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The Backpack

A news source for parents and families of NAU students

Preparing For Graduation

As if time wasn’t spinning fast enough, the student workers in my office have created a countdown chain to keep track of how many days they have left in the semester. Spring graduation is just around the corner, but for those students planning to graduate in the fall, now is the time to make final preparations and submit their application packets.

If your student is preparing to graduate in fall 2009, I thought I would provide some helpful dates and reminders in case you are called on for help (you can also see the spring and fall enrollment calendars for all the key dates). The Office of the Registrar is the best place to start for graduation questions.

Apr 24 - Undergraduate graduation application deadline at the Registrar's Office for fall 2009 commencement (have your student contact his or her college for earlier graduation application deadlines; graduate students should contact the graduate college for their deadline).

Apr 27-May 1 - End of Term Week. This policy was developed to ensure that students are not overly burdened at the end of the term.

Ensure your student’s account is paid in full to prevent any delays in processing diploma and transcript requests. The most common charges on a student’s account include tuition, housing, and meals. The most common incidental or miscellaneous charges often include library, printing, parking, and Fronske charges.

Seniors with financial aid loans need to complete loan exit counseling requirements. Students with Perkins and/or nursing loans are referred to ecsi.net and students with federal loans are referred to dlssonline.com.

—Derek Hansen
Enrollment Management and Student Affairs

Steinway Benefit Concert

The School of Music is presenting a benefit recital featuring Tianshu Wang, an International Steinway Artist, on Saturday, April 11 at 6 p.m. at Steinway of Phoenix, located at 14418 N. Scottsdale Road, in Scottsdale.

Tickets are $10/person and may be purchased at the door, or ordered by calling Beth Martin at 888-778-7628.

Seating is limited so purchase your tickets in advance. All proceeds will benefit the School of Music’s All-Steinway initiative.

Flawless Finals

Finals are approaching and the folks at PLAID have posted some great tips for helping your student make it through finals without a hitch.

What is PLAID?

There is so much happening on campus that I often find myself saying, “I wish I knew about that!” PLAID is a student-produced website whose goal is to point out NAU-related activities and programs so your student will know. The PLAID staff focuses on arts and entertainment, off-campus activities and events, academics, sports and recreation, and more.

—Derek Hansen

Mother’s Day Brunch

I’m doing my best to remind students, but in case they forget, here’s my back door opportunity. NAU is sponsoring a Mother’s Day Brunch May 10! Please mark this on your calendar if you are able to attend.

Students can apply left over Dining Dollars towards the meal.

WHEN: May 10
TIME: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
PLACE: High Country Conference Center
RSVP: Call 928-523-9521 to make reservations
COST: The brunch will be $28 per person inclusive. Kids ages 10 and under are free
CONTACT: Janis Hunt, Director of Sales at 928-523-7778 or Bob Jones Director of Food and Beverage 928-523-1051

—Derek Hansen

Undergraduate Symposium

Apr 23-25

Campus-wide student presentations and performances to recognize undergraduate achievement and showcase hands-on research and creative performances.

Thu, Apr 23 at 7 p.m. - Keynote Presentation - Northern Arizona University Responding in a Time of Global Crisis by Dr. Romand Coles.

Additional information for the symposium events are available at nau.edu/symposium09.

All events are free and open to the public.

Important Dates For Students

College of Arts and Letters
Events Highlights

All events are free unless noted. For more events and information visit nau.edu/calevents. Send an e-mail to listserv@lists.nau.edu to subscribe the weekly arts newsletter.

FILM

nau.edu/filmseries

Films are shown at the Cline Assembly Hall at 7 p.m. unless otherwise noted.

MUSIC

nau.edu/music/events

THEATRE

nau.edu/theatreevents

ART EXHIBITIONS

nau.edu/artmuseum

Spoken Word Premier

NAU Television Services in collaboration with the Creative Writing program in the College of Arts and Letters presents “Spoken Word” documentary premier. Cline Assembly Hall, April 22, 7 p.m.

Paid Summer Internships

(Source: nps.gov)

Grand Canyon National Park Ecological Monitoring and Assessment Program (EMA) Partnership Projects is working with NAU to help connect research faculty and students with real world environmental issues at Grand Canyon National Park. This is an excellent opportunity for students to gain professional experience, build their resumes, develop working relationships with regional environmental professionals, and most important, work on behalf of the Grand Canyon.

Interns will begin work on a limited part-time basis in late spring 2009, transition to full time in summer, and return to limited part-time in fall to complete the project. For more information or to apply for an internship, e-mail a cover letter and resume with names of two NAU faculty references to Shawn Newell, Shawn.Newell@nau.edu, 928-523-8285.

Open Internships:

• Native Seeds
• Invasive Species
• Tusayan Transit Shelter Design
• Science Communication and Outreach Program
• Implement Best Practices for Optimizing Energy of Water Systems
• Science Research