Required Materials (bring to all classes - part of class participation):

University Catalog

Personal Calendar or Planner

Freshman Seminar Ring Binder from the Book Store

Psychology Handbook (Psychology Majors only)

I'm usually in the lab on Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday evenings. If you can catch me, day or night, I'll be more than happy to chat (I actually get paid to do what I'd do for free--talk). On Fridays I am unavailable until 1:30 p.m.

OBJECTIVES:  This course is intended to facilitate the student's entry into the University community and the life of a college student.  It is expected that participating students’ academic performance will be enhanced and the probability of graduating from this world class institution in a timely fashion also will be increased. All of the class activities are designed to achieve these objectives.  For the most part, activities and assignments have been selected in terms of what research in higher education has shown will help to accomplish the above stated objectives.

None of the course assignments are intended to be busy work; we all have better things to do.  You will have an opportunity to provide both formal and informal feedback regarding the course and, believe me, your input is important to me.  This is my second time teaching this seminar and I'm a big fan of evolution; help shape the future.

CLASS ATTENDANCE/PARTICIPATION: Normally I don't require class attendance, but a seminar format is different. Twenty-five percent of the course grade is based upon attendance/participation.  Attendance is essential for a successful course experience and students are expected to attend all classes.  Unexpected emergencies can occur and, normally, up to two absences may be approved by the instructor with adequate cause.  Send me a personal email to explain all absences that you wish to have approved.  Please, DO NOT post your reasons for absences on the public class discussion board.  Any absences beyond two may require dropping the course or receiving a deficient grade, as three absences constitute approximately 20% of the entire set of class meetings. All unexcused absences will reduce the final course grade by one letter grade for each unexcused absence (e.g., from C+ to D+ for one absence; from C+ to F for two absences).

ACADEMIC HONESTY:  Appropriate collaboration is encouraged, but plagiarism or cheating will not be tolerated and will result in an automatic F for the course. You should consult the University's Academic Code of Honesty as soon as possible.  It can be found in the ring binder you received from the Book Store. The code also will be covered as part of the Seminar.

PAPERS:  All graded papers (PA) called for in the syllabus are to be two pages (plus, or minus, 3 lines), double spaced, 12 point font, with 1 inch margins.  There may be ungraded papers that are shorter. Unless otherwise noted, papers are due by class, one week after the paper is assigned in the schedule of events below (if no classes are held on that day, the paper is due on the following class day).  Papers must be word processed in Word (or converted to Word) and submitted ONLY in word-processed form via the Digital Drop Box in Blackboard.  They will be evaluated for both content and form.  The latter includes grammar, spelling, sentence structure, organization, and appearance.

Latin Phrases:  To expand your vocabulary, you should include a total of 10 unique items from the Latin Phrases pages across the first 4 papers.  Please make these phrases bold in the text and list them below the body of the paper.  For every missing phrase, there will be a 1.0 grade reduction on the fourth paper and you will be required to re-write that paper to include the missing phrases.

By October 3rd, students must attend one University event/lecture or join a club/organization and submit a very brief review of your experience on the Discussion Board.  I'll announce eligible events as they come up.  You are also free to pick your own, but check with me to see if it will meet this requirement.  (PJ-1)

NB:    Class participation is not defined by talking a lot (I'll take care of that).  The quality of participation, including effectively relating to other class members is important.