TheNon-Trad Journal

ANTSHE is an international partnership of students, academic professionals, institutions, and organizations whose mission is to encourage and coordinate support, education, and advocacy for the adult learner.

A Quarterly Newsletter Back to School Issue

From The President A few words from the ANTSHE President.

Cover Page

Non-Trad WeekFind out how you can celebrate, prepare and educate everyone about Non Trad Week. Page 2

2009 ConferenceYour home for the latest happenings on the 2009 National Conference.

Page 7

How to Date your Leadership Team!Find out how you can build a great relation-ship with your Stu-dent Government!Page 3

2009 ElectionsFind out about the 2009 ANTSHE Elections!

Page 6

Promoting EventsFind creative ways to promote your event. Also see the endless ideas that our Scholarship Officer has put together for your Club.Page 7

From the President:I hope everyone has had a relaxing and enjoyable summer vacation this year. As the typical summer vacation months come to a close I’m sure all our students and academic professionals will soon begin that very familiar preparation for the classroom. Hey, back to school shopping can be fun for Non-trads too!

Your ANTSHE Board of Directors has been working hard on your behalf over the summer months. In preparation for our mid-year meeting in Octo-ber the board has many initiatives and positive changes in progress. From constitutional amendments to final development of policies and procedures, your board has been working hard to keep ANTSHE moving forward and developing new ways to support you.

As we move forward over the coming months, I challenge each of you to continue to develop your nontrad clubs and organizational support for all nontraditional students on your campus. There are many ways to do this, but one of the most important is building partnerships with other campus organizations or campus institutional offices. To hear some suggestions about this and other great ideas, we provide a guidebook book on how to de-velop a Nontrad Club on your campus. Simply contact our Communications Officer to see about obtaining a copy for your office.

In the coming months you will see significant changes in our website and the information we provide there. Thanks to collaboration agreement with the Computer Science Department at Saint Martin’s University, our webpage’s will be produced and maintained by Computer Science Seniors, as part of their senior design projects. ANTSHE would like to thank Dr. Kyu Lee, Ph.D for his support of this program. We look forward to working these innovative students!

I look forward to a very active fall semester around the country. Don’t forget to send us your submission for Nontraditional Student Recognition Week the first full week of November each year. We recognize those individual clubs and organization and highlight your activities on our webpage, and then select the best for recognition and award at our annual conference. Contact ANTSHE Secretary Kay Mitchell for more information about this program.

Everyone should begin to fund raise now for next year’s annual conference at Saint Martin’s University in Lacey, WA. Next year’s theme “Reaching the Summit 2009” evokes the image of an ‘academic mountain hiker’ obtaining their goals and reaching the summit of a college degree – no matter the challenges on the way up! The conference will be full of inspirational speakers and presentations, as well as a diverse schedule of breakout ses-sions centered on reaching that ‘personal summit’ of being a successful nontrad. We will also have a professional track for those who work in support of nontraditional students. Check the conference website for current information. I look forward to seeing everyone there!

Association for Non-Traditional Students in Higher Education

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From the President Continued...ANTSHE annual election period will be upon us soon and we have many opportunities for you to serve. I encour-age all members of ANTSHE to consider serving in a greater capacity, either on your campus or within the ANT-SHE Board of Directors. The election pages of the website will contain information and explain the entire election process in detail. However, if you have any questions and are considering seeking positions on our board do not hesitate to call me directly.

I wish everyone a successful fall semester and look forward to lively discussions and idea sharing on our message board. Using the ANTSHE Listserv is a great place share ideas with your ANTSHE friends across the country and

let everyone know what great things you are doing on your campus this year. -Jeffrey Bunnell

November 2-8, 2008ANTSHE is proud to announce its annual nationwide celebration of Nontraditional Students in Higher Education. In-stitutions and members are encouraged to plan events to recognize the nontraditional students on their campus, as well as highlight efforts that improved their adult student environment. Our National Nontraditional Student Week is held the first full week of November each year. Your ideas for celebrations are only limited by your own imagination. We encourage everyone to share these ideas on our listserv's via OSU and Learningtimes.org. We want to know what YOU are doing! ANTSHE will select the best celebration of those submitted for special recognition on our website and you will receive an award at our annual conference in March.

If you are a member of ANTSHE and would like us to highlight your institution on our website, simply email your information. Please include a link to any active web pages highlighting your club or organization, a contact name and phone number. For more information or questions contact Kay Mitchell info@antshe.org

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Celebrating Non-Traditional Student Week

And the Winner is...At the annual conference in March of 2008, ANTSHE recognized several universities for their commitments and events to the non traditional student. The winner of this award was given to SUNY Cortland. Congratulations SUNY Non Trads! Find out how they celebrated their week on our website at www.antshe.org!

Through the Eyes of a Non Trad’s KidBy Ciara Mitchell and Kay Mitchell

Hello, my name is Ciara Mitchell. I am 9 years old and I go to Skyline Elementary School in Stillwater, Oklahoma. I really like school. I like science, math and art. And what is so neat is that my mom also likes school and not just mine. She goes to Oklahoma State University, OSU. She mostly goes to school at night so I don't always see her right after I get home but on the nights that she doesn't have school, she and I get to do our homework together. That is so cool! My mom and I get to share many things about our schools. For example, what we like and don't like. We also share something else. My mom is on the Board of ANTSHE. It is really cool because she shares her friends with me and they make me feel special and they listen to my ideas. ANTSHE ROCKS!

Hello, my name is Karen Mitchell. I mostly go by the name of Kay. I serve on the Board of Directors for ANTSHE. I am the secretary. I thought I would share with you what it is like to keep minutes in a National Organization but I thought that I would share with you my daughter instead. it is not always easy to work full time, attend school full time and be a single mom, which in itself is non traditional because I chose to be a single mom. I have been blessed with an understanding child who doesn't complain about the long hours I put in not only at work but the time I spend on the computer with school and with ANTSHE. Lately my daughter has joined me on Board meetings and has given her opinion. This is something we both can share and I am proud of her for trying to understand what I do and want to help just as I am proud of her for her role in her school.

How to Date your Leadership TeamBy Donna Minkley

It’s the start of another school year and your organization is faced with accomplishing its mission. You may be looking at the calendar before you and saying, “Where do I start?” The best place to start is by preparing your organization for the upcoming year by getting to know each other, discovering your individual temperaments, and forming friendly working relationships.

If you’re like most organizations you either held your elections at the end of last year or you’re about to form a brand new leader-ship team. Perhaps you were out of touch with each other over the summer or some of you know each other well but there are several new officers who have not worked with the more experienced returning officers. How can you form strong bonds that will facilitate an organized and productive school year?

A tried and true method of getting groups acquainted with each other are those fun little games and activities known as icebreak-ers. Oh sure, you groan at meetings when the perky leader says, “everybody stand up” but after you get up and do something silly

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How to Date your Leadership Team Continued...with the strangers around you they are no longer strangers. Conversation becomes much easier, communication begins and every-one usually has an observation to share about what just went on. Beginning your first meeting with your leadership team or even your general membership with an appropriate ice breaker puts everyone at ease.

Name games and reveal games that get participants talking about themselves are especially useful. For example, tell each person to stand say their name and where they live. Then tell them to say one thing they like that begins with the same letter as their first name. Hi my name is Donna and I’m from Salem, WI and I love dogs. Everyone who hears this now thinks about Donna who loves dogs. They may also love dogs and feel camaraderie or perhaps they like cats and wonder if I like cats too, either way they are forming associations which will help them remember my name and something they can talk to me about. For a smaller group or for a twist have them repeat all those names and likes that were spoken before their turn. Make sure you give the group a few moments to settle down in between each activity because this is when they are getting to know each other.

Once you have done a couple of light hearted fun ice breaking activities then you can move on to the more complicated and in-tense team building activities. Team building activities done with a different goal in mind. It’s not about learning names or start-ing conversations but it moves the group into the next level of group dynamics: cooperation. These activities usually involve more complex tasks that everyone must take part in to complete. There are usually rules involved which make the task more diffi-cult and insure 100% participation. Perhaps there is no talking or a requirement that everyone successfully finish before the group is done. Sometimes groups compete against each other but reserve those activities for larger groups or later in the year. The goal at the beginning is to show the team that they can accomplish difficult tasks when working together even in difficult circum-stances.

Each year in our community the choir puts on a Christmas Madrigal Feast. I volunteer to train the freshman and sophomore “wenches” who serve the food. I have used team building to get this cliquish group of teens to feel like a team despite their obvi-ous differences. I also need to stress to this group the importance of being quiet in the kitchen so that noise does not disturb the performance going on during dinner. It changes from year to year but two successful activities that I like for this age group are outlined below.

Tell us your name and something you’ve done that you think no one here has ever done before. This brings out interesting per-sonal information about vacations, hobbies, competitive successes in sports, 4H, or adventures in teenage strangeness. If one of the other kids has done the same thing they say “I’ve done that”! Then the person speaking needs to find something else they’ve done. As you can see this activity teaches names and builds common ground between individuals. Once this is done, and with 30 kids it takes a bit of time, we are ready to kick it up a notch.

Next I pull out a bag with strips of paper in it. The strips contain a recipe for chili but each strip has only one ingredient or one step in the cooking process on it (make sure you have one strip for every person combine steps for less people or if you need to add more steps or ingredients to fit your group don’t forget serving instructions and the garnish). The participants are instructed not to speak at all during the entire activity. Each person takes one strip of paper from the bag. The activity begins when everyone has one. In complete silence the “wenches” had to line up in the correct order of the recipe: the list of ingredients first, then steps of cooking, and finally the serving and garnish instructions.

As the facilitator I ask them to hold up the strips and inspect their recipe. If there is a problem, I tell the person to try again they are not in the right place. After they succeed, I have them read the strips out loud and in order. Making sure they take a few min-utes to answer the question: what did we learn from this? Reflection and discussion helps the message sinks in.

When you are selecting your activities take your time and think about what you are trying to accomplish. If you want your group to be able to accept each other and feel close, find an activity that requires trust and touch. If you need the team to get to know each other an activity that gets them talking about themselves and listening to others would be appropriate. If they need to know their way around send them on a scavenger hunt. If your looking for cooperation have them build something together (newspaper towers using only tape perhaps).

Facilitating is very important, make sure that everyone is respected and no negative or harsh words are used. Keep it positive with encouragement giving hints only if the group gets frustrated and then give them in the form of a question. Facilitating well also establishes your own leadership within the group and allows you to discover the hidden talents in your teammates through obser-vation.

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A simple outing to go bowling, trap shooting, miniature golfing, fishing or canoeing can also work for team and relationship build-ing. You can think of it as team dating so don’t do it only once. Periodically help your team remember they like each other. Team relationships grow as our personal relationships grow with time, care, and attention. Learning to have fun together before you begin your events can go a long way toward making executing events more fun. Getting ideas for ice breakers isn’t very hard. Most RAs, activities directors, and group facilitators have an entire repertoire of them in their heads and you’ll find if you ask them, that they love to share them. There are also many internet resources out there for you. Type “ice breakers” into your favorite search engine and explore. Why not give simple ice breakers and team building a try at your next board meeting? You have nothing to loose. Check out these websites for some ideas. Have a happy and produc-tive school year. http://wilderdom.com/games/TeamBuildingExercisesAbout.htmlhttp://www.teampedia.net/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Pagehttp://humanresources.about.com/od/icebreakers/Ice_Breakers_Energizers_and_Activities.htm

Interested in Hosting the ANTSHE Annual Conference?ANTSHE wants you!!!! The ANTSHE Conference Officer is here to work with anyone interested in hosting the an-nual conference. From putting together a bid to assisting with details of planning and organizing this important event, we can help. Marie Basler, the Conference Officer can be reached at 405-744-5484 or marie.basler@okstate.edu or go to the ANTSHE website and click on conferenceplanner@antshe.org.

Non-Trad Student Holiday Happenings:

ANTSHE wants to know how your campus celebrates the winter holiday season. Would you take a minute and send us a summary of your favorite holiday festivities?

Do you help the needy?Invite kids to campus?Celebrate traditions of local cultures? Have a pot luck lunch?Have a cookie exchange?Have a food drive?

Other Non-trads are looking for meaningful ways to celebrate the many traditions of the winter season. Please send a quick note to Communications@antshe.org we will share your responses in our next issue.

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2009 ANTSHE ElectionsThe Elections of our new 2009 officers are just around the corner. If you are an ANTSHE member in good standing and think you can do the job of a President, Communications Officer, Secretary, then think about running for the ANTSHE Board of Directors Position. You can make a positive impact throughout the United States.

The Following Positions are up for Election for the 2009 year:

President:The President is the chief executive officer of this organization and is responsible for fulfilling the mission of this association. The President presides at meeting of this organization and the Executive Committee and Board of Directors. The President shall be an ex officio member of all committees and shall serve as one of this organization’s representatives. The President shall trans-mit to the organization for its approval or disapproval all ideas and plans proposed by the Board of Directors which may affect this organization or its individual members; and shall take no action binding upon this organization without either specific prior authorization or subsequent ratification by this organization. The President is responsible for long range planning; being a spokes-person; decision-making; momentum; monitor progress. The President may only vote to break a tie. The President shall appoint vacancies on the Board of Directors, appoint committees, and perform all duties pertaining to the President. The President is ex-pected to attend all Board of Director and Executive Board meetings as well as the annual conference.

Communications Officer:responsible for public relations/publicity, maintain listserv, newsletter, logo, web page, directory, association brochure, communi-cations to membership and other contacts, including conference materials and conference registration processes.The Communica-tion Officer is responsible for creating a newsletter.

Secretary:The Secretary is responsible for the maintenance of the organization’s records and correspondence. In the absence of a Judicial Vice President, the Secretary shall maintain a true copy of the Constitution and Bylaws. The Secretary will maintain records and documents of this organization. The Secretary shall keep an accurate record of meetings and activities of the organization and the Executive Committee and Board of Directors. The Secretary will chair the ANTSHE Awards Committee and will coordinate the presenta- tion of all ANTSHE awards at its annual con-ference. The Secretary reports to the President and is a voting member of the Executive Committee and Board of Directors. The Secre- tary is expected to attend all Board of Director and Executive Board meetings as well as the annual conference. Failure to attend two scheduled meetings in a row (real or virtual) or failure to complete an assigned project by the mutually agreed due date shall be considered grounds for removal from ANTSHE Board.

Student CoordinatorThe Student Coordinator shall serve as man- ager and resource person for the four student representatives and the student membership population. The Student Coordinator shall co-ordinate and provide a list of projects for the student representative to be completed quar-terly. This task list shall be in coordination with, and generally support, the mission and focus of ANTSHE Board of Directors. The Student Coordinator shall produce a monthly newsletter to all the students of this organization and will coordinate the release of the newsletter with the Communications Officer for posting on the ANTSHE website. The Student Coordinator shall field all questions posed by students and work with the Communications Officer to post topical and relevant resource information on the Website for members. The Student Coordinator shall be appointed by the President. The Student Coordinator reports to the President and is a voting member of the Board of Directors. The Student Coordinator is expected to attend all Board of Director meetings as well as the annual conference.

Student Membersduties may include newsletter contributions, student organizations, campus government, conference planning, regional contacts and other activities and projects as requested by the ANTSHE Student Coordinator

For more information on the 2009 ANTSHE Election please visit our Website!

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Get off to the right start to the School Year... ...Promoting your Event the Right Way! by Stephanie

Promoting your events on campus – is there more than posters??? YES there should be!

Professional marketers agree that WORD-OF-MOUTH is the best promotion you can do…. So get talking and engage others!

You can increase participation in your programs by diversifying your marketing plan… don’t just have printed promo-tion to hang on the walls and boards in the same old places you always have. Brainstorm with your group ~ there’s a ton of ideas out there, and don’t be afraid to try new things.

• Promote your events using your own personal enthusiasm. You are your best testimonial to excit-ing programs, even if they are educational. If you are excited about your programs, others will want to join you!

• Ask faculty to promote your programs. Faculty can lend credibility to your programs when they encourage their classes to attend.

• Create a word-of-mouth marketing team. Ask these folks to an-nounce programs in their classes, at other meetings, to their friends and all folks in between!

• Determine where the busy areas are on your campus and tell folks about your program.

• Call (and text) your cell phone friends telling them about your event and inviting them to attend.

• Co-sponsor your events with other organizations, departments and even community partners. As the saying goes, two mouths are better than one!

• Get your audience involved in your programs. An audience that is engaged in the program will both learn more and anticipate that you will have another great program and in turn will tell their friends.

• Reward and recognize your members and volunteers who help with the programs, and then they will be more excited to work with you again.

• And, remember to review the evaluation from your previous pro-gram’s marketing plan so that you don’t do things poorly twice and you expand the plan. If you didn’t complete an evaluation from that last program do so this time (what went well and what would you do differ-ent next time).

Before you start marketing your events do take 15 minutes to identify what you want the audience to get out of the program; this will make it easier for you to identify various aspects of your marketing plan. For example: who is the target audience; where should you be promoting this program; how do we reach the folks who will best benefit and enjoy this program; and who can we team up with to make this event better?

And although WORD-OF-MOUTH is going to make up 75% of your marketing plan make sure you use good printed promotion to enhance your verbal promotion. Think about the color(s) of the printed promo; is the information correct; is there enough, but not too much information; and is it creative?

Now, get out there and talk to people!

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Mark your calendars and visit the State of Washington for your Spring Break. Visit our website at www.antshe.org/2009conference. Great places to visit, great things to learn at the conference!

12th Annual National Conference

March 20-23, 2009Saint Martin’s University, lacey Washington

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It takes a Village...by Martin Moore

Elections Committee, Scholarship Committee, Conference Committee, Fundraising committee….the list goes on! Join one of these committees and watch ANTSHE blossom!

This organization can’t be run by only a few people, it takes a village to make something grow and blossom. In order for ANTSHE to be its best, it needs your activism. There are plenty of great ways to get involved. ANTSHE wants to give back through scholarships and bringing more awareness about Non-Traditional Students around the country. In order to accomplish this, we need your innovative activism to make this into a reality.With everyone pitching in we can truly make a difference in the lives of students and the general public. For more information please contact: Communications@antshe.org! We would love to hear your ideas and would love you to help us grow ANTSHE!

Name: ________________________________ Organization Name:______________________________________________

Member #: _____________________________ Address: ____________________________________________________

E-mail: _______________________________________________ Phone Number: _________________________________

I am interested in one or the following committees:

Elections Committee Fundraising Committee

Conference Committee Scholarship Committee Grant Writing Other ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Share your ideas with ANTSHE!_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Please send in your form to:

Get involved with ANTSHE623 Eastside Street, Suite 406

Olympia, WA 98501

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Odds and Ends....Introducing through the Eyes of a Non Trad’s Kid!We want to hear straight from your kids about what it is like to have their parents be a Non-Traditional Student. You heard about Ciara Mitchell, daughter of ANTSHE Secretary Kay Mitchell talk about what it is like for her to see her mom be an adult learner and involved as an ANTSHE member. We invite you to have your kids share their thoughts about what it’s like to see their mom or dad be a Non-Trad Student through their perspective. Please submit your daughters or sons article to communications@antshe.org no later than September 24th!

Help at the 2009 ANTSHE Auction!We need your help with our 2009 ANTSHE Auction. Join other ANTSHE members and support our annual Silent Auc-tion to benefit ANTSHE Scholarship Fund. All proceeds will go directly to the ANTSHE Scholarship Fund. Everyone coming to the conference is encouraged to bring items for this annual event. These items can include hand crafted art or pottery, donations from your university or college, or personal items (such as artwork or handmade items) you wish to donate to this worthy cause. If you know of anyone that may want to donate items to our auctions please contact Betty Mixon-Mayo at Financeofficer@antshe.org.

If you would like to make a direct donation towards the Scholarship Fund please e-mail Vice President Donna Minkley at vicepresident@antshe.org

2008-2009 Board of Directors Contact List:President..........................................................Jeffrey Bunell........................................president@antshe.orgVice President..................................................Donna Minkley................................vicepresident@antshe.orgFinance Officer.............................................Beaty Mixon-Mayo............................financeofficer@antshe.orgCommunications Officer.............................Martin A. Moore..............................communications@antshe.orgMembership/Recruiting Officer.....................Sandra Raab.........................................membership@antshe.orgSecretary...................................................Kay Mitchell...................................................secretary@antshe.orgConference Officer........................................Marie Basler................................conferenceplanner@antshe.orgScholarship Officer...............................Stephanie Sirovatka-Marshall..............scholarshipofficer@antshe.orgStudent Coordinator..............................currently vacant..........................................................info@antshe.orgStudent Board Member..........................Jamie Corrnett...........................................jame.cornett@stmartin.edu

www.antshe.org

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APRs, platinum cards, and rewards programs 101by Betty Mixon-Mayo

Due to popular demand, we're continuing our back-to-school theme again this month! You graduated from Credit Scores 101 in August; now get your pencils ready for a quick lesson on credit cards. This month, you'll learn all about APRs, platinum cards, rewards programs, and more:

· The average person in the US has nine credit cards.

· The average total credit limit for those cards is $19,000.

· 115 million Americans carry a credit card balance. On average, individual balances are around $7,000 to $8,000 dollars.

· Some of the earliest credit cards were shaped like medal-lions, made out of metal or paper.

· Modern credit cards were first invented in the 1950s with the launch of The Diners Club.

· It is smart to always pay your credit card bill on time each month.

· Visa, MasterCard, and American Express are the largest credit card issuers in America.

· Credit card companies usually only check one of your three credit reports for your application.

· That credit report inquiry can damage your credit score.

· You don't have to be a full time university student to qualify for a student credit card. Part-time, online, and community college students can also apply.

· Credit cards around the world are all the same size: 2.12" by 3.37."

· Opening a retail credit card to save 10% is almost always a bad idea.

· Average daily balance is the most common type of credit card interest calculation and more expensive than adjusted balance methods. Read how it works.

· It helps your credit score to keep your credit card debt-to-limit ratio below 10%, this is called "revolving utilization."

· Even if you pay your credit card off in full each month, you could be still exceeding the 10% debt-to-limit ratio.

· The chart that explains your credit card rates and fees is called a "Schumer's Box" after Senator Chuck Schumer.

· Secured cards are designed to help borrowers with no credit or bad credit establish their finances.

· Credit card issuers can change your interest rates and terms whenever they want.

Remember to Vote November 4, 2008!

Check your Secretary of state website for more information on voting!

T H E N O N - T R A D J O U R N A L

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