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NORTH GEORGIA COLLEGE & STATE UNIVERSITY

Department of Academic Support Programs

UNIV 1000                                                                                                                                                                                                   Mr. Derek Sutton

Freshman Experience                                                                                                                                                                             West Main Hall #314

Fall Semester 2008                                                                                                                                                                                 jdsutton@ngcsu.edu

Office Hours: M, W: 11:30-1:00                                                                                                                                                                         (706)-864-1782

T, TR: 9:30-11:00

Course Purpose and Objectives

Welcome! My goal in this course is to offer you one of the most valuable learning experiences of your entire life. And I need your full cooperation to make it work!

The subject of our class is success...what success is for you personally and how you can achieve it. In the coming weeks, you will learn many proven strategies for creating greater academic, professional, and personal success. We will use guided journal writings to explore these strategies, and as a bonus, you will learn to express yourself more effectively in writing. You may never again have an opportunity quite like this one to discover how to create a rich, personally fulfilling life. I urge you to make the most of this extraordinary opportunity!  If you do, you will dramatically change the outcome of your life for the better!

In this course, you will learn how...

1.        TO TAKE CHARGE OF YOUR LIFE. You will learn how to take personal responsibility, gaining greater control over the outcomes and experiences that you create both in college and in life.

2.        TO INCREASE SELF-MOTIVATION. You will learn to create greater inner motivation by discovering your own personally meaningful goals and dreams.

3.        TO IMPROVE PERSONAL SELF-MANAGEMENT.  You will learn numerous strategies for taking control of your time and energy, allowing you to move more effectively and efficiently toward the accomplishment of your goals and dreams.

4.        TO ENHANCE RELATIONSHIPS. You will learn how to develop mutually supportive relationships that will support you to achieve your goals and dreams as you assist others to achieve theirs.

5.        TO HEIGHTEN SELF-AWARENESS. You will learn how to understand and revise your self-defeating patterns of behavior, thought, and emotion as well as your unconscious limiting beliefs.

6.        TO MAXIMIZE YOUR LEARNING. You will learn a powerful process of learning that will enable you to get better grades in college and be an effective life-long learner.  You will learn many effective study skills as well.

7.        TO STRENGTHEN EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE. You will learn effective strategies for managing distressing emotions and increasing your inner sense of well being and happiness.

8.        TO RAISE YOUR SELF-ESTEEM. You will learn how to develop self-acceptance, self-confidence, self-respect, self-love, and unconditional self-worth.

9.        TO WRITE MORE EFFECTIVELY.  You will learn how to improve your writing skills through the extensive writing practice offered by your guided journal entries.

10.     TO DEVELOP CREATIVE AND CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS.  You will learn how to enhance the thinking skills essential for analyzing and solving problems in your academic, professional, and personal lives.

11.     TO ACHIEVE GREATER SUCCESS IN YOUR CAREER.  You will learn and develop the personal qualities and skills that employers identify as essential for excelling in the world of work.

Course Requirements

1.  Textbooks and Readings

            The required textbook, available at the NGCSU bookstore, is:

            Downing, Skip. On-Course: Strategies for Creating Success in College and Life (5^th Ed.);    packaged with Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI).

            The required supplemental reader, available from any bookstore or online, is:

            Loeb, Paul Rogat. Soul of a Citizen: Living With Conviction in a Cynical Time. New York: St. Martin’s Griffin, 1999.

            The required supplemental planner, available from the NGCSU Office of Student Affairs, is:

                        The NGCSU Student Handbook w/ Calendar

2.       Grading Policy

A.      Grading Scale:

            Total Possible Points: 1000

                        A: 900 – 1000 Points

                        B: 899 – 800 Points

                        C: 799 – 700 Points

                        D: 699 – 600 Points

                        F: 599 – 0 Points

B.      Grade Breakdown:

3. Computation of Final Grades – Explanation

A. On-Course Journal Entries (300 Points)

            Your success journal provides you with an opportunity to explore your thoughts and feelings as you experiment with the success strategies presented in our text, On Course.  By carefully examining your own experiences in your journal, you will discover which success strategies will best assist you to create a rich, personally fulfilling life.  Although I will be collecting your journals and looking through them, write your journal for yourself, not for me.

During this semester, you will write in your composition notebook 15 select journal entries from our textbook.  These entries will be written outside of class.  Additionally, you may write lettered journal entries based upon class activities. These entries will be written in class. At various times you will have an opportunity to read a journal entry to one or more classmates. THEREFORE, PLEASE BRING YOUR TEXTBOOK AND JOURNAL TO EVERY CLASS.

Evaluation: Journals will be collected in week 7 and 14 (see the schedule below). The first seven journal entries are due in Week 7 and the following eight entries are due in week 14. If you want me to comment on a specific journal entry, simply turn down the corner of the appropriate page. On that page, write me a note about the response you desire from me.

Privacy: Occasionally you may write a journal that you wish to keep private.  If so, simply fold the appropriate pages over and staple them closed at the top and bottom.  You have my word that I will respect your privacy.  I do reserve the right to confirm that there is, in fact, writing on these pages.  Locked journals will be given scores equal to the average scores of all other journals.

Journal Points: Each journal entry will be awarded up to 20 points.  Thus, all 15 journal entries will be worth a possible total of 300 points.  A journal entry will be awarded the maximum of 20 points if it fulfills the following two criteria:

1. The entry is complete (i.e., all directions have been followed), and;
2. The entry is written with high standards (an obvious attempt has been made to gain great personal value from the journal activity by diving deep).

Grammar, spelling, and punctuation will NOT be factors in awarding points; in this journal, you are free to express yourself without concern for standard English conventions. 

            B. Soul of a Citizen: Living With Conviction in a Cynical Time Reading Guide and Journals (200 Points)

            During the semester, we will discuss the book Soul of a Citizen: Living with Conviction in a Cynical Time. You are expected to read the book and be able to discuss it each week. Early in the semester, you will be given a reading guide that follows along with the chapters in the book. You are required to answer the associated questions for that chapter for the assigned week. In addition you should keep a journal based on your readings. You will be given an additional handout that details the requirements of this assignment.

C. Discover Program Assignment (100 Points)

            During Week 5 of the course, we will discuss careers and professional success. Later this semester I will provide you with a handout that details how to do the Discover Program along with an instruction sheet that details how to signup, register and complete the program.

D. Campus Resources Report (100 Points)

            Early in the semester, we will discuss campus resources in class. On that day, I will divide the class into groups. Each group will then select one of the student resources on the campus of NGCSU including but not limited too: Campus Connection, Career Services, Counseling Center, Infirmary and Print Services. After concluding your investigation, your group will prepare a report and present it to the other members of our class. At this time, you will always submit the group evaluation form attached to this syllabus. Your presentation should run approximately five-ten minutes in length, and it should include, among other things, the following:

-         The kind of resources provided and in what circumstances a student might want to use them.

-         Office business hours.

-         The location of the resource office and its telephone number.

-         Brochures or other information available from the office (one for each class member).

-         A dash of creativity

E. Campus Activity (50 Points)

            During the semester, there are many activities - movies, concerts, lectures, sporting events, forums, debates, and so on. Within one week after you have attended an event please turn in a paper that is 1 to 2 pages in length in which you describe your reaction to the activity. Please do not simply summarize the activity; rather tell me what you liked or didn’t like, if you would go again and why or why not. Required activities such as Drill, Sorority meetings, practices (sports, band, etc…) and work do not count for the purposes of this assignment. An activity report is due by week 6 and then again by week 12.

G. Final Exam (50 Points)

            At the end of the semester, at our regularly scheduled final exam date, we will have a final exam. The exam will count 50 points of your final grade. Details of the final exam will be provided at a later date.

H. Attendance and Participation (200 Points)

            Most of the material in this class will be taught by means of group work, exercises, and discussion. I expect everyone to make it to every class and to make it on time. Being late for class and leaving early will reduce your attendance-participation points by half. In addition, excessive absences will result in your being dropped from the course. According to the North Georgia Undergraduate Bulletin, "If a student's total number of absences exceeds 14% of the scheduled classes, it shall become the prerogative of the instructor to drop the student from the class roll with a W or WF…" (60). If you miss more than four classes, you will exceed the 14% limit and you will be dropped from class. If you are dropped before mid-term, you will receive a W. If you are dropped after mid-term, you will receive a WF.

4. Class Atmosphere

Please be advised that sleeping in class is not allowed. Nor is working on assignments for another class, reading the newspaper, carrying on conversations with your classmates while another classmate or I have the floor, or saying anything aimed at bruising the dignity of another student. Engaged in these activities, not only are you dramatically lowering your class participation score, you are also inviting expulsion from the class and an absence for the day.

5. Alcohol.Edu

In cooperation with the Student Counseling office, UNIV 1000 students are required to participate in the Alcohol.Edu program during this academic year.  The purpose of the program is to educate students regarding alcohol and alcohol consumption in order to change habits which are harmful to their success.  Beginning after Labor Day, students will be able to access the Alcohol.Edu Web site and begin participating in the program.  They will have two weeks to complete Part I of the program and pass the test for that part.  Students will be notified via e-mail when they may begin Part II and will again have two weeks to complete and pass the test for that part. Failure to complete this program could result in receiving an Incomplete for the course or possible even a hold on your record. If you have completed this program already, please let me know.

6.  Other Requirements

            a. Incorporation of Other Controlling Authority. All of the rules, regulations, and standards published in the undergraduate bulletin of North Georgia College & State University are incorporated by reference in this document.

            b. Cheating and Plagiarism. NGCSU’s integrity code --”On my honor, I will not lie, cheat, steal, plagiarize, evade the truth, or tolerate those who do”-- reflects the commitment to academic integrity. If you do cheat or plagiarize, I will report the incident to the University’s Academic Integrity council and will decide to either: a) lower your grade for this course; or b) give you a failing grade for this course. Simply, do not plagiarize. I do not advise it. If you have any questions about the definition of plagiarism, please contact me.

            c. Disabilities and Accommodations. North Georgia College & State University is committed to equal access to its programs, services, and activities for people with disabilities. If you believe that you have a disability requiring an accommodation, reasonable prior notice needs to be given to the instructor and the Office of Student Disability Resources. In this case, contact Elizabeth McIntosh, Coordinator of Student Disability Resources, at Barnes Hall, Room 221 (867-2782).

            d. Course Grades. Final grades are available on BANNER usually within 2 days after all finals have ended. Please do not contact me for your grade during this time. Further, I CANNOT communicate with you about your grades via e-mail or phone. If you have a question about your grades, please come by my office during my office hours.

            e. Cell Phone Policy. The use of cell phones is not permitted during this class. This includes having them out before, during or after class. If on any day you require your phone to be on for an important reason (work, family issue, etc…), please let me know at the beginning of class.

f. Final Day to Drop/Add - Wednesday, August 27, 2008 (5:00pm)

g. Last Day to Drop with a “W” - Tuesday, October 7, 2008 (5:00pm)

            h. On-line Class Evaluations:  Class evaluations at NGCSU are now conducted on-line through Banner.  Evaluation of the class is considered a component of the course and students will not be permitted to access their course grade until the evaluation has been completed.  The evaluations will be accessible beginning one week prior to Final Exam week.

i. Early Alert Participation I am committed to your success in this course and at this university.  I may, therefore, refer you to other persons and/or services available to help you achieve academic success.  In turn, if you are referred, you will be expected to comply with the referrals.  Please understand that such referrals are not a form of punishment, rather, they are intended to help you.

7. Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) and Information Literacy

            Summary:

                        Information literacy is the ability to know when information is needed and to access, evaluate, and use information effectively and ethically.

             Learning Outcomes:

o       The information literate student determines the nature and extent of the information needed.

o       The information literate student accesses needed information effectively and efficiently.

o       The information literate student evaluates information and its sources critically and incorporates selected information into his or her knowledge base and value system.

o       The information literate student, individually or as a member of a group, uses information effectively to accomplish a specific purpose.

o       The information literate student understands many of the economic, legal, and social issues surrounding the use of information and accesses and uses information ethically and legally.

schedule of reading assignments

final exam schedule

Last Updated 21 August 2008 by Derek Sutton