Fun and useful iPhone apps

For those of you out there using iPhones and iTouches, let's share some tips with each other! What is your favorite app, whether for fun or for its usefulness (or for both)? Personally, my favorite for fun is the Facebook app, and for usefulness, I like What's On, which gives quick TV listings. What are your favorites?

Don't make an unnecessary trip to campus!

One of the benefits of taking classes at ELI is that we can take care of nearly every issue you may face virtually, using email, phone, fax, and mail. So while on campus, you might need to go meet with a professor to get a signature and go to various offices around campus to file the signed form, at ELI, we can take care of the legwork for you. So, if you have some task to take care of regarding a class you are taking at ELI (such as withdrawing or changing from credit to audit), please check with ELI before you go to campus! Just visit our website, where you can find information on how to contact us by email, phone, or chat. We can probably take care of your question at a distance, and you won't have to go to campus at all.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We at ELI wish you a very Happy Thanksgiving and hope you have a chance to be with friends and family today and to reflect on the many things you have to be thankful for this year.

Keeping your schedule straight

A few months ago, we shared with you some tips on using the Google Calendar (which is a free part of any Google account, including your student email account) to schedule group work or just to keep your own life straight. Here's another simple online scheduler you might want to try: Doodle. You can use Doodle to keep your own calendar and to schedule group events. It integrates with many other calendars you might use (such as the calendar in Microsoft Outlook or your Google calendar), and you can even add it to your Facebook page.

Anyone out there already using Doodle? If so, what do you think of it?

We have a winner!

Thanks to all of you who entered our scavenger hunt contest. We got lots of correct entries to put into our drawing--and last week, we randomly drew our winner, Elizabeth Eldreth. Congratulations, Elizabeth! We sent Elizabeth a prize pack full of ELI goodies. Keep your eye out for future contests so you can try to win your own prize pack!

Some of you mentioned that you'd like to know the answers to the scavenger hunt questions--which is great, because they are all about things that ELI students should know! The answers can all be found in past entries to the blog, but here's a quick review. For more information on any item, use the subject labels on the bottom right of the blog to find the past entry with all the details, and if you need any help, post a comment and we'll help you find what you need!

1. What are the benefits of having a NOVA ID Card?

• cheaper price for printing on campus
• using vending machines on campus that don't accept cash
• access to parking garages at some campuses
• get college student discounts at local businesses

2. What are two online services to provide writing assistance?

• Smarthinking
• Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL)

3. What do you need to participate in one of ELI's free orientation or advising webinars?

• a computer with internet access and speakers or headphones
• sometimes, to register in advance

4. How can you find out what courses you need to graduate?

• Run a degree progress report in NOVAConnect

5. What three items do you need to take an ELI exam at a NOVA testing center?

• photo ID
• Exam Pass
• student ID number

6. How can you get research help from home?

• Get online articles and research sources under "Articles and More" on the library homepage.
• Use the "Ask a Librarian" feature of the library homepage.

7. Where can you find out what textbooks you need before you have access to your course in Blackboard?

• Visit the ELI Course Information page for your course.
• Look up your course on the Alexandria Campus Online Bookstore, which stocks all ELI books.

8. How can the Virginia Education Wizard help you plan for your future?

• help you determine what career might be best for you
• help you identify college majors that best prepare you for your chosen career
• find colleges in Virginia that best meet your educational needs
• help you estimate college costs and find financial aid
• learn about transferring to a four-year college from NOVA

9. How can you learn more about Guaranteed Admissions to four-year colleges?

• Visit the Guaranteed Admissions website.
• Follow up with a NOVA counselor.

10. What is the purpose of ELI course deadlines?

• To make sure you make steady progress in your course and learn the material well.

Disability Services at NOVA

Do you have a disability that affects your schoolwork? Maybe it's a physical disability, or maybe it's a learning disability. Either way, NOVA can provide services to help you do your best in your classes. If you haven't done so yet, you should speak with a disability counselor at one of the NOVA campuses to learn more. Visit NOVA's Disability Services website here to find out who to contact and how the process works. We are here to help!

Cool contest for video-makers!

Do you like to make videos? Have some good tips to share with other students about succeeding in college? Then you might want to enter the McGraw-Hill Student Success Video Contest! They welcome creative, 3-5 minute videos on topics like time management, studying, test-taking, becoming a better student, or anything to help students succeed in college or thereafter. And the best part is that you can win prizes, including $2500 for the first-place winner, $1500 for the second-place winner, and a $100 gas card for 8 other runners-up. So why not try your hand at filmmaking? The deadline in December 31.

Visit McGraw-Hill's Facebook page here to get full information about the contest. If you decide to enter, we'd love to hear about what you've done!

Registration for all students begins today!

Last week, many students had the opportunity to register for spring classes during our priority registration days. Starting today, anyone can register--so now's the time to look seriously at your schedule, check your progress toward your degree or certificate, and get signed up for your next courses! Contact ELI via email, chat, or our phone hotline to get answers to whatever questions you may have!

How Many Credits Should I Take?

Sometimes it can be hard to figure out how many credits you can handle in a given semester, taking into account your other life responsibilities with work, family, leisure time, religious activities, and community work. As you decide which courses to take for spring, you might want to try filling out this form. It is a way to help you think realistically about how much time you have available for your classes, including how much time you need to set aside for each class you take in order to do well in it. Filling the chart out honestly can be a real eye-opener! It can be tempting to take lots of classes at once when you are eager to complete your degree or program, but you also want to be sure to plan appropriately so that you have the time necessary to succeed in those classes. Whether you need to cut back on classes, or cut back on other responsibilities to give yourself more time to study, planning ahead about how you'll manage your time will often be the key to your success. Good luck!

Have you heard about the new waitlist option?

You may have had the experience in the past of finding a class you need full already by the time you are able to register--which can be very frustrating! For registration for spring, to try to help with this problem, NOVA is launching a new registration option--the class wait list. Here's how this will work, in a nutshell: When you try to sign up for a course that is full, you will have the opportunity to put yourself on the wait list for that class. Each night, NOVAConnect will check the courses to see if anyone has dropped, and then will place the person at the top of the waitlist into the course automatically. This means you won't have to try to log in in the middle of the night to snatch up that open spot. But it does mean that you'll need to check your schedule each morning to see whether you've been added to the course you're waiting for, so that you can meet the payment deadline if you did in fact get enrolled.

The other nice thing about the waitlist is that it will help NOVA staff determine when and where additional sections of a course are needed. So, even if you are going to be far down in a wait list, you may still want to sign up. If staff see a large number of students on a wait list, that will tell us that we need to try to get a new section open to accommodate you!

For spring, a wait list will be available for the 40 courses NOVA students most want to take. (If all goes well in spring, we may expand this to more courses in the future.) To learn more about how the wait list works, please click here. If you have any questions about the wait list, feel free to contact ELI by phone, chat, or email for help. And, if you have any comments about the waitlist, we'd love for you to post them here to the blog so we can share them with other college staff!

Priority Registration for Spring begins today!

For those of you who are eager to snap up exactly the classes and instructors you want for spring, priority registration begins today! If you're a continuing NOVA student, you have been assigned a specific date when you can begin to register, based on the number of credits you have already earned. To find out which day this week you can register, click here. And don't forget that ELI staff are here to help you. Call the ELI Hotline at 703-323-3347, or visit the ELI website to send us an email or use our live chat. We'll be happy to answer your questions about registration and class selection!

Upcoming Webinar Gets You Ready for Next Semester

Believe it or not, Spring 2010 semester is right around the corner. Spring forward with ELI and attend an upcoming webinar, “Getting Ready for Your Next Semester.”

November 10th, 4:00pm-4:45pm

This 45 minute webinar will answer key questions to help you plan for next semester. Topics will include program identification, college resources, degree progress reports, and course selection.

A webinar is a web-based seminar. Using the computer of your choice, you will be able to see the presentation and listen in using your computer speakers. A microphone is not required as a text chat feature will be available for participants to ask questions. Webinars are free; however, registration is required.

To register, please follow the instructions here.

Announcing the VALHEN Scholarship

The Virginia Latino Higher Education Network (VALHEN), Virginia's only organization dedicated to supporting the success of Latinos in higher education, recently announced its first scholarship to assist Virginia Latino/Hispanic students to pursue higher education. Here are the details:

• The scholarship award is in the amount of $500 and will be paid directly to the college or university to cover tuition, books, and/or fees.
• Applicants must be of Latino/Hispanic heritage, live in Virginia, and have graduated from a Virginia high school or be currently enrolled as a full-time student in a Virginia degree-granting, public or private, higher education institution.
• Applications are due by January 30, 2010 and the inaugural award will be presented to a deserving student at VALHEN's next annual Encuentro, on March 12-13, 2010, hosted this year by Virginia State University.

For more details about eligibility and deadlines and to complete the online application form, visit here. To find other scholarships, visit NOVA's scholarship site.

Free ELI Webinars on Planning Your Next Semester

This week is Advising Week at NOVA--a week when lots of different faculty and staff do things to help you plan your next semester and the rest of your time with us at NOVA. At ELI, one way we help you with this planning is to offer you free, 45-minute online webinars, led by ELI counselors, to guide you in planning what you will take next semester. Our next two webinars are coming up, one on November 3 and one on November 10. You can see the schedule, as well as a session description and signup instructions, here. We hope you will join us; it always helps to be sure you are on track with your course choices!

And while you're visiting the webinar site, check out the other webinars we'll be offering in November and December, to help you better understand ELI, explore career options, and find scholarships to help you pay for your education. Mark your calendar now to be sure you remember to take advantage of all these great opportunities!