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Keeping Work and Leisure Separate

Posted by Peter Sandstedt

As I was sitting in my apartment trying to write my 1st Paper for the Change Management Course, I kept getting distracted. Whether it was the television and the various sporting events going on, seeing the book I’ve been reading in my free time, or the dirty dishes I needed to clean, just writing each sentence in my paper was becoming more difficult. It became like trying to take the next step up a mountain becoming increasingly steeper.

Eventually, the fire alarm in my building went off and we had to evacuate. Now my work was completely disrupted and my train of thought fell off the tracks. I realized that the product I was writing was not my best quality and I needed a change of scenery.

After we were allowed back into the building, I packed up my laptop, notes, and bubble gum, (my secret homework tool,) and went off to the library. I immersed myself in a stronghold of books and zoned in on my topic. After two solid hours, I cranked out a few pages of my paper and felt a great sense of accomplishment.

It’s important to keep your places of work and leisure separate. My best advice is to get out of your room or out of your house to complete your homework. If that’s not possible, then set aside a special place in your home designated for schoolwork. It’s important to complete your homework, but it’s also important to have a place of rest and relaxation. As a Full-Time working professional and part-time Graduate Student, you need a place to kick back, relax and unwind apart from the anxieties of work and school

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Categories: change management, class assignments

The Beginning

Posted by Madison Adduci

Here we are, in the middle of our first MSC quarter where the weeks seem to be flying by. We all are adjusting our lives to fit the new course load, the Saturday classes and balancing school with work.

As someone who commutes from an hour south of campus, I thought the drive to class every week would be bad but in reality, the commute is worth the degree. In the past 5 weeks, the amount of information I have learned is unbelievable. The professors are amazing, understanding and extremely knowledgeable.

I am looking forward to the next year, and everything it throws at me and I am sure my classmates feel the same.

Check back soon to see how the program is going!

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Categories: Grad School, MSC

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As the Sun Sets Over Us

Posted by Erika Schulz Nygaard

I’ve been yawning a lot in class lately. One might assume this is because I am in the throes of the infamous MSC summer session—10 weeks of material executed in 6 weeks, and as many papers due in that time. This quarter has lived up to everything I heard about it, and in many ways it is what I expected the entire program would be. Despite the compressed academics, though, I can’t really blame them for my fatigue.

Though I can’t say for certain, I suspect my Friday night insomnia might have something to do with a deep-seated anxiety about what I am facing in the coming weeks. That freshly pressed diploma will effectively strip away the identity of “graduate student” to which I have been clutching like a teenager with concert tickets. Also, my goal of finding a job still eludes me. Being a student without a job seems okay. But a graduate without a job? Not as cool.

And then there is, of course, the bittersweet anticipation of the end of program itself that is at this point a well-formed routine. Recently I enjoyed the company of some classmates as we pondered our adjustments to life after the program: (more…)

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Categories: end of semester, experiences, final project, MSC, Northwestern, NU, Perspective

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Practical Advice, concluded: Tuition Breakdown

Posted by Erika Schulz Nygaard

To wrap up my mini-series of posts on practical matters, following is a bit of helpful information regarding tuition.

Important to Know:

  • Tuition is not billed in four equal segments; rather, it is billed per credit.
  • Fall quarter (for domestic students) contains the most credits, and therefore it is more expensive than the subsequent three quarters.

What might this mean for you?

  • If you are managing your own tuition and/or financial aid, you may wish to anticipate payments and/or disbursements to accommodate this fluctuation in amount due throughout the program.
  • If you anticipate four equal payments, you’ll end up owing more than you anticipated when you get your October bill, and less than you anticipated the rest of the year.

Although I may be in the minority of my cohort having experienced the topics covered here and here, I hope this information will be helpful to individuals in future classes. As prospective Masters in Communication, information gained through experience would be a terrible thing to waste.

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Categories: experiences, MSC, Northwestern, NU

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Practical Advice, continued: Name Changes

Posted by Erika Schulz Nygaard

Continuing my mini-series on practical matters (from my previous post), what follows is some insight into changing one’s name with the university. Many students may never need to deal with this, but I hope this information will be helpful to those who need it.

If you previously attended Northwestern and are now reentering as a graduate student, you probably have had some life changes since your last time here. If your name changed during the time you were away (perhaps due to marriage), you will want to change your name with university administration. Changing your name with the university will ensure your current moniker is reflected on all official documentation and online systems, including:

  • Class registration
  • Grades and transcripts
  • Online course management
  • Online assignment portals
  • Your health insurance ID card (if you have the NU student health insurance)
  • Tuition billing and financial aid

(more…)

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Categories: experiences, MSC, Northwestern, NU

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MSC 2015 Spring Happy Hour & Farewell to Director Staci H. Zake

Posted by ajh558

On June 6, 2015 the MSC program celebrated the eight years of leadership of outgoing Director Staci H. Zake. Faculty, Staff, Alumni, Current and Incoming Students gathered at LYFE Kitchen in downtown Evanston in fellowship and to bid Staci farewell.

MSC Director (2008 -2015) Staci H. Zake & Martina Smith (MSC '14)

A program honoring Staci included remarks from:

Dr. Dilip Gaonkar, School of Communication Faculty Member and MSC Governing Board Committee Member;

Ms. Martina Smith (MSC ’14) and Mr. S. Bob Rowley (MSC ’13), both members of the MSC Alumni Executive Committee;

Mr. Naveen (MSC ’15) and Mr. Doug Dorhn (MSC ’15) who represented the current class;

and Ms. Amy J. Hauenstein, MSC Interim Director, who spoke on behalf of the program staff.

The MSC program wishes Staci and her family all the best, as they begin their next adventure on the East Coast.

Click here to view the full photo album.

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Categories: alumni, careers, change management, culture, faculty, leadership, MSC, MSC Value, networks, Northwestern, NU, values, Virtue, Wildcats

Being a Student at NU—Some Practical Advice

Posted by Erika Schulz Nygaard

Being a student again—especially at NU where I also did my undergraduate study—has been a terrific experience. I’ve enjoyed retracing my steps on campus, revisiting favorite spaces, and using all the new online systems (registering for classes used to be a much more laborious experience). However, being a student at times involves other matters such as interfacing with University administration or managing financial support. I want to share some of the practical knowledge I feel would have been helpful to me when I entered this program. What follows is some insight on the topic of student health insurance. Other topics will be posted soon.

Student Health Insurance

If you decide to take the NU student health insurance, following are several important points to know about the coverage provided:

  • Coverage technically begins September 1, but…
  • Insurance enrollment does not actually occur until after class registration later in September, and verification of your enrollment will take several days after that. I did not receive an ID card until around October 1.
  • When your enrollment is finally confirmed, you won’t receive any notification; you have to keep checking the website to see if you can access a virtual ID card. Some time later, a physical card will also arrive in the mail.
  • Any doctor visits that occur between September 1 (when coverage technically begins) and confirmation of your new insurance (around October 1) may be covered “retroactively.”
  • You will be billed in one lump sum for the annual policy with your first bill from the University.

(more…)

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Categories: experiences, MSC, Northwestern, NU

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MSC Bids Farewell to Staci H. Zake, Director 2007-2015

Posted by ajh558

The MSC program and the School of Communication bid farewell to outgoing Program Director, Staci H. Zake today with a “Boston Tea Party Farewell.” Under Staci’s leadership the program has flourished in exciting and meaningful ways, and she leaves us with a solid plan for transition in place.

"Boston Tea Party", June 26, 2015

“Boston Tea Party”, June 26, 2015

We bid Staci and her family farewell with the warmest wishes for great success and happiness in the future!

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Categories: culture, experiences, leadership, MSC, MSC Value, NU, values, Virtue, Wildcats

Student Tip: Graduation Terminology

Posted by Erika Schulz Nygaard

Programs await graduates at NU’s 2015 Commencement.

As a Northwestern student expecting to receive a degree, it will be helpful to understand two terms associated with graduation:

Commencement: the university-wide ceremony at which speakers address all students, and the university President verbally (and thus only ceremoniously) confers degrees upon the students. For the MSC program, names of the previous year’s cohort are printed in the catalog, although the current year’s cohort is invited to participate in the ceremony. The university’s commencement is in June.

Convocation: a separate ceremony at which you will actually receive your degree. MSC’s convocation is in August.

I’m sure it seems a long way off, but if all goes as planned you’ll be receiving information about graduation sooner than you might like. Here at NU, individual colleges, programs, and sometimes even majors have their own ceremonies at which degrees are awarded to the appropriate students. The university graduation event is an entire weekend in June during which many of the ceremonies are held. Commencement is of course one of these ceremonies, and one of the few to which everyone is invited.

Although this splitting of ceremonies was a new concept to me (and continues to vex friends and family), it makes sense if you consider the number of students involved. Having participated in the 2015 Commencement, I think the system actually works quite nicely. I appreciated the opportunity to march as part of a university-wide graduation ceremony and to hear the speakers, but I also appreciated not having to endure the calling of a very long list of names as each student received her diploma.

I was glad I participated in Commencement, but knowing it was not my real graduation yet, I felt a bit excluded from the excitement and sadness expressed by the people all around me. Most MSC students this year opted out, and I can understand why. In August, we’ll have our own ceremony with our own speaker. We will have the benefit of all recognizing one other, and I bet there will be some real, genuine excitement and sadness of our own.

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Categories: commencement, Convocation, experiences, graduation, MSC, Northwestern, NU, Perspective

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