Faculty Food for Thought
Are there "weed-out" classes at KU? Do I actually need to read the textbook chapters before coming to class? Is it necessary to attend class to get a good grade? What are offices hours for? If I was a good student in high school, will I be a good student at KU?
Being a new student in college means having lots of questions. The classes are a lot larger, they meet less often, and have more homework than you expected. Unlike high school, you may not have friends to tell you what to expect from a teacher or the class they had the year before you. The material may be taught differently from what you have ever seen. You may be asked to refer to a syllabus, take tests in a blue book, and find assignments on Blackboard.
The Department of Student Housing, the Freshman-Sophomore Advising Center, and KU Dining Services have partnered to bring you a special opportunity to have your questions about classes, majors, and college-life answered by members of the KU faculty and academic advisors.
To prepare for the event,100 KU students were asked to submit the questions they would like to have answered for them by KU's faculty. By attending Faculty Food for Thought, you will benefit from your peers' thought-provoking questions and from the wisdom of professors and academic advisors. You will even get the chance to ask your own questions and register to win fun prizes.
Why should you attend Faculty Food for Thought? A.J. Strickland (sophomore from Washington, Kansas majoring in Biology) attended last year and shared that it was a great way to sit down with faculty and hear about their experiences and their advice about college in general. Peter Buchanan (senior majoring in English from Stillwater, Oklahoma) helped organize the program last fall for the scholarship halls. He shares: "Faculty Food for Thought gives students a chance to interact with professors outside the classroom. Freed from the bounds of the lecture hall, we have a rare opportunity to find out why they do what they do,and discover there is more to their lives than teaching."
We hope to see YOU at Faculty Food for Thought.
For a side bar:
The Faculty Food for Thought event brings the experts to you and is scheduled for Monday, September 19th at Mrs. E's and Tuesday, September 20th in Oliver Dining GSP Dining, and the Scholarship Halls.
Beyond Google: KU Libraries Invisible Web
Wednesday, September 21 3:00-4:30 and Thursday, September 22, 3:00-4:30 Stop by the Anschutz Instruction Center in Anschutz Library to learn tips and tricks for making your research effective and efficient.
Do you think libraries are boring, dull places full of books covered with dust bunnies? Well then you have not spent time at the KU Libraries! Stop by our table during Academic Success Week and learn tips and tricks for doing research from your home or anywhere on campus. Take part in our Football Toss and Chubby Bunny contest. Meet friendly (and in some instances tattooed) library staff willing to help you with your research and technology questions. Stop by early and get some wicked free stuff!
SUA to bring Coach Carter for Academic Success Week
On September 20th, Student Union Activities (SUA) will be hosting Coach Carter, the high school basketball coach who famously locked his championship players out of the gym until their grades improved, thus inspiring the recent popular film, Coach Carter. Coach Carter will speak to the campus community Tuesday at 8pm in Woodruff Auditorium at the Kansas Union. This free lecture is part of Academic Success Week.
Ken Carter was the head coach of Richmond, California's basketball team from 1997 to 2002. Since that time, he has toured the country as a
motivational speaker; managed the Coach Ken Carter Foun-
motivational speaker; managed the co ntribution, a program aimed at providing financial support to community organizations that seek to follow in its founder's vision; and coached a Slam Ball team. the Rumble. Words used to describe Coach Carter's presentations have included "powerful,""honest,""straight-forward;"and "exciting.""We believe that Coach Carter will be the perfect kickoff to Academic Success Week,"says Kathy Talbot, Student Development Advisor for SUA. "He understands and appreciates the importance of placing academics as a top priority."
Student Union Activities will also be showing the film Coach Carter in Woodruff Auditorium, Kansas Union Level 5, on Monday, September 19th, at 7:00pm. This 2005 movie starring Samuel L. Jackson, Ashanti, and Rob Brown (Finding Forrester) tells the story of the infamous lockout and will be shown for free.
One of the hallmarks of SUA's mission statement is to provide educational programs for the KU community. Recent speakers brought in part by SUA have included feminist and magazine editor Gloria Steinem, former Attorney General Janet Reno, director of Confederate States of America Kevin Wilmott, political commentary speaker James Carville, director of Supersize Me Morgan Spurlock, prize-winning Journalist Laurie Garrett, female artist activists the Guerilla Girls, and CNN anchorman Anderson Cooper. Panels on controversial issues such as religion and gay marriage have also been popular events.
In addition to its larger events, SUA hosts several regular events that place an academic-related topic in an entertaining setting.
- College Bowl, a yearly national quiz competition between teams of five members or less, will be held Saturday, December 3rd in the Kansas Union
- In an English class this semester? Check out the popular Poetry Slam series every first Wednesday of the month in the Hawks Nest.
- Every Thursday at 2:30 pm in Alderson Auditorium, SUA sponsors Meditation at which the week's selected speaker presents a meditation to music.
- Meditations are followed by Tea Time, an hour of free tea and treats in the Union. These Thursday afternoon activities provide a needed stress reliever from classes and often encourage intellectual conversations or course discussions.
e