Mines Advantage Frequently Asked Questions

Complete the registration form found at: https://sdsmt.collegiatelink.net/form/start/19834

Once registration is complete your account will be in pending status with limited access. After you receive an approval email, you will have access to Mines Advantage.

Your username and password is the same as your South Dakota Mines laptop. You must be a South Dakota Mines student or faculty/staff to access Mines Link: https://sdsmt.collegiatelink.net.

 The best two ways are as follows-

Option 1:

1)     Log into Mines Link.

2)     Your home page will show any completed curriculum items; a progress bar and report with 2 tabs: “Recent Activity“ and “Progress Details“.

4) From here, you can view your progress bar for each of the six curriculum areas. Click “Expand All“ to view the specific experiences, details, and fulfillment options, and to mark them complete.

Option 2:

1)     Click the 'My Involvement' dropdown at the top of the page.

2)     Select 'Mines Advantage'.

a.     The same 'map' view will appear as the above option. *This is the best way to view and work on the curriculum.

 There are six areas of Mines Advantage. Each area has two core requirements. You must also choose three electives from each of the six areas.

So, 2 core + 3 electives = 5 experiences x 6 areas = 30 total experiences. You can complete Mines Advantage entirely at your own pace before graduating.

Experiences within Mines Advantage can be both inside and outside of the classroom.

Yes! If you have completed experiences in the past that you believe should count toward Mines Advantage, please count them. You will be able to select a date from the past when you mark the item complete.  However, the experience must have taken place while in college.

1)     In the curriculum map view, search for the experience that you have completed.

2)     Click the “Mark Complete“ option under the experience listed.

3)     A box will then pop up asking you to fill out the date of completion and answer the guided reflection question.

**Also see card swipe below**

When you swipe your student ID card at a Mines Advantage event, it will automatically mark the curriculum item complete. However, it's not fully complete until you do the reflection. (This experience will be highlighted in red, see next question).

If an experience is highlighted in green, it means you have fully completed that curriculum item. If it is highlighted in red, it means further action is needed.

An experience highlighted in red means you still need to write the reflection. This will always happen if you attend an event where attendance was tracked with a card reader. This may also happen if you are a member of a certain student organization as some automatically count toward the curriculum.

To complete an experience highlighted in red, click “Additional Information Required“. Fill out the date and reflection for that experience. It will move to a green highlight indicating completion.

You can provide your best guess for the date and explain the approximate time-frame in your reflection.

Students who have signed up for Mines Advantage will receive various tangible and intangible benefits and incentives.  The intangible benefits are: 

·      Employer recognition

·      Résumé builder

·      A level of distinction

·      A well-rounded student

·      Valuable experiences in many different areas of personal development

The tangible benefits that students will receive are as follows:

At orientation:  

·      Students will receive a Mines Advantage ink pen and a card explaining the core requirements.

25% complete:  

·      A drawing will be held for items such as South Dakota Mines apparel, résumé paper, and engineering paper.

50% complete:  

·      Students will receive a Mines Advantage logo apparel pin (can wear during career fairs, interviews, and conferences). Students will also receive business cards to hand out at career fairs and other interactions with employers.

75% complete: 

·      Three randomly drawn students will receive a South Dakota Mines padfolio.

100% complete:

·      Students will receive a certificate, recognition at the leadership awards reception, and a commencement cord.

Drawings for the incentives at 25% and 75% will be distributed each November and April. You are eligible for these once you have reached 25% completion.

When you reach 50% completion, you will receive the incentives in September or January, prior to the career fairs.

When you reach 100% completion and have filled out the completion form, you will receive the certificate at the leadership awards ceremony and the commencement cord at the time of your graduation.

If you complete 25% and 50% in the same semester, you will still be entered in the drawings for the 25% completion incentives. You will also still receive your 50% incentives (pin and business cards).

After you have completed 25%, your name will always be in the drawing for incentives unless you have won, and then your name will be removed.

Go to the “My Involvement“ dropdown at the top and select “Co-curricular transcript“. A list of the organizations and positions you held while on campus will be generated. It will also show internships, co-ops, study abroad experiences, and events you have attended.  This can be a very useful supplement to your resume when preparing for an interview or to show an employer.

You can add items, sort experiences, and show reflections and service hours on your co-curricular transcript. You can also choose not to show reflections or service hours.

To hide a specific organization or position, click on that particular item and it will allow you to hide what you wish.

Unfortunately, the membership dates for your organizations will show up as the date you joined the organization in Mines Link which may not be correct since Mines Link became active in the spring 2013 semester. To ensure the correct membership dates are on your co-curricular transcript, please contact Cory Headley at cory.headley@sdsmt.edu.

The “Experiences” option is where you report an internship, co-op, study abroad experience, certification(s), or honors, many of which count toward Mines Advantage. To record any of these experiences:

·      Click “My Involvement” on the top bar, select “Experiences” 

·      Click “Add Experience”

·      Select the option you wish to report

·      Fill out the required information.

*Any Mines Advantage curriculum items will automatically get marked complete .  Remember to go back and complete the reflection.

(Ex: Career Preparation core requirement - Complete a co-op, internship, or research experience)

·      Click the “My Involvement” from the top bar, select “service hours”.

·      Select the organization for which you wish to report the hours (you must be a member of the organization to report hours).

·      Enter the date of service, a brief description of what you did, how long you served, and a verification contact. You may then submit your hours. An administrator for that organization will approve your submitted hours.

*All service hours have to be tied to an organization or department that has a page in Mines Link. If your hours were not completed for an organization or department, go to the “Community Service at SDSMT” Mines Link page and click “Join Organization”.

Once you have joined the Community Service Mines Link page, you can enter your service hours. The words “service hours” will now show up as an option on the left-hand side. An administrator will approve the hours.

Fill out the “Mines Advantage Completion Form” which can be found in the Mines Advantage page under “Forms“.

Each of the six areas within Mines Advantage has an experience titled “other events/experiences“ where you may enter an experience that you feel should count.  Click “mark complete“ for this experience and the guided reflection will ask some additional information to see if it will count. If it is deemed that the experience will not count, you will be notified.

We know that we did not possibly gather every experience at South Dakota Mines or in the community that could count toward Mines Advantage, so we strongly encourage entry of your own experiences as you see fit.

Every single experience requires a date of completion and will have a guided reflection question.  Reflections must be completed and taken seriously in order to complete the Mines Advantage program.

Communication: Students will demonstrate effective oral, written, visual, and virtual communication as well as appropriate listening skills.

Career Preparation: Students will be able to relate how their discipline knowledge connects to current and future life experiences.

Community Involvement: Students will demonstrate a commitment to citizenship, civic engagement, and service to their community.

Leadership and Teamwork: When teaming or leading to achieve a common vision, students will exhibit responsibility, trust, and respect.

Cultural & Global Inclusion: Students will develop effective interactions with people of different cultures, societies, and nations and demonstrate an understanding and appreciation of human differences.

Personal Development & Ethics: Students will practice living a balanced and purposeful life by managing personal affairs, acting ethically, developing their identity, and maintaining a healthy lifestyle.