Planet eCampus

Cathryn with three of her eight grandchildren.  Cathryn Vandiver Age: 56 Institution: Dalton State College Why is completing your college degree important to you? Completing my college degree will be a dream come true! I started this journey over 37 years ago and did not finish. Since then, I have raised a family as a single parent for 14 years with three young children. I worked two jobs for many years, and I was a legal secretary for attorneys for over twenty years. I currently keep three of my grandchildren while my two daughters teach school. I want my college degree because I need it to pursue my ultimate goal, and to be an inspiration to others that it is never too late to learn and contribute to society! Thank you for the opportunity eCore gives students like me who could not otherwise attend classes in person to get their college degree. Why did you choose to take online classes through eCore? It was offered by the college I wanted to attend, Dalton S...

If you are currently, or soon-to-be in the market for a new job, then you have probably heard the saying – it’s all about networking. Employers today receive stacks and stacks of resumes for open positions, making it harder and harder to stand out as an applicant.  Sure, you may have impressive work experience and a killer cover letter, but odds are that there is at least one applicant in that stack who already has name recognition within the company – and that person is much more likely to get an interview. When searching for a job – it’s all about who you know. If you don’t know the right people, and the right people don’t know you – then you need to change that. The way to do that is through networking. Ten years ago, networking had a completely different meaning than it does today. Sure, joining and being active in professional groups is great, but today we have a much more powerful professional networking tool right at our fingertips  –  LinkedIn. To a beginner,...

If you are or ever have been a college student, you know that textbooks are expensive. Affordable Learning Georgia estimates that at the current rate, students in the University System of Georgia would spend a total of $1,400,000,000 on textbooks. With student loan debt already a major issue in our country, it goes without saying that this type of expenditure needs attention. So – what is the higher education industry, particularly in Georgia, doing to address this issue?   The answer is Open Educational Resources, or OERs, which are freely accessible, openly licensed documents and media that are useful for teaching and learning. Many colleges and universities are making efforts to transition to the use of OERs in their classes as opposed to traditional textbooks, which provides a zero-cost textbook option to students. Our state is paving the way for this movement, with programs like Affordable Learning Georgia, which has set a goal of providing faculty in the USG with ...

Have you wondered what it might be like to be an Emergency Nurse? How about a Computer Programmer?  If you are gleaning all of your knowledge of what a Crime Scene Investigator actually does from watching reruns of CSI, you may encounter a rude awakening when you go for your education and actually land yourself in that job. Informational interviewing is a  foundational  step within career exploration. While you are in your own investigative place as a student you would be wise to conduct informational interviews of people within the potential careers/jobs that you think you might enjoy.   The informational interview communicates the first-hand experiences and impressions of someone in the occupation, and is directed by your questions.  Steps to conducting an interview of this type consist of: 1. Identifying a person who is currently employed within the field. 2. Calling to request a visit with them while they are on the job.   The amoun...

What is your home institution and major? Currently, I attend Valdosta State University, and I am pursuing a degree in Organizational Leadership. How many eMajor courses have you taken? To date, I've taken 7 courses with eMajor. Why is completing your college degree important to you?  I think a college degree is a necessity in today's society. The job market is extremely competitive, and so many of my peers are seeking top notch positions. When I look back on my life, I want to know I finished everything I started; I want to check the box on paperwork that asks if I graduated. If I do not finish, that box will haunt me with any application I submit: Mortgage, jobs, insurance, etc. When is your expected graduation date? My expected graduation date is June of 2015,  however, I am completing a concentration in Public Administration. This will be complete in December of 2015. Go big or go home. What are your career goals? Currently, I work ...

Are you stuck in the crossroads of switching your major?    Are you finding yourself enrolled in classes but having no clear direction of where you might be heading after graduation?   Has a significant other inquired with the dreaded question: “What are you going to do with your life?” If you had a head nod to any of these questions then I hope to offer some quick advice on career planning to get you stepping in the right direction.   For 6 years I worked as an Assistant Director of Career Services at another Georgia institution.  I have many memories of students who would come to my office the Monday after graduation and remark “Hey, Mrs. Karen, I need a job!”   Some of those students had never taken advantage of the fine services we offered previously.  At the conclusion of many an appointment I can recall that most, if not all, of the visitors emphatically declared, “Man – why did I not come here SOONER?” ...

Dr. Sanjeev Arora Dr. Sanjeev Arora is a physics instructor for USG eCore, and was recently recognized by Affordable Learning Georgia for Innovation and Early Success in Textbook Transformation for his work in transforming textbooks to no-cost Open Educational Resources. Dr. Arora's work in this area contributed to $14,000 in savings to college students in 2014. More information on the ALG awards is available at www.affordablelearninggeorgia.org.  Let's take a minute to learn a little more about Dr. Arora! What is your title and what is your current non-eCore job? I am a professor of physics and have been teaching as a full-time faculty member at Fort Valley State University since 1993. What are the two main reasons you teach through eCore? When I first came aboard in fall 2011, I was pretty much sitting on the fence as far as comparing the benefits (and pitfalls) of “face-to-face” vs. “online” teaching were concerned. I needed to first learn, and hopefu...