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June 2020 Issue

10 College Knowledge Tips for New (and Returning) Students

By Tracy Spence, Student Support & Retention Specialist

Congratulations! You’re a Jefferson State Community College student now. What do you need to know?

1.) Check your JSCC email daily. Important college communication will be sent to your JSCC email address. It is easy to add the Outlook app to your phone and get notifications.

2.) Our Career Coach tool can help you if you don’t feel confident about your career path and major: https://jeffersonstate.emsicc.com/?radius=&region=Jefferson%20State

3.) Instructors may or may not contact you before class starts. You will check Blackboard, a link in your MyJSCC portal, the first day classes start, Friday, August 21st.

4.) There are deadlines for dropping, adding, and withdrawing. You may  find those on the college calendar: https://www.jeffersonstate.edu/academic-calendar

5.) To be successful in college, you need to put in the time. You should dedicate about 10 hours a week to each class. For example, if you are taking three classes, set aside 30 hours for school a week. If you are taking five classes, set aside around 50 hours.

6.) To be successful, you also need to ask questions and use available resources. Our Learning Success center, our librarians, our JeffCoach program’s Student Success Seminars, and our instructors can help you if you are struggling. Please seek help sooner rather than later!

7.) There will be a lot of new words and phrases associated with college. It is okay if you don’t know what something means. Please ask us if you don’t know.

8.) Speaking of. . . every class has a “syllabus” and course outline. These documents are very important. They explain course objectives, required materials, policies, and much more. Read them and refer back to them.

9.) A “hybrid” class has an on-campus lab. If you are taking a hybrid class, you should show up when and where your schedule indicates. And, in case you don’t know, M=Monday, T=Tuesday, W=Wednesday, R=Thursday, F=Friday, and S=Saturday.

10.) ALWAYS backup your computer files and try to come up with a system for saving files for classes so that they are easy to find again.

And, finally, you CAN do this. The faculty and staff at JSCC are on your team, and we’re glad you are here. We’re confident you will “find your place.”