In this session, we will be looking into building support networks.  What does the word community mean to you?  There are lots of ways to be an active participant in life and finding our niche takes time.  The assignment in connection with this asks you to attend an event and reflect on what it meant to be a part of that community.

One resource to aid in this process is IvyLife.  Students who participate in campus activities often feel more connected to other students and the school itself.  There are all kinds of events and clubs for students to choose from.  IvyLife is your gateway to student involvement at Ivy Tech.  It is an on-line platform available to all students that provides tools to help you learn about what’s going on and how to get involved on campus.  Students can: 

• learn about campus events and activities
• search and join student organizations
• find opportunities to get involved
• generate records of your campus involvement
• connect with other students 

In addition, student organization leaders and advisors will be able to communicate with members, share important documents, conduct online polls, post event information and create group web pages.  Simply click on the IvyLife button in the Quick Links section of Campus Connect. You will be taken directly into IvyLife.

Another way to access this resource is via https://orgsync.com/login

OrgSync hosts these Student Life pages for a variety of colleges.  Simply enter Ivy Tech Community College in the Search and enter your username and password as you would for Campus Connect/Blackboard.

This is a great resource of finding out what is going on in your region. There are numerous online options for finding out about local events and organizations.  The local newspaper and its media feeds will help you in finding current off-campus events. Select an event or activity that actually interests you.  Push beyond your comfort zone perhaps.  It can be a risk to try something new – meeting people, tasting unique foods, attending a cultural festival – but without risk there is no reward.  You never know who you might meet or how an experience may impact you.

“You’ll always miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” -Wayne Gretzky

Being connected face to face and online can have very different feelings. Check out this video on the idea of being connected online but feeling alone.

Course & Module Objectives

By the end of this session, you will be able to:

• Locate and utilize a variety of resources on and off campus, including navigating the college infrastructure, advising, financial offices, and various other academic and student support services
  • Record possible resources on and off campus and the aid available there
  • Devise a support network for current and future situations
• Explore the college’s social environment and demonstrate understanding of the impact of diversity
  • Examine the benefits of being an active participant in the community (college, city, neighborhood)
• Explore and apply critical and creative thinking strategies
  • Describe how an individual impacts their community – home, school, work

Here is the content for this session:

• Textbook Reading: Lumen Ch. 8, Social Environment and College Resources: Getting Along with Others, Are You Really Listening?, Financial Resources, Library Resources, Academic Advising at Ivy Tech Community College, Video: Connected-But Alone? (needs to opened in a new tab), The Power of Networking, Student Life at Ivy Tech.
  
• Assignment: Keep working on Project B: Student Success, due at the end of Module 14
• Assignment: Module 8 Quiz
  

When you are ready to get started on this module, click the  button below.