[Ntso] Online Meeting - Discussion (Ideas for NTSO and Non-Traditional Students)

[Andrea Woodlief]

Hello Everyone,

I just wanted to say that I have enjoyed being president of NTSO, and I will 
be very sad to pass the torch over in May.  I will remain as the Webmaster 
to the organization and you will hear from me over the listserv from time to 
time.

NTSO has really grown over the past year, and I have received several emails 
from members who want to participate in the organization but cannot make the 
lunchtime meetings due to work or family obligations.

My idea was to harness the large community of students that we have on this 
listserv by holding scheduled discussions about topics that interest the 
non-traditional student.  The discussions supplement as a secondary online 
meeting, and are aimed at increasing participation to the group through the 
listserv – creating a virtual organization.

We will just have these online meetings on the first and third Monday of 
each month, and I will put “Online Meeting - Discussion” in the subject line 
so the members will know we are holding a virtual meeting and no new 
business is being discussed.  Francis and I even talked about holding the 
discussions on separate listservs in the future, similar to the single 
parents discussion.

I wanted to apologize for my openness on the single parents discussion.  I 
was sharing my experience with the other single parents, and we have moved 
that discussion to a separate listserv.  I hold a special place in my heart 
for these students, because I have been friends with and helped other single 
parents.  When I am not so busy, we will be moving this group to the 
counseling center and creating a support group for the single parents so 
they can continue to network and help each other.  I am glad that NTSO made 
this possible for these students.

I also enjoy making people laugh and joking about everything that happens, 
but I will try to keep humor off the listserv unless we decide to have a 
discussion about jokes (LOL). :-)  If I do give a joke or too, then I will 
put a smiley or LOL so you will know I am just kidding around.

We have a large community of non-traditional students at SHSU.  I thought 
that we could have our next online discussion about ways that Sam can change 
to better accommodate the non-traditional students.  I have been doing 
research on other NTSO groups from different universities.  Many of these 
groups have an office or lounge for the non-traditional students, and they 
hold special events.  Oklahoma State University has an angel tree every year 
for the parents of NTSO, so students can select a non-traditional student 
family to sponsor for gift giving at Christmas.  Or, if the couples would 
like to have a dance, then we can do this for NTSO in the future.

As members of NTSO, what are some other ideas that you might have for NTSO 
and the non-traditional students?  Remember, since this is an online 
meeting, to reply to the listserv (ntso at shsu.edu) so everyone who is 
interested can participate in the discussion.  Lets try to keep the subject 
line “Re: Online Meeting - Discussion” though.




Andrea L. Woodlief
President, Non-Traditional Student Organization
visit our website: www.shsu.edu/~org_ntso

"The more original a discovery, the more obvious it seems afterwards." ~ 
Arthur Koestler