From the Dean of Students' Desk

Welcome to the second issue of the 2007-08 academic year for Staying Connected, a newsletter for parents of first-year students. We hope you’ll enjoy the informative articles, which have been written by students and staff members or were obtained from a national source.

So far, this has been a really active year. It has been so hectic that I have not had the chance to get out our second issue until now. Sorry about that.

New students have been very involved in campus activities and events. That’s great to see. On the first Friday of each month we have had a couple hundred students gather on campus to enjoy the First Fridays program featuring student performers. And the Student Government Association has had a very strong level of interest and involvement. Fall elections resulted in first-year student Stela Moric and new transfer Amanda Shaver joining the SGA Senate.

New students have also had a major impact on the sports scene. We are having a very successful fall sports season so far, with women’s soccer (6 first-year students) and women’s volleyball (8 first-year students) advancing to the SLIAC conference tournament, with a chance to play in the NCAA national tournament. The women’s cross country team finished third at the SLIAC meet at the end of the running season. The men’s soccer team (6 first-year students) finished fifth in the SLIAC with a conference record of 5-4.

I am happy to announce the Student Board of Directors for Campus Dining Services for 2007-08. Student Affairs, in conjunction with Campus Dining Services, has established a Student Board of Directors to act in an advisory capacity on decisions related to Campus Dining at Webster. The Board is comprised of 6 students representing a range of classifications (freshman-graduate) and campus residency status (commuter & resident). It is our aim to use the Board as a "think tank" that assists in steering a Campus Dining program designed by students for students. The introduction of a Student Board of Directors at Webster replacing our traditional Food Committee will provide a forum for us to make improvements. The goal is to evaluate and validate decisions related to dining services and then on an on-going basis, act as a guide on food quality, program, and customer service.

Twenty-one students applied for these highly sought-after positions. After a review of the applications and a round of interviews, the following six students were selected as the first members of the Student Board of Directors:

• Benny Roberts, junior sociology major from Saint Paul, Minnesota, WVA resident
• Alexandrea Barney, junior legal studies major from Florissant, Loretto Hall resident
• Karalane Bellavia, sophomore theatre major from Tulsa, commuter
• Kacey Hampton, freshman management major from Fort Collins, Colorado, West Hall resident
• Shirin Ethard, graduate student majoring in international business from the Netherlands, WVA resident
• Christopher Maue, senior video production major from Mascoutah, Illinois, commuter.

If your son or daughter has a suggestion or comment about Campus Dining Services, please encourage them to seek out one of these student representatives, or talk directly with the director of Campus Dining Services Brad Woodroffe. We will be conducting a customer satisfaction survey in all of our dining locations during the week of November 5-9.

By the time you are reading this newsletter, your son or daughter will be well into the 2nd half of their first semester of college. Time sure does go by quickly. Thanksgiving will be here shortly. Soon, students will be preparing for those end-of-the-term projects and studying for final exams.

It is during the second half of the semester when new students start experiencing higher levels of stress. All of the projects, papers, and presentations start to really pile up in their courses and they sometimes find themselves struggling to keep up with the work load. It may also be the time when they get a lower-than-expected grade on an assignment. This is especially true for writing assignments and oral presentations because this is where many students find the greatest difference from what was expected in high school. You can help by being supportive and encouraging your son or daughter to use the resources at the University, especially the Academic Resource Center and Writing Center.

When you read The Campus Link articles that are part of this issue, you will find a story about students keeping abreast of world news. Webster’s Student Government sponsors a readership program on campus that provides free copies of USA Today and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch to students every day. Students can pick up a paper at one of many newspaper racks around campus.

We will be sponsoring an Emerging Leaders retreat in early Spring semester (a weekend in January or February). If your son or daughter is an aspiring student leader at Webster encourage them to apply for this excellent opportunity. They can contact associate dean John Buck at buckjh@webster.edu for more information.

This Staying Connected e-newsletter is once again coordinated by our web designer Joshua Hurtz, a junior from Cedar Hill, Missouri, majoring in computer science.

We hope to have another newsletter out to you later this semester. We’d love to get your suggestions for future articles.

Sincerely,
Ted Hoef, Ph.D.
Associate Vice President and Dean of Students
hoeftl@webster.edu

Comments and Suggestions

We hope to publish this Webster University Newsletter for Parents of First-Year Students at least once a semester. If you have questions, comments, or suggestions for future newsletters, please send them to hoeftl@webster.edu. We look forward to your comments and suggestions.

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