Graduate Orientation

FIRST STEPS

Your orientation will take place through various methods:

1) Graduate Orientation (this webpage)
2) Graduate Orientation PDF
3) The Catalog is the contract between you as a student and BUF. You will be responsible for the catalog requirements. Please pay extra attention to pages 14-45, 48-71, and 76-79.
4) Student Handbook
5) Registrar Packet and New Student Orientation Form - Email your forms to Mrs. Stephanie Orr @ sworr@buf.edu no later than the end of the first week of the semester. (or use postal mail to Mrs. Stephanie Orr, BUF, 5400 College Drive, Graceville, FL 32440)

In the meantime, if you have any questions, please contact:

The information below will help you learn more about BUF and have an amazing start to your BUF career!

Please note: All dark blue texts are "Links" and must be clicked on to access needed information.

WEBSITE

You will find valuable information on the BUF website, http://www.buf.edu/, such as:

MyBUF

You receive your student Username, Password, and ID number from I.T. once you are admitted to the University. These will be emailed to your personal email account that you provided to BUF. Do not share your password with anyone. Your ID number is a unique 6-digit number and will be used at times when verifying your identity. Keep your login information and ID number in a safe place for future reference. If you have any questions, please contact Admissions at 800-328-2660, ext. 460, or  admissions@buf.edu. If you have just been admitted, your student email and password will arrive soon.

Our learning management system is called MyBCF (e-learning by Jenzabar). You will access MyBCF in two ways:

  • Go to the website and choose the MyBUF link at the top of the page
  • Go to http://mybcf.bagmakerblog.com. You will need to login with your MyBUF credentials.

You must use your student username and password to log-in to MyBUF and gain access to your personal data. Enter your assigned username in the “User Name" box and your assigned password in the “Password" box and click “Login" or press [enter] on your keyboard.

See instructional video about logging in to MyBUF:

MyBUF TRAINING

  • Once you have logged-in to MyBUF, look at the left sidebar at the pages entitled “Getting Started” and “Student Navigation.” These will help you navigate around MyBUF.
  • A tutorial on navigating MyBUF is available under “Getting Started.”
  • IT 110 N provides more specific training about how to use MyBUF. As a graduate student you may take IT 110 N, but it is not required.

EMAIL

  • You will receive a BUF email account. All correspondence with the university will be through your BUF account. You are responsible to check it regularly. Find the email link at the top of the BUF website. You will use your assigned BUF email address as your username and your assigned password as the password.
  • After setting up your email, you may be required to set up or complete 2-factor verification (a text message with a 6-digit code or a phone call in which you press # ).
  • For more information on setting up your BUF email, you can go here.

Payment

Students must pay 75% of charges prior to beginning classes each semester. The remaining 25% balance is due forty-five calendar days later. Students that fail to make the required initial payments will be dropped from classes at the end of the Drop/Add period. You may pay: Online Check Credit card - call BUF (800-328-2660) Press “0” for the university operator, and ask for the Business Office.

ID Cards

You can request a student ID card if the school has your photo on file. Requests for an ID need to be sent to Mrs. Stephanie Orr at sworr@buf.edu. We ask that you submit a passport-style photo of yourself (no t-shirts please) via email to Mrs. Orr. The picture file name must include student ID number, student name, and that you are an online student. An example file name would be Doe, John –ID123456-Online.

FERPA

Your rights to privacy concerning your student information are protected. If you want your academic information to be discussed with someone other than yourself, you will need to sign the FERPA Permission to Release Information form. This form will be part of a packet of documents sent by email to you at the beginning of the semester. You will need to stipulate persons with whom your academic information can be shared. Return the completed form via mail to the university. This only applies to those 18 years and older.

Important: Please note that before speaking to your parent/spouse/representative, we will ask the registrar to look at your file to see if we have this permission form. If it is not on file, we cannot legally speak with anyone other than you once you are admitted to the university.

DISABILITY/SPECIAL ACCOMODATIONS STATEMENT

Baptist University of Florida is required to provide reasonable accommodations for all persons with disabilities who have submitted appropriate documentation of the disability to the Executive Vice-President of Academic Affairs. Students who need special accommodations should contact the Academic Affairs office prior to or at the beginning of the semester. The Executive Vice-President of Academic Affairs will then inform the professor of each of the student’s courses of the needed accommodations. Then, the student should contact each professor to discuss the implementation of the accommodations. See the current Student Handbook, Students with Disabilities.

TEXTBOOKS

logos_digital_textbooks for sway links.jpg

  • Books can be purchased through BUF’s online bookstore: LOGOS Digital Books. Students can also purchase from other retailers.
  • You can also view your textbooks on the registration module after completing a search for classes and on your student schedule after registering. Click the + sign.
  • Order your books as soon as you register to ensure that you get them in a timely fashion. Please remember to allow time for shipping.
  • If you need help ordering textbooks please contact Beth Andrews | Administrative Assistant Office of Academic Affairs deandrews@buf.edu or 800-328-2660 ext. 414.

 

LIBRARY

  • The BUF Library should be your first choice for all of your academic research needs and is fully available to online students.
  • Extensive resources are available to all BUF students. These resources include:
    • Print and electronic materials ready for checkout
      • Music scores, Subject - Encyclopedias & Dictionaries, Fun Fiction, DVDs, Literary Criticisms, Commentaries, & Teacher Education books
    • On-demand 24/7 databases that provide scholarly research materials
    • WorldCat 24/7 to view resources available worldwide
    • Inter-Library Loan (ILL) services for articles and books
  • For more information, please visit the Library tab on your myBUF portal or email the Librarian at email the Librarian or call 850-263-3261 Ext 449.
  • Please note: Materials are mailed out at the library’s expense. Return postage is the responsibility of the student.

Click here to view informational videos.

COMPUTER USAGE POLICY

You should have received an email from our IT department with your username and password and a computer usage policy. Make sure you sign this policy and return it to:

Baptist University of Florida
IT Department
5400 College Drive
Graceville, FL 32440

The policy can be found here.

OFFICE 365

  • Great news! As a BUF student, you now have a Microsoft Office 365 education account. On MyBUF, look for the “BUF Office 365” link under quick links on the left side of the page. Use your BUF email and password to log in and look around.
  • Your account provides you with unlimited cloud storage and the Microsoft Office Suite web version as well as the full version of the programs (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, Access, Publisher, etc.) for *free* on up to 5 personal computers and up to 10 smartphones, iPads and/or tablets as long as you have an active BUF email address.
  • If you do not have the latest version of Microsoft Office, it is highly recommended you download and install the *free* Office suite using your account, to avoid issues students sometimes encounter with older versions of Microsoft Office.
  • An Office 365 account linked to your BUF email address will be necessary for viewing lectures and some other materials. If you receive a message saying you do not have access to a lecture or other material in a course, make sure that the Office 365 account tied to your BUF email address is the active account. Contact LMS Faculty Assistants for help.

BASIC COMPUTER PROFICIENCY

  • BUF courses, both classroom and online, require computer usage.
  • For academic success, at a minimum, students must be proficient in the following areas:
    • Document processing: creating, editing, formatting, saving, and printing a document in Microsoft Word (or a similar word processor).
    • Internet: accessing the internet, using a search engine, navigating within a website, writing and sending email correspondence.
  • Additional computer skills will be required for some courses that are online or have online components.
    • These courses include, but are not limited to, speech- related or music-related courses offered in an online format.

BASIC COMPUTER EQUIPMENT NEEDED

  • For successful work, Baptist University of Florida students must have up-to-date computer hardware and software.
  • All courses, both online and classroom, contain some online components using eLearning, Jenzabar’s LMS (Learning Management System).
  • Students are expected to:
    • Receive email messages
    • Find information
    • Complete and submit assignments
  • Having the needed computer hardware and software, or access to it, is the student’s responsibility.
    • Needed items are described in the catalog.
    • Instruments such as phones, tablets, and Chromebooks are NOT sufficient for completing all work required.

Absences and Participation

  • Participation in online courses is tracked and is vital to your success as a student. You must participate each week and remain active in your courses.
  • Participation is measured by:
    • Submission of a forum post or reply
    • Submission of a quiz or test
    • Submission of any gradable assignment
    • Personal, phone, or email contact with the professor regarding specific coursework.
  • If you become inactive, you will receive notification via email and a phone call.
  • Staying inactive could lead to failure of the course.

Academic Integrity

  • Plagiarism will not be tolerated.
  • According to The College Writer: A Guide to Thinking, Writing, and Researching (Van Rys et.al., 2018, p. 434), plagiarism is defined as, “using someone else’s words, ideas, or images (what’s called intellectual property) so they appear to be your own. When you plagiarize, you use source material – whether published in print or online – without acknowledging the source.”
  • In essence, plagiarism is using any type of intellectual work—intentionally or unintentionally—as one’s own creative thought or work.
  • The most common form of plagiarism is when a student reproduces or submits another person’s words or sentences as his or her own without citing the original author.
  • Even if the words are changed and are not verbatim, if the context and thought of the structure of the words remain the same, it still constitutes plagiarism.
  • All research – whether quoted or paraphrased – must be cited (footnotes and bibliography).
  • Plagiarism may also include self-plagiarism: that is, when a student submits for course credit a version of his or her work that has been submitted for a previous class or assignment without explicit permission from the course professor.

Plagiarism Statement

  • University policy includes three steps or levels of discipline for plagiarism during a student’s academic career. First offense: reduction of the student’s grade on the assignment by a justifiable amount based on the offense and the student’s intent; second offense: failure of the student for the course; third offense: failure for the course and referral to the Executive Vice-President of Academic Affairs for disciplinary action.

CONTACTS


Dr. Robin Jumper | Executive Vice-President of Academic Affairs
grjumper@buf.edu
800-328-2660 Ext. 425

Beth Andrews | Administrative Assistant Office of Academic Affairs
deandrews@buf.edu
800-328-2660 ext. 414

  Maegan Erp | LMS Faculty Assistant; Online Program Contact
  mjerp@buf.edu or lms@buf.edu 
  800-328-2660 Ext. 429

Hugo Garcia |  LMS Faculty Assistant; Online Program Contact; Attendance Clerk
hagarcia@buf.edu or lms@bagmakerblog.com
800-328-2660 Ext. 523

Stephanie Orr | Registrar
sworr@buf.edu
800.328.2660 ext. 454

  Nichole Evans | Human Resources Director  
 nevans@buf.edu  
800.328.2660 ext. 408