Welcome Back

It is time again to celebrate the start of another semester at Kansas State University! Many of you are checking K-State Online for your course information, cleaning up your email and getting organized this week. Welcome back. While we may not see each other in person regularly, Student and Faculty Services (SFS) here at the Division of Continuing Education (DCE) values our communication with each of you, and we enjoy the start of the semester for the opportunity to reconnect with many of you again.

Left to right: Maleah Lundeen, Student Services Coordinator, Lydell Cox, Administrative Specialist, Jason Maseberg-Tomlinson, Director of Student and Faculty Services, and Laura Widenor, Faculty Services Coordinator.

Summer 2013 has brought some changes to the university and to SFS. I would like to talk about those changes and bring you all up to speed on what has happened and what to expect this semester.

Shortly, we will launch our revised website for student services. Our website will not only be updated and rearranged, we also have added an instant messaging feature so you can chat with us directly from the website via your computer, tablet or phone. Never has there been so many ways to connect with DCE. We have also updated our Examination Proctor Agreement, and we hope this improves our service to you.

Locally, we have extended our office space. For those of you taking exams in Manhattan, we have added a study table. If you come early for your exam, you can sit and study as you wait. Please make yourself comfortable in our office. While we have added some overflow testing areas to accommodate more test takers, we still ask that you schedule your exams as early as possible. We are seeing more students than ever take exams here at DCE. If you have not used our local proctoring service for online class exams, give us a call. We provide free proctoring in Manhattan for K-State distance courses.

As you head into the semester, you will also notice two other resource changes at K-State. Soon we will be updating our email system from Zimbra to Office 365. This transition will take place over the next few months, and we look forward to the new tools Office 365 has to offer students. You can learn more at here. Secondly, you may have already noticed that our K-State Bookstore has changed management and is now the “K-State Campus Store.” For those of you ordering books from Varney’s, you will notice that they too are still supporting book sales.

We look forward to a great semester. We will be celebrating all of our online learners in November with National Distance Learning Week. Look for chances to win drawings and other contests through Twitter, Facebook, email and this blog. We are also wrapping up the university’s celebration of K-State’s 150th anniversary with the 2013 Homecoming. It has been a great year for K-State. We can’t forget football and men’s and women’s basketball. These teams are all doing well, and it is great to hear about all of your watch parties and gatherings around the world.

Good luck to you all this semester and keep in touch if you need anything. SFS is here to serve you.

Posted in: Student Services