Fall 2015: Purchase Textbooks & Course Materials using Financial Aid

Posted on July 31, 2015 by Dual Enrollment Coordinator

Students with financial aid awards for Fall 2015 can purchase required books and supplies that correlate with registered courses for the fall semester using their excess financial aid – either online or in campus bookstores – from August 10 through September 10. A second book purchase period will be open for students who still have anticipated aid from two weeks before the second 8-week term through that term census date, October 7-29.

If you completed the online Bookstore Authorization form for the summer 2015, it will NOT remain valid for Fall 2015 and Spring 2016. If you previously completed the form for 2014-2015 (including Summer 2015), it must be resubmitted with a valid electronic signature.

Students wishing to purchase books on-line must complete and sign the Bookstore Authorization E-Form, via the Financial Aid Dashboard, prior to completing a purchase. Students enrolled or planning to enroll in later starting classes who desire to use their financial aid to purchase books must purchase during one of the two purchase periods; no additional accommodations will be made. The financial aid process must be complete and anticipated aid must be enough to cover tuition, fees and books. Files can have no negative holds.

First Book Purchase Period

–First day to purchase books/supplies using financial aid: August 10, 2015

–Last day to purchase books/supplies using financial aid: September 10, 2015

Second Book Purchase Period (for students with remaining anticipated aid)

–First day to purchase books/supplies using financial aid: October 7, 2015

–Last day to purchase books/supplies using financial aid: October 29, 2015

You may place your on-line order 24 hours after completing the authorization e-form or on the first business day after completing the e-form, if later. Search the online bookstore for the textbooks and course materials required for your NOVA Online courses.

Motivational Minute: Be Inspired

Posted on July 30, 2015 by

The simplest phrase can have the deepest impact. Sometimes all it takes is a few words to spark a change in someone, validate someone, and inspire them to continue towards their goals. Here are a few words that I hope motivate you to be the best version of yourself. Namaste.

Don’t ruin today with worries about tomorrow.

Talk yourself out of doubt and into greatness.

Enjoyment is a choice and you can choose it every day.

Be yourself; everyone else is taken.

If it doesn’t challenge you, it won’t change you.

See today as a step closer to where you want to be.

You only need one reason to try and you are reason enough.

–Jennifer, NOVA Online Student Success Coach

Summer Wellness Series: Wrap Up

Posted on July 29, 2015 by kshagan

We made it! Within the past few months of our Summer Wellness Series we covered many different ways that each of us as individuals can reflect on our overall personal wellness in several areas including: Physical, Intellectual, Social, Financial , Spiritual/Emotional and Environmental.

So now what? How can you move forward with all of this knowledge you have gained? Create some personal goals!

Here are some reflection to help you do this:

Reflect on your own level of personal wellness. Hopefully you were able to do this as we walked through the series but take some time to think about:

How do you integrate personal wellness into your life?
What challenges or personal obstacles are you faced with everyday along with being a college student?
How can your surroundings influence your health in a positive or negative way?
How will choices you make today impact your future? Keep in mind that your social and mental/emotional health is just as important as your physical health.

Now, use some the this reflection to develop personal goals:

Create some long-term goals that you want to achieve over the next year or more. (Example: Remove meat from my diet).
Break these down into smaller tasks that can become more manageable targets you can hit in the short term. (Example: Plan to remove meat from my diet one day a week for a month).
Develop a way that works for you to be accountable (Example: Use food tracker to record progress).

We hope that this will help you jump start you health and wellness goal-setting!

Thank you to all who have participated. Feel free to continue connecting and sharing information on our Virtual Student Union.

Join us for a NOVA Online Orientation Webinar

Posted on July 27, 2015 by Dual Enrollment Coordinator

Are you enrolled in your first online learning course this fall? Or, have you taken an online course previously and want to ensure that you are headed in the right direction? Do you have any questions about using Blackboard to complete your NOVA Online course? A great place to start is with the NOVA Online Orientation webinar. A webinar is a live, online instruction session. You can participate in a webinar from any computer or mobile device with high-speed, reliable internet access and speakers. A microphone is not required as we will use a text chat for all questions. Participation in all webinars offered through NOVA Online is free, but registration is required.

After completing the registration form, you will receive an automatic email with information to join the live webinar. If you do not receive an email, double check your email address and re-submit the request. Register for a session on the NOVA Online Webinar webpage.

Webinars are currently delivered via Blackboard Collaborate. You can test your connection ability ahead of time by visiting Behind Blackboard: First Time Users — Blackboard Collaborate. You can also view a tutorial on the NOVA Online Student Blog.

The NOVA Online Orientation webinar is a live, one hour online instruction session geared for students already enrolled in their fall term courses. The webinar focuses on getting started in your NOVA Online courses, navigating your Blackboard course site, identifying tips for success, and highlighting student support services. During the webinar, you will have the opportunity to ask any questions you have before you start your course.

If you have a New Student hold on your account, requiring you to attend Student Orientation before registering for your fall classes, you will need to complete the Start Strong Student Orientation before the NOVA Online Orientation webinar.

Connect with your NOVA Online peers on Facebook and Twitter.

Student Lingo: Stay Motivated and Disciplined in an Online Course

Posted on July 23, 2015 by

The idea of taking an online course with NOVA Online is amazing! The flexibility of not having to travel to campus and working on assignments when it is convenient for you sounds like a dream come true. But how will you keep from procrastinating and falling behind? What tools will you use to help manage your time? How will you feel connected to your classmates and instructor? What you will do when something unexpected occurs?

If you are new to online learning you might be a little anxious about what to anticipate and what some of the challenges might be. The How to Stay Motivated and Disciplined in an Online Course online workshop from Student Lingo highlights some of the common difficulties that online students experience such as procrastinating, poor time management, feeling disconnected with faculty and staff and managing the unexpected.

By taking a few minutes to view this on demand workshop:

You will have a head start on what to anticipate.
Know how to navigate those challenging situations before they even happen and then when they do,
You will have a plan in place to ensure you stay on track.

As a Success Coach, I tell my students all the time “Knowing is half the battle!” By watching this Student Lingo online workshop you are going to get a sneak peek into the life of an online student. By doing so you are going to know what to expect and be able to better prepare from the very first day of your first online course.

Plan on taking away tools to help:

Create a schedule and ideas on how to break up assignments in turn allowing to build in time for unexpected situations.
Know how to use the syllabus can be used as a guide to keep you on track with homework, projects and tests.

Develop strategies to connect with your classmates and instructor.

When you register for college courses you are investing your time and money. Invest in your success by watching this short presentation! Take some time afterwards to reflect and then develop some action steps to implement as soon as your online course begins.

You know yourself as a student, what aspect of online learning is going to be the most challenging for you?
Think about the resources provided in the presentation and write down three actionable steps you will take during the first week of your online course that are going to help you be successful.

Remember a driving force in your success as an online student is meeting deadlines and holding yourself accountable. Commit to completing your three action items the first week of class! Liked the How to Stay Motivated and Disciplined in an Online Course Workshop? View more on-demand workshops from Student Lingo to help you succeed in your online courses.

-Laura, NOVA Online Student Success Coach

Summer Wellness Series: Environmental Wellness

Posted on July 22, 2015 by kshagan

The last week of our summer wellness series focuses on environmental wellness. This involves taking care of your personal surroundings. Actively working to serve your environments can improve your health and the health of the people around you.

There are many things that you can do to reflect on how you are being mindful of your impact on the environment. Here are some things to consider:

Do you recycle? Why or why not? How do you recycle?

Do you attempt to converse energy? How do you conserve energy?

Do you think the government is doing enough to protect our environment?

How can we reduce our carbon footprint?

Why is preserving the wilderness important?

We will use this week to address some of these issues on a global level but also help you consider how you can play a role in your personal life to help preserve this beautiful planet we live on!

To start some reflection, below is a graphic that lists 10 reasons to drink tap water that we got from the Fairfax Water Newsletter. It shows how much is wasted in the creation of bottled water.

Would having this knowledge about the waste bottled water creates, change the way their drink water?

Visit our Virtual Student Union to share your thoughts and continue the conversation!

This Week at NOVA Online!

Posted on July 20, 2015 by Dual Enrollment Coordinator

Open registration for fall classes is currently underway. Check the schedule of classes in NOVA Connect and follow this tutorial to help you search for online classes through NOVA Online. Make sure you change the date to reflect the term you are looking to register for (fall ’15).

Be sure to have a method of payment in place to meet the fall 2015 payment deadline on Monday, July 27^th, 2015. You must have a method of payment in place to secure your seats in the courses you’ve registered for or you could be dropped.

Are you thinking about an online course through NOVA Online, but not sure if it is right for you? Review our Furthering your education with NOVA Online recording to see if online learning is a right fit for your current educational needs. You could also take the Smarter Measure assessment to see how your personal learning styles will work with online courses.

Have you utilized Student Lingo On-Demand Workshops? Take advantage of a wide variety of recordings available to help you manage your course load, plan for the future, or tackle your math anxiety … Just to name a few! Interested in working with your Personal Success Coach to create an action plan? Contact your coach at elisuccess@nvcc.edu or 703.764.5076.

Environmental Wellness – Actively working to serve your environments can improve your health and the health of the people around you. Check out the Wellness Series post on Wednesday, and use #SummerWellness to share your pictures and stories. Continue this conversation with us in our Virtual Student Union. Connect with peers on this topic and learn more about resources to maintain your environmental wellness!

What are your summer plans? Have an internship? Traveling? Taking a class? Day Trip? We want to hear about your adventures. Use #NOVA OnlineAdventure on Twitter to share pictures and stories.

Have a great week!

Summer Wellness Series: Emotional and Spiritual Wellness

Posted on July 15, 2015 by kshagan

This week we focus on spiritual and emotional wellness. College is stressful and students can often feel overwhelmed. Maintaining a healthy emotional and spiritual life is important to overall health. This can include managing your stress level, staying on top of school work and knowing when to ask for help. Exploring spirituality can include a religious faith community, meditation, being in the outdoors, and taking time for reflection.

The following are some things you can do to focus on your emotional and spiritual wellness:

Check out the Motivational Minute: Yoga Your Worries Away and Managing the Demands of School through Mediation blog posts.
Take time to review the NOVACares From this website you can connect to ULifeline, an anonymous, confidential, online resource center, where college students can be comfortable searching for information they need regarding emotional health. Learn about some signs and symptoms when a friend may need help dealing with emotional issues or a mental health problem in the Emotional Health section. Find resources about sleep, exercise, nutrition, stress management and relaxation, as well as connectedness and healthy relationships in the Wellness section.
Need more ideas? Check out other articles that are part of the NOVA Online Summer Wellness Series.

Continue this conversation with us in our Virtual Student Union. Connect with peers on this topic and learn more about resources to maintain your emotional and spiritual wellness!

Summer Wellness Series: Financial Wellness

Posted on July 8, 2015 by Dual Enrollment Coordinator

This week’s topic for the Summer Wellness Series is Financial Wellness. Through financial wellness, you can learn to live within your financial means, plan for future financial health, learn to think short and long-term in order to manage your resources is essential for a healthy financial experience including learning to be a good consumer.

Here are some resources to help you improve or maintain your financial wellness:

Mint.com is a free app that helps you organize and balance your budget. It organizes your transactions by categories, you can set up and track your budget, and you can see your balances and transactions at a glance.

As a NOVA student, you have access to CashCourse – Your Real-Life Money Guide. You can register for a free account and go through the financial tools. NOVA Financial Aid is giving away twenty $100 grants to students who participate in specific topics. Get started on some of topics, and stay tuned for more information about the grants in the fall.

This Financial Fitness Library provides you with guides, resources, and tutorials to help from credit scores, to saving, to planning for retirement. This 66 Ways to Save Money Guide, provides you with tips to save in transportation, insurance, housing, utilities, and others!

Do you know of or use any apps to help you track your budget? What helps you stay on track each month? Continue this conversation with us in our Virtual Student Union. Connect with peers on this topic and learn more about resources to maintain your financial wellness! Use #SummerWellness to share your pictures and stories.

This week at NOVA Online

Posted on July 6, 2015 by Dual Enrollment Coordinator

Have you ever been assigned a paper or project and don’t know where to start? Are you curious what library resources are available to you without going to a campus library? Join the NOVA Online Librarians for the Beyond Google – Basic Library Skills for Online Learners webinar on Thursday, July 9 from 6:30-7:15. This 45 minute webinar will give you a brief introduction to what library resources are available to you as an online learner. There might be more than you expect! Register here.

Financial Wellness – Understanding how to live within your financial means. Planning for future financial health. Learning to think short and long-term in order to manage your resources is essential for a healthy financial experience including learning to be a good consumer. Use #SummerWellness to share your pictures and stories.