POWER (CAST) NSE Presentation

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05/07/2025 Added

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[00:00:00.000]Hi there. My name is Rob Russell. I'm the director of the CAST Office here at Nebraska,
[00:00:06.740]the Center for Academic Success and Transition. And for the next few minutes, I'm going to talk
[00:00:10.860]to you about our CAST Power Program, what it is, what it means for you, and how you can take part
[00:00:15.300]in it. First thing I'm going to do, though, very quickly is just remind you about the CAST Office
[00:00:21.620]and what it is we do. So you may have seen me talk at a few other presentations during your
[00:00:26.720]NSE experience. We are not your advisor. We are not your therapist. We're somewhere right in
[00:00:32.080]the middle there, and what we do is we offer academic success coaching, this holistic coaching
[00:00:36.060]of what you individually need as a college student here. We have free peer tutoring, and then we have
[00:00:42.040]various peer mentoring programs, one of which I'm going to get into today in detail in just a moment.
[00:00:46.100]So if you have seen any information about the CAST Office I've talked about, any of the services we
[00:00:52.520]offer, any of the programming, any of the questions, feel free to check our
[00:00:56.700]website, success.unl.edu. We have a lot of information there, or you can contact us on
[00:01:02.540]our phone number or via email. It doesn't matter. We are more than happy to answer any question you
[00:01:06.600]have, okay? Now, to start things off, you are watching this right now because you have been
[00:01:12.100]identified as a potential student who may want to be involved in the CAST Power program, okay? So
[00:01:20.120]this is for students who are not connected to other retention programs. You may be first-gen,
[00:01:26.680]which means your parent or guardian, did not receive a four-year degree in the United States,
[00:01:30.400]and you may have expressed an interest in taking part in a program designed to really help guide
[00:01:35.580]you through your first semester, okay? Now, a few years ago, the university decided that it was
[00:01:40.600]every student's best interest to be involved in some sort of fall retention program, and I want
[00:01:47.600]you to think about what I'm talking to you today about in general, but some of these retention
[00:01:50.860]programs, like really homeroom-style experiences, right, where you get to know people in offices like
[00:01:56.660]the CAST office really well, you get to better understand resources available to you, you know
[00:02:01.740]where to go to ask for help, and if you watch my video early on in NSE, I talked really about
[00:02:08.080]ownership, and this really feeds into it. It's making sure that you understand everything that
[00:02:12.300]is available to you. Now, before we go any further, I want to emphasize two things. One,
[00:02:18.720]everything I'm about to go over is completely free for you. Yay, fantastic. Number two, it is optional for you. My job in the next few minutes
[00:02:26.640]is to convince you that this is something worth doing. Now, what does the CAST Power program look like and what
[00:02:33.160]options do you have? You have two tracks you can choose from. Track one is our four-day plus the
[00:02:39.300]seminar. Our four-day is like a mini summer camp where you move to campus early. We call it
[00:02:44.900]Priority Move-In on Sunday, August 17th. And then for the next three and a half days, all the way
[00:02:51.540]through Wednesday the 20th, you're with us. And we put you in groups of 20 to 25 students,
[00:02:56.620]that's your cohort. You get to know campus really well. You get to do a bunch of stuff that I'll
[00:03:01.840]talk about in a moment in detail. And you partake in a 12-week, zero credit, again, free class in
[00:03:10.840]the fall taught by us. It's once a week, pass, no pass, zero credit. That same group of students
[00:03:15.760]that you're with during the four-day are the same students that are in your class. So it really
[00:03:19.760]becomes a homeroom-style experience. That's track one. Now, if you're interested in all the details but you can't make
[00:03:26.600]that 4-day work becuase of your schedule because of the dates, we also have this track two, which is the seminar only,
[00:03:31.900]which means that you take that same weekly pass, no pass, zero credit class that's led by us.
[00:03:39.160]We also have student peer mentors in all these classes with us who have gone through this
[00:03:42.980]program themselves. And it's only 12 weeks. The semester is 16 weeks. So you're done before
[00:03:48.360]Thanksgiving. Again, completely free. Cannot stress that enough. And you still get to have
[00:03:53.380]that homeroom-style experience. Now,
[00:03:56.580]to give you a little bit more detail of what this looks like, priority move-in if you do the four-day
[00:04:01.780]on Sunday, August 17th. Now, these four days during the four-day, we call it our four-day
[00:04:06.180]foundational event. Behind-the-scenes tours, VIP access to resources before other students get
[00:04:11.400]there. We have speakers come in. We give you activities to do. We make sure you understand
[00:04:15.400]where all of your classes are. We have really, really fun activities planned. It's a really
[00:04:21.220]fantastic experience. And anybody, every single year I've done this, anybody who might come to this
[00:04:26.560]that are rolling their eyes like, I don't want to do this, I am telling you by the end of that
[00:04:30.060]four-day, they are completely bought in. It's a really, really fantastic experience. And those
[00:04:34.040]four days, it goes from about eight in the morning to five at night. And then the rest of the time
[00:04:37.720]is yours. And we're done by Wednesday. Okay. In addition to that, as I mentioned earlier,
[00:04:42.320]you have a 12-week, zero credit, free class. The same cohort of students that you're with
[00:04:48.040]during the four-day that you really get to know are the same students in your class. And it's a
[00:04:52.040]really fantastic experience when the first day, the first week of the semester, excuse me,
[00:04:56.540]happens, you have one class at least where you're going to know every single person in it. Again,
[00:05:02.120]it's that homeroom style experience and it really, really helps. One, it helps you to meet people
[00:05:07.780]outside of your dorm, your living situation, your major, and meet people from all over campus. But
[00:05:13.040]two really gives you a comfortable place to ask some very, very deep probing questions that you
[00:05:18.280]might not get a chance to ask otherwise. This course is designed to help guide you through
[00:05:23.860]the first semester. Again, introduce you to resources. We have lots of really fantastic
[00:05:27.780]conversations in the class asking why, what is your why for being here? What do you need to be
[00:05:33.780]successful really to help you thrive? Okay. And then we have events all throughout the semester
[00:05:39.040]and past the first semester as well too, that are always free for any student involved in our
[00:05:43.580]office. And if you participate, this also opens up the possibility that you can join us for one
[00:05:48.540]of our CAST education abroad experiences. So there's a lot of really fantastic education
[00:05:52.660]abroad experiences at Nebraska in general. We have our own and abroad experience that alternates
[00:05:58.900]between Singapore and Mexico City. That is just for students who have gone through our program.
[00:06:03.540]We've gone to Singapore twice already. It's been a really fantastic experience. And next year,
[00:06:08.920]2026, we'll be going to Mexico city for the first time. And again, this is an experience only
[00:06:13.100]for students who have gone through our program. Now, if you opt in for the seminar only track,
[00:06:20.620]it's a 12 week zero credit class, again, led by us and student peer mentors.
[00:06:25.440]It's like I just mentioned before, it's designed to help guide you through your first semester and
[00:06:30.260]make sure that you have all the skills you need. It gives you a lot of access to us,
[00:06:33.740]right? And the class really becomes this homeroom style class. We have really big,
[00:06:38.900]big conversations that are going to be really crucial to your growth as a student.
[00:06:43.640]And I know what you're thinking broadly with both of these tracks. You're asking me,
[00:06:49.060]Rob, to pick another class and put it on my schedule. This class is easy. It's not designed
[00:06:55.300]to be difficult. This is not a rigorous class at all. There is homework, but it's short,
[00:07:00.620]five, 10 minutes kind of thing. This class is really designed about the experience of
[00:07:05.060]being together in the class. And again, it's once a week, at least once a week,
[00:07:08.880]where you'll know everybody really well. You'll get access to the CAST staff consistently every
[00:07:14.380]single week and be able to really ask and answer some questions, sometimes very tough questions,
[00:07:21.660]but necessary questions related to your education. So you know exactly how to move forward. Okay.
[00:07:26.160]If you choose the seminar track, again, everything, you get access to all the events,
[00:07:30.920]the CAST office throws, you can participate in our ed abroad experiences because you're a part
[00:07:35.460]of our program. Everything I just mentioned before, you still get to do it.
[00:07:38.860]Now, I know having some quotes on the screen from students is not necessarily helpful for everyone,
[00:07:43.780]but I think it's really important to show that this seminar, not to be crass, is not a waste of
[00:07:50.300]time. It's a really fantastic experience. 96% of the students from our last fall class, all of our
[00:07:57.400]sections we had were retained, meaning that they did well in school and they came back in the
[00:08:03.060]spring. That's an incredible number. And as you'll see from some of these quotes here, the students
[00:08:08.840]feel like these classes helped them in a way that maybe they weren't expecting or in a way that
[00:08:15.320]other classes aren't going to help them, right? Homesickness, just to focus on that for a moment,
[00:08:21.380]is a really big issue that I sometimes think students don't realize will hit them. It hits
[00:08:25.080]everyone at some point. Having this familiar space once a week can help with that so, so much.
[00:08:34.000]And to get to know us, to get to know people on campus who will always have your back,
[00:08:38.820]it's a really fantastic experience. So, next steps. Scan this QR code,
[00:08:45.680]which will take you directly to our website where you can sign up for this program if you're
[00:08:49.500]interested. You can also just go to success.unl.edu and navigate that way as well, too.
[00:08:54.300]If you're interested in the four-day plus the seminar, you have to be available for the four-day
[00:08:59.920]dates, the 17th through the 20th. If you want to take part in this but you're not available
[00:09:04.120]in those dates, fantastic. You join the seminar only. Now, if you're not living in campus,
[00:09:08.800]no problem. You sign up for the one of these that you want to do and you show up. We'll tell
[00:09:13.000]you exactly when and where to be. It's a fantastic experience, right? The other thing that I have to
[00:09:17.800]know is that you won't choose the class. We will do it for you. So, after August 1st, when your
[00:09:22.600]fall semester schedule is set with your advisor, we will look at everybody's schedules. We'll see
[00:09:27.560]what class makes the most sense and we'll add it to your schedule. So, you'll notice after August
[00:09:32.340]1st, if you sign up, that automatically you'll have, it's called UGEP 120, stands for Undergraduate
[00:09:38.780]Education. It'll be on your schedule. It's a zero credit once a week class. We put it there, fit with
[00:09:43.860]your schedule. Very, very easy process. Again, if you have any questions at all about the program that
[00:09:51.820]I talked about or if you're on the fence and you want some questions answered that might help you
[00:09:57.140]decide one way or the other, please reach out to me or my office and we're more than happy to help.
[00:10:02.760]And again, while everything I told you about today is optional, I cannot recommend it enough. It's easy.
[00:10:08.760]Which is crucial. It's not going to get in the way of your other classes or your other studies in any way, shape or form.
[00:10:14.620]And it does nothing but gives you a better enhanced experience here at UNL.
[00:10:19.020]Thanks so much. Welcome to Nebraska.

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