University 100: The Freshman Seminar

Fall 2008 Syllabus (rev. 8/12/08)

Instructor:  Amy Reynolds
Instructor E-mail: amy.reynolds@csun.edu	Office Hours: MWF: 11-11:50; by appointment & email
Most Course Materials Available on WebCT	Office Location: Sierra Tower 507. Telephone:  818-677-5280
Mentor: Monika Babiszkiewicz	Mentor E-mail: monika.babiszkiewicz.91@csun.edu

Textbooks and Supplies: CCR University 100: College Conversations Reader CPS College Portfolio for Success N&D Nickel & Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America by Barbara Ehrenreich (2008-2009 Freshman Common Reading) CAT CSUN 2008-2010 Catalog One folder or a spiral or three-ring notebook for class notes to save work. (You should have one of these for each of your classes). Do NOT throw away any assignments related to this class! Sundial (CSUN’s free student newspaper), as directed.

Important Websites: CSUN Home Page:  http://www.csun.edu Class Discussion:  Log on to WebCT from the University 100 website or through SOLAR or at  http://webct.csun.edu/ Oviatt Library: http://library.csun.edu University 100 Website:http://www.csun.edu/univ100/

 Course Description and Objectives:

 

Welcome to University 100! University 100 is available for GE credit in Subject Explorations, Lifelong Learning (S4), and includes an Information Competence (IC) component.  This is a course about making choices: about setting and meeting your personal, academic, and career goals. The Freshman Seminar is dedicated to ensuring your college success and motivating your journey toward lifelong learning. The seminar will enable you to develop your own plan for personal, academic, and career success through self-evaluation, application of specific techniques, discussions, field experiences, and traditional classroom exercises. These activities will help you acquire effective study strategies, stimulate your critical and creative thinking skills, practice university-level oral and written expression, establish short-term and long-term goals, become a skilled user of library resources, and learn to manage time more efficiently. You'll find out about the many campus resources available to students and will be actively encouraged to form lasting relationships with your professor and classmates.  And if all goes well, we’ll have a good time, too. 

Course Requirements & Grading:

 

Essay 1	100 points
Time Logs	75 points
Cultural Event Report	75 points
Finding Hidden Resources Reports	75 points
Student Self-Report Cards	75 points
Information Competence/Critical Thinking Project	200 points
Library Surveys (two)	50 points
Essay 2	100 points
Online discussion	150 points
In-class exercises and participation	50 points
Mentor appointments	50 points
Total	1000 points possible

                                                                            

Grading Scale: You have 1000 possible points in this class. The chart below shows how those points convert to letter grades.  I will use plus/minus grading in this class.  There is no curve in University 100.

 

A 1000-940	B  869-840	C 769-740	C 669-640
A- 939-900	B- 839-800	C- 739-700	D- 639-600
B+ 899-870	C+ 799-770	D+ 699-670	F 599 or below

  

Student Learning Outcomes for University 100:

 

Upon completion of this course, you will be able to:

1. Describe how higher education is valuable to society.
2. Explain why you are in college.
3. Define and describe the value of lifelong learning.
4. Describe what CSUN expects of you as a student: what are your roles and responsibilities at CSUN?
5. Make positive choices in regard to time and involvement (both curricular and co-curricular).
6. Demonstrate problem-solving and goal-setting skills.
7. Demonstrate familiarity with CSUN's academic policies and programs, and show proficiency in locating that information in the university catalog.
8. Demonstrate familiarity with campus resources and locations (e.g. Health Center, etc.).
9. Find, evaluate, and use appropriate print and electronic information to complete class assignments.
10. Assess your strengths and weaknesses in basic academic and communication skills, including reading and listening with comprehension; organizing ideas for presentation; writing brief papers and reports; speaking in public; participating in group discussions; and working cooperatively in diverse communities.
11. Use your awareness of your personal style (learning style and/or personality type) to enhance your personal and academic success.
12. Establish positive relationships with other students, with faculty, and with other members of the campus community (i.e., make friends; ask questions; ask for help).
13. Transact basic university business (e.g., select and register for classes, interact with Financial Aid and/or Cash Management, meet requirements for immunizations, view semester grades).
14. Identify ethical issues, appreciate the role of critical thinking in examining alternatives, and formulate your own position with respect to selected issues.

Your Responsibilities in this Class:

 

1. Use your CSUN student email account appropriately.  At a minimum, you must set it up to forward all email to your non-CSUN account.
2. Complete and submit all required homework on time.
3. Respond to surveys and questionnaires requesting feedback on this course.
4. Participate constructively in class and electronic discussions.
5. Attend class regularly and participate actively.
6. Keep appointments you make with me and with our class mentor.
7. Type, spell-check, and staple your work.

 

Revision Policy: If you receive a grade you are dissatisfied with, you may be able to revise and resubmit the assignment on which you received this grade, provided you come talk with me about it before you revise. You are not guaranteed to get a higher grade, but I won’t give you a lower grade for the resubmission.

Participation and Student Conduct:

Common courtesy is expected at all times. Please be respectful of everyone in the class: students, teacher, and visitors. This means listening when others are speaking, giving your attention to class business, not wasting my time or the time of other students. You should come to class prepared and ready to participate in discussions or class work so that our time together will be fruitful. I also ask that all students be respectful of the views of others in the class in order to participate in rigorous college-level academic discussion. And finally, please be respectful of the racial, ethnic, and gender diversity of the class. You may be asked to leave the class if you cannot follow these requirements.  

 

Come to class and be on time.  Please don’t assume you can miss class as long as you get a copy of someone’s notes. This is not an instructor-centered lecture course, but is instead designed to be student-centered, focused on discussion, student writing, and student interaction. That means your presence, active involvement, good humor, and preparation will be crucial to creating an interesting and lively class; and you might actually enjoy the semester more if you come to class every time, on time, prepared for the day’s activities.  Our class is small and you will be missed! Parking trouble is not a valid excuse. Plan ahead. This is the heart of the matter: missing three classes will seriously affect your grade; six or more absences may result in a failing grade.

 

Cell Phones, iPods, etc. must be turned off and put away, out of sight. No texting in class! Don’t be rude, please. Our class is small and your involvement matters. If your phone interrupts class, your grade may be adversely affected. If you bring a laptop to class, use it responsibly.  If in my opinion your laptop distracts you or your classmates, you will need to shut it down during class.

 

Presentation of Work:  Unless specifically stated otherwise, all assignments, including homework and journal entries, must be typed.  Multiple-page assignments must be turned in stapled, so invest in a mini-stapler to keep with you. I do not carry a stapler for student use. Work that is turned in hand-written or unstapled will not be accepted.  The only exception is for in-class journal entries, which are not to be retyped.

Email Policy: Email is a great resource for students and teachers that is often abused. Please note that emails sent after 10 pm will not be replied to until the next day. Conversely, I will make every effort to reply to emails sent before 10 pm. Please use your CSUN email for communications with me, or be sure your CSUN emails get forwarded to your alternate account. When you email any instructor, always include your full name and the class you are in. Don’t make me guess. Please read over your emails before you send them to me, and remember that I am not a Facebook pal. Finally, do not commit the academic faux pas of emailing me to ask, "Did I miss anything?" Obtain the email addresses of several other students to ask about assignments & class activities first.

 

Late Work:  We all have schedules, and we need to keep to them. No Late Assignments will be accepted unless we have made very specific, prior arrangements to do so. No emailed assignments will be accepted, unless we have made very specific, prior arrangements to do so. If you email me an assignment without discussing it with me beforehand,  it will be deleted.  If you have trouble with a due date, you must contact me before the assignment is due and, if possible, I will make alternate arrangements. This is up to my discretion. In addition, this option would include a deduction of points, and I never accept any assignment  later than 2 days.  This alternate option is only available if previously arranged and accepted by me.  I suggest you turn your work in on time or early if you a due date presents a problem for you.  Under special, dire circumstances, I may accept late work without a penalty. But please do not count on it. Bottom line: stay in communication with your instructor.

Academic Dishonesty, also known as Plagiarism: Don’t plagiarize. The 2006-2008 CSUN catalog defines plagiarism as “[i]ntentionally or knowingly representing the words, ideas, or work of another as one’s own in any academic exercise” (537). If you’re going to go through all the effort of finding work by someone else on your topic, cite it properly so you can accurately call it research. We’ll be discussing how to properly cite materials, and I am always available to help you, if you are concerned. If you plagiarize, you will get no credit on the assignment, and I will report the incident to the Dean of Students, at which point the offense will become part of your permanent record at CSUN. In addition, academic dishonesty (such as cheating or plagiarism) can result in an “F” in the entire course and is (quoting again from the CSUN catalog) “an offense for which a student may be expelled, suspended, or given a less severe disciplinary sanction” (536).

 

Being Responsible:

 

Every day, people struggle to maintain employment and make their lives work. Many CSUN students jump seemingly impossible hurdles to succeed in their classes. I have seen students face devastating personal crisis and still be in class with their assignments prepared. You know the course policies and you know what is expected of you. Please do not come to me with excuses why you were absent and didn't get your work in on time. If a personal crisis arises, talk with me and let me know what is going on before you jeopardize your success in the course.  Do not, however, say, “Tell me what I've missed.” It is not my job to take time to update you for a class you have chosen, for whatever reason, to skip. It is up to you to get the notes and copies of handouts from a classmate. You are responsible for all assignments (on the schedule or assigned in class). Being absent is not an acceptable excuse for incomplete work.  I suggest that you make friends with someone before you leave class today and trade phone numbers and email addresses so you can keep apprised of what's going on if you are ever absent. Use the top of page one of this syllabus if you like. Remember:  College is your full-time job!

 

Talk To Me: Got questions? Concerns? Let's talk.

Don't suffer in silence, or wait for someone else to ask your question. If you require any special course adaptations or accommodations because of a disability, if you have any emergency medical information to share with me, or if you need special arrangements in case of a building evacuation or other campus emergency, please let me know as soon as possible.  I am happy to help all students participate and benefit from the class equally. And if you have any questions or problems with respect to any assignment, class discussion, or any other aspect of this class, please contact me. Though there is no voicemail on my office phone, I am (nearly) always available by email, and will respond promptly to you. This class is designed to help you learn, and I am here to facilitate that process.