Advising week is offered every fall and spring at NOVA as a time for students to reflect upon their academic goals and career development in preparation for planning and evaluating their schedule for next semester. Advising week for the Fall 2016 semester will be held from April 4 – April 8.

Get the most out of advising week by following the steps below:

1. Attend a Getting Ready for Your Next Semester webinar. Learn more about the webinar and register for an upcoming session.
2. Use the Student Success Planner to build your academic plan and compare your plan to program requirements.
3. Review your Advisement Report.  Access NOVAConnect to run an advisement report to view your progress and outstanding degree requirements.
4. Take a moment to reflect upon your career planning. If you need more information about career options or would like to learn about a resource to help you build a career plan consider attending a Focus on Your Career Planning webinar. Learn more about the webinar and register for an upcoming session.
5. Communicate with your advisor about your academic and career goals.  Be sure to take a moment to review your plans for both the summer term (registration is occurring now) and the fall semester. Plan to have your academic plan,  advisement report, and/or career plan handy when communicating with your advisor.

If you have not declared a program of study or are not pursuing a specific program at NOVA connect with an academic counselor or advisor for assistance. Priority registration for the fall semester begins today. All current students will be assigned a priority registration date. During advising week access NOVAConnect to identify your priority registration date. Open registration begins on May 2.

Throughout Advising Week the NOVA Online Student Blog will provide you with tools to plan effectively, resources to help guide your decisions, and answers to frequently asked questions throughout the process. Take advantage of Advising Week events on campus or virtually as you plan your schedule and register for courses. Reach out to the Student Services offices or Virtual Advisors with any questions you have as you are planning your courses.

Winding down from one semester, and planning for your next can be a significant adjustment. With the demand of approaching deadlines, it is easy to get overwhelmed in the blink of an eye. As you move into Advising Week, we want to provide you with some resources to help you unwind, and refocus on preparing for your next step.

Yoga has more benefits than I can list but the ones I want you to take advantage of right now is it’s capacity to reduce anxiety and stress. Taking time to stretch and twist the body, releases chemicals that our bodies naturally produce when stressed. Beyond the physical movements, yoga has a meditative component that ignites your inner strength in a way that will empower you to tackle any obstacle, help you maintain peace when feeling harried, and turn down the volume of the loud voice of self-doubt. Incorporating yoga into your daily practice has been made easy with the use of technology. Here are some free apps you can download today that can jump-start your yoga practice! There is no greater obstacle to overcome than your own mind, feed it with positivity and it will help you accomplish great things! Namaste.

YogaQuote: Gives you daily inspirational yoga quotes and mantras.

Daily Yoga: Gives you live training with  videos and a professionally made yoga program for you to follow without needing to go to a gym. This app even has yoga to help you de-stress at your desk (great to do right before writing a paper)!

As you move into Advising Week, continue to follow ELife for tips on:

• Familiarizing yourself with resources to help you with your academic planning.
• Focusing on your career planning.
• Checking to make sure you are on the right path to achieve your goals.
• Gaining skills outside the classroom.
• Taking some time for reflection.

This post was written by NOVA Online Success Coach, Jennifer. Have a question, but not sure who to ask? Start with a Success Coach! They can be reached at elisuccess@nvcc.edu or call 703.323.3347.

Take advantage of Advising Week events on campus or virtually as you plan your schedule and register for courses. Reach out to the Student Services offices or Virtual Advisors with any questions you have as you are planning your courses.

Your Faculty Advisor is a valuable asset in your academic journey. They can provide insights and recommendations based on their education and real world experience. Take advantage of their knowledge and expertise in your program of interest!

Plan early for your next semester with your Faculty Advisor and have your courses selected and be ready to register on your Priority Registration date. This will give you the best chances at getting the courses you need. Registering early will also be beneficial for students who use NOVA’s TMS payment plan allowing for a lower down payment and more months to break up your remaining tuition balance.

How can my Faculty Advisor help me?

• Create an academic program completion plan, which maps out which courses you need to take for your major/program of study.
• Select which electives will support your academic goal/career plans.
• Connect with NOVA resources you need and make referrals.
• Submit the appropriate forms for substitution requests or changing your major.
• Reflect on your academic performance, so you can be successful.
• Serve as a reference or assist in preparing letters of recommendation for applications (transfer, employment and scholarship).
• Review your academic progress to help assure you complete your program based on your goals

How do I address my Faculty Advisor?

• Address the Faculty Advisor as “Professor and their last name.” If you know they have earned a Ph.D., or Ed.D. address them as “Doctor and their last name”. (i.e. Professor Jones or  Dr. Smith).
• Be sure to send your email from your NOVA student email account and include your Student ID number.
• As a NOVA Online student, you may not meet your Faculty Advisor in person. Project yourself as a professional and dedicated student by composing a well-organized and thoughtful email. Take advantage of these Ten Quick Steps to Email Your Instructor.

What can I include in my correspondence to my advisor?

• Outline topics or questions you would like to discuss. (i.e. transfer plans, career opportunities, extracurricular/club involvement).
• Review your program requirements in the catalog and ask any questions you may have about unsatisfied requirements.
• Identify courses you may be interested in for the upcoming term and year.

Suggested Questions and Topics to discuss:

• What courses do I need to complete my academic program?
• What are the prerequisites for the courses I plan to take or where can I find them?
• I would like to discuss my academic goals.
• What do I need to know about transferring? Are there deadlines and scholarships?
• I need a tutor.  How do I find one and access other services when I need help?
• I need to work. How can I arrange my classes around my work schedule and how will working impact my studies?
• I am interested in participating in extracurricular and co-curricular activities.  Can we discuss my academic goals and extracurricular and co-curricular activities.
• Ask your advisor to share how they chose their major in college.

The last part of the semester is always hectic, reach out to your faculty advisor now!

Attend a Getting Ready for Your Next Semester webinar.  Learn more about the webinar and register for an upcoming session here. Undecided or just getting started on your degree plan? Talk to an Academic Counselor to help you get started with your next term classes. NOVA Online Counselors can be reached at NOVA OnlineCounselors@nvcc.edu.

Advising week is almost here! To make the most of the interaction with your advisor there are a few things you can do to prepare.

Verify your program of Study:  First it is important to verify your student record reflects the program of study you intend on completing here at NOVA. Visit the Academics section of your Student Center in the Student Information System to verify your plan. If your plan needs to be updated make contact with an academic counselor or advisor to determine which plan is the best for you based on your goals.

Run an Advisement Report- Once your program of study is accurate there are several tools you can take advantage of to see your progress towards your plan’s requirements and the courses you have left to complete.

You can run an advisement report to view your progress and outstanding degree requirements.

Review program requirements: Now that you’ve run your advisement report, review the report to see how the coursework you have completed has been applied towards your degree requirements and what you have left to complete.

Plan your semester: You can use the Student Success Planner to create a plan, allowing you to map out when you will complete your remaining courses. As you plan out these courses semester by semester, strive for balance in your course schedule. Use these tips to help you strategize. Don’t delay in taking courses that are challenging for you, especially math.

Request to meet with your Advisor: Once you have our courses mapped out in the Student Success Planner you can even send a meeting request to discuss your plan to your advisor.

Check back in for tomorrow’s post on how to prepare for your meeting with your advisor!

Follow the tips below to build a better schedule.

Tip #1 – Plan your time accordingly.

As you begin to create your schedule, take a moment to think about all of the commitments you will have during the semester along with everything you wanted to accomplish.  How much time will you have available to focus on college courses?

Tip #2 – Identify how each course helps you achieve your goal.

Think about your academic and career goals.  How does each course you are planning to take help you progress towards achieving your goals?

Tip #3 – Know what will be covered in a course before you enroll.

Course content summaries provide information about major topics in a course.   Check out the course content summaries here.

Tip #4 – Select a course format that works for you.

NOVA offers campus-based, hybrid, and online courses?  Which option will work best for you for the upcoming semester?

Tip #5 – Be aware of important dates.

NOVA offers courses that vary in session length and have different start and end dates.  Know the important dates for sections of courses you are considering.

Interested in learning more tips?  Consider participating in a Getting Ready for Your Next Semester webinar.  Check the schedule for details.

Advising Week is almost here.  Held every fall and spring at NOVA to help students prepare for their next term/semester.  Advising Week for summer 2016 and fall 2016 will be held from Monday, April 4 through Friday, April 8. 

Follow this NOVA Online Student Blog this week as we help you prepare to get the most out of Advising Week.

Things to watch for to help you prepare for Advising Week:

• Creating a schedule that works for you.
• Connecting with your advisor.
• Communicating effectively with your advisor.
• Taking time for yourself.

Questions to ask yourself as you prepare for Advising Week:

• What is one change I can make to my schedule to be more successful next term/semester?
• When would be a good time for me to connect with my advisor?
• What questions do I have for my advisor?
• What is one thing I can do this week to help manage stress?

Pay attention to the tuition deadline so you are not dropped for non-payment. Contact Financial Aid with any questions.

This Advising Week Series will focus on academic planning, connecting with your advisor, and preparing for your upcoming terms. Throughout Advising Week the NOVA Online Student Blog will provide you with tools to plan effectively, resources to help guide your decisions, and answers to frequently asked questions throughout the process. Take advantage of Advising Week events on campus or virtually as you plan your schedule and register for courses. Reach out to the Student Services offices or Virtual Advisors with any questions you have as you are planning your courses.

Are you enrolled in a MTT course through NOVA Online? We want to make sure you have all the information to start strong!

What is MTT ?

MTT refers to the Motivating Academic Success Through Effective Redesign (MASTER) math courses that make up NOVA’s developmental math program. These courses offer personalized instruction allowing students to skip sections of material in which they can demonstrate competency and work toward mastery of the remaining material. Which MTT course a student takes depends upon the number of units needed. The Virginia Placement Test (VPT) for mathematics is aligned with the MTT units. View the MASTER Math: Progression chart to determine what units are required to be prepared for specific math courses at NOVA. The most units a student can cover in an MTT course at one time is four (MTT 4). Some students may need to complete more than one MTT course to be prepared for the math course required for their degree.

To be successful in MTT, you will need to spend several hours working on the course activities.

Textbooks and Course Materials:

MTT courses use MyMathLab which is an online textbook-based diagnostic evaluation and tutorial program designed specifically for this course. It includes an electronic copy of the class textbook, a variety of multimedia instructional resources, unlimited practice exercises, self-paced learning modules, online testing, and an individualized study plan. MyMathLab is supported and maintained by the publisher’s web server and the required plug-ins for this tool are standard.  MyMathLab is delivered inside a web-based course delivery system called MyLabsPlus. You must have an access code to MyLabsPlus, which can be purchased through the online bookstore.

The Online Math Lab is a substitute for the on-campus Math Computer Lab requirements and can be accessed through the Online Math Lab link in the menu of your Blackboard course site. The Online Math Lab is used by MTT students to ask general questions regarding course content and concepts.

Tests and Quizzes:

There are pre and post tests for each unit. Unit pre and post-tests must be proctored. Module quizzes are not proctored and will be taken at home. You cannot move forward, or complete a unit without completing the pre and post test for that unit. If you are out of the area, you will need to secure an approved proctor to supervise your exams. If you are in the area, you can take your proctored exams at any NOVA campus testing center.

Resources:

Success Coaches – Anxious about taking a math course? Contact your Success Coach at elisuccess@nvcc.edu or 703.764.5076 for tips for success and resources to help you have a successful semester.

Smarthinking – Smarthinking is a free online tutoring service available to NOVA Online students. Smarthinking provides tutoring in a variety of subjects, many of which are available 24/7.

Student Lingo – Engaging on-demand, on-line workshops 24/7 on a variety of subjects – including math-related topics for example:  How to Succeed in Math, which provides specific strategies on how to succeed in an online math course and How to Overcome Math Anxiety, which helps students understand and assess their own level of math anxiety while providing ways to cope with fear and eliminate stress.

Khan Academy – This free resource offers a new way to work on some of the skills that you may be falling behind on. Students can use Khan’s large library resource database and partake in interactive assessments, challenges and even some helpful videos on a variety of topics.

For a lot of us, math can be a cause of anxiety! You can easily lose perspective if you don’t stay on top of assignments and exam preparation. Below are some tips for coping with the math funk – the period of time where you may be growing discouraged by the increasing difficulty that your math course is presenting, when you are beating your head against the wall memorizing theorems and tying it to the larger purpose of getting a good grade, all the while, trying not to drown in the complex terminology and detailed strategies of working the problems.

• Remember and reinforce the “whys” behind the reasoning for your math courses: Do you need these courses to graduate, for your degree plan, for a prerequisite? If you need them for your degree plan, the bigger picture may transform from I need to get a good grade in this course to I need to be able to apply these skills and generalize them to scenarios in my work environment. If you merely need them as a general education requirement or prerequisite, remind yourself that you need to master this course in order to excel to a more interesting class for which you have prerequisites.
• Do not fall into the math quicksand – I call this the period of time that you forget much of the information you have learned either for a test or in preparation for future math lessons, the result being that when you approach the next lesson, the cumulative learning that took place beforehand is all but lost. Hence, you may find yourself quickly trying to re-memorize the previous theories all over again in an effort to rapidly catch up to the current one or the fast approaching cumulative exam.
• Avoid blaming external factors for math not being fun – Let’s face it; math may not be the most “entertaining” and engaging material for some folks. However, rather than blame your lack of interest on the dryness of the material, find unique ways to apply the concepts to your life. Word problems are a great example; the ones that involve calculating percentages, totals and sale prices can go a long way in planning how to budget your next trip to the grocery store! When I think of memorizing something as simple as multiplication tables, it may enhance my memory of future numbers like phone numbers or my driver’s license number, if I left it at home – yikes!
• Plan accordingly and practice effective time management – Remember to access your calendar or planner daily, weekly and monthly to plan out your assignments and even carve out some time to review notes and prepare for the next assignment or lesson. Even insert time for diversions like studying a different subject or going for a walk when you start to feel yourself burning out.
• Find the humor in math – Believe it or not, math can be funny sometimes. When you are practicing that problem for what seems like an eternity; then, you get feedback or discover how the correct answer came to be. Substitute the feeling of frustration with one of “that textbook showed me” – and learn to laugh at your mistakes. Any epiphanies that you discover along the way can serve as lighthearted moments – where the “how did they get that answer? – can be humorous in and of itself before your resume the “serious” task of trying to re-work the problem to get to the correct answer.

All in all, don’t give up. When you find yourself losing momentum, take a break or divert your mind to another subject area. One suggestion for combating frustration is to keep a journal close by to jot down the following: what kind of problem it was, why you got it wrong, how did you feel at the time and what strategy are you taking to empower yourself so you bounce back. Then, evaluate how this strategy helped. This might even involve taking a break first and returning to the problem, noting how the brief interlude might have changed your perspective.

Many students view math as overwhelming and scary—but it doesn’t have to be.  Learn how to study more efficiently for mathematics and apply relaxing techniques to reduce your anxieties by participating in the NOVA Online Student Success Coach’s Tackling Your Math Anxiety Recorded Workshop!

This post has been modified from the squarecircleZ, math blog. For more information on this topic, visit this link. Contact the NOVA Online Success Coach Team at elisuccess@nvcc.edu or 703.764.5076 for resources and references to help you have a successful semester.

Happy studying!