INTD 133-3 College Life
Syllabus
Fall 2009
Classroom location: Fitzelle 307
Class schedule: MW
9:00-9:50PM, 26 August thru 20 October
Instructor: Dr. Don Allison
VIP: Kathleen
Chrystal
Office location: Fitzelle
225
Phone: 436-3439
Email: allisodl@oneonta.edu
Office hours: T 12-2pm, 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)
NOTE: Subject to change as
guest speakers are scheduled…check on line often!
|
Date |
Monday |
Tuesday |
Wednesday |
Thursday |
Friday |
|
Aug 24-28 |
|
|
Classes begin Add-drop begins INTRODUCTION |
|
|
|
Aug 31-Sep 4 |
TIME
MANAGEMENT Bring calendar/planner and
syllabi for all courses to class Have read College is a Waste of Time and Money, 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, 6:30-8pm, Hunt
Union |
|
|
|
Sep 7-11 |
Labor day: classes meet ON
LINE Have read Multitask, Brave New World of MySpace and Facebook, Facebook Grows
Up, and Facebook, MySpace and Co. |
Last day to add a full
semester course |
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 14-18 |
ATTITUDES Have read College Students Think They’re So Special and Diary of a Mad Freshman |
|
BEING
STUDENTS Have read Don’t Worry Be Students, First Year Reflections, Discounting
Education’s Value, and The Dumbest
Generation? Don’t Be Dumb |
|
|
|
Sep 21-25 |
LEARNING 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 |
|
|
College closes after last
class |
|
|
Sep 28-Oct 2 |
|
Classes resume TAP certification begins PRESENTATION
by Rebecca Harrington from the Health Center |
|
|
|
|
Oct 5-9 |
PRESENTATION
by Kristy Cable from the Career Development Center (CDC) |
|
|
|
|
|
Oct 12-16 |
Columbus day: classes meet |
|
|
|
Interim Progress Reports due
from faculty Project Presentation Dinner is
this weekend!!!! |
|
Oct 19-23 |
FINANCES Have read 40 Money Management Tips, Subsidized in the City, and Time to Think Globally |
First half semester classes end |
|
|
|
|
Oct 26-30 |
|
Last day to drop a full
semester course |
|
|
|
|
Nov 2-6 |
Daylight saving time has ended!! Did you set your clock back? |
|
|
|
|
|
Nov 9-13 |
Begin Spring 2010
pre-enrollment |
|
Veterans’ Day: classes meet |
|
|
|
Nov 16-20 |
|
|
|
|
College closes after last
evening class Last day to make up
incomplete grades |
|
Nov 23-27 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Nov 30-Dec 4 |
Classes resume Last day to withdraw from
college |
|
|
|
Last day to change incomplete
grades |
|
Dec 7-11 |
|
|
Follow MONDAY schedule |
Follow TUESDAY schedule |
|
|
Dec 14-18 |
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 |
10% |
|
Event attendance |
20% |
|
Reaction papers to readings |
20% |
|
Advisor interview |
10% |
|
Term paper |
20% |
|
Class project |
20% |
|
Total |
100% |
Class participation
(10%): 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 2, 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 20th.
Assignments(50%):
§
Weekly
reflections(20%): 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(20%): 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. Paper is due at the last class
period October 20th.
§
Advisor
Interview(10%): 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 September 30th.
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.
Emergency
Evacuation:
The Evacuation
Assembly Area for this course is in the quad, 50 feet from the building. In case a prolonged building evacuation is
required, you will be directed to the building Evacuation Site. The Evacuation Site for this class is the
Lobby of IRC. In any case, if a building
evacuation occurs, stay together as a class so that we can determine that
everyone has made it safely from the building.
Evacuation is to occur any time the fire alarm sounds, an evacuation
announcement is made, or a university official orders you to evacuate the
building. After the building has been
evacuated, it is not to be re-entered until University Police gives permission.