In this Issue:

Career Center Encourages All Students to Attend Career Fair
Staying Safe While Surfing the World Wide Web
It’s Time to File the FAFSA

Whitman Smith, Director of Orientation Programs

Hi everyone,

We have some good things for you this issue!

I was in training with my orientation leaders the other day, and one of our topics was the vast array of things offered here in a day that, sadly, most students pass up without a glance or second thought. In order to be a good leader, you have to not only know what is going on but experience it. I know you all encourage your students to “get involved”, and a great opportunity to explore is coming up quickly that they don’t want to miss – the All Majors Career Fair on February 1, 2007. Does it matter that your student is a few years from graduation or hasn’t even decided on a major? The answer is “not at all!” Jonathan Herrington from our Career Center details why in his article below.

We all know what a wonderful tool the Internet is, but our bulletproof students often don’t realize that sharing on social networking sites can be pretty dangerous (or they do, but again, they’re bulletproof, remember?) Our Crime Prevention Officer, Thelma Curry, offers a great insightful article with some important tips to share with your students that use Facebook or MySpace with great frequency. The safety of your student is a #1 priority for all of us at Ole Miss.

Finally, Dewey Knight in Financial Aid reminds us that it is time to re-file the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) form again, and has some tips about making that often frustrating and time-consuming process a lot easier.

It is cold here today, but we’re heating up for a busy event-filled semester. Please remember to contact us when you need us, give us some feedback on Slice of Life, and come visit when you can.

Warmest regards,

Whitman

Contact us at stulife@olemiss.edu

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By Jonathan Herrington
Assistant Director for Employer Relations, Career Center

Dear Parents,

I would like to encourage your student to visit the Career Center. In general, students and parents view the Career Center as the place that assists seniors in finding employment. While helping students who are job searching is an important role of our office, we do many more things for students of all classifications, especially freshman.

Your student may be questioning whether or not they have chosen the right major, or they may not have chosen a major at all. We have full-time counselors that meet with students on a regular basis to assist them in exploring different majors and career opportunities. We also sponsor and facilitate hundreds of workshops and events throughout the year to educate students on the wide array of options that exist for them. One event that may assist your student is our All Majors Career Fair. The Career Fair will be held on February 1, 2007 inside the Turner Center Gym from 9am-2pm. All students and alumni are invited to attend.

The Career Center hosts a Career Fair every fall and spring that attracts employers from all fields and allows students to preview the job market and talk with representatives about full-time and part-time employment as well as co-op and internship opportunities. Freshmen are encouraged to attend because it gives them a jump on acquiring information from prospective employers and allows them to explore various career opportunities and occupations. This can be very valuable to a student who is questioning or is undecided in his or her major.

At the most recent fair in September of 2006, 88 employers and 16 professional schools were present to talk with students and take their résumés. Employers from Abercrombie and Fitch to Youth Villages and various federal agencies prospected for candidates. We plan for an even larger turnout this semester.

Again, we are here to assist your student and we are located in room 303 of Martindale (Student Services Building). For more information about The Career Center and the different programs we offer, go to www.career.olemiss.edu/ . We meet with students daily from 8am-5pm, Monday through Friday. In order for your student to meet with one of our counselors, please advise them to contact our office at (662) 915-7174 to schedule an appointment. Thank you for your support and for trusting us with your student. We look forward to assisting them throughout their college career.

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Staying Safe While Surfing the World Wide Web

Thelma Curry, Crime Prevention Coordinator
University Police and Campus Safety Department

Dear Parents,

We hope your student had a successful fall semester. Hopefully they have settled into the college scene, are making good grades, have new friends and did not cause you too many restless nights.

A growing trend among college students is to become part of the fast growing social networking groups on the internet. While students use such sites as MySpace and Facebook (most popular) caution should be used when posting personal information.

These sites, sometimes referred to as “friend-of-a-friend” sites, allow users to build online profiles and share personal information, photographs, and opinions in order to connect with new people through established friends. Many people who use these sites feel as though they can express themselves openly and find like-minded people quickly. However, the anonymity and friendly nature of these sites has also opened up a whole other level of security concerns on the Internet.

While you may meet new friends online, you may also be coming into contact with malicious people misrepresenting themselves. These are people you wouldn’t want to know. Social networking sites have become popular with Internet thieves and sexual predators looking to take advantage of the openness of the people on these sites and the large amount of personal information provided by some.

Here are some tips to share with your student to protect them on a social networking website:

Consider restricting access to your profile. If the site allows it, you may decide to limit access to your profile to a specific group of people, such as people from your classes, clubs, sports teams, Greek organizations or family.

Keep your private information private. Never post your full name, social security number, address, phone number, financial information or schedule. These will make you vulnerable to identity thieves or scams.

Choose a screen name that isn’t too close to your real name. Also avoid using any other personal information in your screen name, such as your street name or age. This information could be used to identify or locate you offline.

Think twice before posting your photo. Again, this could be used by a malicious person to identify you offline. It can also be altered or shared without your knowledge.

Don’t post information that can make you vulnerable to a physical attack. This includes your address, your schedule or where you will be meeting friends.

Use your common sense. If you are contacted by a stranger online, find out if any of your established friends know the person, or run an online search on them. If you decide to meet, do so in a public place and invite others to join you. Tell your friends where you’re going and when you expect to be back.

Trust your instincts. If you feel threatened or uncomfortable during an online interaction, don’t continue the dialogue. Report any offensive behavior to the social networking Web site administrators.

Be suspicious. Don’t take any information you receive from a new online contact at face value. The Internet makes it easy for people to say or do things they would never say or do in public or in face-to-face interactions.

If your son or daughter contacts you concerning identity theft, harassing phone calls or email, please have them contact the police department immediately at 662-915-7234.

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It’s Time to File the FAFSA

By Dewey Knight,
Associate Director of Financial Aid

The University encourages all students to file a free application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) each year. The priority date for filing the FAFSA is February 15. Please remember that the FAFSA must be filed every year in order for awards to be made or continue for students. Just because you filed it last year does not mean you are covered for next year. No family’s income, assets, or situation, no matter how great or small, should prevent the filing of this “gateway” to all types of financial aid at Ole Miss.

We recommend filing the FAFSA online if at all possible to avoid many of the pitfalls inherent with filing the paper version. One of the benefits is internal checks within the online form that don’t exist on the paper application. Making careless errors or forgetting to answer a question on the paper application can lead to delays that may result in missing deadlines or taking weeks to get the FAFSA to the point that the student’s aid eligibility can be determined. The online application won’t let you continue if you forgot to answer a question. It also does all the calculations for you.

While the FAFSA takes time to complete, the questions are not as difficult as many believe. Many are straightforward such as your name, address and Social Security number. Families should complete their tax returns as early as possible and ideally before filling out the FAFSA. If you are not able to get your taxes done before you need to submit the FAFSA, you can use estimates. It’s quite common for families to use estimated information. It’s far better to do a very good job estimating and apply on time than to wait and apply late. A copy of last year’s tax return can help. Although you may not know precisely what line 36 of your tax return will be, at least you can see what it was the year before. If you know generally how your earnings have changed, you can estimate and avoid gross errors. Of course, once you complete your taxes, you will need to update the FAFSA information with the real numbers.

We’re here to help if any of you have questions. Just call us at our toll free number at 1-800-891-4596 and someone will help you. If you prefer to visit us online, the address is http://www.olemiss.edu/depts/financial_aid and of course, your student can always drop by our office in 257 Martindale. Thanks for letting us help.

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