I think I mentioned earlier that international students have their scholarships e-mailed to them instead of having their information sent overseas... what I did not know is that all the athletes that were on campus for summer classes had to get an e-mail as well.
So the same pain of selecting a student, gathering their scholarship info, their correct meal plan, and specific sport information had to be done over. Added to that is the finding their e-mail address(es) and parent e-mail address(es). While I was e-mailing some letters out I (Glada) was getting e-mails back! One student said their was a mistake with their scholarship. Apparently, one coach promised this athlete more than what Glada gave them. After calling the coach it came out to be that he forgot to update Glada on the situation. Good thing we e-mailed the students directly because Glada was able to go in and correct the mistake before school started. Today I overheard a conversation Rhonda had with someone from the Georgia Center. They were trying to collaborate a deal for ordering porter potties for UGA home football games. These games usually bring in thousands of people to the city, most just coming to the game and leaving. An issue that's been arising is these fans don't have anywhere to use the rest room while tailgating. And they want to continue tailgating so they have to make better accommodations. For that last couple months the city has been working on the main roads in and out of Athens to help traffic flow. But this guy must've been new because he didn't seem to know who pays for what, as far as them and UGA. He didn't know the average prices and was asking Rhonda for suggestions. Suggestions on how many porter potties, where to locate them, etc. By the end of the long meeting they decided to meet up again in a few weeks. I didn't know that compliance handled these things... Done Stuffing.
The most frustrating thing is when a coach write down their rosters and use their athletes nicknames! I have no clue to who they are referring to. Sometimes the athlete will go by their middle name or a common nickname for their first name, some times. Then there are those who go by a completely different name! And sometimes Glada types the wrong name thinking of another athlete from a previous year. So I spent a lot of time going back and forth to Glada's office to see who was who because many of the students have the same last name... and sometimes none of them go by their first name. My mentorship is almost over!
But I'm still working on a lot of things. I expected to be done with all this scholarship stuff but more things keep up. Glada made a mistake on the returning letter for the softball team so I had to unstuff all of those envelops, print and make copies on yellow paper, then restuff the envelops. That's on top of doing track. Track has so many athletes all labeled track but it's three teams for Mens and Women! All needing different information. Then most of them are on two teams. I asked Glada what happens after we finish all of this scholarship stuff and she said, "Entertain parents!" Next week may be my last week...I thought I had more time! This summer has flown by and I go back to work in two weeks.
It took Glada telling me that her son was already got his high school schedule. Then it hit me. I have to go back to being a PE teacher and this mentorship is almost over. During a little discussion with Glada I asked her about LinkedIn as a way to keep in touch. She spoke on the great opportunities that can come from there. And that by being linked to her I can gain access to a lot more people in the field. She also told me about how her son got a job from there. Her son saw that a friend got a job by his posting on there and ended up applying to the same place. She encouraged me to update my page. Still stuffing...
Other than stuffing papers I have been cleaning up ACS. Making sure that the rosters we were just given make that of what we posted on there. Then I've been going back and entering the e-mail addresses of the new students. That has been a process in itself. I have to keep downloading the latest report to get the e-mail addresses and some still don't have one yet. The school has been having a technical difficulty with the system that gives out e-mail addresses or something...but that's why some still haven't been issued an e-mail yet. It's the end of the summer and classes will start in the next few weeks. Not having an e-mail address will make it hard on any student, especially the athletes who rely on it as their primary means of communication with Glada. These letters that we are sending out are going to each athletes permanent address. That means that the information sheet with important dates aren't getting directly to them. And now since they can't receive e-mails makes it that much harder. Coaches and other players can easily contact them via text or call but some of the information going out is specific for new athletes...who don't have e-mail addresses. All the rosters are in!
Today was spent stuffing more envelops. We (well me) have to make sure each athlete gets a meal plan sheet, their individual scholarship information, and an information letter. Here's where things get a little complicated. Not all students are on scholarship. Then not all sports get the same meal plan sheet. But everyone gets the information letter. While I'm stuffing envelops Glada is writing out all the scholarship information for each athlete. It's all hand written. What I don't understand is why there isn't an easier process. Why can't they just print out the information of each athletes scholarship? How advanced technology has become you would think this all could be done another way. |