Author: Stuart Glennan

This posts introduces our new system for tracking co-curricular events.  We have enrolled all STS majors and minors in a Moodle Organization called “STS_students”.  You can access it from the “My Moodle menu” at the top left of your Moodle window.  Inside that organization you will find something that looks a lot like a course.  You will see listed “Cocurricular Activity reports”.  There are 6 links, one for each required activity.  After you go to an event, click on one of the links (start at the top); you will be asked for the name, date and topic of the event, as well as to write a brief summary and reflection on the topic.  That summary need not be more than a paragraph or two.  I will review your entries and mark them as complete.  When you’ve got all 6 (or the first 3 if you are a minor) you are done.

NOTE FOR THOSE WHO HAVE ALREADY HANDED IN EVENT REPORTS:  We would ask that you find copies of the reports you submitted for past events, and that you cut and paste the material into the online report.  I’m sorry — but we can’t do that for you.  If you have handed in reports and don’t have lost your originals, you can contact Mary Proffitt to track them down.

Please let Mary or me know if you are having difficulties, and please get any events from this or previous years onto Moodle before advising starts in a couple of weeks.  Especially if you are a senior, please get everything in.

If you are looking for an event, National Geographic Explorer Sylvia Earle is here next week.

One of the distinctive features of the STS major and minor is its co-curricular event requirement.  The co-curricular event requirement is very much like the Butler Cultural Requirement (BCR) in the core curriculum, in that it is a requirement to attend an enriching event outside of your normal course work.  In fact most events that count for the BCR also count for the STS requirement.  To satisfy the requirement STS majors must attend and report upon 6 events; minors must do 3 events.

The most typical way STS students fulfill this requirement is by attending our amazing Woods Lecture Series.  We will also post other events we see that could fulfill the requirement.  If you see something you’d like to go to and you think would count, please just send us an e-mail so we can confirm and share the event.

If you are a senior, please note that this is a very real requirement, and you should take steps to make sure you complete it.

While the co-curricular event is a fun requirement, it has been confusing for students, faculty and advisors to keep track of.  To make things easier for all of us, we’re going to roll out a new Moodle-based tracking system that will allow you to report events and see your progress on the requirement.  Look for another post later this week!