Category Archives: Student Success

NOVA Holiday Hours

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Northern Virginia Community College will close for Winter Break on Wednesday, December 23, 2015 at 5pm and remain closed until Monday, January 4, 2015 at 8:30 am.

If you have common questions, the following information may be helpful:

Grades: Fall 2015 grades will be accessible through NOVA Connect within 7 days of the end date of your course.

Blackboard Course Availability: Instructors make classes available in blackboard on the first day the course is scheduled to begin, or sometimes a few days in advance. If you are visiting Blackboard to access your Spring 2016 class, you may not have access until closer to the start date.

Course Start Dates: 1st 16 week, 1st 8 week, 1st 12 week and 1st 4 week (MTT only) sessions will begin on January 11, 2016. View your course specific critical enrollment dates on NOVA Online’s website.

Registration: If you have not registered, Spring 2016 registration is still open. Although the College is closed, online registration is open. For registration information, please click here. Additional step by step registration instructions can be viewed by clicking here. If you need assistance with your course selection, NOVA Online Counselors will be available at, elicounselors@nvcc.edu, when the college opens on January 4, 2016. Emails will be answered in the order they are received.

Pre-requisites Satisfied at another College: If you are attempting to enroll in a course at NOVA for which you believe you have successfully completed (a grade of “C“or higher) the required pre-requisite(s) at another regionally accredited institution, you will need to submit a copy of your unofficial transcript to a NOVA Online counselor for review. Using your NOVA email, please send an email to the counselors at: elicounselors@nvcc.edu. Please include the following information with your unofficial transcript:

  • NOVA seven digit student identification number (EMPLID)
  • The specific course that you are registering for (Example: ENG 111 E55N, #45689)
  • The best way to contact you – email or phone

Requests are reviewed and processed in the order in which they are received. You should expect to receive a response about your request within three business days after offices opens.

Online Academic Resources: If you have any downtime during the break, it would be an excellent opportunity to explore the free online workshops offered by Student Lingo. Student Lingo workshops focus on time management, career development, mastering the job interview, resume writing, stress management techniques, writing techniques, study skills, test anxiety and more! They are an excellent resource that will enrich your academic and career growth.

We wish you a safe and restful holiday break!

Use NOVA’s Payment Plan to Pay Your Tuition!

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Did you know NOVA offers a payment plan? The payment plan allows you to break up your tuition into multiple payments which will be determined when you enroll in the plan. What exactly does that mean?pig tax man

  • The earlier you talk with your academic advisor about course selection and register for classes, the earlier you can register for the payment plan.
  • The earlier you register for the payment plan the lower the enrollment fee will be and the more months you will have to divide your remaining balance.

You don’t need to call or visit a special office to set up the payment plan. You will set it up right in your Student Center!

Tuition Management Systems (TMS) is NOVA’s new third party administrator for the payment plan. Many features are similar to the previous payment plan, but some deadlines and processes are different. 

Be sure to have a method of payment in place to meet the Spring 2016 payment deadline. Tuition is due by 5pm on December 15, 2015. If you register for classes after December 15, you will need to have your tuition in place by the following business day at 5pm.

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.

Article provided by NOVA Online Success Coach, Jennifer Reed.  For more resources, please reach out to your NOVA Online Success Coaching Team by sending an email to elisuccess@nvcc.edu or call . For any questions related to Financial Aid, contact the Financial Aid Support Center.

Ten Quick Steps to Email Your Instructor

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Need to email your instructor and not sure where to start? These ten easy to follow steps will help you get that email written and the send button hit in no time!4805341351. Use your NOVA student email account to send your email. All correspondence relating to your courses should come from and go to your NOVA email address. Email messages originating from other email addresses may go directly to your instructors SPAM folder and go unnoticed.

2. Make your subject line meaningful. Your instructor likely teaches multiple courses and may even teach on other campuses. Include the course and section number along with a quick description of why you are writing your instructor.
An example might look like this:
Subject: PSY 200-E05W, Question about grade calculations

3. Briefly and politely state the reason you are writing. Be sure to include all of the relevant information pertaining to your question and leave out anything that does not relate directly to the situation.

4. If you are writing your instructor because you have a problem, include a proposed solution in your email. The instructor may or may not agree with your suggestion. Regardless, it does demonstrate to your instructor you are taking the initiative to actively work towards resolving the situation.

5. Sign your email with your complete first and last name along with your student ID number.

6. Read through your email to check for spelling and punctuation errors. Make sure all of your sentences are complete and do not contain any abbreviations or other modified text that is used in text messaging.

7. If your email is lengthy, have a second set of eyes proofread your email for clarity. This will be an opportunity to make sure you have clearly articulated what it is you wanted to say.

8. Send your email.

9. Allow adequate time for a response from your instructor. Many NOVA Online instructors also teach campus based courses so they are not always sitting at their computer in their office. Often you will find information in the syllabus relating to how soon you should expect a response from your instructor.

10. Once you have received a response from your instructor, acknowledge it. A simple “Thank you” may be all that is needed. If your instructor asks you questions in their response to your email, be sure to answer all of them thoroughly.

This post was adapted from www.wikihow.com/Email-a-professor by the NOVA Online Success Coaches to help you develop skills to effectively communicate through email to your instructor for the February focus on communication. NOVA Online Success Coaches can be reached at elisuccess@nvcc.edu or 703.764.5076.

Written by Laura, NOVA Online Success Coach

Motivational Minute: Maintaining Peace Amongst Chaos

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inner peace comic

We all have had those times when we go into an interaction with someone feeling positive but walk away from it feeling disturbed, bothered, frustrated, angry, drained (and many more unpleasant adjectives). Sometimes we need to remind ourselves not to let other people’s negativity rub off on us. Think about the ocean and its properties for a moment (stay with me here). The ocean maintains calm and stillness below the surface even if there is a hurricane above. The deeper within the ocean you go, the calmer the waters. We should try to embody those same properties within ourselves and exercise the ability to maintain inner peace regardless of external circumstance. Whenever there is dis-ease (that’s probably not really a word but you catch my drift) around you, connect with the stillness within and find it by retreating and exploring the depths inside yourself.  The peace you need to weather the storms of relentless instructors (whyyy), classmates that don’t pull their weight in group assignments (ggrrrr), and Blackboard malfunctions (aahhh) is just below your surface, just dive deeper and tap into it! Namaste!

Download the Omvana meditation app (it’s free for iPhones and iPads) and try Being the Ocean (it’s only .99!)

–Jennifer, NOVA Online Student Success Coach

Motivational Minute: Finding your Passion

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Having passion for what you are pursuing gears you up to tackle all the tasks you have to complete on your way to reaching your ultimate goal. Whether it be writing papers, studying for exams, or reading chapters, you have to feel like there is a purpose behind it all to keep you moving forward. Not everyone can readily identify what excites them, however, and some may find it difficult to pinpoint an area of study that moves them. If this sounds like you, take the following things into consideration to help you find your passion:

It’s important to evaluate your reasons for pursuing the major you are pursuing. Make sure you are signing on to this program for the right reasons. To explore your motivation, ask yourself these questions: Does this interest me? What draws me to this field? Would I be happy pursuing something else?

Explore your interests and be honest about your skills. What if you are interested in a field but you may lack the strength in the primary subjects needed to be successful in that area? For example, you want to study Engineering but you have never been particularly strong in Math and Science. Don’t give up on the vision you have for yourself completely, instead, look for ways to improve the skills that are integral to your success in that area, i.e. taking extra classes, attending online workshops, etc. If your skill set is not conducive to the dream job you want, see what other capacities you can serve in in  that field that would be just as, if not more, fulfilling. Don’t give up just because the route to your goal is not as direct or clear-cut as you want it to be.

Reach out to NOVA Online Counselors for guidance! If you are completely lost and unsure of where to start to pinpoint your area of study, to discover your interests, to select a career path, etc. our NOVA Online Counselors are here to help you figure everything out. You can reach any one of our counselors at elicounselors@nvcc.edu.

Connecting to your purpose makes the path to success that much smoother. Tune into what motivates you and let it give you hope in the face of doubt (everyone needs the strength of hope to make it through exams!). And never hesitate to reach out for guidance whenever you need it. Namaste.

Check out the FOCUS 2, an online, interactive education and career education tool, to explore careers and majors!

-Jennifer, NOVA Online Student Success Coach

How to Get your Official Transcript

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The semester is wrapping up and grades will be posting soon. If you are in need of an official transcript, verify your final grades have posted to your student record before finalizing your request.  When your grades have posted, you can request an official transcript.  Have the address where you would like the transcript sent on hand as it will be required when you are completing the request.

Transcripts are available at no cost to students and requests are processed every 24 hours.

Things to remember about transcripts:

  • Official transcripts are released only after you have completed at least one course at NOVA.
  • If you have any monetary holds on your record, no transcript will be mailed. Check your unofficial transcript and holds online through the Student Center in NOVAConnect.
  • All transcripts are official, and those addressed to students are stamped ISSUED TO STUDENT and sealed in an envelope. DO NOT OPEN YOUR TRANSCRIPT if you plan to send the transcript to a college or organization. An opened transcript will be considered unofficial by most colleges and organizations.
  • If you submitted unofficial transcripts to have a prerequisite waived, those transcripts were not retained. If you would like an official transcript evaluation to see if you have credits that can be applied to your record at NOVA you will need to complete an electronic Official Transcript Evaluation request.
  • You may consider requesting an official transcript to keep unopened for your own records.

If you have questions about the status of an official transcript request, please contact NOVA’s Central Records Office at askthecro@nvcc.edu. Please send the email from your NOVA student email and your student identification number.

-Laura, NOVA Online Student Success Coach

Motivational Minute: Be Inspired

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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

Student Lingo: Stay Motivated and Disciplined in an Online Course

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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

Student Lingo: Overcoming Procrastination

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Are you a procrastinator?  Do you put off doing assignments or studying until right before the due date?  If you answered ‘Yes’ to this question, you could find that you have anxiety and lie more often than you desire.  Studies show that procrastinators often have heightened levels of anxiety.  Procrastinators often feel like they are forced to lie because of predicaments they face. One could conclude that a portion of the anxiety procrastinator’s face is linked to the lies they must tell to cover up their habit of procrastination.  All in all, procrastination, anxiety, and lying is all one big web of a headache.  By not procrastinating, a perpetrator does not need to lie about why they were late and, in-turn, feel the anxiety associated with being late.

Everyone inhibits a certain amount of procrastination but to find out if you are a true procrastinator and help you create an action plan on how to overcome your procrastination, this Student Lingo quiz will help you identify what tasks you may be putting off and help you down the fast-track to task completion.

As a NOVA student, you can access videos on a wide variety of topics such as overcoming procrastination via Student Lingo, an online repository of on-demand workshops.  If you need help overcoming procrastination or other barriers between you and success, the NOVA Online Success Coaching Team is here to help you! Feel free to contact the NOVA Online Success Coaching Team at (703) 764-5076 or NOVA OnlineSuccess@nvcc.edu for help with any academic struggle you may be facing.

-Kristin, NOVA Online Success Coach

How to be Successful in a Summer Course

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Summer courses can be extremely beneficial to your academic plan.  Taking courses during a non-traditional semester, such as summer, can help you knock out classes you need for graduation. Other perks of taking courses during the summer are that class sizes can be smaller and sessions are shorter.

But, as the days lengthen and the sun lures you outside, it can be difficult to stay focused on studying.  And, after being outside and finding fun in the sun, you could feel sluggish when it is time to study.  To help you stay focused and be successful in your academic endeavors, try these simple tricks:

  • Be Awake: Eat breakfast each day.  Keep your meals throughout the day light (include lots of fruits and veggies). Avoid heavy meals; they will make you feel drowsy.
  • Take Good Notes: Because summer sessions are often taught in a shorter session, their pace is often more vigorous then a traditional course.  Take lots of notes and review them often to help you remember the material.  Creating your notes in outline format or using colored pens or markers on your notes can help you remember how topics are related and help you remember the facts.
  • Sleep Well: During the summer, the days are longer. More daylight could cause you to not sleep as soundly as usual. To deter this, buy darkening blinds or curtains to help block out light.
  • Stay Positive: You are your biggest critic.  If you have an “I can do it” attitude, you are more likely to succeed.
  • Attendance: Go to class or sign into your online class every day.  Being present and up to date on any changes or announcements in the class is key to your success.

As you take steps to follow through on these recommendations, consider exploring the following ELife Blogs for further tips on healthy eating, note taking and attendance. And, be sure to reach out to your NOVA Online Success Coach with your questions or concerns. The Success Coaching Team can be reached at elisuccess@nvcc.edu or (703) 764-5076.

-Kristin, NOVA Online Student Success Coach