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planning your leave 1. General Advice 2. Before You Leave 3. Before and During Your Time Off 4. When You Return to Campus
> general advice about planning for your leave In order to find options that fit your needs there may be a lot of legwork involved, so: 1. start early! If you have an inkling that you may want to take time off, come in and with your College Venture Program Coordinator. The earlier you start actively thinking about it, the more options you will have. Most importantly, start talking to everyone you can think of to try to develop contacts in various locations or fields of interest. Good sources include: professors, other students, alumni from your school, family, friends, and even acquaintances. Don't be shy!! 2. make an appointment
Talk with your College Venture Program Coordinator about your concerns and ideas about taking time off. They are here to support you in defining your goals and making plans for your time away from school. 3. check out Venture's website
Venture maintains a database of jobs and internships in the non-profit sector. Many of these opportunities are designed especially for leavetakers. On their web site, they also list other resources for leavetakers. 4. visit your career
center / resource center
These offices have a library that contains various books on subjects, including non-profit organizations here and in developing countries, working and volunteering abroad, work and internships in the US, and more! A special note for international students: See your international studies advisor regarding work visa guidelines. International students have been able to take time off when the job is related to their academic major and by receiving other forms of compensation, such as room/board, travel reimbursement, etc. 5. visit other offices
on campus Your center for public service, multicultural center, women’s center, study abroad office, and the academic departments all have resources and connections. Think broadly and talk to others about your ideas. Follow up on as many as possible. 6. talk to a dean You will need to talk to a Dean in order to formalize your leave from school. They will deal with LOGISTICS, such as notifying Residential Life and the Post Office. This is a no–brainer compared to the rest. You should try to do this before you leave campus the semester before, but if you decide while you are on vacation that you don't want to return, it's not a problem. Just call up the Dean's office and do it over the phone. 7. meet with your financial
aid officer We strongly recommend that you meet with your financial aid officer to plan your time away and to discuss the implications of your grace period once you graduate. They can also advise you as to how your leave may impact any internal or external scholarship money you may be receiving, as well as attendance requirements for federal and state need based grants you may be receiving. The more you know about the conditions under which receive this money, the better able you will be to plan your leave in order to ensure a smooth transition back to school. >> Go on to: Before You Leave (back to top) |
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