Student Guide 1
Rowan Seminar Passport Program
Student Guide
Fall 2012
NOTE: This version may differ from the version from your
instructor. Follow the guidelines your instructor gave.
There is a lot going on at Rowan – and the more you participate in the life of the University, the sooner
you will feel engaged and comfortable here on campus.
What is the Rowan Seminar Passport Program (RSPP)?
You will attend at least 5 campus activities across at least four categories that will introduce you
to many members of our community and parts of our campus. It’s like having a passport to
travel the world, getting stamps at lots of interesting places. But in the RSPP, you’re traveling
the campus and collecting experiences that will show you a wide range of Rowan’s rich events
and activities. It’s a great (and fun!) way to see first-hand how getting involved on campus can
enhance your first-year experience at Rowan. Many Rowan Seminar classes participate in this
program.
What activities or events will I attend?
Your Rowan Seminar instructor will let you know whether you will choose your own activities or
whether you will participate in activities specified for the class. If you choose your own, strive to
choose activities that you would not otherwise have done – stretch yourself and your Rowan
experience!
How can I find activities or events to attend?
There are lots of different ways to find events. Start by checking the University Events Calendar
at http://www.rowan.edu/campuscalendar/ . You can also “Like” the RSPP’s Facebook page
(www.facebook.com/RUPassport). You can learn about intramural sports and other rec
programs at www.rowan.edu/rec and you can get information about clubs by stopping into the
SGA office in the Student Center or checking www.rowan.edu/sga. Go to the SGA
club/organization fair on September 12 from 11-3 on the Student Center patio. Watch for
announcements in classes, on bulletin boards, or in your Rowan email about events offered by
offices, departments, or clubs on campus. (Note: events must take place on or after the first day
of classes and must be organized by a faculty or staff member, campus office, or recognized
student organization.)
What types of activities will I attend?
You will attend a total of five activities, one activity in each of five categories – or, if you prefer, you can
skip one category and do two activities in another. Just get a total of 5 in at least 4 categories.
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At least one activity must be completed in the first three weeks of the semester – no later than
September 24. Start Up Smart at Rowan!
http://www.rowan.edu/studentaffairs/main_office/welcome/index.cfm
Rowan Seminar Passport Program Event Categories
Category
Sample Activities
This will enable you to:
Artistic
 Exhibit at the Rowan University Art Gallery
 Theatre or dance performance
 Concert
Sample Activities:
 Attend a sporting event on campus
 Participate in an athletic/fitness event at
the Rec Center (exercise class, etc.)
Sample Activities:
 See your advisor;
 Go to a professor’s office hours;
 Go to the Career Management Center or
the Center for Academic Advising &
Exploration;
 Attend an Academic Success Center event;
 Attend a Study Abroad info session;
 Attend a session at the Writing Center
Sample Activities:
 Departmental speaker/film/etc.;
 Research presentation offered by an
academic department (not in class)
 Lecture related to the Common Reading
Program (“Henrietta Lacks”)
Sample Activities:
 Disability Awareness Week activity;
 Multicultural activity;
 Student Life or residence hall event such as
Rowan After Hours;
 Student organization event or club meeting
Learn more about the arts and see
why the arts are important at
Rowan.
See the Profs in action and
experience athletics and fitness at
Rowan.
Athletics
Student Success
Academic
Enrichment
Community
Engagement
Build your academic skills while
learning about Rowan’s resources
to support your success, all four
years.
Learn more about an academic
topic of interest and experience
first-hand how Rowan values ideas
and research.
Get involved at Rowan while
having fun and getting to know
other students. See the wide
range of activities happening at
Rowan.
Note: Events must take place on or after the first day of the semester and must be organized by a faculty
or staff member, campus office, or recognized student organization.
How do I document that I attended an activity or event?
Be sure to obtain and save documentation for every event you attend. This may be a ticket stub;
photo of yourself at the event; signed note from a faculty or staff member; or something else
approved by your Rowan Seminar instructor. You will need to turn in a piece of documentation for
each of the events when you turn in your completed Passport Document to your instructor at the
end of the semester.
What is the Passport Document?
Your instructor will email you a Passport Document which you will complete for each event you
attend. For each event, you will report the type of event, date, and form of documentation, and will
write brief responses reflecting on your experience and how it fits in with your first year at Rowan.
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You will turn in these 5 documents in two ways: (1) you will submit them electronically to the Rowan
Seminar program (instructions are at the end of this Student Guide) and (2) you will submit them to
your Rowan Seminar instructor in the way he or she specifies (along with the documentation for
each event attended) on or before the date specified by your instructor. It is the student’s
responsibility to ensure that all documentation is included and turned in on time. Your instructor
will let you know how the Passport Program fits into your overall course (grades, etc.) and how to
turn in the completed document.
How can I keep my Passport safe?
You can write in your electronic Passport documents throughout the semester and save them on
your H drive. This is space on Rowan’s computer servers just for you. You can save ALL of your work
there from all of your courses, and you’ll never lose a file again.
You will want to SAVE each document each time you modify it by following these instructions: From
http://www.rowan.edu/toolbox/network/on_campus/#home_stu :
Accessing your Home Directory
Your home directory is a personal folder created for you on one of our servers. Saving your files and
documents there allows them to be accessed from any computer on-campus or off. Your home directory
is also backed-up every night to insure that you will never lose your files if your computer breaks or even
if you accidentally delete them.
From the Residence Halls:
Windows PC users can access their home directory from the Residence Halls by click Start->Run and
entering the location of your home server as \\rowanads.rowan.edu\home\username Once you click
"OK" you will be prompted for your Rowan username and password. Login using rowanads\username
as your username and your Rowan network password
Mac Users:.



Click "Go" on the Finder menu and then "Connect to Server"
Enter the location of your home directory in the following format:
smb://rowanads.rowan.edu/home/username
Login using rowanads\username as your username and your Rowan network password
In the Computer Labs:
Windows PC users can access their home directory (H:\ Drive) by double-clicking the "My Computer"
icon on the desktop (or from the Start Menu, depending on how Windows XP looks on the computer)
and double-clicking the H: Drive
Mac OSX users can access their home directory the same way they would in the Residence Halls
FAQ: I can’t type in the boxes / save the document / see what I previously typed unless I click in the
box. What do I need to do to be able to save the Passport Document?
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On a PC: You probably need to update your computer to have a newer version of Adobe Reader.
When you open the Passport document, you should be able to type into the spaces that are
provided. There should be a purple banner across the top of the page, in which it states “Please
fill out the following form. You can save data typed into this form.” If the purple banner is not
there, you do not have a current enough version of Adobe on your computer to fill in the spaces
electronically and save (and re-open) the document. In order to get the proper version, upload
the most current (FREE) version as follows:
Adobe Reader X (10.1.3) on Rowan's Technology Toolbox website.
Faculty and students can access it directly at www.rowan.edu/download; Scroll down to the
Adobe Acrobat Reader. Follow download directions.
On a Mac: On a Mac, the default PDF viewer is Preview. Preview cannot fully handle fillable PDF
forms like the Passport document. You need to install the free Adobe Acrobat Reader for the Mac. If
you try to use Preview, your responses will not be saved.
Installing Acrobat Adobe Reader on your Mac is free, takes just a few minutes, and will help you in
the future with ANY PDF document.
A. Get the latest version of Adobe Reader. This is free and available to download at http://get.adobe.com/reader/ .
B. Move the Adobe Reader icon in the “Applications” folder to the “Dock” (instructions at
http://www.devdaily.com/mac-os-x/mac-osx-dock-application-icon-move-remove )
C. Open the PDF file (Passport document).
D. You will get the following message: "Adobe Reader is not currently configured to be the default
application for pdf files. Would you like to make pdf files open with Adobe Reader instead of Preview?"
E. Click "Yes"
(instructions from http://forums.adobe.com/message/3135687?tstart=0).
Once you do this, you should be able to save your responses in your Passport Document file.
Please email Dr. McElwee (mcelwee@rowan.edu) if you have any trouble with saving your Passport
document – we want to help to make this easy for you, and also we want to prevent problems for
others by learning about students’ experiences.
Note that even if you usually use Macs, there are several PC labs on campus you are welcome to use to
complete the Passport document (see http://www.rowan.edu/toolbox/computer_labs/hours/ ). You can
find them in Education Hall 1141; Bunce Hall 156, 158, or 302; Camden Campus Room 429 &514A;
Mimosa Hall Lab; Robinson 122 or 311; Rowan Hall 122 or 323; Science Hall 154; Campbell Library 138.
BONUS: Because it’s so important that students get involved on campus, you can get double-credit –
even triple-credit – for attending Passport events. The Leadership Rowan and Rowan Rewards
programs will also count the events you attend, making you eligible to earn the Leadership Rowan
certificates and get entered into the Rowan Rewards drawings. If you do not wish for your submissions
to be shared with these other programs, just check the box on the Passport Document saying “I do not
Student Guide 5
wish for my information to be shared with Leadership Rowan and Rowan Rewards.” You can learn more
about these programs here:
Leadership Rowan : http://www.rowan.edu/studentaffairs/main_office/Leadership/
Rowan Rewards: http://www.rowan.edu/studentaffairs/main_office/rewards/
Student Guide 6
Have I completed the Passport Program? (check off when done):
____ I have turned in each of my 5 Passport Documents to my Rowan Seminar instructor following
his or her instructions (email attachment, paper copy, etc.), one for each event attended.
____ I have turned in a piece of documentation for each of my Passport events to my instructor
(such as a ticket stub, note from a faculty/staff member, photo of yourself at an event, etc.)
____ I have electronically submitted each of my 5 Passport Documents to the Rowan Seminar
Program following the above instructions, once for each event attended.
Questions? Contact me anytime:
Dr. Rory McElwee
Assistant Vice President for Student Retention
mcelwee@rowan.edu
856-256-5187
www.rowan.edu/atp