Tag Archives: leadership

This Week @ NOVA Online

Posted on by

* Spring eLEAD Series-  NOVA Online Student Life has created a virtual co-curricular opportunity to develop leadership skills for students! eLEAD is a 4-week asynchronous program delivered via Blackboard. The overall goal is to foster a sense of community among students taking online courses, to develop more self-awareness of leadership strengths and skills, and to help you maximize your talents as they relate to academic and professional goals. Register now!


* Join our Virtual Student Union. Are you taking online classes and looking to connect with other students outside of a classroom setting? Check out our Virtual Student Union or VSU. This is an engagement hub where NOVA Online students have access to create a profile, join discussion forums and connect with other students. In celebration of our new site launch, students will be eligible for raffle prizes once they create an account and interact on the site. Drawings will be done weekly and monthly through the fall semester. Join now!

* Engage in your Community! We want to learn more about how NOVA Online Students are engaging in the community! Email us at elistulife@nvcc.edu and tell us where and when you are volunteering and we will send you a FREE NOVA Student Life T-shirt to wear!  Coming Soon! (Community volunteer booklet to learn more about the variety of non-profits participating and volunteer opportunities available)

College-wide event highlight:

Student Leadership Diversity Conference February 23. Join students from across the College for the Student Life Diversity Conference hosted on the Loudoun campus. You will have a unique opportunity to learn more about leadership, diversity, and inclusion topics to become a better leader. Register for the conference here:  https://goo.gl/forms/yegh31zMbpyzeL372

 

 

This week at NOVA Online

Posted on by

Fall eLEAD Series-  NOVA Online Student Life has created a virtual co-curricular opportunity to develop leadership skills for students! eLEAD is a 4-week asynchronous program delivered via Blackboard. The overall goal is to foster a sense of community among students taking online courses, to develop more self-awareness of leadership strengths and skills, and to help you maximize your talents as they relate to academic and professional goals. Register now!

nullJoin our Virtual Student Union. Are you taking online classes and looking to connect with other students outside of a classroom setting? Check out our Virtual Student Union or VSU. This is an engagement hub where NOVA Online students have access to create a profile, join discussion forums and connect with other students. In celebration of our new site launch, students will be eligible for raffle prizes once they create an account and interact on the site. Drawings will be done weekly and monthly through the fall semester. Join now!

Become a NOVA Online Student Blogger. Love to write? Become a NOVA Online Student Blogger! This group will be geared toward students who enjoy to write or blog and are possibly interested in pursuing a career in media and/or journalism. Members of this group will directly contribute to the NOVA Online student blog. For more information, fill out the NOVA Online Student Bloggers Interest Form.

Engage in your Community! We want to learn more about how NOVA NOVA Online Students are engaging in the community! Email us at elistulife@nvcc.edu and tell us where and when you are volunteering and we will send you a FREE NOVA Student Life T-shirt to wear!  Coming Soon! (Community volunteer booklet to learn more about the variety of non-profits participating and volunteer opportunities available).

Don’t forget to sign-up for NOVA Alert.  NOVA Alert is a free alert system that allows NOVA to contact you during an emergency by sending messages to your cell phone and email. https://alert.nvcc.edu

Join our eLEAD series this spring!

Posted on by

Are you looking for an opportunity to identify and develop your overall leadership skills?

NOVA Online Student Life has created a virtual co-curricular opportunity to develop leadership skills for students! eLEAD is a 4-week asynchronous program delivered via Blackboard. The overall goal is to foster a sense of community among students taking online courses, to develop more self-awareness of leadership strengths and skills, and to help you maximize your talents as they relate to academic and professional goals.

This program is free and does not offer academic credit, however, students who participate will receive a certificate of completion. This is also a great resume builder!

Dates: March 13th – April 9th

Time: Work at your pace with weekly deadlines for group discussions and journal reflections.

Registration: eLEAD Program Registration Form. Please fill out no later than March 10th at 11:59pm.  

Please reach out to elistulife@nvcc.edu with any questions.

Summer e-LEAD Program

Posted on by

Are you looking for an opportunity to identify and develop your overall leadership skills?

Leadership ConceptNOVA Online Student Life has created a virtual co-curricular opportunity to develop leadership skills for students!The overall goals of this program are to:

-Foster a sense of community among students taking online courses

-Develop more self-awareness of leadership strengths and skills

-Maximize your talents as they relate to academic and professional goals.

Throughout this 4-week a-synchronous program , participants will learn more about personal strengths (via the Clifton StrengthsFinder personality assessment and access to the StrengthsQuest e-book) and discuss how to utilize strengths to maximize leadership skills and potential with their peers. Participants will be expected to participate in weekly discussion posts, readings and journal assignments)  *This is a non-credit program, but a great resume builder!

Dates: June 6th – July 3rd

Time: Work at your pace with weekly deadlines for group discussions and journal reflections.

Registration:   Leadership Pilot Program Registration Form. Please fill out no later than June 3rdth at 11:59pm.  

 Please reach out to elistulife@nvcc.edu with any questions.

Take Back the Night

Posted on by

sas2Take Back the Night is an event held around the world to raise awareness about sexual and domestic violence and to promote a community that stands up against this violence. Decades ago in Europe, women from many countries met together as a tribunal council to discuss women’s safety when walking down public streets. This was the first ever Take Back the Night. In later years, a rally and march has been held in several cities around the world to protest several issues around women’s safety.

The first Take Back the Night came to the United States in the late 1960s. In 1973, Take Back the Night was held to protest pornography in San Francisco, and serial murders of women of color in Los Angeles. In October 1975, a march was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania after the murder of Susan Alexander Speeth, who was stabbed to death while walking home alone. Since the 1970s in the United States, Take Back the Night has focused on eliminating sexual and domestic violence in all forms. Thousands of colleges and universities, domestic violence shelters, and rape crisis centers have held this event all over the country.

NOVA has had three Take Back the Nights in the last year. We hold Take Back the Night twice a year, in April and October. NOVA’s most current Take Back the Night was held on April 21, 2015 at the Loudoun Campus. This event consists of a resourcSAS1e fair and rally followed by a candle light march around the campus. We invite resources within the NOVA community, as well as outside resources. During our rally, we invite sexual assault, domestic violence and/or stalking survivors to talk about their experiences. If you would like to participate in the next Take Back the Night at NOVA, please contact Angela Acosta at aacosta@nvcc.edu or 703-323-2406.

If you are in need of services or have questions, please contact NOVA SAS at nova.sas@nvcc.edu or text/call 703-338-0834 (24 hours / 7 days a week).

-Written by: Angela Acosta, Sexual Assault Services (SAS) Outreach Specialist, NOVACares Office 

Managing the Demands of School through Meditation

Posted on by

College students have a lot on their plates. Students’ have to maintain their jobs outside of school, fulfill the obligations of their personal relationships, and stay on top of the workload of each course! With these demands often conflicting with one another, the need for finding the balance between them is pressing. But how can it be done?

So often people fervently search for peace of mind as if it is the medal you win after making it through the maze of life. But what if the answer to finding balance is already within you and all it takes is for you to retreat within yourself to find it?

Now, the golden question, why should I even try it? I’m so glad you asked! Tons of research has been done on the efficacy of meditation and the benefits are numerous, in particular for the unique population of college students. Studies show that:

  • 30 minutes of meditation 7 days a week increases creativity and elevates mood (you can do this on your lunch break!)
  • Meditation reduced distractive and ruminating thoughts in distressed college students
  • Incorporating meditation into everyday life has shown to increase positive emotions in students
  • Meditation improved academic performance and school behavior, reduced anxiety, heightened self-compassion, and decreased notions of perfectionism and self-criticism in college students (Simply by sitting quietly for 15-20 minutes a day!)

Meditation doesn’t have to be this elaborate process that can only be done when you’re looking out of your third eye while standing on your head on top of a mountain. There are many activities that elicit a meditative, mindful, and relaxed state that you can do every day. Below are some suggestions; just find a quiet spot and try them.

  • Transcendental Meditation: Sit comfortably, breathe deeply, repeat a mantra internally to focus your energy, observe your thoughts and emotions rather than react to them
  • Guided Imagery Meditation: Picture a soothing scene, engage all your senses to make the image as real as possible (do you smell flowers? is there are breeze on your face?), let your mind get lost in the scene
  • Movement Meditation, i.e. walking, yoga, tai chi (and it’s great exercise)
  • Reading/quiet time: creates a great break from the mundane.

***Omvana is a great iPhone/iPad mediation app and it’s FREE!***

Starting your mornings off with a meditation exercise will ready you for the demands that lay ahead throughout your day by giving you a clear head and a more positive disposition. Taking a moment to recharge at work when you feel overwhelmed, doing a focused meditation on a specific topic, i.e. eliminating self-doubt, etc. can make all the difference in increasing productivity in all areas of your life. Remember that peace already resides in you and it is refocusing on that internal happiness that will better equip you to deal with whatever obstacle that comes your way. Namaste!

–Jennifer Reed, Student Success Coach, NOVA Online

Contact me for the list of research articles used to write this post or for more meditation suggestions.

See other related blogs:

A Little Meditation Exercise to Refresh Your Brain

Getting a Good Start to Your Morning

This Week at NOVA Online!

Posted on by

MondayThroughout week 6 of the Leadership Common Experience, we will discuss Next Steps- Revisiting Goal Setting For The Future. At this point of the Leadership Common Experience, we are going to wrap up our thoughts and talk about long and short term goals as they pertain to academic and career planning.

Leadership Webinar Series: Did you miss any of our three leadership webinar speakers? Want to view them as a recording? Let us know at elistulife@nvcc.edu.

Join NOVA Online on social media for announcements, updates and tips for success. If you have any questions or you are not sure where to start, you can contact the NOVA Online Student Services Team at 703.323.3347 or at NOVA OnlineStuLife@nvcc.edu. We are more than happy to answer your questions, as well as refer you to useful resources and services that will support your online learning experience.

NOVA Online Leadership Common Experience: Week 5

Posted on by

Netiquette in the Online Classroom

Netiquette title page

As we reach week 5 of our Leadership Common Experience, we want to discuss the very important topic of understanding online etiquette or what it is commonly referred to as Netiquette. As a virtual student, do you know how to properly and professionally address an instructor through email?  Have you struggled with how to write a clear and concise response for your class discussion posts? When almost 100% of your communication with your faculty member(s) and fellow students will be through text format, it is key to know how to make a good “virtual” impression. The below resources provide some great tips and tools to help maintain a positive online presence in the classroom as an online student.

“How To Be a Good Online Learner” -This resource reviews the do’s and don’ts of overall communication virtually and as an online student.

“The Etiquette around Discussion Forums” -Discussion posts are required for a majority of classes offered through NOVA Online. When you compare an online course to one on a campus, this would be equal to your class attendance and participation. This is how an instructor and other students see your thoughts and insight on the course material. With this in mind, this article will give you some great tips on how to contribute to the class professionally and effectively.

What are some challenges that you face when it comes to communicating with staff, faculty and other peers as an online student?

Are there any other Netiquette tips that we missed? Please share them in the comments!

Introducing College Central Network (CCN)

Posted on by

NOVA students now have access to College Central Network (CCN). After registering with CCN, you will be able to:

  • Search for jobs posted exclusively to NOVA students as well as search for positions through Jobs Central® national job board and the Intern Central® national internship board
  • Build a resume with Résumé Builder and/or upload a résumé file to Resume Central®
  • Review your job search history within the system
  • Gain access to announcements, upcoming events, career advice documents, videos, podcasts, and career articles
  • Build an online portfolio in Career Portfolio Central®

Follow the steps below to get started using CCN:

  • Access CCN
  • Select “Students”
  • Select “Sign In”
  • Enter your Access ID and Password (Check your VCCS e-mail account for an e-mail with information about accessing CCN)
  • Click “Go”

What feature of College Central Network did you find most useful? Why?

Conducting a Job Search Webinar

Posted on by

Don’t forget – the Conducting a Job Search webinar will be offered today from 12:15 pm – 1:00 pm.null

This 45 minute webinar will focus on basic strategies for conducting a job search. Topics covered will include creating a plan, identifying sources of job leads, and resume, cover letter, and interview basics.

The webinar is free, but registration is required.