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New international students – we welcome you to Concordia College
and Moorhead, Minnesota!! We are very pleased you are here. We hope you had
pleasant and safe travels.
We have prepared some information that hopefully will help you get settled
your first few days on campus and answer most of your initial questions.
Overview of area:
Moorhead is adjacent to Fargo, North Dakota and
really the two can be seen as one city with a river running through it. On
the west side of the river is Fargo, North Dakota and on the east side of the
river is Moorhead, Minnesota. The population of Fargo/Moorhead is about
170,000 with about 20,000 college students.
Residence Halls:
View
residential life website. Most of you will be able to move directly into
your room in the residence hall unless you are arriving absurdly early.
Please take time to meet and get to know the RA (Resident Assistant) on your
floor. The RA’s are a very valuable resource and can help you get settled and
answer questions. They also can help familiarize you with the rules for
living in the halls. Special thanks to the housing staff who arrange the
early check-ins for international students with no extra charge!
Phones:
The telephone line in your room should be active and you should be able to
place free calls when you move in. Free calls are local calls and calls to
800, 888 and 877 area codes. You can make calls which cost money either by
using a phone card or by arranging this service with the physical plant. As
with any purchase I suggest you compare costs and find the option that is
best for you – you may wish to ask current international students what phone
cards or plans they have found that work well for them. The A&A food
store at 1015 Main Avenue in Fargo seems to have a good selection of phone
cards (and also has some Asian and African foods!).
Eating:
The cafeterias are not open during the early check in period, and usually
open on the day all school orientation starts. The two closest grocery stores
are Hornbachers and Sunmart – both of these have foods you can prepare as
well as ready to eat deli food.
Restaurants in the area include McDonald’s, Taco Bell, Blimpie, Burger King,
Dairy Queen, China Garden (all you can eat buffet!), KFC, Taco John’s,
Speakeasy, Hardees, Duane’s House of Pizza, Tastee Freeze, Subway, Renelli’s
Pizza, Godfather’s Pizza and Red Bear. That is not a complete list and is not
endorsement of these restaurants, but is instead a list of restaurants which
first came to mind. Most are very casual restaurants – Speakeasy and Red Bear
being the somewhat more fancy exceptions. The map in the telephone book will
show where many of these restaurants are. Please feel free to explore and
enjoy!
On campus, the Korn
Krib in the Knutson Center and the Normandy above the
Bookstore may be open some hours during the days.
Orientation:
Information about
orientation
Social Security Cards:
Angela Seewald-Marquardt, Paul Wraalstad and Iola Peterson can help you to apply for social security
cards. These cards are needed if you will work on campus. There will be an
opportunity to apply for cards on Wednesday, September 1 at 3:00 in the King
Intercultural Center. Angela’s
and Paul’s Office is located at the Cornerstone in the basement of Fjelstad
Hall, and Iola’s office is located in Knutson 106 – everyone should stop by
to meet them and learn how they can assist you here at Concordia.
Work on campus:
International students are eligible to work on campus up to 20 hours per week
while school is in session. You are not allowed to work more than 20 hours
per week. Many kinds of campus jobs are available. I suggest you visit with
current students to see where they work and what it is like, visit various
departments to ask them what jobs they have available, and visit the campus job shop website and / or
office in Academy 110.
International students are prohibited by INS regulations from working off
campus.
Our website also has additional
information about employment in F-1 status.
Shopping:
Primarily it is your responsibility to arrange transportation when you wish
to go shopping – see the bus service section. Target, Walmart and Kmart are
three large discount stores in east Moorhead that should have most of what
you need to get settled. Herbergers in Moorhead Center Mall is a department
store. West Acres in Fargo is a large
shopping center with many stores. Iola may also arrange some trips to these
stores in the first week of school, and if so she will post the schedule in
her office.
Bus Service:
Online bus
information. You can pick up a bus map and an evening schedule at the
Campus Information Center in Knutson. The evening
schedule will not operate until the semester begins. Normal bus service
as indicated on the main bus map operates all year. Fare information is
included in the map. A semester long bus pass is available at the Campus
Information Center in Knutson at a very favorable rate.
Health Center:
Please be sure to drop off your health forms to Ms. Kathy Benson in the Health Center (or you
can bring them to orientation to give them to her). She will give you more
information at the orientation, but I believe she would like you to stop at
the health center to discuss the form to make sure all your immunizations are
correct and current.
College ID Cards:
These can be arranged at the Academic Preview. If you miss the academic preview, these are arranged in
the Auxiliary Services Office at the rear of Knutson.
Computer Logon:
You will receive a user name and password to logon to the Concordia network
as part of the orientation/registration.
Library:
You can use the computers in the library
for emailing / web browsing even if you have not yet received your computer
logon – simply stop at the computer help desk in the library and get a guest
ID and password. If you have a few days before orientation begins it may be a
good time to become acquainted with the library. Monday-Friday from
8:00am-5:00pm, Saturday and Sunday closed (Summer time).
Safety:
The Concordia campus is normally a very safe and friendly place to be.
However, I recommend you exercise common sense and follow certain precautions:
1. If you have a bicycle, always lock it.
2. I think it is a good practice to lock your residence hall room if no one
will be in.
3. Please don’t block open outside building doors which are normally closed
and locked.
4. I would not leave a laptop computer, purses or personal bags, or things of
value unattended outside your room.
If you have any specific concerns about safety I suggest you bring it up with
campus security and/or your resident assistant.
Banking:
Several banks will make presentations at the international student
orientation.
Papers:
Your passport, I-20 form, I-94 card and social security card are valuable
documents. I suggest you photocopy these, and keep the originals in one safe
location and keep the copies in another. While any and all of these can be
replaced if lost, the processes to do so are time consuming and expensive.
I hope this information is helpful to you as you settle and get started at
Concordia!
The college directory includes a College Handbook section and is very helpful.
List of Resources:
Angela Seewald-Marquardt Interim Assistant Director of Int’l Student
Support
Cornerstone
299-4267
Paul
Wraalstad Interim Director of Student Programming
Cornerstone
299-4267
Iola Peterson International Student Support Assistant
Knutson 106
Hours: 1:30 to 5:30
299-3508
Student Affairs Office Housing
Lorentzsen 120
299-3455
Registrar’s Office Transfer credit evaluation
Lorentzsen 140
299-3250
Business Office Payments and student accounts
Lorentzsen 240
299-3150
Counseling Center Personal / Emotional Issues
Academy 106
299-3514
PC Service and Support Computer Issues
http://www.cord.edu/dept/computing/
Lorentzsen 20 (basement)
299-4738
Campus Pastors Personal / Religion
Knutson Center
299-4161
Don Buegel Admissions / Financial Aid / International Student Support
Lorentzsen 220
299-3004.
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