UIC College of Nursing

GEP Orientation Information

Welcome to the College of Nursing at UIC and congratulations on your recent acceptance. As a new student, you join one of the largest and most prestigious sources of nursing leadership in Illinois and beyond. Students come to UIC College of Nursing to ‘learn from and with the best' – to connect locally and globally with top notch practicing, academic, and scientific nursing and healthcare leaders.

As one of the nation's leading colleges of nursing, UIC offers an excellent education with the nation's best nursing leaders as your teachers. You will be surrounded by energetic and supportive peers, receive personal and professional guidance, as well as have outstanding clinical experiences.

Enrollment Confirmation & Tuition Deposit

In order to secure your offer of admission, a non-refundable tuition deposit of $250 is required. Checks should be made out to UIC College of Nursing and the funds will be directly credited to your account upon matriculation. The deposit is due within two weeks of your notice of acceptance from the College of Nursing and should be submitted along with a confirmation of enrollment form below.

Document	Format
Enrollment Confirmation & Tuition Deposit	PDF	Word

Orientation

Orientation will be held on Friday, October 2, 2009 from 8:30am-5:00pm. Orientation provides you an opportunity to familiarize yourself with the faculty, staff and campus services of UIC. Orientation is required so please plan on attending. Please RSVP to Phil Zack.

A mandatory orientation to Blackboard as well as other technology used in the GEP program will be held on Thursday, January 7, 2010. In addition, students will be scheduled to check computer wireless accessibility using the downloaded software and meet with IT staff if needed on the morning of Tuesday, January 5, 2010 or the afternoon of Wednesday, January 6, 2010 in room 158, CON. Technology support will be available for troubleshooting problems only. Time will not be allotted for computer assistance during Technology Day. All problems should be addressed and software loaded prior to that date.

We will also be holding CPR courses in the 3rd Floor Lounge of the College of Nursing building for new students on TBD or TBD at a discounted rate. Students must register here closer to the date.

Following are items and forms that you will need to complete before the start of classes in January. Questions regarding these items will be addressed at orientation and will still give you plenty of time to complete them before classes start.

Clinical Compliance Requirements

Students may be required to have immunizations, background checks, drug testing, HIPAA and CPR in order to be eligible for clinical placement. Please visit the Clinical Compliance website for more details of the requirements for your program. All requirements are due by December 1st. It is extremely important that you begin working on these items as soon as possible.

Student Policies

Prior to orientation students should view the student handbook to become familiar with College of Nursing Policies

Blackboard (online course platform)

If you have not taken an online course before or need to become familiar with Blackboard it is highly recommended you take the Blackboard tutorial. The tutorial is available online and can be done at anytime. It will allow you to learn the basics about Blackboard prior to starting courses. Although all instructors use Blackboard a bit differently, all of the areas will be covered through the tutorial. In order to enroll in the Tutorial follow the steps below:

1. Establish Net ID and register for courses (information above)

2. Email Phil Zack in the Office of Academic Programs. In the subject put TUTORIAL. In the body of the email please include your Net ID (should be 6 letters followed by a number that is established at the time of registration). You will be entered into the Blackboard tutorial and should be able to access within one week.

3. Access the Blackboard tutorial by going to www.uic.edu Under Quick Links at the bottom of the page choose Blackboard and hit GO. Then login to blackboard using your Net ID and password (established during registration). The tutorial will show up as: Learner Orientation to Blackboard Nursing .

Tuition and Fees

Tuition and fees are set by the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois . The College of Nursing Tuition and fees are available on the Financing your Education page. There is also information on Financial aid and Scholarships. Tuition and Fees are subject to change. Tuition bills are emailed to you during the first few weeks of class.

In addition to tuition, GEP students have upfront costs for laptop, PDA, uniform, books, etc. Please see GEP costs (word) for additional information.

Graduate Entry Students are not eligible for College of Nursing Scholarships the first semester (awards are given out in the fall for fall and spring and therefore funds are not available for students starting in the spring). You will be eligible to apply for scholarships starting in the summer 2010 semester. You will be notified by email regarding applications and deadlines.

University Insurance

All registered students are automatically enrolled in CampusCare Health Insurance. There is no enrollment form to complete. Students with equivalent health insurance coverage can opt out of the CampusCare Program by submitting the online Waiver Form within designated time frames. The form only needs to be submitted once while you attend UIC.

Registration/Advising

GEP students will be able to register in mid-Decemeber. During the registration period, all registration activity is done by the student using Student Self-Service, which may be accessed from UIC Web For Student . When attempting to register, if you receive an error message directly pertaining to the class or section you are requesting, consult with the department offering the course as an override may need to be input into the system to allow you to continue to register. Once the override has been added you still have to register for the course in Student Self-Service. If you receive an error message that you do not understand, consult the Registration Help Line at (312) 996-8600.

Before you can register for classes, you will need to establish your NetID and Enterprise ID. You will need a Net ID to access campus-specific sites and services such as your UIC e-mail account and Blackboard. You will need an EnterpriseID to access the university-wide administrative system. For example, you will use your Enterprise ID to register for classes, make address changes, access your student account, review grades, and request transcripts. Instructions for establishing these IDs can be found on UIC Web for Student

You do not need to meet with an advisor before registering for classes. If you try to register and it says there is a hold on your account, please contact con@uic.edu . We will let you know what courses to register for at orientation in October.

Get Your Photo ID (i-Card)

The i-Card is the official identification card of the University for students, staff and faculty. It is important to obtain the i-Card and carry it with you at all times. The i-Card is needed to enter certain labs and buildings, for access to certain student-related events and services, and to check material out of the library.

The best time to get your I-Card is the week before classes start (when you are here for technology day, etc.) You will need to bring a print-out of your registration and either a driver's license, state ID card, or passport to the i-Card Office. Complete information, including locations, is available from the i-Card Office .

Housing

If you are looking for housing starting in January we have put together the a list of Housing Resources (PDF) . In addition if you are looking to find roomates in the GEP class please email Jenny Offen (current GEP student) who will try to get you in touch with other students.

Financial Aid

Financial aid is always a big concern for GEP students. Since you are applying so early in the process the only thing that needs to be done at this time is to fill out the FAFSA form. The form can be found on the Financing Your Education page

Financial Aid will be available at orientation to answer questions about the procsess.

Technology Requirements

Courses in GEP rely heavily on technology. Students are required to have both a laptop and a PDA to use in classes and clinicals. Please see Tech Requirements (word).

my.UIC/UIC Connect

my.UIC/UIC Connect is the University of Illinois at Chicago portal. The portal was developed for incoming and current UIC students as an information resource. As a newly admitted student, this site will serve as your gateway to the University from now through graduation. At this time, it has the following features:

UIC Connect – Admissions to enrollment information for new students
Home Tab – A customizable page that allows a student to add information about their college, access their email, and portal enhancement information.
Academics Tab – Registration, records, and class information
Finances Tab – Financial aid and student account information
Campus Life Tab – Campus resources and services information
My College Tab – This is a customizable page that allows a student to view college specific information, news and events.