Falls 2007 Late Registration, Drops and Withdrawals

August 27 - First day of fall classes; Late registration period ($25 late fee assessed) 9 a.m. - 6 p.m. Payments will NOT be accepted by phone.
August 30 - Last day to register or add a class. All late registrations and added classes that have not been paid for by 5 p.m. August 30, WILL BE DELETED, and may not be reinstated.
September 12 - Last day to drop a class, but not withdrawal from the University, and receive a refund.
September 25 - Last day to withdraw from the University, dropping all classes, and receive at least 25 % of refundable tuition and fees; 5 p.m.
October 5 - Last day to drop a class without academic penalty, 5 p.m.
November 1 - Last day to drop a class or withdraw from the University, 5 p.m.

Withdrawal Dates and Percentages (of refundable charges)
August 27-31 - 80%
September 1-10 - 70%
September 11-17 - 50%
September 18-24 - 25%

Fall 2007 Payment Deadlines, Options and Locations

Deadlines
August 24, 5 p.m. - Full payment OR minimum payment due. CLASSES WILL BE DELETED if minimum payment AND enrollment in the payment plan have not been made. If classes are deleted due to non-payment or failure to enroll in the payment plan, students must re-register during late registration. Courses will be subject to availability. STUDENTS WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO ATTEND CLASS if Payment and Payment Plan Enrollment (if applicable) have not been made.

September 20, 5 p.m. - Second Installment Pyment Due

October 25, 5 p.m. - Final Installment Payment Due

Payment Options
Full Payment Option
Payment in FULL must be received before the payment deadline prior to the beginning of classes.

Installment Payment Option
Payment of at least 50 percent and the "signed" acceptance of an installment agreement reflecting the terms and conditions of the plan must be completed by the payment deadline date.

NOTE: This option is availalbe for FALL AND SPRING SEMESTERS ONLY. Full payment is required prior to the beginning of classes for all summer terms.

Locations
Monday, August 20th thru Thursday, August 30th payments must be made online or in person at one or our three campus locations.

Online payments can be made with MasterCard, Visa, Discover or WebCheck by accessing Pioneer Portal>Financial>Portal Pay (Pay your bill online) OR Pioneer Portal> Register for Classes>Students>Financial Information>Pay My Bill

Introducing - Julie

Howdy ya’ll! My name is Julie and I am a born and raised Texan. I do not consider myself too ‘country’ although my co-workers do make fun of me for eattin’ my southern grits for breakfast. I have worked at TWU in the Office of Lifelong Learning for 2 years now and have recently become the Senior Administrative Assistant in our office.

I am not a computer geek and will not try to impress you with tools and systems that I know (you probably know more than I do). I do however love to talk to people and I hope that has been a helpful trait to doing my job efficiently. I primarily interact with students either by email or live chat sessions to provide answers, resources and contact information. I am also the ‘paper nazi’ in the office and have been trying to get as much paper as possible recycled from our department.

I moved to Denton for school but plan to stay for a while after getting my degree. I love the talent and art that comes from the diverse group of people that live here and I also enjoy the laid back but spunky atmosphere. I enjoy (but absolutely do not pledge perfection at) golf, pottery, swimming, photography, biking (I have been trying to enlist Keith as my trainer for my next race) among all the other random pastimes that I get myself into and decide are my new favorites.

Another Bibliography Resource

http://www.zotero.org/

Thanks to Stephany our Distance Learning Librarian for pointing this one out! This bibliography builder runs through Firefox and must be downloaded to use. If you visit the "Documentation" tab, there are some great links to information for the first-time user such as a Quickstart Guide and Screencast Tutorials.

Happy writing!

Introducing - Lynda

My name is Lynda, and I’m the Director of Distance Education. I coordinate TWU’s distance education activities and work with all of the wonderful people listed below. I was hired by the TWU Graduate School in 1993. Before that, I worked for 10 years at Navarro College in student services and served as an adjunct instructor in their fine arts program.

I started working with TWU’s distance education program in 1994 when it was coordinated by the Dean of the Graduate School, my supervisor. In 2000, TWU’s distance education unit was officially moved from the Graduate School to the Office of Lifelong Learning, where it remains today. Our DE program, which began with approximately 200 students in 1994, has grown dramatically. We now have around 5,000 students who enroll in our online courses each semester.

My favorite website is Google.com—I google everything! I love electronic “toys” like cell phones, PDA’s, iPods, etc., and I’m addicted to surfing on the Internet. I’m fond of 18th century music, but I’m also a huge Beatles fan. I have a feline companion named Missy, who will turn 17 in September.

Bibliography Resource

As suggested by one of our comments (Thanks, Benjamin!) here is another resource for making your bibliographies online. It's http://www.bibme.org/.

You can search within different media, including film. Once your source comes up, you simply select it, add in a few specifics and it's added to your bibliography. You can even select from different formats: MLA, APA, and Chicago. It looks very easy to use.

If you have ever used it, let us know what you think or share some other web resources that you use for your projects.

Introducing - Mike

Hello bloggers and bloggees. I'm Mike and I must be one of the "superiors" as Allison calls us. I have the unique opportunity to lead the crew in Lifelong Learning. I've been at TWU six years now. Hard to believe! I'm a blogger with several active blogs on various topics. I teach as an adjunct in the History and Government department at TWU and in my spare time I'm completing my doctoral dissertation from UTA in Public Administration and Urban Affairs. Enough about me...hope you enjoy the blogs and be sure to check out the e-learning blog that I post http://dltwu.blogspot.com/ which contains miscellaneous and various items related to e-learning.

Introducing - Alli

Hi, I’m Alli (full name Allison). Yes, sometimes (many times) Allison and I get each other’s phone calls and messages, but we are both flexible, so it hasn’t been a problem. ;) I, like Keith, work primarily with faculty. My job title has change a couple of times, but I have been assisting faculty with their online courses since December 2003. Before working for Lifelong Learning, I worked at the library at TWU. Even then, I was still working in Distance Education. I helped online faculty with their reading lists and distance students with their research and article requests. I have a Master’s degree in Library Science from TWU.

I am not a native Texan, in fact, I never meant to stay. I moved to Denton to work on my master’s degree (the program is completely online now!). I meet a local boy, who wouldn’t live anywhere else, we got married, and here I am. I was an army brat, used to moving around a lot, but I like it here, so I am happy to stay.

I’m a techno geek, so anything to do with new gadgets and gizmos is of interest to me. I’m one of those people who was impatiently waiting for the release of Microsoft Office 2007 and Windows Vista. I always want the latest tech toys. My cell phone is a RAZR, my PDA is a LifeDrive and I have an Apple iPod Nano (red), which I justified the purchase of because it is 8 GB where my iPod Mini (pink) was only 4 GB. I’m currently test driving an IBM Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet PC. It has both a keyboard and a slate, and it is really light weight.

Other than exploring the latest technology, I am an avid reader. You rarely find me without a book. I tend to lean towards romance novels and science fiction/fantasy with a romantic twist. I also enjoy playing the Sims 2 and City of Heroes. It must have something to do with controlling the lives of others!

Enjoy your time at TWU!
Alli

Introducing - Keith

Hi, I am Keith and I work with faculty to create online courses. I have four degrees from four different institutions but don't hold that against me. I have been at TWU since November 2006 but I have worked with students and technology far longer than that. I was the Director of the Texas Center for Educational Technology at UNT before coming to TWU. I worked there for almost 8 years before taking this position.

Since I work with faculty to develop online courses, I have a lot of favorite web tools. Here are some that I also think are helpful for students. Be sure and read the fine print carefully on most of the sites so you know what the terms and conditions happen to be for a particular site.

http://www.bookfinder.com/ allows you to search multiple sites for textbooks and compare prices
http://www.mynoteit.com/ is an organizational tool just for university students. It allows you to create online class groups, to share and search your class notes, to use an online calendar to plan your assignments, and create a task list.
http://ottobib.com/ allows you to create reference sections by inserting the ISBN number and getting the citation style you need.
http://zoho.com/ provides access to Writer, Sheet, Show, Wiki, Projects, Planner, and Chat. All of these products are designed to make it easier to share documents.
http://del.icio.us/ a social bookmarking site that allows you to have all of your bookmarks in one location and to share them with others.
http://www.pdfonline.com/ create PDFs online
https://www.coventi.com/main.aspx is another tool used to share documents using a wiki style format

OK, that's enough for now. All you need to do is learn to use google to locate all kinds of free tools that may make your life easier.

You might not know that I am a hardcore "roadie" - no, I don't work for a band! I ride road bicycles like you might see in the Tour (you know, the one over in France). I am one of those fools you see riding in bright colored clothing around town or along the highway. I have a Trek 5500 with a Dura Ace groupo that I love. If you see bikers along the road, look for a graphite Trek and a red helmet. Give me plenty of room - please. Anytime a bike and a car meets - the car always wins and the cyclist always loses.

Happy riding,
Keith

Introducing - Me

As I said yesterday, I want to start things off with office introductions. I'd thought I'd start with myself. My name is Allison and I am the Coordinator of DE (Distance Education)Communication. I've been here for 2 1/2 years. I came to this area to attend graduate school at the University of North Texas, which is also in Denton. I finished up in December (yea!) and graduated with a Master's of Journalism degree. I earned my undergraduate degree in Communications from Tarleton State University - Go Texans!

This is a more "professional" picture of me and I really don't feel it portrays my true personality. I'm a little more animated than this picture portrays.

My favorite websites are Google and Dictionary.com. Having a Journalism degree does not guarantee one a large vocabulary so that last website comes in handy quite a bit.

My hobbies include cooking, anything creative or crafty, church activities and hanging out with my family and friends. I LOVE movies, my favorite one of all time being The Sound of Music.

To summarize what I do, I come up with communication plans for any internal, university-wide communications (announcements, event sign-ups, PR, etc.) as it pertains to distance learners and faculty who use our online tool - Blackboard. My favorite part of my job is helping people who call me in need of something and knowing that when I get off the phone with them or leave their office, I have solved their problem.

Welcome to the TWU Connection

Hi! My name is Allison. I am the creator and keeper of this blog. I'm new to the whole blog thing so please bear with me as I learn what I'm doing. As of today, I'm not promising a set schedule of posts, but I'm shooting for once a week.

This blog is for all of the TWU students that rarely if ever come to campus. I'm not talking about those who skip class; I'm talking about those who take what we currently refer to as Distance Education classes. For us, that means online and televideo courses. Some of you never have to come to campus (some of you can't because...you don't live here); others have to come a few times a semester. Whatever your situation or story, as a TWU student, this blog is for you. It will be used to post important information and some that is just for fun. As the title infers, we want you to be connected to TWU even if you never step one little toe on campus.

Please feel free to get a conversation going and by all means, ask questions about what's going on at TWU. I want to know what's on your mind! Everything I post will relate to Distance Ed. I do know that my next several posts will be introductions - a more detailed one about myself and my fellow co-workers and superiors who are here to serve YOU!