Congratulations on the start of the Spring Quarter! As we look forward to barbecues, warmer weather, and softball leagues, it’s very important to take a step back and reenergize towards your education and career goals.
In the past, many students have used the entire summer quarter to take a break from their studies, but many times this only puts off graduation and ultimately potential job opportunities. Also, we've observed that once students stop, many have found it difficult to get started again after the prolonged break. Therefore, as many of you already know, MSB has decided to give students a three week break from their studies following the Spring quarter! In order to better meet the needs of all students, we will be implementing a 10 week quarter this Summer instead of the typical 12 week quarter, which will give you the opportunity to get right back on track towards your goals following the extended three week break.
The specifics:
- Students will be on break from school starting Thursday, June 21st with Summer courses starting 3 and half weeks later on Monday, July 16th. Your future quarters in the Fall, Winter, and Spring will continue to follow the typical 12 week cycle for online instruction.
- To accommodate the new 10 week quarter, our current 6 week MBA courses will follow a 5 week schedule this summer. Just like our undergraduate courses, your future quarters in the Fall, Winter, and Spring will continue to follow the typical 12 week quarter and 6 week schedule for online instruction.
- With these changes, some weeks may have more then one unit, and this means that certain weeks will require multiple assignments, discussions, and activities in order to gain the knowledge needed to be successful in the course.
- If you have any questions regarding the structure and schedule for the Summer Quarter please contact the Education Department.
Most importantly, the goal of the three week extended break and 10 week quarter is to give you a much needed rest and then help you get right back on track in pursuit of graduation and ultimately, a new career! Once again, congratulations on your success thus far, and we look forward to working with all of you this summer!
"There is no upper limit to what individuals are capable of doing with their minds. There is no age limit that bars them from beginning. There is no obstacle that cannot be overcome if they persist and believe."
H. G. Wells, English novelist & historian
Seth Tesdall
Director of Online Education
Monday, May 7, 2007
Take Advantage of the Summer Quarter!
Importance of Accreditation
All of us at MSB Online are looking forward to some exciting developments this spring. We will celebrate graduation with many of our undergraduate students and our first MBA graduates on June 21, 2007. We are also looking forward to our accreditation site visit May 30 through June 1, 2007.
Accrediting agencies are “private educational associations of regional or national scope which develop evaluation criteria and conduct peer evaluations to assess whether or not those criteria are met (U.S. Department of Education, 2007)”. The goal of accreditation is to ensure that education provided by institutions of higher education meet acceptable levels of quality. “Accreditation” is a formal review of the quality of higher education institutions and programs. In the United States, accreditation is an important tool in communicating to students, families, government officials, and the press that an institution or program provides a quality education (CHEA, 2006).
Our accrediting body, The Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS) will send a team of peer evaluators to review our institution during the site visit. The team will be visiting virtual classrooms and may be contacting students and faculty to learn about their experiences in the school. These visits occur every three to ten years for each of our locations. This peer evaluation is a valuable learning experience for us and we are looking forward to using the insights we gain in our work toward continuous improvement as an institution of higher learning. “The site visit is a great opportunity to show an institution’s strengths and aspirations to others and to benefit from the site visit team’s collective expertise (CHEA, 2007).”
Please feel free to contact a member of the education department if you have questions about the peer review process or accreditation in general. For additional information regarding higher education accreditation, see:
Commission on Higher Education Accreditation: Informing the Public About Accreditation. (2006). http://www.chea.org/public_info/index.asp
Financial Aid for Post-Secondary Students – Accreditation in the United States. (2007). http://www.ed.gov/admins/finaid/accred/index.html
Ann Mickelson
Online Dean of Students
The Library Presents:
Central Search
Central Search is a new library tool that will save you time and help you find more sources for your research.
Without Central Search...
Even when searching on only one topic, to get complete results you would have to:
- Log in to two, three or even more separate library databases
- Search the MNPals catalog for books and e-books
- Browse through scholarly websites
- Repeat the same searches and get separate lists of results each time
Now, using Central Search...
You can enter one search and let the search engine:
- Look for articles and documents in dozens of library databases
- Search the catalog and e-book collections
- Check reliable scholarly web sites
- Return everything in one list of results
- Organized by topic, date, source or author.
Save Time by not having to repeat your search over and over. One search will return results from 50 library resources!
Find more by not having to guess which databases or search engines to use. One search will check nearly every collection in the MSB Library!
Julie Andreasen
Associate Dean of Online Faculty
Try Central Search Now!
Summer Registration!
The Online Education Department hopes this email finds you doing well and enjoying your Spring 2007 quarter courses!
Registration for the Summer 2007 quarter is available starting Monday, May 14th, 2007! Registration through the portal will be available to you until Friday June 1st, 2007. We understand that your time is valuable; as a result, we have reviewed each student file and developed a list of recommended courses for the Summer 2007 quarter (you may view our recommendations online through the student portal). Follow the instructions below to complete the registration process.
Registration is on a first come-first serve basis. The earlier you register, the earlier you are able to ensure that you are reserving a seat in the classes you need to achieve your educational goals!
1. To log in to the online portal:
Go to: http://my.msbcollege.edu/
Select: Student Portal Homepage
Once on the log-in page, enter your username and password (same as your email log in):
- TYPICAL USERNAME: first name.last name
- PASSWORD: the last 4 digits of your Social Security number
2.To view printable degree audit in the online portal:
- Select from the menus on the left side of the page
Academics > Degree Audit > Printable Version (to the right of the “Program Details”) > Select “Open”
- Look for courses that are assigned to “07SUM” in the middle of the page
3.To register for your assigned courses in the online portal:
- Select from the menus on the left side of the page
Academics > Online Registration > Begin Online Registration
- Follow the steps as outlined on the webpage.
- The Online Registration Tutorial can be helpful if questions come up while registering
4.To view previously registered courses in the online portal:
- Select from the menus on the left side of the page
Academics > Online Registration >
- In the middle of the page, you will be able to view Previously Registered Courses (if you do not see your schedule or all of your courses, please contact the education department)
NOTE: If you need to make any modifications (add/drop) you will need to contact a member of the Education Department.
Students not wishing to register through the online portal may request their Summer 2007 courses by email or phone to anyone listed below.
Ann Mickelson
amickelson@msbcollege.edu
Dana Wallace
dwallace@msbcollege.edu
Kate Germ
kgerm@msbcollege.edu
If you request your courses with the Education Department (by email or phone), you will be registered for courses by the Education Department.
Dana Wallace
Registrar
