The Eagle's Nest

The Eagle's Nest is located in the tunnel next to Bender arena. It features a wide selection of groceries, school supplies and frozen foods, as well as a very popular Subway. This year, The Eagle's Nest has begun to feature products from the Outtakes program. Outtakes is designed to provide busy students with fresh, high quality food on the go. All at a low price, Outtakes is a great way to eat a delicious meal when you don't have time to prepare it yourself.

Salsa

Salsa is one of American University's newest dining venues. Located next to The Tavern, it serves freshly cooked burritos, taco salads, and tacos. All of the options on the menu come with vegetarian alternatives. Student can use Eaglebucks, cash, or credit to purchase Salsa's well priced meals.

The Tavern

The Tavern is one of American University's most popular dining venues. Students cause use EagleBucks or a Meal Swipe to purchase any of the wide variet of food offered at the Tavern. Upon placing your order, your meal will be cooked in front of you to your specifications. Some of the most popular meals at the Tavern include quesadillas, chicken tenders, burgers, and pizza.

Tenley Cafe

Tenley Cafe serves Tenley Campus' dining needs. Commited to creating nutrious and environmentally sustainable foods, the Chefs of Tenley Cafe work hard to ensure that all of the food served is made from high quality ingredients.

Bon Appetit

Bon Appetit is responsible for the majority of dining locations on campus, including TDR, Tenley Cafe, The Tavern, The Eagle's Nest, Salsa, Eagle Express, Einstein's Bagels, Field of Greens, Panini Express, The University Club and Boxed Lunch. They are committed to creating both delicious and environmentally friendly meals with the highest quality ingredients possible.

The company is also well known for its commitment to the students, throwing many events for them throughout the year, including Halloween parties, carnival nights and other themed events.

For more information, visit http://www.cafebonappetit.com/americanuniversity

IT Training

Did you know that AU’s Office of Information Technology offers free training to all AU staff members? Classes are offered year-round on introductory through advanced levels of Microsoft Office 2007 Word, Excel PowerPoint and Publisher, Adobe Photoshop, Macromedia Dreamweaver and Fireworks, and Lotus Notes. Whether you want to learn how to create sophisticated charts and graphs in Excel, or learn how to create Web-ready graphics in Photoshop, you will certainly find a class that interests you. There are no prerequisites required to attend these classes, just bring a desire to learn! Registration is open to all full and part-time staff members. If space is available, AU faculty and students are also welcome to attend training. In addition to open-enrollment classes, the Office of Information Technology also offers required or restricted-access courses including classes on the EagleData Warehouse, Corporate Express Eway, Datatel UI and the Colleague Financial system. These classes are designed to help you effectively utilize AU’s enterprise systems in a time-efficient manner. To register for any of these classes, simply log on to the my.american.edu portal, go to the TECHNOLOGY section, and select the IT COURSES FOR STAFF link, or go directly to www.american.edu/techtraining/.

Study Abroad with SIS!

How to Network Effectively

Making new business friends can lead to fresh ideas, useful information, new partnerships and increased income. To improve your networking skills, try these ten suggestions:

1. Seek long-term connections, not short-term gains. Networking is about being authentic, unselfish, genuine and honest. The key to successful networking is to be a decent and honorable person even when you’re not networking.

2. Act with confidence even if you feel shy and intimidated. You may feel understandably self-conscious and uncomfortable when meeting people more powerful and successful than yourself, but successful networking requires you to do it anyway. Do your best to appear self-confident. Try and ignore any negative self-talk.

3. Reach out to people in a warm and sincere way. Risk rejection. Be friendly and generous. Smile, shake hands firmly, make eye contact and ask them open-ended questions (questions which require more than a yes or no). Resist the urge to dominate the conversation. Listen intently. Be present. Focus on their concerns, not yours. Learn their name and use it so you begin to associate the name with the face.

4. At meetings or conferences, go out of your way to meet people. Physically move around and work the room. Don’t get stuck talking to one person just to be polite. (Say to the person, “I enjoyed meeting you and learning about your work. Let’s both meet some of the other people here. I hope to run into you again later,” shake hands and leave.) Show genuine interest in everyone you meet and form relationships that are meaningful. Exchange business cards. Find out about other people’s interests and concerns.

5. Become a resource to others. Introduce new friends to old friends. Look for ways you can help other people make useful contacts. Put in a good word for others. Build a reputation as an unselfish, decent person, the sort of person that others want to work with. Treat everyone with respect and courtesy, especially those less powerful than you.

6. Before attending a conference, think strategically about your goals. What specific results do you want to achieve? Write them down and have a game plan. Make a list of who you want to meet. Write or call them ahead of time to schedule a meeting. Prepare specific questions and offers of assistance.

7. At conferences, don’t compare yourself to others. Don’t waste time and energy fretting over someone else who may be having more success at networking than you. We all go through up and downs. Just concentrate on being the best you can be.

8. When you talk about your work, talk passionately. Prepare a one minute description of what you do or want to do so that you are ready to talk in a succinct, enthusiastic and inspiring way about your work and ideas.

9. Take good notes and soak up as much learning as you can. Be a sponge. Write down all the inspiring ideas and information you gather so you don’t forget them.

10. After meeting an interesting person, send him/her a thank you note. Suggest ways you might be able to help. Fulfill any promises you made. Show people that you actually do what you say you’re going to do

Child Development Center

In 1978, the Student Confederation began funding a day care program for students to use while they were on campus. Over time, the CDC expanded its services to include children of AU faculty and staff. Today the CDC enrolls thirty children in an engaging pre-school program that uses play to teach reading, science, art, social skills, and music.

Enrollment Enrollment is based on availability of space and affiliation with AU. Children may enroll as early as 2 ½ years old until they are age 6 or are old enough to start kindergarten.

Daily Schedule A consistent daily routine provides the framework for a natural, familiar environment where the children can learn and play. Lunch at midday, snacks in the morning and afternoon, and a two hour nap in the early afternoon ensures that the children’s physical needs for nutrition and rest are met. Time for cleaning up is set aside after activities to teach responsibility. During designated times of outdoor play or indoor time ensure exposure to activities designed to develop numerous social and intellectual skills.

Child Development Various activities throughout the day encourage children to learn pro-social skills and develop intellectual curiosity. Play is a main tool in the teaching strategy at the CDC as children are encouraged to explore activities that appeal to their interests. The main activities include playing with blocks, reading books, making art and music, exploring sand and water, playing with table activities to develop fine motor skills, investigating scientific experiments, and outdoor play. Older children are provided opportunities to explore carpentry and writing to further develop fine motor skills and literacy. Throughout the year’s curriculum, children also explore different themes in socio-dramatic play such as dressing up to imitate adults cooking, running a house, or working in an office. The activities encourage children’s natural enjoyment of using their imaginations to learn and explore social roles.

Children in the program are separated by age into groups of those ages two through four, and children 3 ½ to five years old. Each age group is assigned a Lead Teacher who follows the children's progress and can provide updates to parents.

CDC’s Service to AU Students The CDC's participates in Federal Work-study, thus creating jobs and enabling students to work on campus. The center also provides internship opportunities to students studying education and psychology. These interns work with CDC staff members to complete projects and assist with the daily operations of the center.

Wesley Theological Seminary

Adjacent to American University’s campus, Wesley Theological Seminary is a peaceful neighbor whose presence reminds AU of its heritage as a university founded by the United Methodist Church which is guided by the motto, “Open minds. Open doors. Open hearts.” This sense of welcoming characterizes AU’s campus, and is kept alive in large part thanks to the proximity of the seminary whose bell tower can be seen from the AU campus.

AU students studying International Peace and Conflict Resolution, or International Development may earn credit for their degrees at AU. With dual enrollment, student may receive an MA from AU and an MTS from Wesley.

Wesley enrolls about 500 students who graduate to serve in all 50 states and nearly two dozen nations around the world. Students may live on campus in either apartment or dorm-style housing. The academic and administrative buildings are arranged in a square, providing a quiet, enclosed area with walkways amidst trees and flowers for the campus community to enjoy at their leisure.

The seminary maintains an Artist in Resident program where an artist comes to the seminary to work with students on art. Many works of art by residents are found throughout the campus. One of the most prominent is the mural in the tunnel connecting the Trott Administrative Building and the Kresge Academic Building. This mural, covering the wall from floor to ceiling, depicts the theme of life conquering death.

The prominently placed Oxnam Chapel clearly defines the spiritual purpose of the campus. Directly across from the library, the architecture attempts to convey that faith and study complement one another, especially in the life of a seminarian. Architecture also teaches the values of Wesley through the juxtaposition of glass and bricks on opposite walls of the chapel. The brick wall reminds one of the monastic nature of the seminary community living together studying, while the glass wall visually reminds the seminarians of their call to go out to minister to the community beyond the walls of the seminary. In these ways, the architecture symbolizes the importance of a balanced life of prayer and study, and looking inside and outside to care for one’s immediate needs and the needs of others, all lessons that benefit seminarians preparing here for ministry.

Worship services are offered on Tuesdays at 11am and Wednesdays at 6:15pm. Inside the chapel is beautiful stained glass window encouraging the seminarians to put on the “whole armor of God.” Outside the chapel is a statue of Christ which was sculpted by Leo Freidlander, whose work can also be seen at the National Cathedral.

Art adorns the campus outside of the chapel too. Inside a pond stands the bell tower whose four bells fill the surrounding community with beautiful sound. It is constructed in the form of a cross, with the names of John Wesley’s family members on the bells. A statue of Moses striking a rock with water flowing out of it provides a peaceful sight that engages visitors seeking tranquility. An equestrian statue of John Wesley, founder of Methodism, stands at the base of a hill. Recalling Wesley’s part in the Methodist heritage which has its roots in Britain, this statue is an exact replica of one located in Wesley’s Chapel in Bristol, England. It was dedicated in 1964. This statue is of particular note because of all the statues of people on horseback in Washington DC, all face the White House except for two. This statue of John Wesley and another of Francis Asbury, one of the first Methodist bishops in America, are the only two facing in other directions.

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