Honors program

After a bit of a break, I figure it’s probably time to talk about something significant. A topic some of you readers might be interested in is the honors college. The Frederick Meijer Honors College is a spectacular program, and not just because there is a brand new facility for it. In fact, I figure it’s probably best to just talk about the academic portion of the program for right now, and get back to the facilities later on.

One of the first big concerns is “how do I get into the program?” Why thank you for asking, reader. The honors college does require a secondary application, and if I recall correctly it does include a short essay as well as a submission of a previous work from High School. Your admission is also decided in part by your ACT and GPA in High School, but don’t think that these are the only factors, or that there is a minimum GPA. However, if they do have a 28 ACT and a 3.6 GPA, students are invited to apply (transfer or current students have different admissions requirements).

After being admitted, a big concern is in the particulars of the program; advantages and disadvantages, continuance requirements, etc. And believe me when I say this, there are a lot of advantages. But first we should probably talk about the requirements. Aside from needing to maintain a GPA, honors students are required to take three distinct courses. First, they have to take a civilization sequence (usually their freshman or sophomore year). This is a year long, 12 credit pair of classes that can cover a variety of subjects, such as Greek and Roman Civilization, the Making of America, European Civilization, or the Middle Eastern World. After this comes a Junior Seminar, or an intensive course of study in any one field of the student’s choice. The curriculum is capped off with a Senior Project, in which the student conducts a research project on a field within their major, with the approval of honors faculty, in an essentially “independent study” environment.

By now you’re probably ready to hear the advantages, and they greatly outweigh the costs. Honors courses require a lot of reading outside of class, and as a result, the courses themselves are extremely engaging. There’s less busy work and far more focus on significant projects or papers. Many of the courses are team taught, which means that for a single class you will have two different professors teaching from two different areas, giving you an array of perspectives on the subject. One other big advantage is a simple matter of saving time: honors students do not have to take a three course theme to graduate, as their theme is “Honors.” That of course isn’t even bringing up the fact that these students have access to some of the newest facilities on campus. And of course the most obvious reason may be that a degree that alludes to an individual’s completion of a rigorous course of study tends to look quite impressive.

Having talked myself dry and probably bored you to death, I’ll stop here. If you’ve got concerns on the honors program, feel free to ask, as a lot of the admissions students are part of the curriculum.

-Kyle

Art on campus

For the second week in a row, I find myself writing an entry here while waiting for a class or meeting. Which is nice, because I really need something to keep my mind off of the busy weekend ahead. Exams, projects and papers that need to get done, not to mention a home football game. On an unrelated note, today’s topic of discussion is fine arts on campus. Keep in mind, what’s listed below is just the tip of the ice berg.

Most of the fuss lately has been over Art Prize, which, for those not in the know, is in downtown Grand Rapids for the most part. Surprise surprise, that’s next door to GVSU’s Pew Campus. Registration for voting on Art Prize has been on campus for a couple of weeks, and some of the works are even featured on the campus. But that’s just a once-in-a-while thing, right? So what about art on campus at other times? The downtown campus has some great art hanging on the walls or in the courtyards, but I personally think that the best is in the Allendale Campus. Anyone visiting should be sure to check out Transformational Links and the Heaven and Earth sculptures, or the art gallery found in the Performing Arts Center.

And speaking of performing arts, a big congratulations goes out to one of our own admissions employees (he’ll remain unnamed here, but you know who you are), who has a major role in one of this year’s theatrical productions, Rent. The musical’s going to be in November, if I recall correctly, and is just one in a long string of student productions that knock the audiences out of their seats. If anyone gets a chance and wants to see Grand Valley’s students in action, definitely contact GVSU Ticket Sales, and I can assure you that you will not regret it. If theatre isn’t your particular cup of tea, there are so many instrumental and choral ensembles that I lose track of them all before I finish reading an event calendar, so if you’re looking for jazz, men’s ensembles, or an orchestral ensemble, we’ve got it all. And that doesn’t even cover our dance program, which, if I recall correctly, has recitals that are open to the public.

But, having run out of things to say at the moment, it’s probably time for me to sign off. Let me know if you’ve got any questions,
-Kyle

Going downtown

I just got off the bus on the Grand Rapids campus, but still have time to spare before my next class. So why not tell you all a little about the Grand Rapids campus, right? Pins and needles, I’m sure. A lot of students worry about the whole split campus set up, but as I’ve said before, you shouldn’t be concerned—the busing system works out great. But a large number of students should still be interested about the downtown campus, since we have several majors that are essentially run from this location. Chief among these are business, nursing and the health sciences, criminal justice, education, engineering, social work, and public and nonprofit administration. There are others, but these seven make up the bulk of the facilities. There are really three structures worth mentioning downtown; the Devos Center (not to be confused with Devos Place), the Eberhard Center, and the Cook-Dewitt Center for Health Sciences.

Devos is where I spend most of my time, and not just because of the dining hall there. There’s a large number of classrooms, as well as the entire Seidman School of Business office, multiple computer labs, and the Steelcase Library. It’s probably the best place to study between classes, since so many resources are available to you. But just next to the river is the Eberhard Center, which I thin is the tallest Grand Valley structure. More classrooms are here, as well as a convention center, and it’s connected to the Kennedy Engineering Hall. I was just in the engineering hall this summer for a friend’s open house for class, and it’s a great building. Finally, the CHS building is further inside Grand Rapids, on the hill. I’ve never actually been inside this structure myself, but I can tell you that it has a great location. The street that it’s on is referred to as the “medical mile,” and it’s a prime spot for students finding internships in the health sciences.

But that’s all for now. If you’ve got a question, don hesitate to ask here or give us a call.

-Kyle

Recreation facilities on campus

First home football game tonight, which means the campus is pumped up. The admissions office, not so much. It’s a little quiet up here on the third floor today, so it’s probably a good chance to get a little writing done. Even though I’m tempted to talk about football, I probably won’t have much to say until after the game. But along the lines of athletics, a good subject to bring up is the campus rec. center.

GVSU has a great student gym, with three floors of facilities. The middle floor has a load of cardio machines, probably more than you could ever need. It’s also convenient if you warm up or cool down on aerobics machines, because the middle floor is also where the entrance to the facility is. Beneath that we have weight machines, free weights, a total of five basketball courts, and various medicine balls. A nice additional feature is the elevated track; the third floor has a 1/9 of a mile track with a great view of the three main basketball/volleyball courts. And what might be the best part of all is the fact that students have free access to the rec. center with their id card. The rec. center also hosts a large number of our on campus intramural sports.

But there’s more than one workout facility on campus. Students also have free access to Grand Valley’s pool facility, racquetball courts, and the Laker Turf Center. So if students want to run a few laps on the Turf Center’s 300 meter track, play a game of flag football, or just swim a few laps, all a student needs is a valid GVSU id.
But that’s about it for now, all of this talk about the gyms on campus is making me feel guilty for not working out more often. As always, if you’ve got a question, post it.

-Kyle

First week of class

Today has been a day that’s given me flashbacks to the summer break; we have today off as part of the Labor Day weekend here at GVSU, and even though there are still students on campus, I think most of them are taking the opportunity to sleep in. But classes did start last week, on the 31st, with all the bells and whistles. Getting used to new professors, meeting new people, actually finding the classrooms, quite a lot happens in quite a short period of time. Having been here for a while, I forget how intimidating it can be to a new student, but it’s not as bad as you would think it is. A lot of the structures have recently been reorganized, so it’s simpler to find different locations. Mackinac Hall, for instance, was given all new office numbers and wings just last year, so it’s pretty easy to navigate now. Plus, Transitions was two weeks ago, so there were groups of freshmen being led around by upper classmen for most of that period. Which I have to laugh at, because it’s probably the most organized that a group of freshmen will be all year long. There was also a poster sale on campus last week, and best of all I had a chance to eat at Fresh Foods earlier (and yes, it was as good as I remember it). And even though it’s quiet at the moment, Student Life Night is tonight (I think), so we should see packs of students returning this evening to sign up for clubs and organizations on campus. But, that’s all I have to say right now, so if you’re wondering about anything, don’t forget to post it.

-Kyle

No more summer

Well, today is the last day of move-in week, by the end of today all the freshmen will be on campus. Which means classes start Monday, which means that there are four days left of Summer. Surprise! No more break. To be honest, though, I’m ready for a change. For the last three weeks we’ve been between semesters, so it’s been an empty campus for the most part. It’s nice to see a full student body again, especially because all the activities start rolling back into campus.

If I recall correctly the picnic by the Carillon Tower is today, there’s a drive in movie this Saturday, and Fresh Foods Company finally has regular hours. And believe me, I’m probably most excited about that last one. There should be a poster sale coming up within the next one or two weeks, and student life night is right around the corner. Plus, it’s funny to watch all of the freshmen realize that things like printing or athletic tickets are free for students. So to make a long story short, we’re back up and running.

I finally got out to buy textbooks, and my advice to anyone reading this is to either buy your books in advance or reserve them ahead of time. Buying them last minute isn’t a terrible experience, but reserving them makes it a lot faster. But with that anecdote I’ll be signing off, so if you’ve got a question, voice it.

-Kyle

Middle of August-- you know what that means

So the school year is pretty swiftly approaching (or at least a lot faster than it was back in June), and there are still several items that I’ve yet to take care of. Buying textbooks, finding out friends’ schedules, figuring out where my classes are, but hey, there’s still time, right? So instead of actually getting done what I need to, I figured I’d ask you guys what’s going on. With classes starting soon, what are your concerns? Is anybody reading this going to be a freshman this fall? Anybody looking to transfer in this winter?

I can argue that I’m asking about what’s going on for the readers because class is nearing, but the truth is that I’m suffering from writers block right now. Never mind that I’m not a professional writer, I’m just failing to come up with a good topic. So let us know what you’re all up to, we’d love to get some info or feedback from our readers.

-Kyle