. She is an excellent speaker and provided leadership for the 2002 Greater Expectations Report: A Nation Goes to College.

I hope your fall semester is a good one - full of many positive and exciting experiences that will contribute to the success of our undergraduate students. Please don't hesitate to contact me with your thoughts and ideas as to how we as an institution can improve our undergraduates' experience!

Thank you.
Rita Kean   <rkean1@unl.edu>

Announcements & Events

OASIS Activities for September 2005

• September 1 - Get an Internship: Inroads Program, 6:00-7:00 p.m., Culture Center
• September 7 - STAC Recognition Reception, 3:00-4:00 p.m., Culture Center
• September 8 - Powerful Goal-setting in 5 Easy Steps, 6:00-7:00, Culture Center
• September 14 - Movie Night: "Mary Magdalene: The Hidden Apostle," 6:30 p.m., Culture Center
• September 15 - Heritage Month Celebration: Fiesta on the Green, 6:00-9:00 p.m., Union Plaza
• September 21 - Coffee House: Hip Hop, 6:00 p.m., Union Ballroom
• September 22 - Time Management: What do you do with 168 hours per week? 6:00-7:00 p.m., Culture Center
• September 29 - Remedies for Test Taking Anxiety, 6:00-7:00 p.m., Culture Center

Contact the Office of Academic Support and Intercultural Services (OASIS) for more information.

Transfer Credit Questions

It is increasingly common for students to have college credit when they graduate from high school or to enroll in courses from more than one college. Students may take courses through distance learning or on-line, enroll at a community college or pick up a course over the summer. Whether it is a study abroad program, courses taken at another college for convenience or a transfer from one college to another, students and parents often have questions about how credit transfers.

Once transfer credit has been accepted by University of Nebraska–Lincoln, each academic college evaluates the credit to determine how it will apply to any specific degree. Many courses from community colleges and other institutions in the region have been evaluated by our faculty and that list is available on-line at http://nebraska.unl.edu/tequiv/index.asp. The Transfer Course Equivalency List enables students to see whether a particular course has been evaluated and its credit designation at UNL. Courses which have not been evaluated will initially transfer as general elective credit (GNCR) and must be evaluated by the academic college. A course syllabus and supporting documents may be required for evaluation.

What do the transfer credit designations mean?

• Many transfer courses have been evaluated by University of Nebraska–Lincoln faculty and are established to be equivalent to specific UNL courses (MATH 106). These courses can fulfill degree requirements.
• Other courses transfer as subject credit such as business, but are not equivalent to a specific course. (BSAD*** might apply as a business elective.) In some cases, even though a course has no equivalent UNL course, it may be substituted for a course which fulfills degree requirements.
• Some courses transfer only as general elective credit (GNCR***). They count toward the total number of hours a student must earn toward graduation, but usually do not fulfill a specific degree requirement. Some majors and degree plans are quite specific and leave little room for elective credit.
• A smaller number of courses are more technical or specialized in nature and transfer as vocational credit (VCRD***). This type of credit has limited application to a university degree.
• Some parts of courses (credit hours in excess of the UNL course) do not apply toward a degree and may be designated NDAP or not degree applicable.
• High school or remedial courses (HSCR***) do not transfer to University of Nebraska–Lincoln.
• The @ sign after a course number (GNCR***@) indicates that the course has been evaluated by faculty.

Transfer courses cannot fulfill Integrated Studies requirements or residency requirements. There are restrictions on the number of hours that can be transferred from a community college.

For more information, contact JoAnn Moseman, Academic Transfer Coordinator, jmoseman2@unl.edu or 472-9455.

National & International Scholarship Dates and Deadlines

• Campus deadlines for the following scholarships are:

  Rhodes, Marshall, Mitchell, Gates Cambridge - all application materials (application forms, personal statements, and drafts of letters of recommendation) should be turned in to the Office of Undergraduate Studies by September 7. You should have spoken with Dr. Damuth before that date.

  Fulbright - all application materials should be turned in to the Office of International Affairs by September 9. If you are interested in the Fulbright you should have spoken with Dr. Damuth or Dr. Stoddard before that date.

• Informational meeting on National Scholarships and Awards will be on September 20 from 6:30-7:30 p.m. in the Nebraska Union.

Contact Laura Damuth with questions.

Dr. Rita Kean, Dean of Undergraduate Studies and Professor of Textiles, Clothing and Design
Jamar Banks, Interim Director of OASIS
Dr. Patrice Berger, Director of NU Honors Program and Professor of History
Dr. Laura Damuth, Director of Undergraduate Research and Fellowship Advisor
Dr. Donald Gregory, Director of General Studies and Associate Professor of English
Gail Hackwith, Administrative Assistant
Dr. Jessica Jonson, University-wide Assessment Coordinator
Jennifer Lantz, Staff Assistant
JoAnn Moseman, Academic Transfer Coordinator
Dr. Debra Mullen, Academic Learning Communities Coordinator