The Daily Plan-it / Dean of Students Blog, Columbia J-school

> From Sreenath Sreenivasan
Dean of Students

Dear M.A. Students:

Greetings and welcome to the Journalism School as our first class of students
in this new and ambitious program of study. Some of you, of course, are making
a second journey with us and we are glad to have you back. We are all embarking
together on this exciting venture; this is especially true for me. I have been
Dean of Students for a month now and am looking forward to getting to know you
all. You will be working closely with me and Melanie Huff, Assistant Dean of
Students, throughout the year. In addition, Associate Dean Evan Cornog will be
working closely with us in guiding you through the school and the rich
offerings of Columbia University.

Below is your orientation schedule, along with a solution for an e-mail-related
problem. You are being pre-registered for all classes except for the outside
course and the procedures for handling that registration will be explained
during orientation.

Thursday, Sept. 1, 2005
8:15-9:00 a.m Lobby
Check in and pick up ID and Orientation materials

9:00-10:30 a.m Lecture Hall
Welcome: Nicholas Lemann, Dean
David Klatell, Vice Dean
Evan Cornog, Associate Dean

11:00a.m.-12:00 p.m.
Meetings with Concentration Professors

Arts, Room 601B: Prof. Alisa Solomon
Politics, Room 601C: Prof. Alexander Stille
Science, Room 602: Prof. Marguerite Holloway
Business, Room 607A: James B. Stewart and Sylvia Nasar

12:00-1:00 p.m. Lunch on your own

1:00-3:30 p.m. Lecture Hall

Student Matters:
. David Klatell, Vice Dean
. Sreenath Sreenivasan, Dean of Students
. Melanie Huff, Assistant Dean of Students
. Ernest Sotomayor, Director of Career Services
. Robert Mac Donald, Financial Aid
. Marsha Wagner, University Ombuds Officer
. Phillip Velez, Health and Related Services

3:30-5:00 p.m.
Computer Activation/Forms Akram-Keim (room 607C);
Kiviat-Velzaquez-Manoff (room 601A)

5:00-6:30 p.m. World Room
Student-Faculty-Staff reception

- - -

My office is in room 705, next to Dean Huff, who’s in 703 - do stop by and say
hello when you get a chance. See you soon. (Info on that e-mail fix is below).

Regards, Sreenath Sreenivasan
Dean of Students, Columbia Graduate School of Journalism
http://www.sree.net | http://www.sreetips.com

FIXING YOUR E-MAIL IDENTITY: One of the more frustrating things with our e-mail
system is that Cubmail doesn’t automatically put your name in the “from” lines.
So faculty and administrators end up getting e-mail from, say,
“srt2879@columbia.edu” and we have no idea who it is (especially when there’s
no signature file in the message itself). Worse, some e-mail programs treat
such senders as spammers and dump the message automatically into junk-mail
folders. There’s a one-time, two-minute solution, and it is explained below.
Please take time to do this. Please include a phone number along with your
signature when you write to us so we can respond that way, if necessary (you
will want to do this when dealing with sources, too).

HOW TO FIX YOUR E-MAIL IDENTITY

Lauch CUBMAIL at https://cubmail.cc.columbia.edu

Go to OPTIONS

Go to PERSONAL INFORMATION

Go to EDIT YOUR IDENTITIES

Choose DEFAULT IDENTITY

Add your full name there, and any other details you wish.

[You can have a different “reply-to” address, add auto signatures, etc].

You need to do this only if you plan to use CUBMAIL (which almost all
students do at some point).

And please don’t forget to routinely sign your messages with your full
name in the body of the message - and to include a phone number, too.

Thanks and good luck.

-30-

From Deborah Wassertzug, Journalism Librarian

For those who will not have my research training session until next week or
the following week, I’d like to turn your attention to a few links on the
Student Resources page (http://www.jrn.columbia.edu/students/) which will
help you get a jump start on beat research and on using LexisNexis.

On the Student Resources page, look for the “Libraries and Research”
section. In particular, take a look at the guide, “Scoping Out Your Beat,”
a selective list of helpful resources for getting to know your beat
neighborhood. Also, the guide “Getting Started with LexisNexis Academic”
will help you start using the web version of LexisNexis (which can be a
little tricky if you have not used it before).

Finally, for those who *have* had my session and have misplaced the
materials, the “Nexis and Factiva Cheat Sheet” which I distributed to you is
also available on the Student Resources page, so you can just print yourself
a new copy.

Deborah Wassertzug, Journalism Librarian
Columbia University Libraries
dw242@columbia.edu
212.854.3916 fax 212.854.24

M.A. Class of 2006:

I hope you all have had a wonderful summer. We are eagerly waiting for you to begin. Orientation will be on Thursday, Sept. 1, at 9 a.m. You will receive a packet and if need be your ID at that time. Note you have been registered for classes. You will be able to use the Add/Drop period for electives.

Financial Aid: Since this is a new program I have to work with the SFP office to set up the accounts for your fellowships and tuition grants. I should have all of that fixed and in place by the end of next week a full week before the bill is due. Note: You are responsible for all fees and insurance per semester. Please refer to your fin aid letter. If you need a copy I can e-mail it again to you.

International Students: Even if you attended last year you must get your student visa updated. Please call ISSO immediately, if you haven’t, to clear up your visa status. You will not be able to begin the program without the proper visa. ISSO: 212 854 6262.

If you have questions call me. I look forward to seeing you on the first.

If you have any disability that may interfere with your school work, you must register with the Columbia Office of Disability Services. This confidential registration is critical in case something comes up later on during your academic life at the School.

http://www.health.columbia.edu/ods/

Beyond Manhattan: New York’s Other Islands: A look at some of the “minor”
islands around Manhattan: City, Rikers, Randall’s, Ward’s, Roosevelt,
Governors, Ellis and Liberty. http://nyc24.jrn.columbia.edu/2003/islands/

7 Train: New York’s New Faces: A look at the people, places and issues along
the 7 Train, including maps and descriptions of the ethnic groups that live in
various communities. http://nyc24.jrn.columbia.edu/2000/7train/

> From Sreenath Sreenivasan
Dean of Students

Dear Members of the Class of 2006:

Let me add my note of welcome. You will be working closely with me and
Melanie Huff, Assistant Dean of Students, throughout the year. I became
Dean of Students last month after teaching full-time for a dozen years and
am looking forward to getting to know my inaugural class. [I will continue
to teach in the new media program - and will be co-teaching the Religion
Writing class in the spring with my Deanly predecessor, Prof. Ari
Goldman.]

Before we meet for Orientation, I wanted to deal with a few items:

AUGUST SCHEDULE: The schedule for the month is now available at
http://www.jrn.columbia.edu/students/august/
Please take a close look so you have a better idea of what’s in store. Note
that this only reflects the currently scheduled group meetings; your professors
will give you details about other assignments, meetings, etc, that will be
filling your time.

RWI PROFESSORS: We will be telling you the name of your RW1 professor and
showing you how to access the class schedule for the Fall when you come to the
school on Monday, Aug. 8 at 9 a.m.

FIXING YOUR E-MAIL IDENTITY: One of the more frustrating things with our e-mail
system is that Cubmail doesn’t automatically put your name in the “from” lines.
So faculty and administrators end up getting e-mail from, say,
“srt2879@columbia.edu” and we have no idea who it is (especially when there’s
no signature file in the message itself). Worse, some e-mail programs treat
such senders as spammers and dump the message automatically into junk-mail
folders. There’s a one-time, two-minute solution, and it is explained below.
Please take time to do this. Please include a phone number along with your
signature when you write to us so we can respond that way, if necessary (you
will want to do this when dealing with sources, too).

THE GREEN BOOK: A book that many students find useful is The Green Book, the
official phone directory of NYC government. In it, you can find the names and
phone numbers of employees of various levels - the kind of people who wouldn’t
normally be listed in the regular phonebook. It’s not mandatory to buy the book
(unless your RW1 professor asks you to), but in case you are interested, visit
the following page to learn more:
http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcas/html/features/greenbook.shtml

THREE SITES TO CHECK OUT: Here are some sites that previous classes have found
helpful as the students got to know the city. The second and third were created
by J-schoolers.

HopStop.com: This is an interactive map and guide for the subway system and is
the single best way to navigate the city (think of it as Mapquest for the
subway). Enter your starting and ending points and you will learn what trains
to take - and walking directions once you get there. Last year, many students
used it every day. http://www.hopstop.com

7 Train: New York’s New Faces: A look at the people, places and issues along
the 7 Train, including maps and descriptions of the ethnic groups that live in
various communities. http://nyc24.jrn.columbia.edu/2000/7train/

Beyond Manhattan: New York’s Other Islands: A look at some of the “minor”
islands around Manhattan: City, Rikers, Randall’s, Ward’s, Roosevelt,
Governors, Ellis and Liberty. http://nyc24.jrn.columbia.edu/2003/islands/
They each feature stories, photos, video and audio clips that you might
want to take a look at.

My office is 705, next to Dean Huff, who’s in 703 - do stop by and say hello
when you get a chance. See you soon. (Info on that e-mail fix is below).

Regards, Sreenath Sreenivasan
Dean of Students, Columbia Graduate School of Journalism
http://www.sree.net | http://www.sreetips.com

HOW TO FIX YOUR E-MAIL IDENTITY

Lauch CUBMAIL at https://cubmail.cc.columbia.edu

Go to OPTIONS

Go to PERSONAL INFORMATION

Go to EDIT YOUR IDENTITIES

Choose DEFAULT IDENTITY

Add your full name there, and any other details you wish.

[You can have a different “reply-to” address, add auto signatures, etc].

You need to do this only if you plan to use CUBMAIL (which almost all
students do at some point).

And please don’t forget to routinely sign your messages with your full
name in the body of the message - and to include a phone number, too.

Thanks and good luck.