Lakeland Mirror

Issue date: 9/20/07 Section: Features

Nontraditional students at Lakeland College now have an organization to call their own. The Non-Traditional Student Group (NTSG) was organized by Jodi Schneider, a nontraditional student who has been elected as the organization's first president.

The group was created to address the unique needs of nontraditional students in the Lakeland College community. "Lakeland has many wonderful student groups and organizations on campus, but most are geared toward the traditional college student. Because of the busy lifestyles of most nontraditional students, joining one of these groups is not an option. The NTSG is designed for individuals with busy lives that would still like to participate in an on-campus organization," Schneider said.

Schneider also stated that the group will be a source of academic support as well as an organization to the social development of nontraditional students. "Helping non trads to map out their academic life and assisting them to develop a network of individuals with similar needs and interests are the primary goals of this group. We want to provide educational support by organizing events and informational forums that increase the awareness of the resources available to students at Lakeland College, primarily those of which nontraditional students may not be aware" said Schneider.

Meetings for NTSG will be run on a drop-in basis and will be conducted infrequently. Students will be able to choose, on an individual basis, how involved they would like to be in the group. E-mail networking will be the primary source of information for this group.

"Many times students do not like to join an organization because of the time commitment associated with it. This group will provide nontraditional students with the opportunity to join a group without feeling the need to attend weekly meetings," said Dawn Hughes, an officer of NTSG.

The newly formed group recently conducted a tour of the Laun Center. This provided nontraditional students with an opportunity to find resources that they may have not been aware of. Students learned about meal discounts available to them, how to use The Muskie Mart, the locations of the rest rooms, and locker availability.

Members of the group also recently attended the Gary John Gresl art exhibition. This provided members with an opportunity to learn more about convocations, satisfy one of their convocation credits, and spend time with other nontraditional students.

"I was never quite sure how convocations worked when I first started school here. This was a great opportunity to help other students become familiar with the convocation process," said Kelly Ochalek, a nontraditional education major who organized the opportunity.

The group is open to all nontraditional and commuter students. Anyone interested in joining NTSG or learning more about upcoming activities associated with this group can contact Jodi Schneider via e-mail at schneiderj@lakeland.edu.

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