Frequently Asked Questions

How are graduate students ranked and what is Beta Gamma Sigma?

What Military and Veterans Programs are available to me and how can I use my GI Bill benefits?

What Graduate Business Student Organizations and clubs exist and how can I get involved?

What gym facilities and extracurricular courses are available through Campus Recreation?

What are the expectations for student participation in an online setting?

Expectations for student behavior in online or virtual classes are the same that it is for in-person classes. Students should be properly attired, should not gesture inappropriately, and should not move from room to room, use the restroom, or engage in other distracting activities during a class session. Continue reading.

How can I contact Parking Services? 

Parking Services is located in Hahn University Center, Room 102. (View Virtual Tour) You may also contact Parking Services www.sandiego.edu/parking or (619) 260-4518.

How do I purchase a parking permit?

Log in to your Parking Account to purchase e-permits and manage your parking account. If you encounter any issues with our online customer portal, please contact the Parking Services Office by email (parking@sandiego.edu) or by phone (619-260-4518).

How can I access Blackboard?

Students may login to Blackboard through their my.sandiego.edu student portal or here. There is also a resource available to help students with their Blackboard questions here. 

How do I view my schedule?

Students have access to view their class schedule by semester through their my.sandiego.edu student portal. View instructions here. 

How can I verify that I do not have any holds on my student file?

Students may view all holds including immunizations and student account balances through their my.sandiego.edu student portal. View instructions here.  

How do I review My Financial Aid Information?

Step 1:  Review your Financial Aid offer, through your MySanDiego portal, by selecting the “My Financial Aid (Non-Law)” option under the “Torero Hub” link on the left-hand side.

Step 2:  Look for any Financial Aid red flags by selecting the “Academic Year” Term and clicking on the “Financial Aid Status” link.

How do I access my Veterans Compliance Services?

Our Veterans Compliance Coordinator is happy to certify VA benefits for you and answer questions you have about how they work. You will need to complete a form on our website sandiego.edu/military and upload your eligibility with that form. You will need to be logged in to your USD google account and not a personal one in order to access the form.

For Post 9/11 GI Bill users:

Please refer to the specific programs you are interested in to find out how many credits you are taking over how many months and the cost of tuition. Use that information to compare the cost/length of your program to the VA limits explained below.

There are two ways the VA counts your benefit at USD, time and money.

For a time, you are given a number of months/days that you can be enrolled and receive benefits. USD cannot track your months, this is your responsibility. You can call the VA or use eBenefits.va.gov. The VA will count days based on the official dates of the term you are enrolled. The VA pays you a housing allowance for the same dates exactly. If you are the Veteran, the benefit covers your entire last term as long as you had at least a day of benefits left to start the term. If the benefit was transferred to you, the VA pro-rates your benefit based on the exact number of days you have left when you run out and only pays for those specific days.

For the money, there are annual tuition limits that can be paid to you within a VA fiscal year (resets Aug. 1). You must be using months/days of your benefit to receive Yellow Ribbon funds. There is no application for the Yellow Ribbon program at USD.

I hope this information helps. Please feel free to call 619-260-4600 x2032 or stop by UC225 if you want to discuss your specific situation in greater detail.

What is CampusCash?

CampusCash is the key to all your purchases and campus services at USD. It is a prepaid, declining balance account managed through your USD ID card. To activate your account, you make a deposit in any amount you choose; you can then use your ID like a debit card everywhere CampusCash is accepted. Purchases are deducted from your account, and your remaining balance is instantly displayed. CampusCash is the safest, fastest, and easiest way to buy things on campus. For more information, go to http://www.sandiego.edu/administration/businessadmin/campuscard/campuscash.php. 

Where are Campus Recreation and Fitness resources?

All students have free access to our onsite fitness centers with their student ID card or through the app. Dependents 12 and under are free. Memberships for minors 12 – 17 must purchase a membership. Adults must register for the “General Community membership option. Membership details may be viewed here. For hours of operation and program information, please call or visit the following websites:

What are the benefits of having a student ID card through Card Services?

(View Virtual Tour)

Students do not need to have a University ID Card, but may benefit from associated student discounts off campus when presenting their University ID Card.

USD employees are exempt from creating a student University ID Card, as the employee University ID Card will afford you the same access to student discounts. 

This is an online process that will allow you to submit a photo to the University Card Services department and authorize them to create your student ID card for pick-up when you arrive on campus for orientation. 

Step 1:Login to your My.Sandiego.edu student portal 

Step 2:  Under the “Torero Hub” tab on the left-hand side of your screen, select “My Torero Services” from the provided list.

Step 3: Scroll down on the “My Torero Services” page until you find the “Upload USD Pics” section halfway down. Once there, following the directions provided to upload your photo for your student ID card. 

Can I order student business cards from USD?

Students have the option of purchasing USD business cards.

To order your cards, please click here for the University Copy center website.

Please contact Theresa Andersen in University Copy if you have any questions: andersen@sandiego.edu, (619-260-4890)

What is accessible through Copley Library? 

(View Virtual Tour)

For library hours of operation and services available, please call or go to the following websites: 

Copley Library: www.sandiego.edu/library or (619) 260-4799 

Pardee Legal Research Center: www.sandiego.edu/lrc or (619) 260-4542 

Who do I contact if I have questions regarding the Financial Aid Office?

Please contact the One Stop Student Center

What programming does Grad Student Life offer?

(View Virtual Tour)

Student Life Pavilion, Room 401 or http://www.sandiego.edu/gradlife/index.php or (619) 260- 2227. 

The Graduate and Law Student Commons fosters community among all graduate and law students. It is designed to promote collaborative programs that enrich graduate student life. The Commons supports the goals of the graduate student associations and provides opportunities for faith development and outreach to the community. The Commons is a central source for information and serves as a liaison to resources across campus. 

How can I access the Writing support?

(View Virtual Tour)

The Graduate Writing Center through the School of Leadership and Educational Sciences specifically supports our Graduate Students and is located in Mother Rosalie Hill Hall. Students are invited to submit written course assignments via the digital submission form for online feedback from a professional writing coach. View more details on their webpage. There is also a self-paced tool available and the USD Writing Center offers support our graduate students. Students may make an appointment on their webpage. 

How can I access Information Technology Services?

(View Virtual Tour)

Maher Hall, Room 181 or www.sandiego.edu/ITS or 619-260-7900

Most university services may be accessed through the mysandiego portal. There are a number of computer labs available for student use throughout campus. You can find lab locations and hours at

www.sandiego.edu/ITS/labs/. Note: USD has campus-wide wireless access.

Who can I contact for software and technology support (IT)?

Our Information Technology Services (ITS)  is available to provide support with email, free software, security and privacy information, the USD App and troubleshooting. They may be contacted via phone: 619-260-7900 or via email help@sandiego.edu and you can learn more about their services on their website

What are some Off-Campus Housing resources for Graduate Students?

Student Life Pavilion, Room 401, http://www.sandiego.edu/offcampushousing/index.php 

Off-Campus Housing for Grad Students was created in order to assist students throughout the process of finding housing in San Diego. The website can be used as a resource guide that includes information on the San Diego neighborhoods, transportation and parking, as well as preparing yourself to be a renter. The off-campus housing coordinator can be reached at (619) 260-6604 or by email offcampushousing@sandiego.edu

What can the One Stop Student Center assist me with?

(View Virtual Tour)

Hahn University Center, Room 126 or www.sandiego.edu/onestop or onestop@sandiego.edu or (619) 260-2700 

The One Stop Student Center has specially trained counselors to help students manage financial aid and student financial services in one location, eliminating the need to travel between offices. The One Stop Student Center will assist students with walk-in payments, financial aid, and miscellaneous questions. Additionally, the One Stop Student Center maintains the One Stop Services tab on the MySanDiego portal where students can perform routine business transactions on their portal 24 hours a day from any location. 

The One Stop team is committed to providing state-of-the-art services for USD students. After- hours appointments are available on request. Operating hours are 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. Monday through Friday except on Wednesdays when the office is open until 6 p.m. For other information, please go to their website or email their office. 

Where can I learn more about School of Business Events?

The University of San Diego posts events on their website here and also events specifically available to our School of Business students are shared here.

Where can I learn more about the School of Business Centers of Excellence?

The School of Business includes several centers and institutes which support students and alumni with their endeavors.  

Can you tell me more about USD Campus Dining?

There are several locations both on and off campus for students to access. View the on campus options here.  We have also compiled this list of nearby eateries to campus.

How can I access the Student Health Center?

(View Virtual Tour)

Maher Hall, Room 140 or www.sandiego.edu/healthcenter or (619) 260-4595 

The Student Health Center (SHC) is available to all registered USD students. For a listing of services and hours of operation, please go to the SHC website or call their office. 

What are the Student Insurance Plans?

For information regarding student insurance: http://www.sandiego.edu/healthinsurance/. 

Where can I learn more about the Disability and Learning Difference Resource Center?

(View Virtual Tour)

Serra Hall, Room 300 or www.sandiego.edu/disability or (619) 260-4655 

The Disability and Learning Difference Resource Center provides specialized resources and services to enrolled students with documented disabilities. These services include academic accommodations, disability management counseling and coordinating with other departments (e.g., Housing, Parking, Public Safety) to provide assistance. To receive support from Disability Services, students must first contact the office and submit valid documentation. For each type of disability, there are specific requirements that must be met for documentation to be considered valid. These requirements are described on the website. 

Once the disability has been verified by Disability Services, each request and/or recommendation for an accommodation is examined on a case-by-case basis and is implemented with consideration of the student’s present needs, supporting documentation and the core requirements of each class. It is the goal of Disability Services to promote maximum student independence. 

The office also offers consultation to students with temporary disabilities (e.g., physical injuries such as broken limbs, etc.) and to students who have health-related dietary restrictions. Students who intend to request services are encouraged to contact our office as soon as possible to discuss documentation and any other issues. 

Where can I learn more about Student Wellness?

Student Wellness offers programming and support resources to provide our students with tools to be successful. Those include individual and group counseling, student health insurance, and more. Learn more on their website

Where is Public Safety located?

(View Virtual Tour)

Hughes Administration Center or www.sandiego.edu/safety

Emergency: (619) 260-2222 Non-Emergency: (619) 260-7777 

The Department of Public Safety is responsible for a wide range of activities, including developing crime prevention programs, taking crime and accident reports, initiating investigations, responding to medical and fire emergencies, controlling parking and traffic, enforcing certain local and state laws and rules developed by the University to address campus-related concerns. 

What resources do Outdoor Adventures offer?

(View Virtual Tour)

Hahn University Center, Room 136, (619) 260-4709, https://www.sandiego.edu/outdoor-adventures/  

With a focus on outdoor adventure, teambuilding, leadership development and environmental sustainability programs – there are numerous ways to get involved and get outdoors. 

The Adventure Trips & Custom Group Adventures are a great way for members of the USD community who enjoy the outdoors to connect. These outings include activities such as kayaking, canoeing, rock climbing, hiking, backpacking, surfing, snowboarding, etc. Varying in length from two hours to 10 days, trips are led by USD students, alumni and staff who have participated in our Guide Development Program. 

The Rental Center is a great place to secure basic outdoor equipment, including tents, sleeping bags, stoves, coolers, kayaks, surfboards, and more. 

How do I purchase a USD Metal Name Badge?

Students have the option of purchasing USD Metal Name Badges that are delivered to the Career Services office in Durango Building, Suite B. Please reference the attached ordering instructions if you would like to pursue this option.

Download Instructions here

How can I purchase discounted student tickets through the University Center Ticket Office?

(View Virtual Tour)

Hahn University Center or https://www.sandiego.edu/tickets/ or (619) 260-2727 

University Center Ticket Office is USD’s primary outlet for discount tickets to the USD community. You may purchase tickets to movie theaters, Southern California attractions, and public transportation. Open M-F, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. (excluding university holidays).

Where can I stay when I travel to San Diego? 

The University of San Diego has corporate partnerships with many hotels. Please view details here to reserve rooms at discounted rates.  

Where can I eat nearby?

Please view this list of nearby eateries for reference.

Where is the USD Torero Store? 

(View Virtual Tour)

Hahn University Center or www.usdtorerostores.com or (619) 260-4551 

For current bookstore hours, please call or visit their website. You may also purchase your course materials online, as well as gifts and apparel. 

Where can I view self-guided campus tours?

You may view this walking campus tour beginning from the Kroc Institute of Peace and Justice building to east campus. 

Where may I study on campus?

There are several spaces on campus dedicated to student study areas. Please view study space options here. 

How can I practice better time management skills?

A common perception both among and of college students is that they are always short on money. While this may be true, many college students are also always running short on something else, time. Click here to learn more about this subject

Stop Procrastinating

Do you feel like you prioritize, or prefer to put things off? Do you think these could be synonymous? Do you find yourself cleaning or cooking or disappearing into TV shows when you have a big project to start? Are you a pro at saying you’ll start on it tomorrow? You’re not alone – not by a long shot. Read more.

How can I create a Learning Toolbox?

Learning at the graduate level takes on a different process than that of high school or even undergraduate experiences. At the graduate level, the ideas of problem-solving, critical thinking and high level communicating are at the center of the learning experiences. Adding to this learning experience is the fact that much of the understanding you do may not only come for your instructors, but will also come from your ability to research and explore theories, processes, and ideas on your own.  To be able to attain the appropriate levels of these skills you will need tools that organize your ability to go out, find information, and share or explore it with others. Here is a list of sites that may help to understand these ideas, and develop a toolbox:

What is Self-Efficacy?

According to psychologist Albert Bandura, self-efficacy is our belief in our ability to succeed in certain situations. The concept plays a major role in Bandura’s social learning theory, which focuses on how personality is shaped by social experience and observational learning.

Your sense of self-efficacy has a major influence on how you approach challenges and goals. When confronted with a challenge, do you believe that you can succeed or are you convinced that you will fail? People with strong self-efficacy are those who believe that they are capable of performing well. These people are more likely to view challenges as something to be mastered rather than avoided.

All of you have made it into this program because you have good self efficacy, remember this when you are achieving your goals and conquering the challenges of this program.

Where is Mission and Ministry located?

(View Virtual Tour)

Hahn University Center, Room 238 or or (619) 260-4735 

University Ministry is available for pastoral service to groups or individuals upon request. For further information and Mass schedules, please go to their website or contact their office. 

When are Masses held at Founders Chapel and the Immaculata Parish?

 The Immaculata offers daily Masses in addition to weekend Masses. Both Founders Chapel and the Immaculata also hold weddings and other sacraments. View more details here https://www.sandiego.edu/immaculata/

What Graduate Student Resources are available to me?

What services does the writing center provide?

How does the student health center support student well-being?

Where can I learn more about Health Insurance? 

How can I get involved in campus recreation?

What is the USD Commons and where can I learn more about LGBTQ+, diversity, gender and identity?

Who can international students contact for additional support?

How can you practice Self-Awareness in Grad School?

Self-awareness is a really big deal for everyone, especially executives and business leaders. Failure to face reality can destroy your career and your company. Read more on being self aware.

What are the benefits of Teamwork in Grad School?

Benefits of Teamwork

  • Problems solving: A single brain can’t bounce different ideas off of each other. Each team member has a responsibility to contribute equally and offer their unique perspective on a problem to arrive at the best possible solution. Teamwork can lead to better decisions, products, or services. The quality of teamwork may be measured by analyzing the following six components of collaboration among team members: communication, coordination, balance of member contributions, mutual support, effort, and cohesion. In one study, teamwork quality as measured in this manner correlated with team performance in the areas of effectiveness (i.e., producing high quality work) and efficiency (i.e., meeting schedules and budgets).
  • Healthy competition: A healthy competition in groups can be used to motivate individuals and help the team excel.
  • Developing relationships: A team that continues to work together will eventually develop an increased level of bonding. This can help people avoid unnecessary conflicts since they have become well acquainted with each other through team work. Team members’ ratings of their satisfaction with a team is correlated with the level of teamwork processes present.
  • Everyone has unique qualities: Every team member can offer their unique knowledge and ability to help improve other team members. Through teamwork the sharing of these qualities will allow team members to be more productive in the future.

Teamwork good practices

Note: Several MBA students have provided these suggestions for effective teamwork. 

Interaction:

  • During your first in-residence week of classes, try to get to know all of your cohort members. You will be working with most of them in future semesters.
  • Volunteer to perform various needed roles on behalf of the group. Roles might include editor, PowerPoint artist, tech specialist, meeting leader, project manager, group reporter, or devil’s advocate.
  • If your team experiences a conflict, brainstorm about what occurred, why it occurred, and how to prevent it from occurring in the future. Then, move forward and don’t let the conflict fester or destroy team dynamics.
  • If a teammate fails to participate to the extent required, think about what the team could do to provide inspiration and motivation.
  • Pick up the slack for each other if something unexpected comes up and give them the benefit of the doubt.

Communication:

  • Be vocal and proactive; demonstrate that you are eager to contribute.
  • To help everyone stay engaged, use various communication tools like Google Talk, Skype, discussion threads, and Wimba.
  • If someone on your team is not meeting expectations, communicate expectations early and gently; try to see their point of view too.
  • Make sure everyone’s voice is heard and actively solicit opinions when someone is holding back–they might have a good reason why.
  • Early on, let team members know your strengths, weaknesses, blind spots, and hot buttons so you can better support one another and minimize conflict.

Meetings:

  • Have a clear agenda and list of meeting objectives and try to end meetings at a pre-determined time.
  • Use weekly meetings to set the schedule for upcoming tasks that needed to be completed. You can e-mail the schedule afterwards as a reminder.
  • At the conclusion of a meeting, summarize action items so everyone is clear about what they’re supposed to do and by when.
  • When a new semester starts, schedule a physical meeting for RLs and bring DLs in via Skype or Wimba to have an initial discussion, get connected as a team, and to discuss expectations, parameters, and rules of engagement. Create a team charter if possible.
  • Figure out how to work around time differences to minimize inconvenience for DLs.

Team projects:

  • Instead of having a single team leader for all project, consider having teammates choose which team assignments they want to lead that semester.
  • Discuss the project management best practices that your teammates use in their line of work and determine which ones your team would most benefit from.
  • Break down projects in to tasks and distribute tasks according to ability, interest, and capability.
  • If you can’t meet a deadline, try to let your teammates know ahead of time and explain why.
  • Once you get a feel for everyone’s personal and travel schedules, create a Microsoft Project layout to de-conflict resource utilization for the semester.
  • If you’re going to send your section to one central person, make sure your section meets your team’s standard of quality so the central person doesn’t have to fix a lot of spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors.
  • After every project, sit down and discuss what went right, what went wrong, and what could have been done better; then move forward.
  • Try to rehearse presentations as a team if possible, especially for complicated or tech-heavy presentations, and give each other constructive feedback. 

How to effectively collaborate in Grad School?

Collaboration is working with each other to do a task and to achieve shared goals. Structured methods of collaboration encourage introspection of behavior and communication.These methods specifically aim to increase the success of teams as they engage in collaborative problem solving. Forms, rubrics, charts and graphs are useful in these situations to objectively document personal traits with the goal of improving performance in current and future projects.

Technology

Due to the complexity of today’s business environment, collaboration in technology encompasses a broad range of tools that enable groups of people to work together including social networking, instant messaging, team spaces, web sharing, audio conferencing, video, and telephony. Broadly defined, any technology that facilitates linking of two or more humans to work together can be considered a collaborative tool. Wikipedia, Blogs, even Twitter are collaborative tools. Many large companies are developing enterprise collaboration strategies and standardizing on a collaboration platform to allow their employees, customers and partners to intelligently connect and interact.

Enterprise collaboration tools are centered around attaining collective intelligence and staff collaboration at the organization level, or with partners. These include features such as staff networking, expert recommendations, information sharing, expertise location, peer feedback, and real-time collaboration. At the personal level, this enables employees to enhance social awareness and their profiles and interactions Collaboration encompasses both asynchronous and synchronous methods of communication and serves as an umbrella term for a wide variety of software packages. Perhaps the most commonly associated form of synchronous collaboration is web conferencing using tools such as Cisco TelePresence, Cisco WebEx Meetings, HP Halo Telepresence Solutions, GoToMeeting Web Conferencing, or Microsoft Live Meeting, but the term can easily be applied to IP telephony, instant messaging, and rich video interaction with telepresence, as well. Examples of asynchronous collaboration software include Cisco WebEx Connect, GoToMeeting, Microsoft Sharepoint and MediaWiki.

The effectiveness of a collaborative effort is driven by three critical factors: – Communication – Conferencing – Workflow control or Coordination

  1. Communication can be thought of as unstructured interchange of information. A phone call or an IM Chat discussion are examples of this.
  2. Conferencing (or collaboration level, as it is called in the academic papers that discuss these levels) refers to interactive work toward a shared goal. Brainstorming or voting are examples of this.
  3. Co-ordination refers to complex interdependent work toward a shared goal. A good metaphor for understanding this is to think about a sports team; everyone has to contribute the right play at the right time as well as adjust their play to the unfolding situation – but everyone is doing something different – in order for the team to win. That is complex interdependent work toward a shared goal: collaborative management.