All of our residence halls will close on Saturday, May 15.  Current residents will need to start planning for their finals and making plans on leaving their room.  There’s a lot a person needs to know about moving out, so we’ve made a little newsletter just for that purpose!  Please go to: http://reslife.missouristate.edu/assets/reslife/EndOfSemesterSpring10.pdf to find out about all the ins and outs of moving out!

The spring semester has brought some changes to our campus. We have some new class starting and ending times! This will be a big change for most students. The reason for the change is to allow more time between classes. The length of time is the same….basically 50 minutes for a Monday, Wednesday, Friday course and an hour and 15 minutes for a Tuesday, Thursday class. The difference is a start time of let’s say 3:05 PM until 3:55PM or maybe 12:55PM – 1:45PM! It will take some time to adjust to the new schedule, but soon it will be old news and no one will think about it

Another change we have this semester is the location of After Hours Dining (AHD). If you aren’t up on what After Hours Dining, it is a fourth meal option provided to our residents Sunday – Thursday from 9PM – 11PM. During the fall semester, we always have AHD in the Garst Dining Center. For the spring semesters, we move AHD over to the Blair-Shannon Dining Center. Still the same time…just a different location! Don’t worry….all of your favs will be served there!

The last change I will mention is our Bytes @ Nite program. Bytes @ Night is a new service being offered to all residence hall students to provide more total bandwidth. Starting Spring 2010, from midnight to 6am every night, all bandwidth will be recorded as 10% of the actual amount downloaded (or uploaded). For example, if you were to download a movie from iTunes, or stream a Netflix movie and it would normally have taken 10 gigabytes, 90% of that will be ignored and only 1 gigabyte (10%) will show up on your quota. We’re doing this because we have unused bandwidth during this time, and we feel it offers an ideal time for students to get their larger downloads done. Additionally, it means that most operating system updates that are scheduled for nighttime updates will not affect a student’s quota nearly as much….and we know those patches help to keep everyone up to date and safe!

The residents were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of textbooks and professors danced in their heads.
And Hall Directors and Assistant Hall Directors in their cap,
Had just settled their brains for a long winter’s nap.

When out in front of the Bear rose such a clatter,
The residents sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window they flew like a flash,
Tore open their curtains.

When, what to their wondering eyes should appear,
But Dr Nietzel, Missouri State’s President.

“Now Freddy! Now, Blair-Shannon! Now, Wells and Woods!
On, Hammons! On, Hutchens!  On Sunvilla and Kentwood!
To the top of the JQH Arena! To the top of the Carillon!
Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away all!”

He had a bundle of textbooks he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a peddler, just opening his pack.
He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings with textbooks and study guides,

Then he turned quickly and headed towards Carrington
But we heard him exclaim, as he walked out of sight,
“Happy finals to all, and to all a good-night!”

The Resident Assistants (RAs) on each floor is always thinking up bright and creative ways of helping their resident have fun. Each Hall Council has people that are sitting around each week in meetings coming up with the next educational or social event for the residents of their building. The Residence Hall Assocaition or RHA is comprised of leaders from each residence hall. One of it’s main goals each semester is to make sure all of the residents are enjoying their stay on-campus and providing award winning programs and events for everyone. Todd Euglow talked to us earlier about RHA. Go back and review what he said earlier in the year….

This is just the opportunities in the residence halls! There are many more opportunities across the campus! The Student Activities Council or SAC is always bringing movies, comedians, speakers and much much more to campus. The Student Government Association or SGA is the official voice of all students at Missouri State and they are always looking for people to help out! If you enjoyed planning the Prom and other social events in high school, then SAC is for you. On the other hand, if you enjoyed Student Council in high school, then SGA is the group for you!

There are over 250 different organizations on-campus….there has to be something for you! If not, you can create your own group with yourself and a handful of other people!

You will enjoy being on campus….just don’t let me hear you say there is nothing to do around here!

To All Incoming Students,
I am pleased to be able to reach out to you as you take the next step in your educational career. On our campus we have over 300 organizations that encompass almost any interest and walks of life. As the current president of the Residence Hall Association (RHA), I would like to make you aware of several opportunities for you to make a difference and become involved as a student leader in the residence halls of Missouri State. This is especially vital if you are at all interested in being involved with hall government. Each residence hall consists of a hall council, which is the governing body for the building. Being involved with hall council puts you in the forefront for making changes and improvements that benefit the residents in your building. It is very easy to get involved with hall council. As you begin your move-in this August, signs and banners will be posted all over your building informing you of how you can join and begin making a difference. As each building has a governing body, there is a larger organization that enacts policies and changes for the entire on-campus population. This organization is the Residence Hall Association (RHA). As a member of this organization you will be actively involved in gaining leadership experience, planning and implementing campus-wide programs, and acting as the student voice for your building, all while making some new friends in the process. If you would like more information on what RHA does and the role that this organization plays on campus, please visit our website at www.rha.missouristate.edu. No matter what organization you choose, I encourage you to get involved. College is a time to make memories, why not make them with the people who share your same interests and desires. Good luck wit h your transition and I look forward to seeing some of you on move-in day.

Best wishes,
Todd Euglow
President
Residence Hall Association
Missouri State University

Just a bit of information on Missouri State’s Honors College for those interested. We currently have about 1,050 students in the program. To give some perspective to that number, there are about 13,500 full-tine undergraduate students at Missouri State. Honors College students are in all majors and in nearly all residence halls on campus, although Scholars House and the eighth floor of Hutchens are exclusive to honors students. That means that you can have an Honors College student in your hall, even in your suite, sometimes without knowing it.

To get into the Honors College graduating high school students must have a composite score of 27 or higher on the ACT (or the SAT equivalent) and also either be in the top 10% of their graduating class or have a gpa of 3.9 or higher. To remain in the program, once accepted, they must maintain a gpa of 3.25 at Missouri State. That’s usually not a problem — in fact, our average gpa for Honors College students is over 3.8.

Honors classes differ from regular classes in three basic ways: they’re smaller (on average about half the size of regular classes); all students in the class are Honors students; and the class is taught by an Honors College professor. These are professors who are typically high achievers themselves and are also good at working with high capability students.

Honors College students, because they are required to take at least one honors class per semester for their first four semesters, are permitted to register first in their class — i.e., freshmen Honors students register one day before all other freshmen. They also have library lending privileges that are the same as graduate students.

Please direct any questions about the Honors College, including how to get into the program as a second semester freshman or first semester sophomore, to the Honors College Office. We are located in University hall, 212, and our number is 836-6370.

Thanks Dr. Spisak!  There are many perks and advantages of being a member of the Honors College and we would encourage you to become a member!

Lifetopia’s RoommateClick! That’s it! We flip the switch Wednesday to activate our long awaited addition to our online community! Lifetopia brings a whole new element to our online application and assists students in finding out more information about their roommate or actually helps them find a roommate!

RoommateClick is a social environment where you can interact with other incoming Missouri State students and see what you have in common with them. You can search for someone who you think would make an awesome roommate for the upcoming year! Your space on RoommateClick is completely customizable and you can even upload pictures of yourself to complete your profile online.

You should be receiving a postcard and an e-mail (if we have your addy!) next week announcing Lifetopia’s RoommateClick. We would strongly encourage everyone to go online and see what it has to offer you!

Reapplication is about to come to a close and it’s all about getting ready to accommodate our incoming students for the 2009-10 academic year!  We hope you are as excited about becoming a Bear as we are excited about having you live with us!