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 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!

Another option new next year will be two floors (Blair 2 and 3) for residents who have a major in the College of Health and Human Services (CHHS).  If you are a major in this college (Biomedical Sciences, Communication Science and Disorders, Health and Physical Education, Nursing, Physical Therapy, Psychology, Social Work or Sports Medicine and Athletic Training), then these floors are calling your name…You will be living with your fellow classmates!

We would encourage you to examine the many opportunities and the advantages of living in an LLC.  I think a former LLC resident summed it up nicely:

“I enjoy all of the LLC activities set up exclusively for LLC students. I really have learned a bunch, and it has made my transition into college that much more enjoyable … I was able to make friends a lot faster at MSU than my high school friends who were in non-LLC floors.” Jesse Loyd

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!

We sent our brochure to the printer last week. We are using a new printer this year. Our new printer is an environmentally friendly printer and we feel we are supporting the University’s emphasis on sustainability. We are printing this brochure in accordance with Forest Stewardship Council standards. By doing so, we are using fewer resources than we would normally use in producing this brochure.  The back cover will show the savings we have made by using this printer!

This process will however take a little longer than we had anticipated.  We will get the brochure in our offices around December 18.  This means it will really push us to get our mailing out before the end of this calendar year.  This packet of information will include the brochure and a welcome letter from the Department telling each student their username and password to get into our system to sign up for housing for the fall 09 and spring 10 semesters.  All students during this first mailing will have until January 16th to complete the online application to maintain their admission date as their priority date.

I’ve already talked about our other major change earlier in this blog (see the second posting Information for fall 2009 students).  We hope you understand our delays and realize that they are GREAT enhancements that we are utilizing for the very first time with you, our entering fall 2009 class!

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We are planning to get our latest packet of Housing information out to our admitted incoming students for fall 2009 around December 25.  Our changes and Turkey Day are causing a slight delay in production….

I keep saying changes and I bet you keep wondering “well what are these changes!” 

I’ll tell you….beginning on January 25, 2009 students with a priority date before September can go online and pick their room for the 2009 – 2010!!  This is HUGE!  Students will know in January what building and what room they will be living in come August 21st. 

Previously students would find out what building they had been assigned to in June and then their room assignment and roommates around August 1…now you will know as soon as Janury 25!  You can know where you are going to be living and start making plans!

More exciting news to come out soon….but I think this is enough for now!  Make sure you subscribe to this Blog so you can keep up on the new stuff as it develops!!  Feel free to go to our website (look under links) for more information about Pick A Room. 

It is an exciting time to be at Missouri State and living on-campus!