Instructor: Dr. Paul Regier Time: Mon/Wed 1:25-2:25 am
Email: Place: Austin Hall 213
Office hours: paulregier.com/office-hours/

1 Course Description

First-Year Seminar (FYS) is a 3-credit-hour course designed to integrate new students into college life in general and USAO life in particular. FYS is part of the Interdisciplinary Studies (IDS) common learning program and introduces ideas and skills that will appear in other IDS as well as major courses. All students entering USAO with fewer than 24 credit hours completed or who are admitted under academic probation are required to take FYS in their first term at USAO. The curriculum covers a range of topics including goal setting, academic planning, scheduling and time management, study skills, academic integrity, health in college, community, diversity/equity/inclusion, interdisciplinary thinking, the liberal arts, and critical thinking.

1.1 Rationale

Research1 consistently demonstrates that beginning college students are more likely to persist and succeed when they are integrated into a specific learning mindset in the first year. Mindset theory2 describes the ideal learning environment as one that fuses the following:

  • Purpose - the sense that one’s educational efforts have relevance.
  • Belonging - the feeling of being a valued part of one’s learning environment.
  • Growth Mindset - the belief that one can grow and learn and become smarter.

Outcomes for FYS reflect the faculty’s desire to provide incoming students with these feelings of meaning, acceptance, and empowerment.

Inherent in the Course Learning Outcomes listed below are soft skills reported to be critical for success in our 21st-century work environment.3 The top ten skills listed for any profession will be discussed and experienced through completion of this course, including time management of personal, professional, and academic activities; communication with professors, staff, peers; adaptability to new and ongoing changes in personal, professional, and academic environments; creativity and attention to detail in projects and assignments; and strengthening of a person’s work ethic.

1.2 Learning Outcomes

In this course, students will deepen their sense of personal purpose, belonging, and growth in the following ways:

  • Purpose
    • Articulate goals for a college education.
    • Identify personal and intellectual values and goals.
    • Align academic goals with personal and intellectual values and priorities.
    • Identify experiential learning opportunities at S&A.
  • Belonging
    • Build a sense of community at S&A.
    • Engage in activities across campus.
    • Explain the college’s history, interdisciplinary ethic, and liberal arts mission.
    • Identify academic and support resources on campus.
    • Collaborate with peers and mentors to identify and solve academic or personal problems.
  • Growth
    • Build confidence in an ability to manage the mental and emotional demands of college.
    • Track and execute strategies that promote well-being, learning, and intellectual growth.
    • Identify and uphold S&A’s standards for academic integrity.
    • Pursue opportunities that prepare students for meaningful work after college.

1.3 Required Materials

  1. Morton, Jennifer. Moving up without losing your way: The ethical costs of upward mobility. Princeton University Press, 2019.
  2. College Success (free online)
  3. Regular Access to a computer.

2 Course Format

This course will meet in person two days/week with various asynchronous (i.e. outside of class) learning activities assigned weekly.

3 Assessment

Students will receive credit for the following course components:

1. Attendance 1 point/class
2. Weekly writing assignments 2-5 points/assignment
3. Weekly reflections 1 point/reflection
4. Weekly Canvas quizzes 1-2 points/quiz
5. One class presentation 10 points
6. One instructor check-in 5 points

Several assignments included are optional or extra credit. This is to allow you flexibility and autonomy to investigate topics that you find the most interesting or useful to your college education while providing accountability for learning.

This course will be graded A to F after rounding the final cumulative grade to the nearest percent:
\(A = 90-100\%, B = 80-89\%, C = 70-79\%, D = 60-69\%, F = \text{below } 60\%\)

3.1 Attendance and Participation

This class will meet twice a week on Mondays and Wednesdays. In-person attendance is required. Attendance and participation will be graded. Students arriving late or engaging in non-class related material during class may receive partial or zero class credit for that day. Only in special pre-arranged cases will attendance on Microsoft Team be accommodated. In these cases, please email the instructor to discuss this ASAP.

Your active engagement in class is crucial for your success in learning. To develop the understanding and skills required in this course, your sustained and uninterrupted focus will be required. Due to this, as well as our genuine concern for your learning, any reoccurring interruptions or distractions will be discussed, addressed, and removed to any extent necessary.

Failure to attend class, late arrival, or early departure may impact your ability to achieve course objectives and pass the course. An absence, excused or unexcused, does not relieve a student of any course requirement. Regular class attendance is a student’s obligation, as is a responsibility for all the work of class meetings. Students are encouraged to work directly with the instructor regarding any absences.

3.2 Written Assignments

Writing assignments satisfying the following two requirements will receive full credit:

  1. All points and/or questions in the assignment description above are addressed, and
  2. Writing is of appropriate length and sufficiently detailed for the reader to understand the point of submission.

If any questions above were not answered, you will receive feedback and partial credit. After this, you may resubmit your work within one week of my feedback for a regrade.

Late work will be accepted up to one week late for half credit.

3.3 Asynchronous Quizzes

Video and other quizzes on topics related to our in-class discussion will be assigned weekly. See Canvas for more details regarding Asynchronous Quizzes.

3.4 Class Presentations

During the semester, you will prepare a presentation (individually or in a team of up to 3 students) on a college success topic that interests you (transition to college, time management, effective study habits, metacognition, mental health, physical health, ways to prevent burnout as a student, student life, leadership, internships, etc.). After the presentation, you will lead a brief Q&A session.

You may choose to present your topic in one of the following ways.

  1. Present your topic in class using a slide show
  2. Lead a class discussion on the topic
  3. Reading a creative piece of writing (e.g. Short story, poem, rap)
  4. A dramatic act to be performed in front of class
  5. Create a video presentation to be shown in class

During the semester, you will prepare a presentation (individually or in a team of up to 3 students) on a college success topic that interests you (transition to college, time management, effective study habits, metacognition, mental health, physical health, ways to prevent burnout as a student, student life, leadership, internships, etc.).

Students are also allowed to create and submit additional presentation options for instructor approval.

3.5 Check-in with your Instructor

At one point during the semester, you must attend office hours to check in and discuss how the semester is going.

4 In Class Expectations

Students in this course are expected to:

  • Listen to one another’s ideas
  • Actively engage in class discussion
  • Respect all members of the classroom

You do not have to (and will likely not) agree with every idea shared. But we hope everyone feels comfortable and develops a sense of mutual trust so that everyone can participate freely and share opinions, perspectives, and experiences.

Within our campus community, we expect everybody to treat each other with respect for their diverse identities and backgrounds, including ability, economic class, race and ethnicity, religion or faith, gender identity and expression, nationality, sexual orientation, and intersections. In this class and on the USAO campus, we value the characteristics of “brave spaces” as defined by the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators:

  • “Controversy with civility,” where varying opinions are accepted
  • “Owning intentions and impacts,” in which students acknowledge and discuss instances where dialogue has affected the emotional well-being of another person
  • “Challenge by choice,” where students have the option to step in and out of challenging conversations
  • “Respect,” where students show respect for one another’s basic person-hood
  • “No attacks,” where students agree not to intentionally inflict harm on one another

5 Course Communication

Be aware and anticipate the following response times for the following types of correspondence:

  • Student –> Instructor: For emails to the instructor sent after 8 am on Monday but before noon on Friday, please allow 24 hours of response time. Messages left after midday Friday may take up to 72 hours. Holidays excluded. Messages sent via email generally will receive quicker responses than messages sent in Canvas.
  • Instructor –> Student: Students are expected to check and be aware of information sent via email and Canvas announcement posts regularly and respond if needed following the same guidelines described in the above item.
  • Student –> Student: When working with other students (e.g. homework or group projects), students are advised to exchange contact information of some sort, as well as check and read email/group messages regularly.

In all course communication with your instructor and classmates, please follow these net etiquette (netiquette) guidelines: 4

  1. Remember the Human: When communicating electronically, whether through email, instant message, discussion post, text, or some other method, practice the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have others do unto you. Remember, your written words are read by real people, all deserving of respectful communication. Consider the tone of your emails and discussion posts before you press “send” or “submit.” Ask yourself, “Would I be okay with this if someone else had written it?”
  2. Make yourself look good: In all course communication with your instructor and classmates, be professional and polite. One of the great things about the virtual world is the lack of judgment associated with your physical appearance, the sound of your voice, or the clothes you wear. You will, however, be judged by the quality of your writing, so keep the following tips in mind:
    • Always check for capitalization, spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors.
    • Think about what you want to communicate and state it clearly.
    • Avoid slang and acronyms like ROTFL for “rolling on the floor laughing.”
    • Don’t use ALL CAPS for entire sentences or posts, which denote yelling at someone. Any form of attack or inappropriate response within any form of communication with other students or faculty is unacceptable and if done in a discussion post will be removed immediately accompanied by a warning.
    • Be pleasant and polite.
  3. Respect other people’s time and bandwidth: Electronic communication takes time: time to read and time in which to respond. Most people today lead busy lives, just like you do, and don’t have time to read or respond to frivolous emails or discussion posts. As a virtual world communicator, it is your responsibility to make sure that the time spent reading your words isn’t wasted. Make your written communication meaningful and to the point, without extraneous text or large attachments that may take forever to download.

6 Other Information

6.1 Canvas Help

For help with Canvas, check out the help features provided by Canvas, shown below:

6.2 Student Success Center (SSC)

The Student Success Center (SSC) offers FREE individual tutoring, hosted on the top floor of Nash Library! See the SSC website for hours and link for scheduling an appointment. It is very helpful to come to tutoring appointments with your specific questions or topics.

This and other useful resources are also provided in the “Student Resources” tab in Canvas.

6.3 AI Policy

While the use of the internet and AI is acceptable for brainstorming and generating ideas on a topic, keep in mind that AI-generated results and sources are often made up, and thus must be verified.

Moreover, it is cheating to submit any academic work that originates from another source as your own, including AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, Bing, etc.

When the use of AI tools is explicitly permitted on an assignment, all content from AI tools used must be cited as such, following current AI citation styles appropriate to your discipline (MLA, APA, Chicago style).

6.4 Academic Dishonesty

Academic dishonesty in any form is a violation of the Academic Code of Conduct and will not be tolerated. There is a zero-tolerance policy in this course for any form of plagiarism, fabrication, cheating, forgery, or any other type of academic dishonesty. Violations will be addressed one-on-one with the instructor with a report submitted to the Academic Integrity Committee.

For more on the Academic Code of Conduct please see the USAO student handbook.

6.5 Accessibility Policy

The University’s accessibility policy is on page 15 of equity policy.

6.6 Disability Services

The University has a continuing commitment to providing accommodations for students with documented disabilities. To fully participate in this class, those with disabilities who may need accommodation should contact Disability Services, as soon as possible. For this semester, please do this by emailing the Disability Services Office at .

6.7 Illness

Regular class attendance is necessary to achieve the course objectives. Thus, taking care of your health and avoiding unnecessary exposure to illness is an important part of your success.

However, if you do fall ill for any reason, I want you to be able to rest. Please do not come to class if you are sick. If you are ill, please email me to let me know. Then, when you are well, contact me ASAP to make plans to make up missed work.

If you are absent from class, you are still responsible for completing all course requirements. As the instructor, I will work with you to make up work. However, it is your responsibility to contact me to make plans for making up missed work as soon as you are well. Do not wait until the end of the semester to make up missed work.

6.8 Important Dates

It is your responsibility to be aware of all dates listed in the USAO academic calendar.

6.9 Course Changes

The instructor reserves the right to make changes to this course as deemed mutually beneficial or necessary to all involved, with appropriate notification.

I encourage any feedback you have at any point during the semester. If you find any structural or content errors in any current course materials, let me know politely and respectfully via email, or in person. If you do so, I will give 0.5 points extra credit (per correction) toward your coursework grade.

  1. The National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition↩︎

  2. Dweck, C. S. (2006). Mindset: The new psychology of success. Random house.↩︎

  3. Kurtney, 11 April 2022↩︎

  4. Partially adapted from The Core Rules of Netiquette. Shea, V. (1994). Netiquette (Online ed., pp. 32-45). San Francisco: Albion Books.↩︎