Mines Family Matters Newsletter - June

A message from the VP of Student Affairs/ Dean of Students Greetings from SDSM&T, We are looking forward to the new students joining us this fall. It promises to be another exciting year as we prepare future Hardrockers for productive personal lives and professional careers. It will also be the first fall for our 18th president, Heather Wilson, DPhil. She has already started her transition and looks forward to meeting and interacting with you in August.

Listed below are important dates for students as they prepare to move into the residence halls. Also, as a part of the transition to the School of Mines, we cordially invite you to orientation sessions for parents and family members. Please mark your calendar for the following dates and times. (If you are a parent of an incoming football, volleyball or soccer player, orientations and move in days will occur earlier in August—please check with the respective coach for move in and orientation dates.)

I look forward to seeing you on campus in the fall.

In the meantime please let me know if I can be of assistance.

Sincerely,

Patricia “Pat” Mahon, Ph.D. Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students South Dakota School of Mines & Technology 501 East St. Joseph Street, Rapid City, SD 57701-3995 Phone: (605) 394-2416

june 2013 Thursday, August 22 Residential student requirements 8a.m.–6p.m.

Move-In* 7p.m. – 10p.m.

Required Meetings & Events *Move-In occurs at the building where the student will be living.

Please report directly to that building. Assignments will be emailed to your student’s Mines email in mid-June.

FAMILY OF NEW STUDENTS ORIENTATION 2p.m. – 3:30p.m Welcome & Overview of Services I** or 3:45p.m. – 5:15p.m. Welcome & Overview of Services II** 5p.m. – 7p.m.

Optional–Dinner***campus Dining Hall 5:30p.m. – 8:30p.m. Optional–Summer Nights Downtown **Parents will be assigned to Welcome Session I or II upon arrival.

Friday, August 23rd 9a.m – 9:45a.m President Wilson’s Convocation

for new students, parents & family members 10 a.m. – 11:50 a.m. Sessions for parents/family members Noon – 1p.m.

Lunch*** with students 1p.m. – 4p.m.

Sessions for parents/family members 5p.m. – 6:30p.m.

Dinner*** with students; ***Students will be on a meal plan; separate fees will apply for parents and family members to be paid at orientation.

Additional information is available below and on the School of Mines Parents/Family Website; updates and more detailed information will be posted on this site. Also available is the Mines Family Connection Facebook page.

Grubby Gold: What Is It? Your student’s Mines ID Card can act as a debit card utilizing “Grubby Gold”. Current on-campus Grubby Gold locations include: laundry machines, vending machines, copy machines, the Mines Bookstore and all dining locations. Off-campus locations include: Mr. Movies, Philly Ted’s Restaurant and the Hard Rockin’ Gas and Convenience Store. Students must create an online account by visiting this website. Once the account is made, money can be placed on the Grubby Gold account online or by visiting the Cashier’s Office.

Parents are able to place money on their student’s account online by visiting this website. We encourage all students to create and use a Grubby Gold account!

If your student is living in the Residence Halls, Grubby Gold is the easiest and fastest way to utilize the laundry machines (no quarters!). For more information, visit the Residence Life website.

Residence Hall Room Furnishings The School of Mines has partnered with OCM to offer bed linens and room furnishings for your student’s new room. You can make all purchases online and have everything delivered directly to campus! Each sale helps provide funding for RA programming and events in our residence halls. To shop online, visit the OCM website.

Residence Life Information As you prepare to move your son or daughter into their room this fall, we wanted to provide you with some important information, listed below. If you have any questions about Residence Life and Housing, please contact our office at (605)394.2348.

•Housing Assignments: Assignments will be emailed to your student’s Mines email in mid-June.

•What To Bring: For more information on items you may want to bring to campus, visit the Residence Life website.

•General Residence Life Information: More information for new students is available on the New Resident website.

Recommendations from Residence Life 1. Keep yourself updated with our website.It has important information about move-in, move-out, break periods, housing applications and other forms that your student will need while living with us.

2. Remind your student to check their email daily.

Along with the information on the website, we often send important information to their student email accounts.

3. Encourage them to contact their roommate during the summer to decide on what items each is bringing.

4. Check our website to see a list of items that are and aren’t allowed in the residence halls.

5. Encourage your student to meet people on their floor and building—including their resident assistants and hall director!

6. Help them be detailed when filling out their Room Condition Report. Explain to them the importance of making sure they note any issues with their room on their RCR, so that these items can get fixed…and so they don’t get charged for these issues when they move out in the spring!

7. Encourage them to join their hall council.

8. Allow them to go through the student conduct process if they do violate Residence Life policy–this is a learning experience for them.

9. Encourage them to contact their Hall Director themselvesif they are having any issues in the residence halls that aren’t getting resolved, before you call the HD. 10. Show them how to make some of their favorite recipes from home. We have kitchens that they can use, so they can share their favorite family dishes with their friends!

School housing dates to Remember Thurs., Aug. 22: New Student Move-In (8 a.m.-6 p.m.)

Fri., Aug. 23 - Sun, Aug. 25: Returning Student Move-In (8 a.m.-10 p.m.)

Thurs., Dec. 19, noon: All Residence Halls Close for Winter Break Sun., Jan. 5, 8 a.m.: All Residence Halls Open after Winter Break Sat., March 8, noon: All Residence Halls Close for Spring Break Sun., March 16, 8 a.m.: All Residence Halls Open after Spring Break Sat., May 3, noon: All Residence Halls Closed.\

Organized by Residence Life, Adventure Weekend is open to all new, incoming students. Adventure Weekend is an optional opportunity for new students to meet one another, experience the Rapid City region and form connections with returning students, faculty and staff. All adventures take place over various days and times throughout Labor Day Weekend, Aug. 30 Sept. 2. Students can learn more about their adventure options, view the associated costs and sign-up online by visiting the Adventure Weekend website.

Challenges for New Students Although most students find coming to college for the first time exciting and hopeful, many also find the whole array of new experiences to be daunting.

Unfamiliar people, places and rules can be confusing.

Freshmen who are used to being at the top of the heap in high school, getting good grades without studying and knowing where to find the best pizza with their best friend are surprised how different everything is coming to college.

Challenges for New Students • Making new friends when many students are shy, come from small towns and are focused of specific interests • Learning to manage time, stress, money, meals and classes • Being exposed to a diverse student and professor population with new styles, expectations and languages • Missing family, friends, privacy and familiarity • Making decisions about alcohol, dating and getting sleep • Adjusting to an extremely demanding study, reading and homework requirements • Keeping video games and other hobbies to a minimum

What parents can do: • Talk to your student about your experiences and expectations for college.

• Encourage your student to get involved in campus organizations to be a support system and to be active in campus events.

• Talk about strategies for managing time, stress and budget. Keep in mind the student may use different devices than parents to manage stuff.

• Keep in close contact by phone and email, but remember not to overdo it.

• Let your student know your values and morals related to alcohol and sex and remind your student about being careful.

• Communicate openly and support wholeheartedly but realize you cannot control their decisions.

• Remind your student that there are resources available on campus for counseling, academic problems, career decisions, housing questions and any other needs.

Getting comfortable with asking for help is the first big step.

5 Tips for parents of new college students 1. Recognize this is a time of uncertainty for all parents.

The excitement and joy about prospects pending for your child can be mixed with recollections of your own personal experiences and a sense of loss. Connect with other parents who are going through the same things you are or seek out parents who have already been where you are.

2. Identify your child’s conflicting emotions and recognize any contradictory emotions you might be experiencing.

Your child, like you, is torn between memories of the past and expectations for the future. Your child’s moments of emotional instability are a demonstration of the uncertainty they are experiencing during this transitional period. You may be experiencing some of the same emotional effects as your child, so take time to discuss those feelings.

3. Take comfort in the knowledge that you have equipped them with the tools for this experience.

The values, expectations and morals you have established over the last 18 or more years will be the things that your student falls back on when making decisions.

4. Become the coach.

College students typically call their parents for encouragement when things aren’t going well, and call their friends with the most exciting or latest news. When you get the late night phone calls, you can suggest your child utilize his or her campus resources such as: health service or career center, advisors, counselors or tutors. Read the resource the college sends to you so you can be an informed coach for your student.

5. Celebrate this time you have together.

Enjoy the graduation festivities, plan family events, encourage your child to seek out summer employment to help put cash in his or her pocket for school and make a game out of the pre-college shopping experience. Whatever you do make fun for everyone involved. Don’t focus completely on the upcoming move away from home.

A Message from the Registrar & Academic Services Congratulations on the acceptance of your son or daughter to the School of Mines.

We will enjoy having them a part of a great educational experience.

As the director of retention and testing, allow me to take a moment and discuss occasional pitfalls for some students coming to a rigorous engineering and science university fresh out of high school.

Students accepted to the School of Mines come with good ACT scores and a successful high school grade point average. Sometimes this is reflective of an ability to test well on ACT tests and the ability to successfully negotiate the various courses in high school. Unfortunately, college, especially an engineering and science school like the School of Mines, is nothing like the average high school, much less an ACT test. The first two years will consist largely of general education classes. Then, as students begin the transition into courses in their major, they will rely heavily on their ability to consistently do homework and prepare for tests. Many students struggle with the following issues.

• They do not transition well from an easy high school learning environment, which relies heavily on promoting students ahead without requiring them to master material.

• They struggle with making mature decisions regarding time management, academic priorities and test preparation.

• They either have a fuzzy career focus or are unsure of their career focus and make poor decisions regarding study commitments based on social pressure and priorities.

• Most students do not have these struggles immediately because of the excitement of being in college and transitioning away from the restraints of home.

But by the fourth week, many a good new college student is struggling

to keep his or her head above water in freshman courses such as calculus 1, chemistry, computer science, and physics. So, let me make the following recommendations: • Don’t ever get behind or lazy with your homework

• Start preparing for tests the very first day.

Homework, frequently ungraded, is used to prepare students for tests. You don’t do the homework, you get poor grades on tests.

You get poor grades on tests, you fail the class.

You fail the classes, you end up on probation or suspension and start considering “plan B” of your career goals.

• Use early and frequently resources such as clarification visits with professors, tutors at the Tech Learning Center and Supplemental Instruction in challenging

courses such as freshmen chemistry and calculus.

• Treat your college work like you treat a 40-houra-week job. You might have 15 hours of “in” class time a week. Twentyfive hours a week should be homework, test preparation and work on projects and papers.

We really want your son or daughter to be a successful Mines student.

During the orientation process, have them come introduce themself to me.

Let me help them be a successful Mines student.

Resources Registrar & Academic Services (including retention

& testing)academic assistance, advising, counseling, WebAdvisor assistance and registration help

201 O’Harra Building (605) 394-2400 (605) 394-1999 Academic Advisor

See the academic department or contact the registrar and academic services.

201 O’Harra Building (605) 394-2400

Career & Professional Development Center

career guidance, interviewing, résumé review and internship and co-op information

Surbeck Center (605) 394-2667

Tech Learning Center

tutoring and academic services in the lower level of the library

110 Devereaux Library (605) 394-2400 Dean of Students

unexpected illnesses, family situations, financial strains and academic stresses

Surbeck Center (605) 394-2416

Counseling & ADA Services

disability, personal, academic and social counseling services; assistance with test anxiety, substance abuse, eating disorders, depression and anxiety

Surbeck Center (605) 394-2416 Instructors

Never forget that instructors are personally invested in you and your success.