AUSU Update

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IMPORTANT DATES, SEPTEMBER
? Sept 10: registration deadline for Oct 1 start date
? Sept 10: AUSU Council Meeting
? Sept 30: extension deadline for a Oct 30 contract date.
? Oct 10: registration deadline for an Nov 1 start date
? Oct 13: Thanksgiving: AU closed
? Oct 31: extension deadline for Nov 30 contract dates.

Great AU Finds Online

Counselling Assessments — Am I Ready for studies in …? Counselling Assessments ? A series of review modules to test your skill in a variety of subjects (currently there are assessments for English, math, chemistry, Microsoft Access, and computing science). Use these to determine if you need to brush up on a subject before diving in to a course, or just for fun. Also, Mapping Your Future helps you choose an occupation.

For links, see: http://counselling.athabascau.ca/assess_yourself.php

This Week at lynda.com

lynda.com experts have curated playlists to help you get started in any of their subjects. With hundreds of playlists in a variety of subjects, there is something for everyone. Check out the playlist centre for more information and enter the playlist title. This week’s featured list:

Explore Web Content Writing
As distance and online students here at AU, you are likely doing some web writing on the side. If you are operating a blog, business website, or creating recreational web content then this playlist may be for you. Learn how to maximize your rhetoric to be compatible with search engine algorithms and to be an effective communicator via online and digital platforms. Lynda.com has all sorts of resources for eager learners! This list includes:

? Business storytelling and article writing
? Writing Fundamentals: The craft of story
? Leading with stories
? SEO fundamentals
? HTML essentials training
? Web semantics

Courses: 7
Duration: 14h 25m
Skill Level: Beginner

Have you signed up for lynda.com? It’s free for all AUSU members. To find out more, please check out the the AUSU lynda information page.

Featured AUSU Member Service

Smart Draw
AUSU has partnered with Smart Draw to provide members with their award winning business graphics software. This is a $297 package is free for one year, only for AUSU members.

Smart draw allows users to create a wide range of charts, diagrams and other business graphics that can be dropped in to Microsoft Word or Excel files. This makes it easy for students to include professional diagrams in their assignments for AU classes.

To get more info on how to get this software for free, visit the AUSU SmartDraw information page
Note: SmartDraw CI is the latest version. If you are upgrading from an earlier version, email us for installation instructions.

AUSU Featured Groups & Clubs
Group Name: Athabasca University
Where: Facebook
Members: 1211
About: Members are all types of students taking all types of AU courses. The members of the group seem to support, encourage and give advice to each other on course content, study tips, and other AU topics.
Activity: Multiple posts daily with lots of post replies and discussion