Introduction to College Life
Fall, 2004
INSTRUCTOR: Carl Salter STUDENT ADVISOR: Jennifer Gillard
Office Phone #: 610-625-7920 Campus Phone #: 610-625-6566
Home Phone 610-868-7534 AOL Screen Name: stkml01
Office: CHS 227 E-mail: stkml01@moravian.edu
FAX #: 610-625-7918
E-Mail: csalter@chem.moravian.edu
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This is a half unit (.50) course requirement whose primary goals are to introduce first-year students to the intellectual life of Moravian College, to promote a smooth transition to college life, and to help students develop a coherent plan for their education. Specific topics include: becoming familiar with college policies related to your role as a student and member of the Moravian College community; assisting your transition to becoming a successful college student; exploring the purpose of a liberal arts education at Moravian College and its relation to life after college; developing specific goals, objectives, and plans for your education; and assisting your engagement in college life.
STUDENT ADVISOR:
I feel privileged to welcome this freshmen class to the Moravian College campus. As your Student Advisor, I will attend all LinC class meetings throughout the semester. I promise to strive to continually link first-year students to Moravian by personally supporting, guiding, and easing the transition to college for you by means of all available resources. I hope to minimize anxiety, encourage positive attitudes, and inspire the excitement of learning in each of you.
I feel my job is to offer reassurance, objectively help students make their own decisions, promote involvement in campus life, share experiences, and make available information about campus resources and services. I plan to regularly check in with you to answer questions as the semester proceeds, and to refer you to services and resources on campus as needed. I anticipate hearing from all of you and assisting you in adjusting to your new home. I know I will have a great deal of fun sharing the Moravian Spirit with everyone of you. Please do not hesitate to come forward with any questions or comments. It will be my pleasure to listen and respond to what each of you has to say. I look forward to being a part of this new adjustment with all of you.
COURSE POLICIES and GRADING PROCEDURES:
To ensure fairness across different sections the course grading principles are standardized for all sections. The workload expectations for students will also be comparable across sections. The course is graded and is weighted as a half unit course. The final grade is totally determined by your willingness to become actively involved in this course that is aimed at enhancing your college experience. Please make sure that you understand what you have to do in order to earn a superior grade in the course. As long as you commit to becoming involved and meet the expectations for the course you can guarantee yourself a superior grade in at least this one course in your first semester at college. This also means that your instructor’s energy will be primarily focused on helping you get the most out of this course and in helping you to get off to a good start in college. This should also allow you to develop a good open working relationship with your new academic advisor. This also means that your ICL instructor will not be grading, per se, each assignment that you complete for the course. With respect to grades your instructor will be functioning much like a bookkeeper and keep track of the points you have earned over the course of the semester. It is suggested that you track your performance over the course of the semester as well so that you know exactly how you are doing in this course. Final grades will be calculated by summing up the points at the end of the semester and comparing them to the various point values for each grade.
The workload for this course has been carefully designed to take into account that you are probably also enrolled in four other courses as well as possibly taking Fitness and Wellness this semester. It is composed of six different components. Each of which is explained below.
Attendance and participation in scheduled classes 30%
Completion of 6 outside of class short personal reflection papers 24%
Attendance and write-ups of community events 20%
Development of a personal education plan 10%
Participation in a speaking assignment 10%
Scheduling, preparing for, and attending individual meeting 6%
Attendance and participation in scheduled classes
This is the most heavily weighted component of the course. This reflects our hope that much of your learning experience comes about by active participation in the classes. Some classes will involve group activities, while others will have guest speakers and or panels sharing information and important insights about college. Unfortunately if you miss a particular class you have missed that learning experience and there really is no way to make it up. So each class has 15 formal class meeting times, one during fall orientation to discuss our common summer reading and 14 seventy-minute classes, meeting once a week through out the semester.
You will earn 20 points for each class up to a maximum of 300 points. The operational definition of attending is coming to class prepared, on time or early, participating, and staying to the end of class. In other words simply showing up is not enough effort to earn full credit. Your instructor may choose to award partial credit rather than all 20 points if you do not meet this expectation. Please note that if you miss a class the points for that class can not be earned. The grading format has enough flexibility built into it that even if you have to miss a class you can still earn a superior grade. Attending all classes earns you 300 points, the equivalent of a 100 on a test that counted 30% of your final grade.
Personal reflection Papers
Each of you will have six opportunities over the course of the semester to generate personal reflection papers (minimum of 250 words). Some of these will be related to the reading assignments and your instructor will design some. Each of these assignments, if deemed acceptable and handed in on time, will earn 40 points. Late personal reflection papers can only earn 20 points. Your instructor has the right to turn back a submission as unacceptable and require you to resubmit a revision if your work doesn’t clearly convey that you have tried to do a good job on the write-up. If this occurs multiple times your instructor may decide to award only partial credit for resubmissions. Your instructor will make the specific assignments and let you know of their due dates in class. Handing in six acceptable personal reflection papers on time will earn you 240 points, the equivalent of a 100 on a test that counted 24% of your final grade.
Community events
College offers students many opportunities for additional learning that occur outside of the classroom, however most students straight out of high school are not used to taking advantage of such opportunities. To help you develop the habit of exposing yourself to new learning experiences this course requires you to attend 5 community events over the course of the semester. The first will occur during freshmen orientation and the others will be spread out over the semester.
The first and only community event required of the whole freshman class is attendance at the presentation by the author of our common summer reading. In recognition of the significance of this particular community event (60 points) it is weighted more heavily than the other four (35 points each). Here is your first chance to communicate using the written word with a college professor. Make your submission something that you are proud of. It is also the first opportunity for your instructor, who is also your academic advisor, to get a feel for your writing ability and for your ability as a college student.
Two or more of these community events will be designated as class community events that you all go to together. Your instructor may decide to designate an event as a required class community event that does not appear on this list. If you have a legitimate conflict with a class community event your instructor will suggest an acceptable alternative community event for you to attend. In order to receive credit this alternative must be arranged with your instructor before the date of the class community event. Instructors will assign one of three methods of assessing your participation in a class community event. You may be asked to do a write-up as explained below, participate in a class discussion, or participate in a class discussion right before or after the event.
In addition you will be asked to choose 0, 1, or 2 other approved events to serve as individual community events, depending on how many class community events are designated. A written reaction paper (write-up) is required for each individual community event that you attend.
Each write-up (250 word minimum) is due within one week of the date of the event. While these write-ups are not graded per se it is hoped that you will make them high quality submissions, typical of what one could expect from a successful college student. As long as a good faith effort is made full point value (35 points) will be earned. If the write-up of the event is handed in late the maximum point value that can be earned is 20 points. Your instructor has the right to turn back a submission as unacceptable and require you to resubmit a revision if your work doesn’t clearly convey that you have tried to do a good job on the write-up. If this occurs multiple times your instructor may decide to award only partial credit for resubmissions. Attending five community events and handing in a write-up on each on time earns you 200 points, the equivalent of a 100 on a test that counted 20% of your final grade.
What qualifies as a community event that an individual can attend? Any program that is sponsored or co-sponsored by the M.C. Arts and Lectures Committee as well as the Cohen lecture automatically qualify. In addition, your instructor may announce other events that take place throughout the fall semester that qualify.
Personal Education Plan (PEP)
We want your college experience to be positive. We also want you to be aware of all the different educational, personal, and social opportunities that Moravian College offers its students. One way to ensure that this happens is to ask each of you to take personal responsibility for your educational plan and to have you spend some time during your first semester in college thinking about your future. That is what this assignment is intended to do. Your instructor will provide you with the details of this plan that you will be completing for this course. It is due November 1. As long as it is handed in on time and your instructor deems it of acceptable quality you will earn 100 points for completing this component of the course. A PEP that is turned in late can only earn 50 points.
(3) Individual Planning for Education at Moravian College and Beyond
STUDENT OUTCOMES: Upon completion of the course, students will be able to:
1) articulate their specific goals, objectives, and plans for their personal education
2) execute strategies and tools to help them renew and revise these plans in the future.
Speaking assignment
As part of our Learning in Common Curriculum the college has mandated a Speaking Across the Curriculum component that every student should experience. In our ICL course you will have the opportunity to do this. Instructors have the option of choosing one of three formats (a group presentation, participation in a debate, or an exercise that involves personal self-disclosure) for helping you to meet this requirement. The total point value that can be earned for this component of the course is 100 points. Depending upon which format is chosen, your instructor will clearly delineate what is required of you to earn the maximum number of points.
Scheduling, preparing for, and attending individual meeting
Your instructor will ask you to arrange for an individual meeting with her/him preceding registration for the spring semester. The dates of these individual meetings may vary depending on whether you are an Add-Venture student, a Comenius scholar, or in the general program. As part of this process it is critical that you both understand the LinC curriculum and thoughtfully prepare for this meeting with your academic advisor. This means, for example, that you check the college catalog for specific requirements for any fields that you are considering majoring in. You also need to identify six courses as possibilities to discuss with your advisor. You will also write down an explanation for why you chose each of these courses as possibilities. Your instructor will provide you with a form to help you to do this. It is your responsibility to thoughtfully fill this out and bring it to this meeting. The reason for requiring you to choose six courses even though most students will only enroll in four full unit courses (Some may also be taking Fitness and Wellness) is to ensure that you still select an optimal schedule for yourself even if one or two of the courses that you have selected are closed when it comes time for you to actually register. This planning is so crucial to your college success that you earn 60 points for scheduling, preparing, and attending these individual meetings. This is the equivalent to earning a 100 on a test that counted 6% of your final grade.
Point Value Conversion Chart
930+ = A
900 – 929 = A-
870 – 899 = B+
830 – 869 = B
800 – 829 = B-
770 – 799 = C+
730 – 769 = C
700 – 729 = C-
670 – 699 = D+
630 – 669 = D
600 – 629 = D-
less than 600 = F
Note:
Please note that it within the instructor’s purview to apply qualitative judgment in determining grades for any assignments and for the course final grade.
Please note while your instructor will try to hold to the flow of the syllabus it is subject to change over the course of the semester.
Office Hours for Carl Salter
Thursday 1pm – 4pm
LEARNING DISABILITY ACCOMODATIONS
Students who wish to request accommodations in this class for support of learning disabilities and/or ADHD, should contact Mrs. Laurie Roth, Director of Learning Services, 1307 Main Street (extension 1510).
Students who wish to request accommodations for support of other disabilities, should contact Dr. Ron Kline, Director of the Counseling Center, 1307 Main Street (extension 1510).
Accommodations cannot be provided until authorization is received from the appropriate disability support provider on campus.
ACADEMIC HONESTY
Cheating and plagiarism will not be tolerated. Plagiarism is the misrepresentation of someone else's work as your own. This includes such instances as quoting directly from a published work without giving the author credit (i.e. proper citation), inserting the author's words as your own, using or "borrowing" another student's work, buying a paper from a professional service, etc. It is your responsibility to be familiar with what constitutes plagiarism and, in the event of uncertainty, to ask in a constructive manner about a writing assignment in question before it is due in a final version. You are also required to keep all note cards and rough drafts on papers and assignments until given a final grade for that course. Evidence of plagiarism and cheating will be dealt with in accordance with the college policy on academic honesty found in the Student Handbook. In the event of a suspected infraction – in fairness to your peers and the standards of the college – it is my job to send the materials in question to the Dean’s Office at which time you are given the chance to provide your perspective on the matter.
LATE ASSIGNMENTS
The consequences of assignments being handed in late are spelled out in the grading procedures section of the syllabus.
REQUIRED READINGS
O’Brien, Tim. (1990). The Things They Carried. New York: Broadway Books
College Student Handbook
College Catalog
Foundations 3rd Ed, edited by V. Gordon and T. Minnick, published by Thomson & Wadsworth 2004.
QUESTIONS
Depending on your needs the first fifteen minutes or so of each class can be used for Q&A. You may bring questions to class, email them to me or Jennifer, or drop them anonymously in my mail box in Collier Hall of Science. We are a learning community trying to ease your transition into college life, so your questions are important.
NEWS CLIPS
Each week the instructor will ask for two volunteers to bring in a newspaper clip for discussion the following week. It could be from any daily newspaper or our own our campus newspaper The Comenian, but it must be an article of some kind that others will find intriguing. News, editorials, sports, art, fashion, food—all of these topics are appropriate.
Intended Student Outcomes
(1) Prepare for College Life at Moravian College
STUDENT OUTCOMES: Upon completion of the course,
students will:
1) become familiar with college policies related to their role as students and members of the Moravian College community.
2) understand the expectations and responsibilities of being a college student, and a member of the Moravian College community.
(2) Introduction to Liberal Education
STUDENT OUTCOMES: Upon completion of the course, students will be able to:
1) identify and understand the general goals and purposes of the liberal
arts and sciences tradition for individuals and within society.
2) articulate the value of liberal learning for their own personal and professional success.
(3) Individual Planning for Education at Moravian College and Beyond
STUDENT OUTCOMES: Upon completion of the course, students will be able to:
3) articulate their specific goals, objectives, and plans for their personal education
4) execute strategies and tools to help them renew and revise these plans in the future.
(4) Academic Survival Skills
STUDENT OUTCOMES: Upon completion of the course, students will be able to:
1) demonstrate intellectual skills, which should result in greater personal, professional, and academic success; including, but not confined to: effective study skills, time management, and goal setting.
2) pursue their educational goals with greater confidence and
efficacy.
(5) Personal Coping Skills
STUDENT OUTCOMES: Upon completion of the course, students will be able to:
1) identify and understand aspects of themselves (learning styles, communication styles, coping styles, personal values, cultural values) that will affect personal well being and academic success.
2) engage in a variety of coping skills that work best for them in
challenging situations.
3) pursue their personal goals and handle the challenges of adjustment
college with greater confidence and efficacy.