What is SHAQ CARES?

1. SHAQ is a Computer Assessment and Recommendation Expert System (CARES) that can automatically assess a wide variety of personal attributes that may be related to success and happiness in life area including the following:

* Self-Esteem. Unconditional self-worth, self-confidence and personal skills, and self-acceptance are some of the factors which can affect your overall self-esteem.

* Life Skills. Self-Management, Emotional Coping, Interpersonal, Academic, and Career-related skills can be assessed.

* Academic achievement and completion of intended degrees. Learning and study skills, time-management, procrastination, concentration, motivation, and many other factors that may affect your academic success can be assessed.

* Relationship Skills (especially romantic relationships), conflict resolution, and interpersonal communication.

* Emotions: happiness, depression, stress and anxiety, and anger and aggression. SHAQ assesses a wide variety of factors that may be affecting your happiness and causing or exaggerating negative emotional reactions.

* Career achievement related factors. Self-management skills, motivation, interpersonal skills, learning skills, interests, and other factors can affect your career success.

* Life Beliefs and Values. This section helps you explore and clarify some of your top beliefs and values.

* Loneliness and fear of rejection. Your underlying fears and values, interpersonal skills, and ways you cope with emotions are some of the factors that may affect loneliness and fear of rejection.

Self-Reflection and Insights. Answering the questions is a process that can be valuable in itself. It gives you the opportunity to look at many aspects of your values, beliefs, and life skills. It gives you the opportunity to think about what is important to you and what aspects of yourself you would like to improve. The automatically scored results will give you a second chance for reflecting upon yourself and will give you help links for getting additional information.

2. CARES Help Pages

These web pages will list Internet links for immediate on-line help. Many pages will also give some direct advice and list other resources. Resources for CSULB students such as student services and classes will be listed as well. You can use the help pages without taking the SHAQ CARES Assessment, but you will be missing the chance to get valuable feedback about yourself.

How To Use SHAQ

1. Bring Student ID with current semester stamp, two floppy disks, instructor name and email address, and your email address and password.

2. Find a Computer Lab. LOCATIONS:

3. OPEN an Internet Browser such as Internet Explorer. Go to and then to the start SHAQ page.

4. Follow the SHAQ Instructions (takes 1+ hours). IMPORTANT–CHECK that you are a UNIV 100 student.

5. When SHAQ results pop up, follow instructions to SAVE the SHAQ results to your floppy disk (make backup copy too).

6. Later, you may want to PRINT part or all of the results. Print from a home computer ( university printing may cost lots of $$$).

7. Explore the HELP LINKS that SHAQ gives in the main left window beneath the Results Window. Go to at least one or two Internet sites that are recommended.

8. Address an email message to your instructor from that same computer.

Possible WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT. Use a word processor such as Word, WordPerfect, or Wordpad,

a. List at least three specific self-improvement goals for improving personal success and happiness (e.g., during this semester).

b. Find, read, and summarize the contents of at least one Internet help link that is related to one of these objectives.

Note: Completing SHAQ on Home Computers. *If your instructor allows completion of the assignment on home computers note that the computer should meet the following specifications: 1. Have at least 96 MB of RAM, 2. Must have Java 2 Plug-in (Java 1.3 or above). Note: The Java 2 plug-in can be installed semi-automatically when you start SHAQ.