Online MBA expert chooses Post University for her online MBA degree. Why?

Jean Fredrick, Director of Marketing for Sloan-C

Sloan Consortium (also called Sloan-C for short) is one of the leading organizations studying the trends in online learning, and how higher education institutions are effectively creating quality online learning environments for their adult learners.

It has the inside track on what's going on with online education at America's institutions -- what's working, what's not, and recommendations and guidelines for further improving what's already out there.

So it stands to reason that the people from Sloan-C know more than most about what to look for in an online degree program. To our great pleasure, one of these people chose Post University to earn her online MBA degree -- Jean Fredrick, the organization's Director of Marketing. She's planning to graduate in May 2012.

We thought it would helpful to drill into her decision-making process, because she clearly has a high standard for online degree programs. We're hoping the process she used to lead her to Post University will give you guidance on your decision to pursue YOUR undergraduate or graduate degree online.

11 tips for a fearless freshman year

The first semester of freshman year can set the road map for the rest of your college career. Within the first few weeks you will learn the quickest route to the dining hall, decide that maybe you're not an engineer after all, and start making lifelong friends.

It's hard to prepare for what that first semester holds, so here are some tips that every freshman should know to kick-off college right and instantly get you into good habits.

1. Embrace the college transition. There is no doubt your life is going to change once you enter college. You'll be thrown into a new environment, encountering new experiences around every corner. Some of these changes will be challenging, such as being away from home, sharing your room with a stranger, and using communal bathrooms. Go with it. The more open you are to new things, the more you will gain from the whole college experience. Make goals for yourself, such as meeting one new person every day or eating dinner in a different part of the dining hall every night. Embrace the new.

60 new job openings at Post University: Must be creative, passionate, and dedicated to students

I wanted to share this post today from Maddy Kelsey, our Director of Human Resources.

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We have some good news if you're looking to start a career in higher education, or take your current position to the next level. Post University is searching for 60 new employees!

We've been growing quickly over the past several years and we need more people to support our student population that's now more than 8,000 strong. In fact, Post University is Connecticut's fastest growing university. Since just last year, we've hired more than 200 new full- and part-time employees.

To find our new Post University stars, we're hosting two career fairs -- one was on Aug. 11 and and the next one is on Aug. 18.

With the unemployment rate teetering around 9 percent, we're continuing to help put Americans back to work with this new batch of positions. Here are the details on our openings and career fairs.

8 rules to help first-time college parents stay sane

And it's off to college we go . . .

Getting ready to send our firstborn off to college feels a little like giving birth. It's exciting. It's painful. It's full of uncertainty. It's punctuated with a million little details. And it seems like the delivery of her to her new "home away from home" will be over in a blink.

I'm excited that my oldest has made it to this milestone. It's also a little scary to help my child pack up and then send her off into the big unknown. But, it's made me do a lot of thinking about what kind of parent I want to be to our adult-child. Here are some thoughts that might help other parents with the college transition process. These are my first-time college parent rules.

1. Breathe. Although I really didn't find this advice all that helpful while giving birth, I'm finding it useful this time around. Our daughter made it to 18 in reasonably good shape, so there's no reason to think she won't be just fine in college.

What our $5.1 million campus renovation investment means to the Post University community

It's been a summer of renovations here at Post University. We started in May and have been working hard to give our campus a $5.1 million facelift. So far, everything's looking great. I've been fielding a lot of questions recently about the goings-on at campus, so I thought I'd answer them all in a blog post.

But before I dive into that, I wanted to share some photos we've been snapping around campus of our renovation progress, some of which you might have seen on our Facebook page. Here they are in case you missed them, plus some new ones.



And now, onto the details!

What's being renovated?

We're adding a synthetic, multipurpose, turf surface to LaMoy Field for our 15 NCAA Division II athletic programs. The new surface will be installed in place of the existing natural grass field for our sprint football, men's and women's soccer, and women's lacrosse teams. We are also revitalizing our softball field by building a turf outfield and clay infield.

Post University's faculty and staff are heating up the summer!

The 2010-2011 school year might have come to a close, but the faculty and staff at Post University haven't slowed down one bit! Whether it's teaching online courses over the summer, sharing their expertise, or getting involved in the community, our team continues to stay very busy. Here are just a few of their recent accomplishments. Congrats to each of you, and thank you for making Post University a better place every day.

Anthony Medaglia was appointed Interim Associate Director of Career Services on May 31. He has been with Post University for four years as an adjunct professor of marketing. Living by the mantra "teaching is a learning proposition," his primary mission is to connect with his students and prepare them for future success through his work in the classroom and Career Services. Now that he has been appointed to this position, he can focus on helping each student discover and excel in his/her intended career path.

Chris Szpryngel, a member of the Post University School of Business faculty, was elected to the Board of Directors for the Waterbury Symphony Orchestra (WSO) on June 22. The WSO promotes the understanding, appreciation, and enjoyment of symphonic and orchestral music, and has become a cultural staple of Waterbury. Its educational programs benefit the greater Waterbury community and promote its core belief that the study of musical instruments and participation in musical performance is an essential part of every child's education.

Ex Post Facto

Post University cartoon by Dave Blazek is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Back-to-school made easy: How to ease your K-6 child back into the school routine

As summer winds down, the pace of the school year ahead is picking up. What can we as parents to ease our K-6 children's transition into the rigors ahead? Here are 12 tips that will help make the back-to-school transition easy for your child by tapping into their innate creativity and curiosity.

1. Spend some time with your child talking about where her very own study space will be this coming year. Take inventory of supplies on hand and look at the desk or table to see what might be needed. Talk about moving on to a new grade and that it will be great to have some enhanced supplies for the new year ahead. Brainstorm a list together -- multicolor highlighters? Fun shaped sticky notes? How about a few colored files and an adult-style desktop file holder to label?

2. Think about the décor around the study area. Can a cubicle be painted? A new desk pad created or bought? A special desktop reminder of the summer like a shell paperweight?

3. Make a trip to a big-box or dollar store with your child and together pick out supplies to outfit your child's study area. Talk as you walk around the store ... "What do you think will help you study?"