Student Affairs Vista Offerings

• Minority Students at NC State - March 12, 2007 - March 30, 2007
  Instructors: Multicultural Student Affairs Staff
  Commitment: Approximately 2 hours per week for 3 weeks
  During these three weeks, you will learn about the experiences of African American, Native American and Hispanic students on our campus. What is it like to be a student of color on a predominantly white campus? What challenges do these students face? What are some misconceptions about these students? Learn the answers to these questions and more as you interact online with other staff in the Division.

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• Microsoft Excel - coming in Spring 2007
• International Students at NC State - coming in 2007
• Women Students at NC State - coming in 2007
• LGBT Students at NC State - coming in 2007

What is WebCT Vista?

WebCT Vista (also called "Vista") is a type of online software used in teaching courses. At NC State, faculty can use Vista, Wolfware, WebAssign, Ellumunate, and other types of this software, just to name a few.

Vista provides two important elements. First, the instructor can provide course content online, like the syllabus, audio and video clips, reading materials, links to websites, and so on. Second, Vista is loaded with all sorts of teaching tools, like discussion boards, quizzing, a gradebook, a calendar, announcements, and so on.

Vista is the primary means for teaching online courses, and is used to supplement many of the on-campus offerings at NC State. More than 90% of our students are using Vista (or other courseware) during any given semester, and that number will likely reach 100% in the near future.

Here is how it works. Students go to the main Vista website. From there, they will see a link to any course where the instructor has decided to use Vista. Thus, the students have all the information needed for that course all on one website.

Student Affairs now has access to this resource. Given that Vista and other courseware programs are relatively new to the world of higher education, most of us are not familiar with this aspect of today's learning environment. In order to truly serve our students well, we should better understand that learning environment. The goal of offering the courses below are: a) to help employees in the Division of Student Affairs learn about this technology and how it is used in the current learning environnment; b) to help employees think about how this resource could be used as we deliver student services and programs; and c) to deliver some content of interest that can serve as professional development.

We hope you will take this opportunity to explore Vista!