Fall 2008
Classroom location: Fitzelle 301
Class schedule: MW
9:00-9:50PM, 27 August thru 21 October
Instructor: Dr. Don Allison
VIP: Richelle Dillon
Office location: Fitzelle 225
Phone: 436-3439
Email: allisodl@oneonta.edu
Office hours: T 12-3pm, W 3-4pm, F
9-10am, 3-4pm
Others
by appointment (or just drop by)
Catalog description:
Designed to help
first-year students start their college careers successfully. Students meet in
small sections to discuss academic and social adjustment to college life from
the perspective of the faculty member’s discipline. Each section introduces
issues of a particular discipline and serves as a forum for discussion of
experiences relevant to students in their first semester at college. Open only
to first-year students.
Course goals/objectives:
This course has been developed to enhance the
student’s skills in the following areas:
1) critical thinking; 2) interpersonal relationships; 3) decision
making; 4) life skills such as management of time and study skills; 5)
diversity awareness; 6) academic achievement.
Textbooks:
Assigned readings
available on electronic reserve.
Reading list/Additional resources:
Readings for the
class are available at the library on electronic reserve. Readings should be read before we discuss them in
class so that you can actively participate in the discussion. A book of possible interest is
Surviving the First Year of College, by Steve Gladis. HRD Press.
VERY Tentative schedule: (order of readings & other assignments,
by due dates, course activities, course content by
expected order of coverage, test dates and test coverage)
|
Date |
Monday |
Tuesday |
Wednesday |
Thursday |
Friday |
|
Aug 25-29 |
|
Last
day to register without late fee |
Classes
begin Add/drop
begins INTRODUCTION |
|
|
|
Sept 1-5 |
Labor
day: classes meet TIME
MANAGEMENT Bring
calendar/planner and syllabi for all courses to class Have read
College is a Waste of Time and Money,
College Pressures, and Some
Lessons From the Assembly Line |
Add/drop
ends |
COLLEGE
LIFE Have Read Finding Help on Campus and When There Is No Place Like Home |
CLUB
EXPO 2007, 6:30-8PM Hunt Union Ballroom, Ballroom Lounge, &
Second Floor Lobby |
|
|
Sep 8-12 |
PRESENTATION by Linda Drake from the
Center for Social Responsibility and Community (CSRC) |
Last
day to add a full semester course |
ON
LINE Have read
Multitask, Brave New World of MySpace
and Facebook, Facebook
Grows Up, and Facebook,
MySpace and Co. |
||
|
Sep 15-19 |
Have read
College Students Think They’re So
Special and Diary of a Mad
Freshman PROJECT
PLANNING |
|
SAFETY
ISSUES Have read
After Virginia Tech, Use What You’ve
Learned, The Anatomy of Violence, and Sex and Scandal at Duke You
should have scheduled your meeting with your advisor
by now!!! |
|
|
|
Sep 22-26 |
|
|
|
||
|
Sep 29-Oct 3 |
Have read
Don’t Worry Be Students, First Year
Reflections, Discounting Education’s Value, and The Dumbest Generation? Don’t Be Dumb |
|
PRESENTATION by Kerry Wagner from the
Counseling Center (AOD) TAP
certification begins |
|
|
|
Oct 6-10 |
PRESENTATION by Kristy Cable from the
Career Development Center (CDC) |
|
PRESENTATION by Rebecca Harrington from
the Health Center College
closes after last class |
Break |
Break |
|
Oct 13-17 |
Classes
resume Columbus
day: classes held Have read Isn’t It Time You
Hit the Books?, It Takes A Year, Learning (Your First Job), Teaching Thinking
in the Classroom, and Working
Toward Academic Integrity |
|
PRESENTATION by Nancy Cannon from the
Library MEET IN MILNE 108!! |
|
Interim
progress reports due from faculty Don’t forget banquet/project presentation in Hunt Union SUNDAY |
|
Oct 20-24 |
Our
Last Class PRESENTATION by Sheila Simon from CADE Have read
40 Money Management Tips, Subsidized
in the City, and Time to Think
Globally |
|
|
||
|
Oct 27-31 |
Last day
to drop with a W |
|
|
||
|
Nov 3-7 |
Daylight saving time has ended!! Did you set your clock back? |
|
|
|
|
|
Nov 10-14 |
Begin
Spring pre-enrollment |
|
|
|
|
|
Nov 17-21 |
Incomplete/pending
grade makeup deadline College
closes after last class |
||||
|
Nov 24-28 |
Break |
Break |
Break |
Break |
Break |
|
Dec 1-5 |
Classes
resume Last
day to withdraw from college |
|
|
|
Last
day to turn in incomplete/pending grades |
|
Dec 8-12 |
|
|
|
|
Last
day of class |
|
Dec 15-19 |
Final
exams begin 8am:
MWF 10 11am:
MWF 2 2pm:
MWF 12 |
8am:
TR 10 11am:
TR 4 2pm:
TR 12 |
8am:
MWF 9 11am:
MWF 1 2pm:
MWF 11 |
8am:
TR 8 11am:
TR 2 |
Final
exams end 8am:
MWF 8 11am:
MWF 3 |
Course requirements:
Students are expected
to keep up with the assigned readings for class, in order to be able to
participate in class discussions. To
satisfactorily complete the course, students need to read the readings,
participate in discussions, do the weekly assignments, write a paper, interview
their advisors, and participate in the class project.
Evaluation procedures:
This class is graded
pass/fail. In order to earn a passing
grade, a student should earn 70% of the total possible points. Points will be broken down as follows:
|
Class attendance and participation |
30% |
|
Event attendance |
20% |
|
Assignments |
30% |
|
Class project |
20% |
|
Total |
100% |
Class participation
(30%): Students must attend class and actively
participate. There are some additional class
meetings and a session on study skills that are required – such as dinner at
end of the session. (If you miss more
than 2 classes your participation percentage can greatly affect your evaluation
for the course). You must look at the
calendar and prepare materials or class readings assigned for each class ahead
of time.
Event Attendance
(20%): Students must be involved in campus
activities. Students must attend 6
events to meet the requirement. At least
2 must be the Freshman events from the Success Series You must also attend the club expo, September
4, at the Hunt Union, between 6:30 and 8:00pm.
You may select any other 3 events – such as a men’s or women’s soccer game,
concert, or residence hall program. Write a brief description (1 page double
spaced) of the event and how it helped you in your transition to college to
turn into the instructor. For the
club expo, you should describe two clubs that you are interested in
joining. If there weren’t two clubs that
you were interested in, you should describe why you couldn’t find two
interesting clubs, and what clubs the campus should have in order to have clubs
that interest you. Please turn these in
to the instructor within 2 class periods of the event. All assignments due by the
last day of class, October 21st.
Assignments(30%):
§
Weekly
reflections: on readings, discussions and events. After reading the weekly assignment write
down a quick reaction or reflection of the reading(s) – what did it (they) mean
to you; the sense you made of what the author wrote; questions it created for
you, etc….
§
Paper: You are required to write a paper reflecting
on the chosen readings, the themes of the course and your own college
experience. Choose something about your transition to college life – such as a
specific transition issues like making new friends or diversity of environment
or separation issue or a life change – to write about. Write a reaction or reflection paper
integrating ideas from the various readings into your personal experience. You are not limited to the assigned class
readings – you may also integrate other articles or information into your
paper. Be sure to cite all your
references in your paper APA style and include a reference page. Paper is due at the last class period October 21st.
§
Advisor
Interview: Students are required to interview their
advisor within the first 4 weeks of the semester. This should be more than a meeting regarding
scheduling but a full interview of your advisor. An assignment sheet will be
provided. Where did the advisor attend
college and graduate school? How did
they choose their area of interest? What
they think the professional opportunities within the field of study are? -
Interests, research or creative projects, hobbies of the professor? Etc…
Interview is due by October 18th.
Class Project:
(20%): Each
class is required to put together a video, pictorial or poster demonstration of
their first 6-8 weeks at
Attendance policy:
Class attendance is
necessary in order for you to get the most from the class. Therefore class attendance is expected, and
missing more than 2 classes will affect the participation part of your grade!
Late assignment & makeup policy:
Because this is a
half semester course, the deadlines for assignments are firm. Late assignments will be accepted only for
college approved absences, such as serious illness, death in the family,
etc. Since this is a pass-fail course,
no one assignment will result in you failing if you miss the deadline. However, a consistent pattern of late or
incomplete assignments will result in failure!
Additional unique aspects of course:
This course is
intended to be a place where students safely explore issues related to the
transition to college life. As such,
there are no tests where students regurgitate information to the instructor,
and classes consist of dialog among the students and teacher.