ATECadvise

A Few Interesting Links on Social Media

2009-09-23T08:23:00.000-07:00

10 Golden Rules of Social Media

Twitter Goes to College U.S. News and World Report

ATEC student’s Twitter Video Makes Waves

The Class of Ages: How Technology Divides Workers

10 Ways Universities Share Information Using Social Media

25 Twitter Tips for College Students

academHacK

I am a Bad Blogger

2009-07-24T07:42:00.000-07:00

If anyone has actually been checking this thing, you will find I am not a very good blogger. I find it hard to come up with a topic each day to write about. I'm sure things will pick up once Fall semester starts. I do a bit better with Twitter/Facebook updates.

Fall is quickly approaching... August 12 kicks off move-in for the new Residence Hall (that building across from ATEC that someone said looked like an airport terminal) and the opening of the new dining hall. You will be able to eat dinner in the new hall on August 12!

On the topic of not updating much... I will be out next week plus Monday and will return with a new last name.

Do you Tweet?

2009-06-09T07:13:00.000-07:00

A recent article on BBC news(http://tinyurl.com/njheur) states that Twitter has over 10 million users. Apparently those users are not really using Twitter, but merely watching as tweets scroll by. In my opinion, Twitter is a bit odd and seemingly pointless at first. It takes awhile to "get it". However, I've found Twitter to be a fantastic resource and tool to use in advising. Nevertheless, I would like to reach more students.

By having my Twitter feeds connected to my Facebook account I can update frequently. Who sees those updates is a gamble. What constitutes as useful information will vary because each persons purpose for being on Twitter may vary.

I tend to post Academic deadlines, articles relating to ATEC & EMAC, events and sometimes just random information.

I would encourage all students to get on Twitter and see what it is like. Try it and come back to it. Utilize it to network and connect with other EMAC and ATEC students, professors and the larger local, national, and global network out there.

Summer Hours

2009-06-01T10:04:00.001-07:00

Summer means shorter semesters, fewer classes and longer daylight hours. Summer classes are divided into three sessions, 11 week, and two 5 week sessions. A typical semester is 16 weeks. So basically summer classes are all about cramming a 16 week course into 11 or 5 weeks. This means longer time in the classroom or attending class more often. However, the upside is... getting out of class by 7:00 pm means there is plenty of daylight left to play outside.

There are also fewer classes offered during summer. There are many reasons behind this. One being smaller budgets in the summer and second being that there are fewer professors around to teach classes. Here in ATEC we are looking to offer more specialized classes that may not be offered during a long semester (Spring or Fall); such as Scene Planning for Animation.

The lab tech schedule has also been shortened for the summer.

Gamers Wanted

2009-05-26T12:26:00.000-07:00

Attention College Students: GAMERS WANTED!

You want to make you’re passion a career, but always remember:

You are a game consumer first!

Join the ECA for $14.99 student rate and fight for your rights as a gamer, receive discounts on games, gaming products, events and much more!

Join now: http://www.theeca.com/user/register

(.edu needed to validate $14.99 or $19.99 otherwise)

Serious about Serious Gaming

2009-05-07T08:01:00.000-07:00

ATEC offers a variety of Topics classes each semester. This is an opportunity to explore and delve into the heart of Animation or Gaming. Tim Christopher is offering a course this Fall on Serious Games.

These are not your little brother's second grade learning games.

If you would like to enroll in this class, please email your advisor.

The ATEC Catch22

2009-04-20T08:33:00.000-07:00

ATEC offers quite a few 'cool' classes. We have a plethora of gaming and animation courses. This makes the ATEC degree both appealing and a bit difficult to navigate.

How do you figure out what path to take within ATEC when there are so many classes to choose from? Variety is the spice of life, but the variety can become a problem when you have taken a bit of everything and not enough of something to know what you want to do when you graduate.

So how do you figure out exactly what you want to do with ATEC? Herein lies the problem, because you have to take a few different classes to figure out what you like, but not too many that you end up as a senior without any time left to really delve into your decided interest. I think part of the key to this is self-reflection and exploration.

Utilize your time here to explore your options not just in class, but outside of class.

-Check out the Career Center on campus. Career counselors can help you in assessing your personality, interests, and skills. Assessing some of these traits can go a long way in deciding your career path. For instance, do you like working by yourself, or are you a social person? Do you like using your own ideas and creativity, or are you fine with being told what to do?

-Take a Careers Class. UTD offers a Careers class for a variety of majors including A&H and ATEC.

-Do some information interviews. Informational interviewing allows you as a student the opportunity to talk to individuals in the field you are interested in. You can learn about how they got where they are and what advice they may have. You are not asking for a job. You are asking for more information about the career that you are interested in; what sort of experience is needed, what skills are needed, what the work is like, etc.

-Reflect. Reflect on what you are doing in class. Reflect on what you are doing outside of class. Think about where you see yourself after graduation. Think about what you will need to get there.

Orion Web How-to

2009-04-13T13:18:00.000-07:00

For a larger version you can download please check your UT Dallas email.

Thanks to one of our ATEC students for putting this together!

Some things aren't going to be so simple

2009-04-09T08:15:00.000-07:00

By now most of you have looked at Orion. Many of you are scratching your heads in confusing. Some of you may have it mastered by now. There are differences to adjust to. Some of them are pretty big, like when you can to start registering online.

Orion does offer some pretty cool features. For instance...
- You can make your schedule out before your registration time starts. Then all you have to do is hit submit.
- It will tell you whether that math or science class your registered for is a core class.
- It gives you details on what your holds are.

There are a few things that are not going to be so simple with Orion.
- Advisors will not be able to just give authorization for you to register for a class; we have to register you for it.
So you will need to send an email through your UTD email address requesting us to register you for (i.e. Concept Development); granted you have the prerequisites.
Due to this... complication we will be looking carefully at changes to the academic catalog next go around (which is every two years).

Fall Schedule and Registration

2009-03-30T09:42:00.000-07:00

According to our sources the Fall 2009 schedule will be on Course Lookup starting Wed. April 1. Fall brings forth a whole new set of courses, including the new EMAC classes.

Note that many of the EMAC and ATEC classes will be cross-listed. For example, ATEC 3361 and EMAC 3361 are in essence the same course and theortically can be counted on both degree plans (although in different locations on the degree).

By now you should have recieved an email regarding Fall registration in Orion. You will be given a registration time (reiterate - this is NOT an advising appointment time). Your registration appointment time lasts until the last day to add classes. Therefore you will be able to register for classes online through Orion from the time of your registration appointment (almost 24/7) until the last day to add classes.

Just like Shopping online

2009-03-25T06:50:00.000-07:00

April marks the transition to Orion, (aka People Soft) and DARS. Orion will take the place of Student Information Systems and will be the go to place for; registration, checking grades, updating addresses & phone numbers and so forth. DARS will be the new degree audit system.

Registration in Orion will be just like shopping online. You will select the courses to register for, add them to your 'cart' and check out. As web based software Orion should be easier to navigate.

One drawback about the new system, sure to upset those on the brink of junior to senior year, is the way it calculates registration times. When you register will be based on how many total hours you have completed. Orion does not take into account hours you are currently registered for. For example: if you have earned/completed 89 hrs (even though you are registered for 12 hrs this semester) you will register as a Junior.

Specific appointment times will be given and will be based on total number of hours. Therefore, if you are registering as a Junior and have 62 hrs your registration appointment time will be later than a Junior that has 89 hrs.

I know this transition might be a bit confusing and a bit hard to figure out, but we will all be adjusting to change at the same time. We will all need to be patient and willing to learn as we embark on this transition.

Spring Break

2009-03-18T06:32:00.001-07:00

Spring break is here and all is quiet on campus (excluding construction noise). Mid-term grades have been posted much to the dismay/relief of everyone. If your mid-term grades were not quite what you had anticipated do not fret, yet. There is still time to pull up your grades.

Take a look through your syllabi and see what percentage of the course work you have left to complete. In some cases you may find that you still have over 50% left to complete. Talk to your professors and see if there is any extra credit you can do, any papers or projects you can re-write, and low grades that will be dropped.

Next week begins advisor training for our new software system People Soft/Orion. UTD has been using Student Information System (SIS) for years and now it is time to switch from a DOS based system reminiscent of the mid-80s to something a bit more contemporary.

March 25 we will be hosting a Fall Schedule Preview event for undegraduates in the Art Barn so you can get a sneak peak at what may or may not be offered this Fall.

Seattle

2009-03-18T06:20:00.000-07:00

I spent last week in Seattle. The majority of the week was spent at a student affairs conference with 4,000 other people who work in a variety of areas at colleges & universities around the US & the World (we had a few from UK & Canada).

It was nice being back in Seattle. I lived there for two years while attending grad school at Seattle University. I had the opportunity to reunite with people from my grad program and see the changes made at the university, including a Chihuly glass installation.

It snowed the first couple of days I was there, but nothing stuck in the city. The rest of the week it was sunny and cold and I had the chance to see the mountain. Mt. Rainer sneaks up on you, for it is only visible on a sunny day when you can look southeast of the city.

If you ever have the chance to visit Seattle, take it. It's an incredible city with an amazing view of the water, surrounded by trees & mountains.