Fall 2009 Articles at a Glance

In this month's newsletter:
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Did You Know?
Women's Leadership Conference Honors Impact
Annual Career Fair Exceeds Expectations
Get Healthy with Go T.E.C.H
Special Staff Discounts Available at Ferst Center
Diversity Week 2009: A Latitude Adjustment

Featured Articles
New Leadership Challenge Course Enhances a Tech Education
Counseling Center Revises Its Service Delivery Model
Family Weekend 2009 Reaches New Heights
Survey Results for Family Weekend 2009
New York Times Author, Warren St. John, Makes Special Appearance
The Professional Development Committee is Back!
Receptions to Welcome Friends and Generate Donations
Dean of Students' Wellness Challenge
2009 FASET Orientation and Freshman Convocation

Staff Announcements
Ferst Center for the Arts
Career Services
Office of Success Programs
Office of the Dean of Students: Student Involvement
Counseling Center

From the Vice President for Student Affairs

Welcome to the first edition of The Buzz @ Student Affairs! This electronic newsletter is designed to keep our nearly 100 employees in the Division of Student Affairs aware of key events, programs and updates which affect you and the students, faculty, and staff with whom you work. There has been a great deal of activity within Student Affairs in the past few months, and our goal is to share this information throughout the entire Division. As an integral part of the holistic educational experience, we play a vital role in providing the programs, facilities, and services that guide, support, inform and challenge our highly talented students to develop and succeed as leaders in a technology driven world. Our collective knowledge of how Student Affairs impacts the Tech community will serve us greatly as we work toward crafting the future of Georgia Tech.

Many thanks to those who contributed to this inaugural newsletter. The next newsletter will be published in spring 2010. We welcome your opinions and suggestions to help make this newsletter as informative and meaningful as possible – after all, this is YOUR newsletter. Please tell us what you think! Please forward your thoughts to studentaffairs@vpss.gatech.edu. Thank you and enjoy!

Sincerely,

Bill Schafer, Ph.D.
Vice President for Student Affairs

Women's Leadership Conference Honors Impact

Georgia Tech's annual Women's Leadership Conference was held last month and drew 350 women for workshops, speeches, and networking opportunities. The conference's theme, unleash your potential impact the world, was exemplified through the recognition of five women of distinction within the Georgia Tech community.

Annual Career Fair Exceeds Expectations

The annual Georgia Tech Career Fair was held September 14-15 at the Campus Recreation Center (CRC). Career Fair, an entirely student planned and staged event, is the largest single career fair held on campus each year with more than 300 employers represented. This year, employers ranging from Accenture to Procter & Gamble to the CIA were on hand to talk to interested students. Career Fair is the premiere opportunity for students to talk to company representatives, learn about career opportunities and network with potential employers. In addition to the traditional “after college” job, students can also learn about internship opportunities! Undergraduate and graduate students from all majors and degree levels are encouraged to attend. Last fall, nearly 3,000 students attended daily. 

In addition, Career Services is actively engaged in on-campus recruiting from September 14 through November 20 (excluding breaks and holidays) in the Bill Moore Student Success Center.

Students are also welcome during walk-in hours to learn about Career Services and the exciting opportunities available to them. Students can meet with a staff specialist and ask questions regarding resumes, cover letters, job searches, and other practical knowledge.

Walk-In Hours
Monday           9:00 – 11:00 a.m.
Tuesday            2:00 – 4:00 p.m.
Wednesday      2:00 – 4:00 p.m.
Thursday         9:00 - 11:00 a.m.
Friday                1:00 - 3:00 p.m.

Get Healthy with Go T.E.C.H

Go T.E.C.H. (Teams Encouraging Campus Health) is an initiative that involves the entire Georgia Tech community in increasing awareness of health and wellness activities on our campus. It is our mission to create a healthier campus that encourages the students, faculty, and staff of Georgia Tech to adopt and maintain a balanced, healthy lifestyle. You too can participate in the upcoming Go T.E.C.H. events - just ask the Office of the Dean of Students! For more information on Go T.E.C.H., visit www.gotech.gatech.edu.

Want to get more involved with the Go T.E.C.H. initiative?
Get your friends and co-workers to sign up for our listserv by e-mailing gotech-request@lists.gatech.edu. There are several work groups ranging from research to programming to marketing. We are always looking for fresh ideas and volunteers!

Coming up this semester…

• Look for the Go T.E.C.H. newsletter at the start of every month in your inbox.
• The Go T.E.C.H. Web site will be adding health related articles, blogs, and podcasts.
• As always we welcome suggestions from students, faculty, staff, and alumni as we continue to educate the campus about the Go T.E.C.H initiative. Please e-mail gotech@gatech.edu.

Special Staff Discounts Available at Ferst Center

Now in its 18th year, the Ferst Center for the Arts will host 20 audience favorites from around the globe, and continues to offer great ticket discounts to Georgia Tech staff and faculty.  

Paige Brannon
Marketing Assistant, Campus Recreation

On Tuesday, September 15, Georgia Tech hosted the grand opening of the new Georgia Tech Leadership Challenge Course (LCC). Located on the corner of Ferst Drive and Hemphill Avenue, the course is a custom-designed skills development lab that helps participants learn, develop, and utilize leadership and teamwork skills.

Every couple of years, Georgia Tech polls alumni about their experience at Tech and how effectively they were prepared for the working world. While it is unanimously agreed upon that Georgia Tech provides a solid and impressive education, alumni claimed that they felt the most under-prepared for the workplace in the areas of communication, leadership, teamwork, and group problem solving. Companies who frequently hire Tech graduates are also polled to determine the caliber of worker that Tech produces. While they consider Tech graduates unmatched in their intelligence and work ethic, they, too, believe that social interaction, adaptability, and effective communication skills were areas in need of improvement.

In response to this data, Georgia Tech developed plans for the construction of a brand new resource on campus that would allow participating students to further develop these abilities. In early 2006, official preparation for the Leadership Challenge Course Complex got under way. Managed by Outdoor Recreation at Georgia Tech (ORGT), the challenge course allow students and the greater Tech community, as well as outside industries and organizations, to come together for an incredible experience. This tool is designed to teach effective leadership and teamwork behaviors, to implement group problem solving and effective communication, and to develop critical and analytical thinking that improves flexibility and adaptability. Matt Marcus, the coordinator of the LCC, believes that the challenge course is so important because “it is the only outlet of its kind that focuses solely on teaching these critical skills.”

The design of the course is custom built to Tech’s specifications and includes some of the most state-of-the-art technology available today. Between three towers, each forty feet tall, lie a dozen elements to cross. GPS, video, data collection and analysis, customizable LCD screens, and various communication devices present a high-tech way to communicate, check team progress, and provide instant feedback.

Currently, the LCC provides four customizable workshop topics: The Five Behaviors of Leadership in Action, Problem Solving in Seven Easy Steps, Coming to Consensus Quickly, and Kick Start Your Team. The Five Behaviors of Leadership in Action is a workshop based on principles outlined in the book The Leadership Challenge by Bill Posner and Jim Kouzes. The other workshops emphasize how more systematic problem solving leads to better solutions, consensus should be reached quickly, but fairly, and group mindedness leads to a stronger working force.

To learn more about the Leadership Challenge Course including how to reserve space, visit www.crc.gatech.edu/lcc.

ekend 2008, both the Alumni Association and Student Affairs collaborated on the event. “We have had some very big shoes to fill,” Sterritt said. “[The Alumni Association] is indeed a tough act to follow.” This year’s event received the support of many Student Affairs staff and parent volunteers. In addition, this year’s program benefited greatly from the Family Weekend Planning Committee whose members include:

• Debbie Dorsey – Campus Recreation, Division of Student Affairs
• Darby Frizzell – Greek Affairs, Office of the Dean of Students
• Sally Hammock – Student Center
• Betsy Kidwell – Finance & Operations for Student Affairs
• Jennifer Leavey – Biology, Academic Affairs
• Danielle McDonald – Student Involvement, Office of the Dean of Students
• Melissa Moore – Auxiliary Services
• Rachael Pocklington – Parents Program, Division of Student Affairs
• Kim Sterritt – Parents Program, Division of Student Affairs
• Jonathan Swaby – Information Technology for Student Affairs
• Charidy Vinson – Office of Communications & Marketing

Looking forward, a challenge for the office is to increase the participation of a broader spectrum of parents in terms of location and year of student. “This year’s event drew 48 percent of its participants from out of state – which is very healthy number considering the required commitment for families to travel to campus for Family Weekend. Almost 60 percent of attendees in the past have been parents of freshman students,” Pocklington said. “[Some of] the seminars and other programming are designed to

Brenda Woods, Ph.D.
Director, Research and Assessment for Student Affairs

After the largest Family Weekend in the history of the Institute, a survey was sent to each of the 749 families who attended Family Weekend 2009 in an effort to continuously improve Family Weekend. Of the 749, 236 persons in attendance completed the survey for a 31.5 percent response rate. The vast majority of attendees (90 percent) said that Family Weekend exceeded/met their expectations. Nearly three-fourths (73 percent) of attendees reported that the Georgia Tech vs. University of North Carolina football game was among their primary reasons for attending Family Weekend. Nearly half (45 percent) said they wanted to enjoy the Family Weekend-specific activities. Almost one-fourth (23 percent) said they chose to attend Family Weekend to better understand Georgia Tech’s classes and academics. The data below illustrates the ratings among all activities associated with Family Weekend 2009:

Percent of Family Weekend Rating Activities as Excellent/Good

• On-Site Check In Process  94%
• Tech Observatory  94%
• Marching Band Concert  93%
• Online Registration  91%
• Tech vs. UNC Football Game  89%
• Customer Service  86%
• Tailgate  84%
• Breakfast with Dean  74%
• Event Schedule  74%
• Event Price  58%
• Family Weekend Overall  84%

Note: Percentages have been calculated among respondents who reported having participated in the activity.

Clayton Benedict
Marketing Assistant, Campus Recreation

August 5th concluded the Dean of Students’ Summer Wellness Challenge supported by GO T.E.C.H. and Georgia Tech Campus Recreation. For many Georgia Tech employees, the summer schedule provided the perfect time to work toward improved personal wellness. 

To help the Office of the Dean of Students professional staff obtain their personal fitness goals, GO T.E.C.H and Campus Recreation created a 60-day challenge with the goal of improving wellness. What makes this program special is that participants were able to choose individual goals. Over 20 professional staff enrolled and wellness goals included: eating right, exercising, meditating, and more. 

Each member also had Wellness Coach. Wellness Coaches helped participants set a realistic timeline with weekly check-ins. In addition, the coaches provided wellness seminars throughout the challenge with topics ranging from how to read food labels to learning how to de-stress. The most important aspects of the wellness coach were to offer support, help participants redefine goals if necessary, and encourage them not to give up. 

With the Wellness Challenge now at a closing, all have improved their personal wellness and plan to continue to work on their goals throughout the upcoming year. The positive reviews of the program are great news for wellness facilitator Faith Doldo who says, “I loved working with everyone and seeing people set a goal that changed their lives for the better. I cannot wait to do it again.” 

Bethany Naser
Director, FASET Orientation

Last summer, the Freshman FASET program, hosted by the Office of Success Programs, welcomed 2,540 students and 2,569 of their parents and guests to campus. The Transfer FASET program also had great participation and welcomed 390 students and 206 of their parents and guests. We continued to enhance our parent orientation track this summer, including the addition of a parent session during transfer orientations. Some of the areas of focus for our program this summer included the integration of FASET registration into Banner, social issues and diversity programming, breakout session messaging, FASET check-in procedures, and course registration processes. In addition, our program focused on developing a more comprehensive leadership development and training program for our student leaders, including Cabinet and Leaders. You could certainly see the impact of this initiative through their knowledge base, energy, and accountability. We will soon be selecting our new FASET Cabinet Team and will be looking to our colleagues for recommendations. Please consider nominating a student who you believe could continue to build this essential component of the FASET program.

We finished off our summer of transition with R.A.T.S. Week and Welcome Home Month. These programs serve to continue to assist freshmen with their transition while also kicking-off the academic year to all Georgia Tech students. This month of programming began with Fresh Friday and Freshman Convocation. Fresh Friday, held Friday, August 14th around the Campanile, is a collaborative effort among all of the Freshmen Leadership Organizations, Student Center Programs Council, and Greek Affairs and provides a way for freshmen to learn more about getting involved on campus. This year’s event was the largest so far! 

Freshman Convocation serves as the Freshman Class’s official welcome to Georgia Tech’s community of learners. This year’s ceremony, held Sunday, August 16, returned to the Alexander Memorial Coliseum and included an audience of over 3,100 students, parents, guests, and Georgia Tech faculty and staff. The ceremony included remarks from the President, Sophomore Speaker, Honor Advisory Council Chair and Undergraduate Student Government President as well as a video, produced by the Georgia Tech Living History Program, that highlights the accomplishments of several Georgia Tech Alumni. This event truly captures the essence of Georgia Tech spirit through the presence of the Band, Glee Club, Ramblin’ Wreck and Buzz and the distribution of the RAT Caps and the T-Books.

Later this semester, FASET Orientation will be hosting an information and feedback forum to gather your insight on our programs and share relevant information. We encourage you to plan on participating. As many of you know it takes the commitment of the entire campus community to make these programs successful. On behalf of the Office of Success Programs, we thank you and your departments for all that you do to support our office in the transition of our new students and their parents and guests into the Yellow Jacket family.