Contents

• Welcome from Rita Kean
• PEARL Events and Due Dates
• Transfer Credit
• OASIS Events for September 2007
• 2007 UNL Service Awards

Special Announcement

Welcome to the start of a very exciting and productive year for all of us at UNL!!! We are receiving the brightest and most diverse class of first year UNL students. Our primary mission in the Office of Undergraduate Studies is to provide academic initiatives and programs for all UNL students so that they may have a successful undergraduate experience, graduate and become proud alumni of this university! Some upcoming events are:

• The UCARE Fall Kickoff will be held in the Nebraska Union on Wednesday, September 5, 2007 from 4:00 to 5:00 p.m. Please encourage all UCARE students and faculty to attend. There will be a brief program to orient faculty/students to the UCARE program. Laura Damuth, Director of Undergraduate Research and Fellowship Adviser will be contacting new faculty about the UCARE program.

• The Non-Traditional and Transfer Student Welcome is scheduled for Thursday, September 5 from 4:30 to 6:00 p.m. in the Love Library Instructional Room. This is an annual event to welcome these new UNL students.

• The Multicultural Student Welcome will be held Friday, September 7 from 5:30 to 10:00 p.m. at the Culture Center. Please stop by and welcome our new students, enjoy the entertainment and delicious food.

• We are so pleased this year to inaugurate the Nebraska Colloquium (http://www.unl.edu/nc). The goal of the colloquium is to raise the level of intellectual discourse among UNL students, faculty and staff. We have adopted the ENVIRONMENT as the theme for the 2007-08 Nebraska Colloquium. Selection of the theme was based upon that chosen by the EN Thompson Forum Committee for its 2007-08 lecture series, Changing Nature. Joel Sartore is the first lecturer in the EN Thompson Forum series. He will speak on Thursday, September 13 at 7:00 p.m. in the Lied Center for Performing Arts. Tickets must be obtained beforehand.

• Please encourage first year and entering transfer students to attend UNL's third annual Mid Semester: Checking It Out! September 17, 18, 19 and 20 from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. at the Nebraska Union. Last year close to 1500 students attended the event and evaluations indicated the students found the event to be very helpful, as well as enjoyable. There will be free snacks 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.

• Retention of our undergraduate students continues to be top priority for all of us at UNL. Please visit the retention website for Best Practices and information on better serving our students at http://www.retain.unl.edu/. Thank you for all your interest and guidance of our undergraduate students.

Please don't hesitate to contact me with you thoughts and ideas at rkean1@unl.edu as to how we as an institution, we can improve our undergraduates' experience!

-- Rita Kean, Dean of Undergraduate Studies

Announcements and Events

PEARL Events and Due Dates

PEARL Drop-in Help Sessions

The PEARL steering committee will offer two help sessions for PEARL Program Leaders on entering their "Summary of Assessment Evidence / Results" and "Use of Assessment Evidence / Results." These sessions will be held on:

• Wednesday, September 5th: 3 - 5 PM, City Campus Union
• Thursday, September 6th: 10 AM - 12 noon, East Campus Union

Program leaders are invited to drop in at any time during these sessions with questions or issues.

PEARL Due Dates for PEARL Programs in CASNR and CEHS

The "Summary of Assessment Evidence / Results" and "Use of Assessment Evidence / Results" sections are due by September 14th for PEARL programs in the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources (CASNR) and the College of Education and Human Sciences (CEHS). The 2007-2008 PEARL plans are due on October 1st. Please note that the 2007-2008 timeline will not be available until the 2006-2007 "Programs Report Results" step has been completed.

PEARL Due Dates for PEARL Programs in CJMC and HLCFPA

The 2007-2008 PEARL plans are due on October 1st for PEARL programs in the College of Journalism and Mass Communications (CJMC) and the Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts (HLCFPA).

PEARL Informational Website

A new informational website that describes the PEARL project and gives details about the history and benefits of PEARL is now available at: http://www.unl.edu/ous/pearl/pearl.shtml.

Transfer Credit

Earlier this spring, Enrollment Management Council members, in consultation with their academic units, approved UNL's Undergraduate Transfer Credit Policy. This document is a compilation of information from several sources into one comprehensive policy and keeps UNL ahead of pending federal legislation requiring transfer policies to be made public.

With the policy in place the next logical step was to research and publish procedures for evaluation of transfer credit. This led to an update of the forms used. The revised forms are available, along with directions for use, on UNL's Undergraduate Studies web page. http://www.unl.edu/ous/student_programs/transfer.shtml

Information regarding transfer credit is provided for Prospective Students, Current Students, as well as, Faculty and Staff. Updated forms included are those for Departmental Evaluation of International Credit, Study Abroad Credit and Credit from Institutions in the United States (generally those lacking regional accreditation). These forms replace earlier versions of the forms (blue for Study Abroad; green for International Transfer Credit). Updated forms will be used beginning with the 2007-2008 Academic Year. All require Adobe Reader 8.0 which allows the form as well as the data to be saved. Completed forms can be printed, signed, and returned to the appropriate office.

Please provide this link to transfer credit evaluators, academic advisers, faculty and others who have contact with students. Students should see the section "For Current Students". Students are referred to academic advisers for assistance in determining when an evaluation form is required and which form is appropriate for their specific type of transfer credit. Degree colleges will continue to use their own forms for substitution of credit. This includes credit from regionally accredited out of state transfer institutions and courses which do not have direct equivalents.

In addition to forms and directions, you will also find the Departmental Directory of Transfer Credit Evaluators, Transfer Credit Legend and Samples, and links to the Equivalency Table, Transfer Guides for Community Colleges, a Glossary, the Undergraduate Transfer Credit Policy, and the Math Equivalency Table. If you are aware of any changes or corrections to any of these documents, please contact Academic Transfer Coordinator JoAnn Moseman at 472-9455 or jmoseman2@unl.edu.

OASIS Events for September 2007

• September 5 - Hurricane Katrina: A Remembrance in Three Acts - Act I, 6:00 p.m., Nebraska Union, The Crib
• September 6 - Hurricane Katrina: A Remembrance in Three Acts - Act II, 6:00 p.m., Nebraska Union, The Crib
• September 6 - OASIS Academic Lecture Series: The Transition ("This is not High School"), Presenter - Dr. Cal Garbin, 6:00-7:00 p.m., Culture Center
• September 7 - Multicultural Welcome and Stroll Off, 5:30-10:00 p.m., Cultural Center
• September 11 - E.N. Thompson Forum Movie Night: At Close Range: On Assignment with National Geographic, 6:00 p.m., Nebraska Union, The Crib
• September 12 - Fiesta on the Green, 5:00-8:00 p.m., Nebraska Union Plaza
• September 25 - Hurricane Katrina: A Remembrance in Three Acts - Act III, 6:00 p.m., Nebraska Union, The Crib
• September 27 - OASIS Academic Lecture Series: Plagiarism vs. Citation (The Correct Way to Write), Presenter - John Chavez, Ph.D. Candidate English, 6:00-7:00 p.m., Culture Center

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

2007 UNL Service Awards

• Dr. Donald Gregory, Division of General Studies, Associate Professor of English - 40 years
• Jennifer Nelson, Divison of General Studies - 15 years
• JoAnn Moseman, Office of Undergraduate Studies - 5 years
• Dr. Bill Waters, Office of Academic Support and Intercultural Services (OASIS) - 5 years

Dr. Rita Kean, Dean of Undergraduate Studies and Professor of Textiles, Clothing and Design
Jamar Banks, Director of OASIS
Dr. Patrice Berger, Director of NU Honors Program and Professor of History
Dr. Laura Damuth, Director of Undergraduate Research and Fellowship Adviser
Dr. Donald Gregory, Director of General Studies and Associate Professor of English
Gail Hackwith, Administrative Assistant
Dr. Jessica Jonson, Director of Institutional Assessment
Jennifer Lantz, Administrative Technician I
JoAnn Moseman, Academic Transfer Coordinator
Jeremy Penn, Assessment Associate for PEARL
Marcia White, E.N. Thompson Coordinator and Political Science Adviser
AnnMarie Williams, Academic Learning Communities Coordinator