We’ve set up a survey for you to tell us how we are doing.  It only takes about 10 minutes to complete, and you can do it from any computer with Internet access. 

Click on this link or paste it (http://survey.libqual.org/index.cfm?ID=866541) into your Internet address window.

At the end, fill in your Rasmussen e-mail address for a chance to win one of three $100 Target Gift Cards.

If you have any questions, please e-mail us.

Thank You for helping us!

The Survey runs from Sunday, April 27th through Saturday, May 3rd.

Given the recent changes to the Student Portal and the great feedback (good & bad) we've been getting, I decided to put together a survey to dig a little deeper on certain issues that will help us understand what we are doing right and what we're doing not so right.

Unfortunately I have a lot of questions (51 to be exact) so I decided to break it down into four different groups to make it easier.  I am not expecting everyone to take all four surveys - just take which ones you want and understand that any feedback (good & bad) is vital to the success of the Student Portal.

The four surveys are:

• Home Page Survey (11 Questions)   
• Discussion Forum Survey (8 Questions)   
• Campus Connection Survey (6 Questions)    
• My Social Media Survey (26 Questions)  
  

Contact me with any questions.  Again, thank you for your time.

We'd like to take a moment and share a class project taking place in a PR class at our Ocala Campus.  Driven by both the class teacher and the students, this newsletter is currently in its second edition.

Its an impressive read and a great way for students to apply basic public relations concepts.

Check it out :

• Page 1
• Page 2
• Page 3
• Page 4

What do you think?

I know I'm about 30 days late in saying this, but I'd like to welcome Rasmussen College's newest blog - The Continuing Search.  Written by Kelsey Kennedy at our Eden Prairie Campus, this blog focuses on a combination of job leads, job fair posts, and career tips. 

I think this Kelsey's blog is a vital resource for all your job hunting needs. So check it out when you have a moment and let me know what you think.

Rasmussen College needs your help with the Student Portal.

We have an opportunity to make some enhancements and before we work on these over the coming months, we’d like your opinion.

Please answer these questions to the best of your ability. The final results will be posted on this blog and  your answers will remain anonymous.

Thank you in advance for helping complete the survey!

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to contact me directly.

Click Here to take survey

I set up a new FlickR group for Rasmussen College new construction projects. 

In case you want to see what the new campus in Mankato or Fort Myers will look like - now you have a resource.

Let me know what you think.

Also, remember the Rasmussen College photowalk group - feel free to post you pictures.

For those of you who don't know this, I'm the main moderator of the Student Portal.  I regularly review all threads on the Discussion Board. 

I wanted to take a moment and thank everyone that participated in a recent thread titled: pro choice or pro life.  

I was impressed not only with the individual who brought up this touchy subject, but also all of the great debate back and forth.   Everyone of the 41 (42 if you include mine) comments offered a distinct point of view and reflected a certain amount of respect for one another - regardless if you agreed or not.

But then again, that's what school is all about, right?

Unfortunately that has not been the case in the past.  To safeguard against abuses and ensure a healthy environment for which each of you can benefit from, we have created a new Student Portal Code of Conduct in addition to information you need to know when someone fails to abide by this code. 

These will be offered next in two separate posts.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. 

I just wanted to take a moment and share with you some valuable information from Mashable.com.

Over the long holiday weekend, I came across a couple to articles that I know would have helped me when I was a college student.  They are:

• College Toolbox: 60+ Tools for Back to School
• 70+ Tools for Job Hunting 2.0

Hopefully some of you can use these. 

In case you are interested in other websites I've found valuable, check out my bookmarks on del.ico.us for Rasmussen College.

Let me know what you think.

Say hello to your newest Rasmussen Sponsored blog!  It's called the The EdVantage Reader and it will take the place of the Rasmussen Reader that used to be a Word document found in the Student Services section of the Student Portal.

Student Services is describing it as: "The goal of this blog is to give you an inside view into the world of your EdVantage Team. As we share activities that we enjoy, we would love to have your feedback. Let’s have some fun! "

To access, simply use the quick links found on the upper left hand side of the Student Portal:

Let me know what you think.

Next week is a travel assignment for me.  On Monday, I travel to Minnesota with the rest of the Marketing Department crew for a 3 day meeting. 

However, I am scheduled to revisit the Lake Elmo / Woodbury campus on Tuesday (Nov. 6th) from 8:00 AM to probably 11:00 AM.  Then I'm off to the Eden Prairie campus for a lunch scheduled for Noon.

If possible, I'd like to make myself available to anyone who wants to meet with me.

Given this, I will also make every attempt to Twitter my location whenever possible via my account.

Hopefully see some of you next week!

In about 30 days, Rasmussen College will be officially launching a new initiative termed Rasmussen Sponsored Blogs.  This will include a number of programmatic blogs for both students and faculty to enjoy.

We will start with three:

• A blog focused on Information Technology which will be authored by James McCormick.  He is the Department Chair of Technology and Information Management for Rasmussen College.
• A blog focused on Criminal Justice which will be authored by Carie Ann Potenza.  She is the Director of Crime Management for Rasmussen College.
• A blog focused on Allied Health & Nursing which will be authored by Bradley Moore.  He is the Director for the Allied Health & Nursing Programs at Rasmussen College.

In addition, we will continue to offer this blog and Rasmussen College Online. 

There are more blogs in the works including one devoted to our Internet Marketing Degree program.

Do you have an idea for a blog?  If you do, we’d love to hear from you.  Simply comment below or send us an email.

Let us know what you think.

Another project that we’re working on is the redesign of the existing Student Portal.  This project will not "reinvent the wheel" but enhance the existing site structure.

In addition, today’s Student Portal uses a system that has some limitations that prohibit us from doing some really cool things for you.

The goal here is eventually build a Student Portal that not only meets your needs as a Rasmussen College Student but also offers you a break from the daily grind of homework or your job.

To do this, we’ll need your help to succeed. 

Don’t worry, we aren’t asking for your input all at once.  This will be a phased approach taking some time to implement.  We'll revisit this project in the coming months to present updates and to give you the opportunity for more feedback in case you forgot something. 

Since we’re still in the planning stages, we want you to start thinking about how you currently use the Student Portal.  After you’ve given it some thought, try to answer some of these questions:

• Is the Student Portal easy to navigate?
• Which sections do you use the most?
• Which sections do you use the least?
• What would you improve upon or expand?
• What would you tear down and destroy?
• What do you wish the it had?
• Do you even know how to use it?

We encourage you to give us feedback on the above questions either by writing your comments below.

With the birth of My Rasmussen College, we are entering a new era. This is the beginning of new growth for us that is both healthy and diverse. 

Most importantly, we are building a number of online resources for you to use.

Our first initiative was to revamp the current Rasmussen College MySpace page.  The “plain vanilla” look was removed and replaced with our school colors.  In addition, a number of videos, photo albums, and interactive “widgets” were included. 

However, this is not the end of the MySpace Page redesign as Rasmussen College would like this page to constantly change and give you a reason to come back again and again. 

Given this, we are offering you to design this page by:

• Pimping out your own version of what you think the Rasmussen College MySpace Page should look like. When you’re done, send us the html.  Once received, we’ll check it out and see if this passes the “mother” test.  What that means is that if you send us something that you’d show a friend, but wouldn’t show your mother, it’s safe to say it will not be used.  However, if is passes, we’ll use it and post a spotlight section about you.
• Submitting your favorite videos and music clips – again, remember your mother.
• Criticize the way the page looks now and what you’d do to make it better.  This could be a color change, more pictures, no polling, etc.
• Let us know what you need and want on this page to keep you coming back for more.  This could be a group, a contest, etc…

The next initiative was to establish a Facebook Profile for Rasmussen College - a new one is coming soon! 

Why Facebook? That’s easy. You’ve been asking for this for a while now and it’s also the hottest social site right now.

Just like MySpace, we want your feedback. 

Remember, these are your pages.