By Lydia Hansen
Managing Editor
Lydia.hansen1961@mb.rctc.edu
This semester’s Student Success Day was a well-attended event, offering many sessions in the morning, afternoon, and evening to help students both old and new get a fresh start on a successful semester.
With a mix of old and new sessions offered, there was quite a variety for students to choose from. One of the most popular “50 Tips in 50 Minutes Using Word 2016,” was offered five times over the course of the day, and has been offered almost as often in previous years.
In this session, Jim Miner, teacher of more than 50 years, revealed some incredibly useful, but little known, tips and tricks for “working smarter, not harder, with Word.”
Some of the things he demonstrated were how to set proofreading and autocorrect options, pin frequently opened documents for easy access, correctly use the Word clipboard to save up to 24 text selections, and reset document fonts and line-spacing to meet professors’ requirements.
That’s just the tip of the iceberg of what Miner had to offer in this fast-paced session. But at the end each student was able to walk away with a few tricks to help them get the most out of Word without working so hard at it.
Many new sessions were also offered on Student Success Day. One of these was the “Chat with the President: Student Edition.” RCTC’s interim president, Mary Davenport, hosted this session and while attendance was relatively low, the discussion was insightful and thought-provoking.
Students were invited to voice questions or concerns regarding their college experience and engage in open discussion about any needs they would like to see met or college services that could be improved.
Some of the topics discussed was the difficulties potential transfer students have in finding information and getting answers about transferring credits, as well as student frustration with the limited variety of four-year degrees offered in Rochester.
Davenport responded to these concerns by discussing a new program called Pathways that Minnesota State (formerly known as MnSCU) has been working on to streamline their transfer programs. She also explained RCTC’s plans to bring new programs that will offer students new opportunities and help fill job needs in Rochester.
Students also noted changes they would like to see made. One suggested publicizing the Sports Center’s open gym, which she had only recently discovered existed. Another wanted the cafeteria to stay open later and commented that it’s more expensive to eat there than at another restaurant or at home.
These are just two examples of the wide selections offered this Student Success Day. Some, like the Chat with the President, were brand new, while others, like Miner’s Word crash course, have appeared before and will likely return for future events.