First, viewers should know that as of this writing there are still problems with the payment system for accepting the $300 deposit for the program. That does NOT mean you have not registered. Our friend Emily Dolezal at KSU, who is the person primarily responsible for all of the technical details of the program, has sent out the following e-mail to all those who have registered:
Hello Hopeful Italy Scholars!
My name is Emily Dolezal and I am the study abroad advisor for the Montepulciano, Italy summer study abroad program at Kennesaw State University. I am the logistics person that will be plaguing you all with tons-o-information, as well as gathering more information from you all than you knew possible! I tend to tell students that I am the person to ask boring questions to (such as registration) and the faculty are the ones to ask about interesting information (where you'll be staying, what you'll be learning, what you'll be eating, etc).
Important Things to Know
• You are getting this email because you have applied to the program and I have received your application. Nobody has been officially accepted into the program yet because I've got to write to your home campus (KSU students, I'll be doing this for you) and make sure that you're academically eligible to participate. After I get the okay from each campus, you will be officially accepted into the program.
• We are still unfortunately not able to receive payments: there is a security problem and we surely don't want you to pay over an insecure network! Once this issue is resolved, we'll send an email to everyone reminding them to pay the $300 non-refundable deposit.
• I will be sending out more specific emails to you all about personal situations so expect a flood! Don't worry though...all of my nagging this early will make it much easier and smoother in the future!
• Please let me know if you have any questions, but please give me adequate time to respond. I'll not be in the office tomorrow (Friday) and usually play catch-up all week to make sure everything's covered.
It may be best if you call me at 678-797-2924 with questions and remember to leave both your full name, the program and your phone number on a message.
• If you have friends who are thinking about signing up, tell them to do it now! We already have a short waiting list for the program, but there’s a good chance that the first few will be able to go (some people won’t be able to go, won’t make payments, etc). This is a gamble that they may or may not be willing to take.
I will follow up with you all until the day you leave so it's nice to make your acquaintance now and I will probably be getting to know you all throughout the process. I look forward to working with you all!
Ciao!
Emily
Second, as you may have noticed in Emily's e-mail, there is a waiting list now for GSU and KSU students (though not yet for GCSU). However, that waiting list is not forever! For details, students should see their study abroad advisors on their respective campuses. At GSU, that would be Danielle, Kimberly, and Jeff (contact info in the column on the right). You can also come and talk to me. For now, if you are still interested in going, I would urge you to apply right away. We will begin to review the waiting list December 1st and it is likely (though not certain) that some on the waiting list will be accepted into the program at that point. Even after that, some students inevitably drop from the program, particularly in March and April when the big payments come due, and spaces do open up. If you do go on the waiting list and do not end up being accepted into the program, your $300 deposit will be refunded, either when you withdraw from the list or when it is clear that we have all the students who are not dropping, probably in the Spring.
Third, we now have a facebook page! I am inviting both those who have gone on the program in the past as well as those going this summer to join. We have twenty-two members so far, and I really hope we can get a lot more in the days and weeks ahead. I've posted some photos from both the 2001 and 2009 programs but haven't really sorted them out, since I'm still learning this facebook thing, but I'll be gradually adding more photos as time goes by as well as posting information and articles of interest. So once you are "officially" accepted, expect an invitation from me to join if you have a facebook account.
