ELITE News and Events

GRANT WRITING BASICS SEMINAR

TUESDAY, MARCH 5 2013

10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Corpus Christi Hall room 118

Have you ever wondered what it takes to write a grant?  This March, ELITE is offering an incredible seminar that will give Graduate Students the opportunity to learn the fundamental steps of grant writing!

Seminar Description: Martin N. Pace of the ELITE Graduate Program will share his resources and tips on searching for:

• funding opportunities
• reviewing request for proposals (RFPs)
• creating grant proposals

This informal session is primarily for graduate students (master and doctoral). Participants are encouraged to share ideas and ask questions. Grant proposal examples, resources, and materials will be provided.

Benefits of Attending:

• Positive investment that can enhance professional and/or personal success
• Gain knowledge, skills, and experience needed to become a novice grant writer
• Learn how to build goals and objectives for a strong grant proposal

The Connect & Reflect Workshop Series is Tamucc’s premier opportunity for professional enhancement!

Workshop Topics Include:  

• New Learning Technologies in the Classroom
• Online Course Development & Teaching
• Developing Research & Scholarly Activity

Who should attend?

• Graduate Students
• Faculty
• Staff

Attendance is open for all workshops!  The Workshops will be held EVERY Wednesday from 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. in CCH room 118. Snacks and refreshments will be provided, but feel free to bring your own lunch.

The first workshop of the series is THIS Wednesday, Jan. 30!

Dr. Cristina Kirklighter, a Professor in the College of Liberal Arts, will speak about “Using New and Innovative Online Projects in the Classroom: The Messiness and Breakthroughs of the Learning Process between Students and Professors.  For more information, contact Amanda Alvarez at ext. 2122; or email amanda.alvarez@tamucc.edu

ELITE is very excited to give a BIG welcome to those students returning and just beginning on their academic journeys!  The first day of classes is met with joy, stress, and curiosity as you wait to discover what lies in the semester ahead!

The ELITE Graduate Program has packed its program with resources and staff that is ready to serve your educational and academic needs.  We challenge you to take advantage of our resources this semester!

Here are several awesome resources and events that we offer:

Ms. Julie Joffray

Ms. Julie Joffray, Assistant Director of the ELITE Graduate Program, is a chief resource for ELITE!  Julie served in ELITE as the Intervention Specialist from 2010 – 2012.  In this role, she designed and implemented the ELITE Academic Indicator Program and was the initial resource in ELITE to help ELITE cohort members navigate the campus.  Julie’s resourceful nature, talents, and skills are a few of her amazing qualities that were instrumental in her career advancement, being named the Assistant Director of ELITE in August 2012!

Islander Apprentice

Career Services is offering the Islander Apprentice Program as a way to give students the opportunity to:

• Gain Valuable experience into a professional realm
• Network directly with businesses
• Work on Real Community Projects
• Gain inside into using project management, negotiation, and teamwork skills.

Islander Apprentice is taking applications through February 15^th.  To apply and for more information click HERE!

ELITE Toastmasters

Do you have a Fear of Public Speaking? Want to Build Leadership Skills?  Toastmasters International is the world leader in communication and leadership development.  A Toastmasters meeting is a learn-by-doing workshop in which participants hone their speaking and leadership skills in a no-pressure atmosphere. Our ELITE Toastmasters club meetings typically have 10 – 20 members in attendance who meet biweekly and a typical meeting lasts 45 – 60 minutes.

For more information and to join toastmasters, please go to http://elite.toastmastersclubs.org/

To get a complete list of our services please go http://elite.tamucc.edu.  ELITE wants to empower you take the step to enjoy fellowship and scholarly activities with your peers!

ELITE is inviting you to attend the LAST Islander Forum Professional Development workshop of the 2012 year! 

When:  Tomorrow, December 5, 2012 : Noon – 1:00 PM

Where:  Corpus Christi Hall room 118

Who:  Ms. Jan Brott, Assistant Director of Distance Education and Ms. Rosie Ruiz, Associate Director, of the Employee Relations, Training & Development, Equal Opportunity Office.

What:  Presentation on the topic “Leveraging Informal Learning for Professional Development.”

Refreshments and snacks will be provided, but feel free to bring your own lunch. For more information, contact Amanda Alvarez at ext. 2122; or email amanda.alvarez@tamucc.edu.

The workshops are great educational platforms for graduate students, faculty, & staff to gain technological skills and academic resources.  This semester we explored topics ranging from WebEx to Large Classroom Engagement Strategies to Developing Scholarly Activity.  We hope you will join us for our last workshop and we hope that you will join us at our workshops next semester!

Be sure to tune in for the Spring 2013 workshop schedule.  With your support, we are looking forward to another successful semester!

Thank you!

Lizzy Benson-Landau
Program Coordinator, ELITE Graduate Program

Islander Forum Professional Development Series: The ELITE Graduate Program and the Center for Faculty Excellence will host the weekly Islander Forum Professional Development Series workshop on Wednesday, October 31^st at 12:00 p.m. in CCH 118. Dr. Ron George, Senior Research Development Officer, will speak on the topic “How to Develop Research and Scholarly Activity”. Snacks will be provided. For more information, please contact Elizabeth Benson-Landau at (361) 825-2510 or email Elizabeth.benson-landau@tamucc.edu.

The ELITE Graduate program, the Information Technology Department, the Office of Distance Education and Learning Technology, and the Center for Faculty Excellence at A&M-Corpus Christi invite all faculty, staff, students, and alumni to attend this free conference opportunity!

In the realm of higher education information technology, no other  event brings together more powerful, creative minds in the field than  the EDUCAUSE Annual Conference . . .

CONNECT with colleagues and explore solutions to today’s common higher ed IT challenges.

EMPOWER action by uncovering new ways to enhance your campus’s resources and policies.

REVITALIZE and ignite ideas that help you navigate and shape our ever-changing future.

The  EDUCAUSE Annual Conference unites the best thinking in higher education  IT by bringing together insightful people, innovative research,  supportive companies, and useful resources… Whether your focus is on administration, teaching and learning,  information technology infrastructure, information systems,  cybersecurity, policy, library systems or information technology  leadership, there’s something at the annual conference for you.

Attend sessions with topics such as:

• IT as a Core Academic Competence
• Windows Reimagined: 21st-Century Learning
• Education and It: Game Changer
• Chronicle Tech Trends: After a Year of Ed-Tech Disruption, What Now?
• Yammer: Boost Engagement in Class, Committees, and the Campus Community
• The Ins and Outs of Online Learning
• Information Technology, Leadership, and the Future of Higher Education
• Accessible ScreenCasting: Making Your Best Content Available to All Students
• Blueprint for Change in an Era of Rapid Reinvention – Sponsored by Higher One
• Designing the Telepresence Classroom
• What Facult Need: National trents from the MISO Survey
• Five Years Later: Moving beyond Traditional Lecture Capture to Any Device Content Creation and Delivery–Anytime, Anywhere
• Flipping the Classroom
• Engaging Online Learnedrs for Success: Beyond the LMS
• EDUCAUSE Game Changers Business Competition: A Presentation of Start-Up Technology Companies in Higher Education
• and many, many more awesome topics!!

View the entire three day program:  EDUCAUSE CONFERENCE AGENDA 2012

The conference will be held in Corpus Christi Hall room 110 Tuesday, November 7th – Friday, November 9th 2012. 

Fill out my online form.

Hola mi Amigos!

ELITE will be celebrating El Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) from 1pm – 4pm on November 1^st at the ELITE Suite. 

The children who attend the elementary school (downstairs) are coloring ornamental skulls to decorate the ELITE Suite and the lobby area outside the suite. 

I have uploaded a pdf copy of the ornamental skull so that you and/or your children may participate too!

 Dia De Los Muertos Skull Picture

On the same subject… since our grant funding does not allow us to buy food, we are asking ELITE cohort members to bring some candy and/or snacks by the ELITE Suite to share…  bastante por favor (pretty please) … con azúcar por encima (with sugar on top)… ?  You can drop off the candy at any time between now and November 1st, but we ask that you don’t bring the snacks until that day.

… and the answer to your burning question is…  Yo sé un poco español (I know a little Spanish)… I’m using Google Translate. 

 Adios mi amigos!

Julia  (aka:  Julie)

You’ve heard, “it’s not what you know but who you know”. Well I challenge that with, “it’s not who you know, but who knows you and what you can do”. It doesn’t matter what you know, what degree you have, or how much of a hardworker you are if no one knows who you are and what you are capable of doing. Networking is very important, and it is never too early to start. Gain the confidence through preparing as a professional by creating “networking cards”, develop an online website, join organizations, and attend conferences. Learn the basics you need to get started in the right direction and stay competitive and marketable above the rest of the competition, Thursday, October 18th at 6pm in UC Dolphin Room.   For more information, contact me at 361-825-2289 or deshawna.mccray@tamucc.edu.

Take a few minutes out of your busy day to have fun and play!   Sidewalk chalk art, bubbles, hula hoops, flip flop decorating, jump rope, lollipops, finger puppets, coloring, frisbee, juggling, trivia games will be featured.  Noticing small things that make you happy and learning to experience more joy in your daily life is the focus of the Happiness Challenge.

WHEN: Wed., October 17, 11:00am-2:00pm
WHERE: University Center East Lawn

Sponsored by the University Counseling Center
FMI call 825-2703 or email Theresa.sharpe@tamucc.edu

 

 ELITE has joined forces with the Office of Distance Education and Learning Technologies, First Year Islanders, the Center for Faculty Excellence, and the Office of Employee Training and Development to bring the Islander Forum Professional Development Workshop Series.  The sixth workshop in the series will be hosted this Wednesday, October 10th from noon – 1:00 p.m. by the Office of Distance Education and Learning Technologies.  The speaker, Dr. Richard Balkin, Associate Professor in Counseling Education, will discuss the topic “How Developing a Website Enhanced My Teaching”.  Snacks will be provided.  For more information, please contact Amanda Alvarez at (361) 825-2122 or email at amanda.alvarez@tamucc.edu.

ELITE is sponsoring a Holiday Book Drive for the Women’s Shelter and a Wrapping Party!

For those of you that don’t know, Andrea Pitcher, one of our awesome ELITE Cohort Members, is responsible for organizing this marvelous service oriented Holiday Activity through ELITE. Check out the flyer below that Andrea designed!

 We have already had a MAJOR load delivered from HALF PRICE BOOKS on Friday!!!

You may have seen her, Monica, and myself wrapping giant boxes last Monday.  We have placed 4 boxes in the following buildings:

- ECDC (right outside the ELITE Suite on the 2^nd floor)

- The Round Building (in front of the financial aid cubicles)

- The Library (by the security guard desk)

- The Faculty Center (outside of the grad office)

Tis’ the season of giving!

Lizzy
Program Coordinator, ELITE Graduate Program

The SOAR Program and the College of Science and Engineering are sponsoring the Hispanics in STEM Careers Expo on Friday, Sept. 28, from 1-4 p.m. in the Lone Star Ballroom. The Expo will include information booths, interactive activities for students and the community, and a panel discussion led by various established Hispanics from STEM professions in the Coastal Bend area. Light refreshments will be served. This event is open to the public. For more information, go to soar.tamucc.edu ; or email SOAR@tamucc.edu.

For More Information:

Sara Chapa

825-2230

sara.chapa@tamucc.edu

Click here to learn more about the program and to preview the Tentative Agenda…>>

REGISTER TODAY!

The ELITE Graduate Program in collaboration with the Center for Academic Student Achievement cordially invite you and your family to attend the Summer Commencement ELITE Cohort Celebration.

WHEN: August 1, 2012 from 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM

WHERE: Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi University Center – Legacy Hall

The celebration is an opportunity for students, faculty, staff, friends, and family to join together to celebrate the successes of students and graduating students. Awards and graduate medallions will be conferred, there will be an opportunity for families to take photographs with students and graduates, and refreshments will be served.

Please join us for an evening of fellowship, awards, and celebration. RSVP to ELITE with the total number of attendees. *RSVP’s are requested, but not required.

The ELITE Graduate Program invites the Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi community to attend a brown bag presentation on Generation 1.5 students: Exploring distinctive language-related characteristics in their writing.

The presenation is on Wednesday, June 6^th from noon – 1 p.m. in the University Center, Bayview 320.  

Dr. Stephen Doolan, Assistant Professor of English, will discuss the Generation 1.5 student as a potentially unique type of language learner and give a synopsis of his research from the 2012 American Association of Applied Linguistics Conference.

For more information: contact Elizabeth Benson-Landau at ext. 2510; or email elizabeth.benson-landau@tamucc.edu

Faculty, staff, and students are invited!!!

What: Lecture on “How emerging digital technologies and multiple modes of communication are becoming new rhetorical and informational gateways”

When: Tuesday, June 5th from noon to 1 p.m.

Where: University Center Tejas 106C

Who: Dr. Susan Garza, Associate Professor of English, Ms. Chelsea Perez and Ms. Michelle Villarreal, Graduate Students pursing their Masters in English

Presenters will discuss the role of new media in the composition classroom and share a specific example of teaching students in first year composition how to do library research.  In addition, they will share their reflections from the 2012 Conference on College Composition and Communication.

For more information: contact Elizabeth Benson-Landau at (361) 825-2510; or email elizabeth.benson-landau@tamucc.edu