In This Issue

SOC Registration
Growth Continues

Dean Discusses
Budget Reductions

New Lab Fee Policy
Works For Students

WiFi Internet
Access Available

Downtown Campus
Moves to Post Office

Concert Hall
Construction Begins

62 Smart Classrooms
With Internet Access

Online Grade Entry Easy, Convenient

Connections Helps
Manage Classes

Connections Survey

Equipment Updated

9 SOC Student
Organizations

Faculty Barbecue
Introduces Advisors

Calendars

SOC Calendar
Film Series Calendar

SOC Adjunct
Newsletters

Fall 03 Edition
Spring 04 Edition
Summer 04 Edition
Fall 04 Edition
Spring 05 Edition

Webster
News Links

Inside Webster

April Edition

Note From The Dean
Dear Colleagues:
What a wonderful year. Thanks to your efforts, another class of students has left our school prepared to meet the world. From all perspectives, the School of Communications had an excellent academic year. Our students excelled this year with a record number of scholarships and academic awards going to SOC students. I also was proud that more School of Communications students graduated with University honors this year than in recent memory. This year our school continued to see an upward trend in registrations. I expect this trend to continue as our programming expands to meet the expectations of both our students and their future employers. We made tremendous progress this year on establishing an assessment process to measure our students' academic accomplishments. We will refine and expand the assessment process next year. On behalf of our students, I want to thank our excellent adjunct faculty for your continued accomplishment in the classroom this year. I hope you can relax this summer and get ready for another great year this fall.

Debra

PR Major Kim Goedeker, in the photo above, proudly displays her diploma following graduation at the Edward Jones Dome in May.

SOC Student Registration Continues
Growth Trend With 10% Increase
Did you feel a little cramped this year? That’s understandable. Student registrations in the School of Communications were up again this year – a trend that has continued for the past several years. Total SOC student registration last fall climbed by 10 percent to 1,106, up 104 from last year.
FULL STORY

Dean Addresses Buzz About
The Budget With All-School Meeting
There was plenty of talk around the campus about belt tightening. To sort out fact from fiction, Dean Debra Carpenter held an all-school meeting for students, faculty and staff. Carpenter opened the meeting by assuring those present that Webster University’s student enrollment had not declined. “For the past several years, Webster has experienced increasing student registrations and that growth is continuing this year,” Carpenter said. “But the growth this year is not as great as we had planned.”
FULL STORY

New Lab Fee Policy Puts Money
To Work For Students In Classroom
The Lab Fee. It’s a simple concept, but over the years it’s been a complex issue for Webster University faculty and administrators. A new lab fee policy instituted last year in the School of Communications puts more of the student lab fee money to actual use in the classroom. As a result, unused lab fees collected from School of Communications students were reduced by more than $100,000 last year.
FULL STORY

Wireless Internet Service
Available on Campus
If you bring your laptop to the Webster University main campus, now you can connect to the Internet using wireless WiFi technology. Earlier this year, a WiFi network was completed and online access is available in several areas of the campus. All you’ll need to use the Webster WiFi is a Connections ID and password.
FULL STORY

Webster Downtown Campus Moves
Into Old Post Office Complex
After years of debate, months of negotiations, and weeks of preparation, Webster University moved its downtown St. Louis campus into the Old Post Office building at 815 Olive in January. The University has leased more than 32,000 square feet of space in the 120-year-old building. Opening of the new downtown location comes 31 years from the date classes were first offered in downtown St. Louis.
FULL STORY

Community Music School On Campus;
500-Seat Concert Hall Is Underway
Construction of a new 500-seat concert hall is underway for the Community Music School of Webster University (CMS). The concert hall will be located east of the Loretto-Hilton Center on the main campus. Sale of the CMS building on Trinity Avenue in University City will provide the funds to build a new 26,000 square foot facility designed to serve the specific needs of the CMS.
FULL STORY

62 'Smart' Classrooms Have Internet Access
Over the past three years, classrooms at Webster University have gotten “smarter” even if the students in them haven’t. Now you can surf the Web, use PowerPoint, show DVDs or VHS tapes, and display files and projects from your laptop on the big screen in your classroom. “They are actually multi-media classrooms, but someone started calling them ‘smart’ rooms and the name stuck,” says Donna Biolchini, assistant director, academic computing.
FULL STORY

Paper Grade Reports
Are Phased Out
Beginning this summer, all grade reports must be entered online. That means no more paper grade reports faxed or mailed into the department office. More than three-fourths of the School of Communications faculty, both adjunct and full-time, has discovered the amazing convenience of entering their final course grades online at the end of the semester. There’s no faxes, phone calls, forms – you just sit down at your computer and put in the grades, anytime of the day or night.
FULL STORY

Connections Tools Help Faculty
Manage Materials For Classes
The new online portal called Connections introduced last fall is making it much easier for faculty to distribute class materials and encourage students to discuss topics outside of class. This new online resource streamlines communication with your students, allowing you to use new online teaching tools in all of your classes, and provides productivity features. Among the features included in the portal are home pages for all faculty that provide a complete class listing for your classes, email access to your students with one mouse click, an online calendar for your personal use, and access to other University resources.
FULL STORY

Tell Us About Student
Use of The Connections
Have your students been using connections in your classroom? We’d like to know. Would you take a few seconds to answer a few quick questions at the survey link below? It’s anonymous and will help us measure the student usage of Connections.
Click Here For Connections Survey

Equipment and Furnishings Updated
In High Use Areas of the SOC
Several high traffic areas in the School of Communications have upgraded equipment and new furnishings. The news writing lab and The Journal newsroom was remodeled over the summer, new computer hardware and software were installed in the video editing suite, and several cameras were replaced with digital upgrades.
FULL STORY

Nine Student Organizations Provide
Creative Outlet and Experience
The School of Communications has nine student organizations that encourage involvement in aspects of student’s chosen careers. The organizations include student-run media outlets, professional societies associated with national professional organizations, and organizations that encourage exploration and input into chosen career fields.
FULL STORY

Faculty Barbecue Puts New Students
In Touch With Academic Advisors
Getting to know your faculty advisor is one of the top priorities for new freshmen and transfer students in the School of Communications. Advisors are a student's "keys to the kingdom" so to speak (in dramatic terms). To make sure new students get off on the right foot, the school hosts an annual "meet your advisor" barbecue early in the fall semester on the Quad. This year, the faculty cooked. Hence the name Faculty On Fire Barbecue. More than 100 new students took advantage of the event to meet advisors and get a free lunch. They also had a chance to meet the Dean and fellow students.
FULL STORY

Adjunct Faculty Newsletter
Webster University School of Communications Adjunct Faculty Newsletter is published throughout the school year for the SOC Adjunct Faculty. Our goal is to keep the school's Adjunct Faculty informed. Do you have accomplishments in your academic or professional life you'd like to share with your fellow adjunct faculty members? Contact Gary Ford, newsletter editor, at fordg@webster.edu or call 314-961-2660 ex. 8632.

Note: If your email changes, please provided it so that we may update our lists to make sure you get the latest information from the school.