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February 2023 Action Items and Resources for Students

February 2023 Action Items and Resources for Students

The following email was sent to all MSU undergraduates and contains action items and resources. It is reposted here for your convenience.

Dear Spartans,

We hope you are enjoying these winter months on campus. Whether you’re looking for study tips to help with midterms, resources for managing stress, or looking for ways to connect outside of the classroom, we’ve got you covered. The list of resources and action items below will ensure your next month is a productive and enjoyable one.

1) Take care of yourself and others.

  • We strongly encourage all members of the campus community to stay up to date on their COVID-19 vaccinations to protect against severe illness and hospitalization. Please consider receiving the bivalent COVID-19 booster, available at the MSU Health Care Pharmacy and many locations across the state and country.   
  • It’s not too late to receive the influenza vaccine, which also is available at the MSU Health Care Pharmacy. The flu typically peaks in February or March, and the influenza vaccine is a safe and effective way to help protect you. 
  • MSU has many resources and services to help you manage stress. Besides Counseling & Psychiatric Services options, you can also find resources related to addiction recovery, fitness, nutrition, and much more on the Mental Health and Wellbeing resources list. 

2) Engage in your academic experience.

  • Prepare early for your fall 2023 enrollment, which starts in early April. Make an appointment with your academic adviser to discuss your schedule.  
  • Shopping carts for fall 2023 enrollment opened Feb. 1. Shopping carts are a great way to select courses you’d like to take and check prerequisites, time conflicts, holds, etc., and ensure you are ready to register when enrollment opens. You can do this on student.msu.edu by selecting the “Classes” tile, then the “Class Search & Enroll” link.
  • The 25th University Undergraduate Research and Arts Forum (UURAF) will take place April 14, in person at the Breslin Student Events Center. The virtual portion of the event will begin April 12.  
  • Students learn a lot at MSU beyond coursework alone — and now, you can prove it. The Spartan Experience Record (SER) provides an opportunity for you to collect, document and verify all of the experiences that shape your education, from research opportunities to leadership positions to on-campus employment. It’s also a resource to discover new experiences and see what’s out there at MSU, and a tool for us to support your success.  
  • Reminder: Spring break will take place this year from March 6-10. Residence halls remain open with dining options available for current residents.  
  • March 1 marks the middle of the spring 2023 semester. This is the last day to drop a course with no refund. It’s also time to consider if you want to choose the course grading option of Credit-No Credit (CR-NC) for an elective course. You can find when mid-point is, and other important dates for each class, by going to student.msu.edu and viewing the “Enrollment Deadlines” under each course.    
  • Feb. 15 is the deadline for many of the Summer Education Abroad programs.

3) Find your way and make connections.

  • Join together with Spartans this February in recognition of Black History Month by supporting programs serving the Black student community at MSU and honoring the rich history of Black Spartans. 
  • Build your community with other Spartans during your journey at MSU. Learn about MSU’s Registered Student Organizations (RSOs) and explore all 1,000+ RSOs at Involve@State. 
  • Consider participating in MSU Alternative Spartan Breaks where you will gain accessible, quality service experiences, education about social issues, and exposure to diverse cultures and communities to promote the active citizenship of Michigan State University students. Apply for one of the spring break and/or weekend experiences by visiting asb.msu.edu.
  • When it’s too cold to make it to the gym, check out the neighborhood group fitness classes at recsports.msu.edu/fitness/groupex. There’s also an indoor track available at IM Sports East. Validate your membership before you enter the building and bring your student ID for entry. More information on this can be found at recsports.msu.edu. 
  • Show yourself some love at the MSU Broad Art Museum! Check out Love is a Monster: An Anti-Valentine's Day Party planned for MSU students, by MSU students, Feb. 10, 7–10 p.m. 

4) Get involved outside the classroom.

  • Career advising appointments are available through Handshake. Once logged in, click on the “Career Center” tab in the top, right-hand corner of your home page, then click on “appointments” to schedule an appointment.
  • Learn about drop-in career advising services and review available options. 
  • Participate in a career fair or career education workshop. Learn more about upcoming career events. 
  • The Center for Community Engaged Learning (CCEL) is sharing volunteer opportunities open to all students. There are more than 300 available opportunities with 15 different community partners in the Lansing area! 
  • Please join us for the 2nd Annual Spartan Leadership Roundtable, Friday, April 14, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., in MSU Kellogg Hotel and Conference Center (Big Ten Room B). The event is open to all students. You can attend the event as an individual student or attend jointly as members of the same organization! Register for the Spartan Leadership Roundtable here. 
  • As a reminder, you can attend all home women’s basketball, gymnastics, wrestling, men’s tennis and women’s tennis events this month for free with your MSU student ID! Remaining Izzone and Munnsters home games are sold out, but students are still available to attend men’s basketball and hockey games via student transfers or purchasing student admissions on StubHub. Visit msuspartans.com for complete schedules. For more information on MSU Athletics student sections, visit msuspartans.com/studentsections, or email students@ath.msu.edu.

5) Connect with important resources.

  • Current first-year students will complete next year’s housing selection in March, with housing contracts due by March 10. Learn more about housing options, roommate groups and the selection process on the Live On website. 
  • Take advantage of no-cost training from MSU IT. Learn about collaboration tools like Zoom, Spartan 365, and specific Microsoft apps like Teams, OneNote and OneDrive. Access on-demand recordings or take a live course either in person or virtually. Discover and register for courses at SpartansLearn. 
  • Do you know your rights and responsibilities in the classroom? Have questions about syllabi, grades or ethics in the classroom? Please visit the Office of the University Ombudsperson at ombud.msu.edu, call 517-353-8830 or email ombud@msu.edu. 
  • Students can now add fall 2023, spring 2024 and summer 2024 courses to their shopping cart in the Student Information System. Shopping carts are a great way to select the courses you’d like to take and check prerequisites, time conflicts, holds, etc., to ensure you are ready to register when enrollment begins. You can do this on student.msu.edu by selecting the “Classes” tile, then “Class Search & Enroll.” Explore videos, guides, and FAQs for more information on using the shopping cart. 
  • Enrollment begins Monday, March 13. Enrollment times are assigned and determined by career (undergrad, graduate, law, medical colleges, etc.) and class standing. On March 23, enrollment will be open to all students.  
  • Follow @MSU_Parking on Twitter for all parking and traffic-related updates on and around campus! 
  • There’s been a lot of talk about artificial intelligence and what platforms like ChatGPT mean for student academic integrity. It turns out, even ChatGPT has an answer for that. Read up on the response and learn some helpful resources from OSSA for students to think about before using AI.
6) Billing and financial aid updates.
  • The most current billing statements were due Feb. 1. The next billing statements will be available Feb. 9 and are due March 1. Please review your bill to ensure your account is current.
  • Financial aid will begin to download FAFSA information for 2023-24 in the next few weeks. If your FAFSA has been completed, you will begin to see changes in status, aid packages and requests for documentation for the 2023-24 academic year. Please be sure to check student.msu.edu at the beginning of February and contact OFA with questions.   
  • Please note: Students are responsible for any charges that may result from financial aid package revisions and/or changes in enrollment, even if a refund of excess financial aid has been processed. To avoid possible disruptions to your account, we suggest checking your bill throughout the semester. 

If you have any questions about anything related to MSU, please email sle@msu.edu.

 

Sincerely,

Vennie Gore
Senior Vice President for Student Life & Engagement

Mark Largent
Associate Provost for Undergraduate Education and Dean of Undergraduate Studies