Notes And Reminders

Free Application for Federal Student Aid
If you will be attending SPU next year, don’t forget to complete the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) for the 2004-05 academic year. You can complete the FAFSA online at www.fafsa.ed.gov or paper FAFSA forms are available in Student Financial Services. SPU’s school code is 003788. If you have any questions about completing the FAFSA or financial aid, please contact Student Financial Services at 206/281-2061 or 800/737-8826.

Financial Aid for Summer Quarter
Are you planning to attend summer quarter? If you are and you’d like financial aid, don’t forget to complete a Summer Financial Aid application available at www.spu.edu/sfs. Summer is considered the last quarter of the 2003-04 academic year, so if you haven’t completed a 0304 FAFSA yet, you’ll need to do that at www.fafsa.ed.gov. SPU’s school code is 003788. If you have any questions about summer financial aid, please contact Student Financial Services at 206/281-2061 or 800/737-8826.

Tuition Fellowships for Students Studying Mental Health
Tuition Fellowships are available through the Living Well Initiative. These fellowships provide advanced specialized training for students pursuing vocations in the area of mental health. See the website www.spu.edu/livingwell for an application and eligibility criteria.

Graduate Student Enrollment Status Change
Effective Autumn Quarter 2004, graduate student enrollment status will be determined by the following:

Full time 6 or more credits
¾ time 4-5 credits
½ time 3 credits
less than ½ time 1-2 credits

In order to receive federal financial aid at SPU, graduate students must be enrolled in 3 credits or more in a program leading to a graduate or doctoral degree. Graduate students enrolled in at least 3 credits or more will now be eligible for educational deferment on previously borrowed federal student loans.

Students currently enrolled in spring courses and planning to enroll in summer courses will still need 4 credits or more to get aid for spring and summer quarters.

ERIC’s Big Change
Please be aware that ERIC is changing.

ERIC, the Education Resources Information Center, which is funded by the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences, has been under going a federal reauthorization process since the beginning of 2003. The ERIC Database will remain as a research tool; however, how the information is collected for the ERIC database is in the process of changing.

On December 19, 2003 AskERIC closed, as well all 16 of the ERIC Clearinghouses closed along with the 11 Adjunct and Affiliated Clearinghouses.

That said, a lot of the information housed by these ERIC Clearinghouses is still available at alternate location of the Web.

For example, the resources provided by the AskERIC website are now available at http://www.eduref.org/ (which includes 2,000+ lesson plans, 3,000+ links to online education information, and 200+ question archive responses) however the question/answer service is no longer active. To familiarize yourself with up-to-date ERIC Reauthorization News or to learn where your favorite ERIC Clearinghouses are housing their Web content you should visit http://www.spu.edu/depts/library/reference/education/ERIC_resources.htm.

Note: The SPU Library will continue to provide access to several versions of the ERIC database. If you have questions, please contact Jenifer Sigafoes Phelan, sigafoes@spu.edu, 206/281-2074.

A Few Basic Library Tips:

Having trouble deciding on a topic for a paper or want more background information on a “hot” education topic?

Go to www.edweek.org and click on “Issues A-Z” on the blue bar at the top of the page. This source will provide you with plenty of current information about current issues in education like Accountability, Character Education, Inclusion, ‘No Child Left Behind,’ Religion in Schools, to name only a few. Check it out!

Tired of Web searching? Do you sometimes want to try something other than Google?

Spice up your research with a new search engine that “concept maps” your results list by visiting www.kartoo.com. For other search engine suggestions visit the SPU Library’s “Search” page, http://www.spu.edu/library/main/search.htm, and click on the “Internet Search Engines” or “Internet Searching Tools” links.

Brought to you by Your Friendly Neighborhood Education Librarian: Jenifer Sigafoes Phelan, sigafoes@spu.edu, 206/281-2074.