Why Vote? Why Not? is Theme of Campus Election Series

A unique and timely collaborative program for the fall semester titled "It Matters! Engage. Participate. Vote." is being offered through the University Library.

It is designed to provide students and the community an opportunity to explore together the vast notion of voting, civic engagement, and what it means to live in a democratic society.

"It Matters! Engage. Participate. Vote." features art exhibitions, keynote speakers, brown bag discussions, performances, class projects, workshops on finding accurate information, and various multimedia displays. A variety of events are scheduled throughout the semester. A schedule is available at http://library.sonoma.edu/itmatters/. A four-day "It Matters" kickoff celebration begins Wednesday, Sept. 8 and runs through Sept 11.

ABOVE: Lowell Darling's portrait shows where an extra hand helps out. The exhibit called "Artist or Politican?" runs through Oct. 13 at the University Library.

Open Enrollment Period for Health Care Starts Sept. 15

This year, the health care plan open enrollment period is Sept.15 through Oct. 29. Enrollment and changes become effective January 1, 2005. Use this period to enroll and/or cancel enrollment in health, dental or flex cash; change plans; or add eligible family members to health, dental and vision plans.

Order open enrollment materials by using the pre-paid postcard sent to your home from CalPERS, online at www.calpers.ca.gov or by contacting the CalPERS customer contact center at (888) 225-7377.

The 2005 Health Benefit Fair is set from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 5 in Schulz 1121.

For further information, contact Susan Zito, Human Resources, 4-2178.

WebCT Training Sessions at Noon Starting Aug. 31

The IT Web Office is offering a series of noon WebCT training sessions for faculty and other WebCT designers. Each session focuses on a different tool or feature. Instructors using WebCT, or interested in using WebCT, are invited to to come to any or all sessions. Sessions meet Tuesdays, from noon - 1 p.m. in the IT Training Lab, Schulz 1014.

The schedule of courses includes:
August 31 - Discussion forum and WebCT email - Spam free class communication
September 7 - Importing Existing Content from Word, Dreamweaver and other sources
September 14 - Quizzing - no more scantrons!
September 21 - Assignment Tool and Alternatives
September 28 - Student Tracking and Management

For questions or comments, contact barbara.moore@sonoma.edu or the IT Web Office, web.support@sonoma.edu.

Risk Management in Service-Learning Workshop

The Office of Community-Based Learning offers a workshop on risk management in service-learning from noon - 1 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 1 in Schulz 1121. While the workshop addresses issues and resources specific to service-learning, the workshop may also be useful for internship and CIP coordinators. For more information, contact Amra Stafford,
4-3202.

Prior Learning Portfolio Course Offered

Faculty are urged to recommend SSU undergraduate students, as well as those in the community who are considering an undergraduate degree, for a portfolio workshop supported by the Faculty Evaluated Prior Learning Program.

This mentoring seminar is offered on Wednesday evenings from Sept. 1 through Dec. 15.  The fee for the course is $495. It will be led by a graduate of FEPLP, Inese Heinzel. Heinzel is an independent communications consultant, project manager and professional trainer, with more than 25 years of experience and skills in organizational communications, training and development, instructional design, employee and public relations, and media production.

"This is a time and money saving option that new and continuing undergraduates should be advised about, if they are highly motivated students with substantial prior learning experience," says Barbara Lesch McCaffrey, the faculty coordinator for FEPLP.

For more details, see the Extended Education catalogue Web page located at Portfolio Workshop. For questions about the program contact McCaffrey at 4-2273 or mccaffry@sonoma.edu For details about the course, contact Inese Heinzel, inese@sonic.net.

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