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Course Description University Seminar is a course designed to help meet transitional needs of new Texas State University students. The course encourages reflection upon the value and nature of a university education, as well as helping students to develop strategies for life-long learning. Course content includes class discussion, student participation, and involvement in the university community. University departments, speakers, and events are commonly used resources for US 1100. Class discussion and oral reports are the most common format of the class.
Course Objectives
Required Texts Your University Experience-The Next Step, 2nd Edition ¨C Carol Dochen, Russ Hodges, & Pam Wuestenberg No Impact Man ----Colin Beavan, Farrar,Straus, and Giroux. New York, 2009.
Attendance Policy There is a strong correlation between your grades and your class attendance. I greatly encourage you to attend all the classes. I highly appreciate all the diligent students who have full attendance in my class and tend to give what they deserve in terms of grading. To ensure good attendance in my class, I stipulated the following policy.
One Absence: no penalty Two Absences: penalty, two points to be taken off the final grade Three Absences: double penalty, four points to be taken from the final grade Four Absences: Course Failure
Grading Scheme Grading scheme includes the following major categories. Detailed requirements refer to the assignment page. Attendance 20% Assignments 30% Class Participation 20% Event Attendance - (two campus events.) 20% Group Project 10% Quizzes 10% ¡¡ Accessibility Statement Students with special needs (as documented by the Office of Disability Services) should notify the instructor at the beginning of the semester.
Office of Disability Services LBJ Student Center 5-5.1 (512) 245 - 3451
Academic Honesty Statement Learning and teaching take place best in an atmosphere of intellectual fair-minded openness. All members of the academic community are responsible for supporting freedom and openness through rigorous personal standards of honesty and fairness. Plagiarism and other forms of academic dishonesty undermine the very purpose of the university and diminish the value of an education.
Texas State Academic Honor Code As members of a community dedicated to learning, inquiry and creation, the students, faculty and administration of our university live by the principles in this Honor Code. These principles require all members of this community to be conscientious, respectful and honest.
WE ARE CONSCIENTIOUS. We complete our work on time and make every effort to do it right. We come to class and meetings prepared and are willing to demonstrate it. We hold ourselves to doing what is required, embrace rigor, and shun mediocrity, special requests, and excuses. WE ARE RESPECTFUL. We act civilly toward one another and we cooperate with each other. We will strive to create an environment in which people respect and listen to one another, speaking when appropriate, and permitting other people to participate and express their views. WE ARE HONEST. We do our own work and are honest with one another in all matters. We understand how various acts of dishonesty, like plagiarizing, falsifying data, and giving or receiving assistance to which one is not entitled, conflict as much with academic achievement as with the values of honesty and integrity. The Pledge for Students Students at our university recognize that, to ensure honest conduct, more is needed than an expectation of academic honesty, and we therefore adopt the practice of affixing the following pledge of honesty to the work we submit for evaluation: I pledge to uphold the principles of honesty and responsibility at our university. The Pledge for Faculty and Administration Faculty at our university recognize that the students have rights when accused of academic dishonesty and will inform the accused of their rights of appeal laid out in the student handbook and inform of the process that will take place. The statement is as follows: I recognize students' rights and pledge to uphold the principles of honesty and responsibility at our university.
Mission Statement of General Education The mission of the general education program at Texas State University ¨C San Marcos is to provide students with a broad liberal arts foundation composed of communication, mathematics, natural science, fine and creative arts, humanities, social and behavioral sciences, health and wellness, and university seminar; and within these components to introduce students to the core competencies of writing, oral communication, mathematics, critical thinking, ethics, reading, and computer literacy/information technology.
Specific Mission for University Seminar The mission of University Seminar is to assist first year students' direct and indirect academic transition into Texas State through various class, individual and group activities, and attendance at campus events as well as other non-class academic activities.
Outcome Number One Students who complete the US 1100 course will be able to articulate the value of the Common Experience theme. Common Experience is a series of readings and events centered around a theme that is selected competitively each year from plans submitted by interdisciplinary faculty/staff teams. Both US 1100 and other general education courses incorporate Common Experience theme units and events into their syllabi.
Outcome Number Two Students who complete the US 1100 course will be able to use Texas State resources to assist in completing academic assignments.
University Seminar Office Dr. Pam Wuestenberg: Assistant Dean (pw05@txstate.edu) Michelle Bohn: Administrative Assistant (mb61@txstate.edu) Academic Services Building (ASB-North 410) Telephone: (512) 245-7952
University Seminar website: http://www.txstate.edu/ucollege/universityseminar/ Common Experience website: http://www.txstate.edu/commonexperience/ ¡¡ ¡¡ |