In this Issue

	Career Development for Academic Success
	Parent To Parent: Finding a Mentor
	New on the Family Association Flickr Page

In Other News

Links We Love

Planning a visit to Grand Valley? Check out local hotels and the Alumni House for accomodations.  

Sign up for GV Now news alerts and receive daily e-mails with headlines and links to Grand Valley news.

Encourage your son or daughter to sign up for emergency alerts and campus closings due to inclement weather.

Commuter Tips

Does your student commute from home? Here are five tips for encouraging your commuter student to connect with campus:

1. Join a club sport.

2. Apply for a job on campus.

3. Eat or study on campus before or after class.

4. Attend events on campus such as plays, lectures, and sporting events.

5. Take part in an activity they enjoyed in high school.

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Career Development for Academic Success

As a parent it is important to encourage your student to be responsible for their academic success at Grand Valley.

Academic Advising is one resource that can provide information about academic programs, help your student schedule courses that are consistent with their educational goals, and empower them to make decisions about their education.

Before your son or daughter visits one of Grand Valley’s Advising Centers, direct them to these helpful tips and encourage them to contact their assigned faculty advisor. They can also review their role as a student in the advising process.

The Counseling & Career Development Center can also help your student find their ideal career path and choose an ideal major. The counselors can help with career assessment testing, researching potential careers, or even graduate school preparation in the future. Their services include a variety of study skills materials, all easily accessible online.

Once your student is on a degree path to a career, encourage them to utilize the job search resources from Career Services. This office offers a variety of internship and career search services.

Career Services can assist in building résumés, interview preparation, finding an internship, finding a job, and networking in a future career field. Your son or daughter can access free online internship and job postings as well as a database of alumni and other professionals who are willing to provide informational interviews or job-shadowing opportunities.

Together, Academic Advising, Career Counseling, and Career Services can help your student gain personal responsibility for their academic success and future career.

Parent To Parent: Finding a Mentor

Whether your student lives on campus or commutes to class, encouraging them to make connections with Grand Valley faculty and staff members can enhance their entire college experience.

“Our daughter connected with Grand Valley staff from the beginning and it made a difference in her success,” said Mimi Merz, whose daughter Erin graduated from Grand Valley in 2005. Merz found that her daughter benefited from the relationships she formed with athletic and academic mentors on campus.

When Erin joined the swim team freshman year, she gained a mentor in the form of her swim coach, Dewey Newsome. For the next four years, Newsome became a resource for Erin, helping her with time management and leadership skills that she used both as a student athlete and in the classroom. With Merz and her husband living in the Upper Peninsula, she felt relieved to know that Erin had a mentor right on campus.

“Erin also had the opportunity to meet Chris Barbee and discuss her broadcasting major,” said Merz. Barbee, the Director of Alumni Relations, had also studied broadcasting at Grand Valley. He became an academic resource for Erin concerning her major and future career plans.

Mentors on campus helped Erin make invested connections to both her academics and swimming. Mentors can also benefit commuter students who want to feel more attached to Grand Valley and their educational experience.

If your student is interested in finding a mentor on campus, they can contact a professor, an academic advisor, or a career counselor. You can also contact the Family Association and we can help you and your student make a mentoring connection at Grand Valley.

New on the Family Association Flickr Page

Visit the Family Association's Flickr page for photos from Family Weekend. You may also submit your own Grand Valley family memories. It's a great way to get a glimpse of campus from the perspective of our Laker families.

Enjoy the rest of fall semester! Our next issue will come to you in December, just in time for final exams.