Parents Association Today eNewsletter

November 2011

In this issue:
Parents Encouraged to Join the UE Professional Network
Getting in Touch
Welcome All New Parents Council Members 2011-2012
Parent’s Fund
Financial Aid Reminder
Important Dates
UE Students Help Local Sixth Graders Improve Writing Skills
The Amazing Ace Challenge!
Aces Student Reward Program

Get Involved

Parents Encouraged to Join the UE Professional Network

The UE Offices of Alumni and Parent Relations and Career Services and Cooperative Education have created a convenient, simple and direct way for parents to become a part of the UE Connect program and to engage with UE and its students. The new online system, University of Evansville Professional Network, allows students and recent graduates to contact interested parents and alumni of the University as they explore career paths and attain post graduate outcomes. Currently we have more than 300 members engaged in the UE Professional Network and we encourage you to join.

As UE Parents you represent an important resource for students as they determine their majors, minors, and career directions.

The Professional Network is a web resource of career profiles designed to connect more alumni, parents and friends of the University with the career development needs of students. It is a chance for them to ask questions about your field and your transition from a student to the professional world. You offer a unique opportunity for students to increase their business protocol and communication skills.

All you have to do is:
1) Visit the Career Services Website
2) Create an account
3) Respond to students’ inquiries, as necessary.

For more information, contact alumni@evansville.edu.

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Getting in Touch

UE Parents has a Facebook page! Click here to like us and begin receiving updates and connecting with other parents on Facebook.
Did you attend Family Weekend 2011? The photos are displayed on the Facebook page.
Parent of a freshman? Click here or to join the Class of 2015 UE Parents group.

The Office of Alumni and Parent Relations has put together information and resources just for parents. Click here to visit the Parent's Website today.

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Welcome All New Parents Council Members 2011-2012

The Office of Alumni and Parent Relations would like to extend a warm welcome to the new members of the University of Evansville's Parents Council.

New members include:

Ellen and Gary Bagwell, Parents' Fund Committee, Clarksville, TN

Melynda Ludwick, Admission Support/LEAGUE Committee, Indianapolis, IN

Michael Kessen, Parents' Fund Committee, Nashville, TN

Rev. Virginia Kessen, Admission Support/LEAGUE Committee, Nashville, TN

Teresa Pugh, Admission Support/LEAGUE Committee, Nashville, TN

Jerry Voss and Marta Menendez-Voss, Admission Support/LEAGUE Committee, North Potomac, MD

For more information about Parents Council and their activities visit the Parents Council Webpage or contact current co-chairs John Epperson and Mairi Winslow at epperson@simpson.edu or mairi.winslow@pioneer.com.

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2007-09 Parents' Fund Parents' Fund

The 2011-2012 Parents’ Fund Campaign is off to a great start. Every year, gifts raised through the Parents’ Fund goes to support scholarships for students in need of financial aid. Many students would not be able to attend UE without the continued support from parents that give to the Parents’ Fund every year. Click here to make a gift to the Parents’ Fund and help support current and future scholarships for students in need.

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Info You Should Know

Financial Aid Reminder

As we approach the end of the fall semester, the Office of Financial Aid would like to remind parents of our policies regarding students’ academic performance and its connection to scholarship and financial aid renewal. The Office of Financial Aid does not monitor grades or credit hours earned after the fall semester. The stated Grade Point Average and credit-hours-earned standards that govern UE scholarships and all aid eligibility are monitored each MAY.

Therefore, if your student’s GPA dips below the required minimum at the end of the fall semester, he or she has the spring semester restore the cumulative GPA to the necessary level. Aid is neither reduced nor restored mid-year. (The exception is a student who is using a semester of conditional financial aid for fall under a specific appeal plan.)

See the full policies for the renewal of UE Merit-based Scholarships, as well as, maintaining Satisfactory Academic Progress for the renewal of all forms of aid, including federal loans. Please direct your questions to the UE Office of Financial Aid at financialaid@evansville.edu, or 1-800-424-8634 or 812-488-2364.

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Important Dates

Breaks, openings, and closings:
Get additional information about Thanksgiving and Winter Breaks here.

Here is a detailed look at Thanksgiving and Winter Break Dates:
Thanksgiving Break (Halls remain open -No Meal Service)	Wednesday, November 23 - Sunday, November 27
Last meal served before Thanksgiving Break - Dinner	Tuesday, November 22
1st meal served after Break - Dinner	Sunday, November 27
Classes Resume	Monday, November 28
Winter Break (Halls are Closed)	Thursday, December 15 at noon - Friday, January 6, 2012 at 2pm
Baccalaureate / Commencement / Final Exams End	Wednesday, December 14
Last meal served before Winter Break - Dinner	Wednesday, December 14
Halls Open for Returning Students - 2pm	Friday, January 6, 2012
1st meal served after Break - Dinner	Sunday, January 8, 2012
Classes Begin	Monday, January 9, 2012

Quick Links:
Meal Plans and Dining Information
Students can check their Meal and Flex Balance by following this link.
Check out the November Sodexo Calendar and Newsletter here.

NEW :
Students can now verify their Meal Plan Selection for Spring Semester under Housing and Meal Plans in Web Advisor. Changing their meal plan is simple - students can easily change their Meal Plan for Spring here.

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UE Highlights

UE Students Help Local Sixth-Graders Improve Writing Skills

When Vogel Elementary School principal Carl Underwood decided to increase the school’s emphasis on writing, he turned to the University of Evansville for assistance. The result is a yearlong partnership between Vogel and UE’s Writing Center and School of Education, which launched on Tuesday, October 18.

Forty-one Vogel sixth-graders came to UE to visit the Writing Center, take a campus tour, and talk with education majors. The relationships forged at the visit will continue to develop throughout the academic year as UE students mentor the Vogel sixth-graders one-on-one to improve their writing.

Vogel students began the day at the Writing Center, where academic director Patti Lodato led them in several writing activities — including reading a newspaper column and underlining unfamiliar words to look up in a dictionary. She then handed each student a peanut in a shell, asking them to describe “how good writing is like a peanut.”

“Although these students are years away from college, now is the time to develop and strengthen their writing skills, which are so crucial for their academic success,” said Lodato. “Their enthusiasm during this visit was fantastic, and we look forward to future visits and seeing the one-on-one mentoring relationships blossom.”

After a campus tour, the sixth-graders headed to Eykamp Hall in the Ridgway University Center, where they rotated through four stations led by UE education majors from assistant professor Sharon Gieselmann's Education 100 class. They discussed writing and study habits, college preparation, social activities in college, and career choices.

“I’m thrilled about the benefits this partnership offers both the UE students and the Vogel sixth-graders they mentor,” said Gieselmann. “The Vogel students will improve their writing skills and learn about preparing for college, and UE education majors will have the chance to interact with students, build relationships, and help them succeed — just as they will for their entire career as an educator.”

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The Amazing Ace Challenge!

Part of college life is getting involved in meaningful experiences. Several service projects are being planned by Residence Life staff for the second part of Fall Semester. The planned programs include:

• Habitat for Humanity Working with the local Habitat for Humanity chapter, this project will center on the revitalization initiative for the Jacobsville Neighborhood located within the area bordered by Division Street, Diamond Avenue, Garvin Street and First Avenue. Volunteers are needed for data entry and street surveying. This project will help create a baseline to measure change of the revitalization initiative in the Jacobsville community.

• Project Safe Place Working with the Hillcrest Youth Home, students will assist with Project Safe Place, an outreach and prevention program that is uniquely designed to provide immediate safety and services for youth in need between the ages of 12 to 17 years old. This program partners with local businesses to provide youth with safe places to go to get help.

• Project On the Move Students will become involved in two projects that support the reality of transportation issues faced every day by the homeless. Participating students will assist agencies in raising funds to assist with the Evansville Bus Token program. They can also take part in a program that refurbishes bicycles that are then given to the homeless for transportation.

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Aces Student Reward Program

Students can get unique rewards for attending several athletics events through this unique program. Click here for more details.

Fall/Winter Sports Schedule Highlights:

Nov. 4 Military Appreciation
Men’s basketball vs. University of Illinois Springfield

Nov. 12 Homecoming Men’s basketball vs. Butler
Aces Fanfest Pregame Tailgate 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m.

Nov. 19 Volleyball Senior Night

Dec. 2-3 Dunn Hospitality Aces Winter Classic
Women’s basketball tournament

Click below for Fall/Winter sports schedules:
Basketball
Women’s Basketball
Men’s Soccer
Women’s Soccer
Volleyball

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