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February 2020 Newsletter
Steps to Leaps Inaugural Semester a Success
“President Mitch Daniels has challenged us to help our students become more resilient, and the Provost’s Road Map for Transformative Undergraduate Education calls upon us to maximize the impact on our residential campus on the growth and success of our students,” said McCuskey.
As a collaborative effort, Steps to Leaps was created by staff along with students to foster lifelong habits and promote a growth mindset in the areas of well-being, leadership, impact, network building and grit. Steps to Leaps offers goal setting, action planning, worksheets, short motivational videos and more for self-assessment or facilitator-led assessments to help students celebrate their strengths while learning paths to improvement.
Grounded in the unique attributes represented by Generation Z, Steps to Leaps provides students with tools, resources, and support to help them realize their personal definitions of success. “Steps to Leaps content areas, or pillars, are broad representations of life-skills that everybody can tap into and refine for themselves,” McCuskey said. “Purdue has approached the model with the understanding that every student has enormous capacity and talent, and through engaging in the pillar topics and modules, can grow even more.”
Dr. Angela Duckworth, a world-renowned researcher and author of Grit:The Power of Passion and Perseverance , will share her insights on passion and perseverance in a talk on April 16.
Steps to Leaps taps into the strengths and talents of the broad Purdue community. The Steps to Leaps five pillars are:
- Well-Being—Staying healthy in body, brain and spirit is a life-long journey. Learn strategies to improve your own well-being with steps to security, health and prosperity.
- Leadership & Professional Development—Boilermakers have a strong tradition of leadership in their careers and communities. Learn how to tap into your own strengths as you become the next generation of leaders with steps to initiative, guidance and direction.
- Impact—Every Boilermaker strives to leave their footprint, and world-changing examples can be found throughout Purdue’s rich history. Learn the importance of creating an impact through your everyday actions with steps to modify, touch and influence.
- Networks— A strong network serves as a resource throughout your life. The tightest networks are created by connections with individuals and require active participation. Learn how to build your network with steps to making connections and bonds.
- Grit—Life is full of ups and downs. Learn strategies to tap into your inner fortitude to overcome challenges and become your best Boilermaker with steps to resolve and character.
Featured Stories
Keeping Boilermakers Healthy
Although Coronavirus is more prevalent in the news, the Purdue Student Health Center is reminding everyone the flu season is still in effect in Indiana.
Influenza (flu) can cause mild to severe illness, and at times can lead to death. Flu is different from a cold. Flu usually comes on suddenly. People who have flu often feel some or all of these symptoms:
- fever or feeling feverish/chills (although not everyone with influenza will have a fever)
- cough
- sore throat
- runny or stuffy nose
- muscle or body aches
- headaches
- fatigue (tiredness)
- some people may have vomiting and diarrhea, though this is more common in children than adults
CAPS to transition to new care model
In response to student concerns about timely access to service, Purdue University’s Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) will implement a new model of care at the beginning of the spring 2020 semester. The new care model is being implemented in response to consistent increased demand for CAPS services, which have risen by 22% since 2016.
CAPS’ new model of care is based on an approach where treatment intensity is determined by the level of client distress, clinical need and readiness to engage actively in the growth process – decisions that are made collaboratively between provider and client. This model has been successful in the U.S., Canada and the U.K. More.
Third Street to become new people-friendly corridor
Third Street on Purdue’s campus will have an all-new and more friendly look and feel when the 2020-21 academic year begins, thanks to a plan to eliminate vehicular traffic from Martin Jischke Drive to University Street.
A new pedestrian zone will include walkways and bicycle paths as well as outside furniture and planters. It is the first step in improving the character and function of Third Street, which will begin the transformation of the academic and student corridor to be similar to the outdoor area near the Bell Tower and Wilmeth Active Learning Center. Construction on the project is set to begin in May. More.
Think Summer
Is your student considering summer classes? Last year, nearly 18,000 students took advantage of summer courses at Purdue University. With more than 700 unique classes, including approximately 300 fully online options, summer is a great time to speed time to graduation. Take a look at the list of classes and explore financial aid options.
CCO Spotlight
Is your student graduating in May and looking for full time employment or on the search for a summer internship? As we enter the spring 2020 career fair season, the Center for Career Opportunities encourages your student to access their myCCO account to research internships and full time positions based on their field of interest. Your student can click HERE to login and access their myCCO account. Lastly, the CCO has resumed spring drop in hours for students seeking resume assistance as well as other career preparation questions. Your student can utilize these express 10-15 minute drop-in services by visiting YONG 132 Monday-Friday, 10:00am-4:00pm and will be connected with a CCO staff member.
University Residences - Contract Renewal
As a reminder, the deadline for current students to renew, modify, or cancel their contract is quickly approaching - February 28, 2020, at 11:59 p.m. EST. As of 12:00 a.m. (midnight), Eastern Standard time on Saturday, February 29, 2020, all signed contracts will be legally-binding and students will not be eligible to cancel their signed housing contract unless they are NOT attending Purdue University during the 2020-2021 Academic Year.Family Weekend 2020
Once we are ready to announce the dates for Family Weekend 2020, we will post a countdown to the date announcement on the Parent & Family Connections Facebook page.
Alpha Lambda Delta Phi Eta Sigma Honor Society Invitations
Congratulations to over 3,300 first year students who received an invitation to join Purdue’s Chapter of Alpha Lambda Delta Phi Eta Sigma Honor Society! Alpha Lambda Delta Phi Eta Sigma recognizes students who earned a 3.5 or above in their first semester of college work OR who have a 3.5 GPA for their first two semesters.
National Alpha Lambda Delta and National Phi Eta Sigma are the two oldest and most prestigious of all of the honor societies that honor and recognize the academic accomplishments of first year students. Founded at the University of Illinois in 1924 and 1923 respectively, they have the highest grade requirement, as many of the other honor societies require between a 3.0-3.4. They are also the only two national honor societies exclusively for first year students that are accredited by the Association of College Honor Societies ( https://www.achsnatl.org/)
The callouts/info sessions are scheduled for Tuesday, February 25 and Wednesday, February 26 (students will have more detailed information in their emailed invitation). The current officers will be there to talk about the organization and answer questions. The spring induction is set for Sunday, March 29, 2020. Parents and family members are encouraged to be there to recognize their students at this very nice ceremony at the Loeb Playhouse in Stewart Center.
A letter of congratulations will be sent during the week of February 3 to families of students who are eligible to join. Families may also want to look at Purdue’s chapter website:
https://purdue-aldpes.firebaseapp.com/ or the two national websites: www.nationalald.org and www.phietasigma.org.
If you have any questions, please reach out to Dr. Susan Melson Huffman, Purdue Chapter Advisor and Past National Alpha Lambda Delta President at smhuffman@purdue.edu
Upcoming Events
Dates
March 9, Second eight-week courses begin
March 16, Schedule of classes published for Fall 2020 Term
March 16-21, Spring Vacation
May 2, Classes end
May 4-9, Final Exams
May 9, Semester ends
May 15-17, Commencement
See the full 2019-2020 academic calendar