The Kellers are here.

Hello everyone, I hope that you are enjoying the summer. Things are going well on campus, we have had 3 orientations and have found housing for over 300 first time freshmen with more to come, and there is a large group of transfer student also assigned. Travis and Sarah Keller have completed the first leg of their move and are planning to be completely moved in next week.

Just to let the RAs know what the next month holds for us: the RDs and I will be hitting the ground running starting August 3rd, we will be attending a conference at Grace College in Indiana and following that up with Residence Life Planning until the 16th of August. Your RDs will be in contact with you, but they will be pretty busy during that time, so leave messages if you want to get in touch with them.

Also RAs, you should plan on returning to MVNU on Friday August 25th (unless your RD specifies an earlier time) because we will be going camping at the MVNU Wood on August 26-27. We will be sleeping in tents, so come prepared with sleeping bags and clothes that can get dirty. So get some rest before you come back to school, because we are going to have a lot of fun, but it will be very busy as well.

Have a great week!

Ryan Schmitz

Blast & Summer Orientations

I hope that your summer vacation is going well. This week we will be hosting hundreds of teenagers from across Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia on campus for Blast. I don't know if I have ever been on campus for Blast before, so this will be an adventure.

After Blast we will have our first Summer Orientation. I wanted to invite any 2006-07 RAs that are available to pay us a visit to come and join us on the following dates for any or all of the Orientations:

Friday & Saturday June 23-24 (Biggest Orientation)
Thursday & Friday June 29-30
Friday & Saturday July 7-8

We will be meeting many new students and their families and we want you to feel free to befriend them and answer any questions they might have. Please email me if you are interested (we can house you if you bring your own bedding).

Remember Sonya Burrell in prayer as she serves in Africa this summer, she left today.

Let us know of any interesting experiences you have over the break. Take care we can't wait for your return!

- Ryan

Two Thumbs Up For Blogging

The long anticipated summer break is finally here and I want to use this blog to let you know about any news you are missing while you are away for the summer. We will also let you know what to expect next year, any news about our staff and provide you with ideas that will start you thinking about next year.

Continue to check the blog through the summer and please reply to often and if you have any ideas for posts let me know and I'll add you as a contributor.


Please start praying the MVNU staff as we prepare for the new freshman class. The Summer orientations are scheduled for June 23-24, June 29-30 and July 7-8.

Student Development as a Career

Are you struggling with what to do after you graduate? Are you wondering what you are qualified for when we tell you “its time to leave MVNU”? Well one field that I never knew about until I was a sophomore in college was to work in College Student Development.

The field is not quite as narrow as it might seem: RD and a Director of ResLife. There are actually quite a few areas out there that you may want to look at:

Campus Recreation & Intramurals
Judicial Affairs
Greek Life
Chaplain
Campus Safety
Community Life
Director of Housing
Outdoor Education
Student Health Services
Diversity
Career Development
Events Coordinator
Leadership Development
International Student
Coordinator for First Year Education
Counseling

This is just one segment of Higher Education. Working is Higher Education is both fun and rewarding. It is a ministry, a positive work setting, plenty of variety, there is a lot of room for advancement, and it can be a very stable working environment compared with most other fields. If you would like to learn more about this field, please talk with any of our MVNU Student Development staff and ask us for more information or what you can do to get started.

Here are a few of the websites to look for positions in Higher Education (Some will be links on this site permanently):

http://www.cccu.org/career/ns_career.asp - Various jobs at Christian schools

http://www.acsdhome.org/placement.htm - Student Development jobs at Christian schools
- ACSD Conference in Indiana at the beginning of June where a lot of schools will do their hiring

http://www.higheredjobs.com/ - Various jobs at mostly secular schools (public and private)

http://www.residentassistant.com/jobs/index.htm - A few Student Development jobs at secular schools

http://jobslink.naspa.org/search.cfm - More Student Development jobs at secular schools

http://placement.myacpa.org/ongoing/admin/employers.cfm?cfid=568951&cftoken=91402598 - More Student Development jobs at secular schools

http://www.nacac.com/classifieds2.cfm?catid=2 - Admissions positions

http://www.naccap.org/membership/careers/ - Christian school admissions positions

http://nirsa.jobcontrolcenter.com/search/results/ - Recreation and Intramurals jobs
http://www.acuho.ohio-state.edu/jobs/ - More secular school housing related jobs

So incase you haven't heard yet, I'm changing offices. This is taking a little bit longer than expected because I have to determine what to keep and what to throw away. On top of that I am finding all sorts of funny old documents from years gone by. My favorite so far is the 1974-75 Student Handbook. If you think the rules at MVNU in 2006 are tough, here are a few examples of policies from that era:



Residence
The Following students shall not be allowed to reside in the College dormitories, without special permission from the Director of Student Services (Development):
a. students who are married
b. students thirty-years of age or older
c. student who have been married

Dress Standards
Sunbathing is allowed only in the designated areas fenced in behind each dormitory. Shoes must be worn at all times outside of dormitories

Shorts, other than those approved for athletic participation, are not acceptable for wear at any time while enrolled at MVNC.

Women: Pantsuits and dress slacks are not to be worn to church services. However, since chapel is a part of the regular college-day activities, they are acceptable there, except when one is scheduled to be a platform participant in the service.

Men: Blue jeans, overalls, and other attire contributing to a sloppy appearance are not considered in good taste for classroom and cafeteria wear.

Weekends
All campus students are required to remain on campus for the weekends when special religious emphasis are planned.

All freshmen are required to stay on campus for the first five (5) weekends of the Fall Term.

Students will be allowed to go home with a friend or friends, unless forbidden by parents at the beginning of the year. Female students will not be allowed to go home with male students (or vise versa) without parental approval.

Marriage
Students who become married during the school year must have a letter of permission from parents or guardians of both individuals and the approval of the college president.

Lounges
A deskworker or other supervisory person will be authorized to maintain the proper atmosphere by prohibiting the following:
-boisterous activity
-moving furniture without permission
-putting feet on furniture
-reclining on the couches or floors
-using "playing cards"
-inappropriate social deportment (I think this mean "making out")

Looking for a place to pray, the handbook suggests the following:
the dorm prayer rooms, or down by the creek (aren't you glad we have the chapel now?)

Chapel
Each student is expected to attend every chapel service; there are no excused absences. Each student will be allowed up to eight (8) absences each (semester) and (2) in the January (term), for reasons of illness and emergency.

In 1974 there was a disciplinary action called "Campusing" or a "Campusment", which looks like:
1. During "campusment" period, you are not allowed to leave the campus at any time without special permission from the Director of Student Services (Development). This does not, of course, include church services and prayer meeting; you will be allowed to attend church off campus during regularly scheduled church service times, after checking out with the Head Resident Counselor (RD).
Doctor's appointments made prior to the imposition of the campus may be kept, after informing the Head Resident Counselor (RD).
On-campus curricular assignments and responsibilities have priority over the specific requirements of the "campus" and will be allowed, after clearing it with the Head Resident Counselor (RD). This must not be mis-used, or it will become "an increased offense". Off-campus curricular involvement must have the expressed permission of the Director of Student Services (Development).
Work on campus will be allowed, except for the hours you are to be in your room. Work off campus will be forfeited, unless special arrangements are made with the Office of Student Services and the Head Resident Counselor (RD).

2. You must spend the period from 8:00 p.m. each (evening) to 7:30 a.m. the following morning in your room Monday through Thursday, except for stated prayer meeting times; also, from 9:00 p.m. to 7:30 a.m. on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. During this time, you must either be in your room with the door closed, or in your wing bathroom. Dorm lobbies and halls are off-limits. Unnecessary noise will be considered "an increased offense". You will be allowed to receive telephone calls during this time only from off-campus callers.

3. During the time of you "campus", you are excluded from all extra-curricular activities of the college. This includes intramural and inter-collegiate athletics, student government functions, faculty committee assignments, and any official representation of the college.

4. During the time of your "campus", your behavior must be circumspect and beyond suspicion. Further infractions, even minor ones, will be dealt with in increasingly stringent ways.

I don't thing that we will be adding this to any discipline contracts any time soon, but it is interesting to the changes over the last 30 years, it was equally interesting to see what stayed the same. I don't know what things at MVNU will look like in 2036, but it is funny to think that they may someday look back at our current policies and chuckle.

RA Retreat Pictures, January 2006

How can I help with RA Recruitement?

We are in the process of recruiting our RA staff for the 2006-07 school year and I thought that we could utilize our current staff to recruit next year's staff. Here are a few of my thoughts:

1. Encourage those students that you know who would make a great RA to apply.

2. Discourage the students that you know would not make good RAs from applying.

3. Talk about your experiences as an RA with student who might be interested in applying.

4. Announce the information meeting (February 2nd at 7pm in the Cafe) and the application deadline to your residents (Make a sign).

5. Say to a person specifically: "I think that you would make a good RA in ________ living area".

6. Have one of your residents help you to plan a program, so they can see what that would be like, plus you can get some help.

7. Work with other RAs and your RD to work together to recruit specifc students.

8. Be a great RA and reach out to students in your area. This is the best way that I know to get other people interested in becoming an RA. People want to emulate they people that have influenced their lives for the better.

We count on you to help us build up our future staff, another way you can help us is by being honest on the recommendation forms that the people applying to become RAs will be asking you to fill out. Thanks again for all of your help.