Introduction

• Welcome to GOVT2305: Federal Government

• Instructor: Tom Hanna, MA

    - Office Hours: Monday 12:00 to 12:45 and Wednesday 2:45 to 3:45 on Microsoft Teams or Zoom
    - Email: tom.hanna@hccs.edu
    - Office: University of Houston, Phillip Guthrie Hoffman Hall (PGH 391) - should you want to ride the train over and meet in person

About me:

    - Ph.D. candidate in Political Science at the University of Houston
    - MA in Political Science from the University of Houston, BS in Political Science from the University of Houston
    - I have been teaching at the University of Houston since July 2022, at Houston Community College since June 2023, and just started at Our Lady of the Lake University (online). 
    - Courses taught: Statistics for Political Scientists; Argument, Data, and Politics, Introduction to Comparative Politics, and this course at UH; Federal Government and Texas Government at HCC; State Government at OLLU.
    - Research: My research focuses on the international behavior of dictators. I have a specific interest in threats to freedom and modern liberal democracy (aka Madisonian republics). 
    - Second/third career - former business manager and owner.
    - cooking, camping, kayaking, and computer gaming
    

Major course expectations

• I do not expect you to be experts on the course material at the end

• I do expect you to:

    - Respect other people, starting with your classmates and myself
    - Do the work
    - Do your best
    - Take responsbility for the work you did or not do
    - Take some time to seriously consider the implications of the material for your own life and the lives of people you care about

Course Outline/Procedures

• Please visit the Canvas Homepage for the Course

    - When it is ready, early next week

Course Outline/Procedures

• Please read the Canvas Homepage for the Course

• Please read the Syllabus

    - It is in Canvas! We will look at it now!

Course Outline/Procedures

• Please read the Canvas Homepage for the Course

• Please read the Syllabus

• Most of your work outside class will be done through the Canvas Modules - this includes accessing the textbook

    - We go over these next week

Course Outline/Procedures

• Please read the Canvas Homepage for the Course

• Please read the Syllabus

• Most of your work outside class will be done through the Canvas Modules - this includes accessing the textbook

• Complete Modules in order or you will be locked out of later assignments

    - We go over these next week

Course Outline/Procedures

• Please read the Canvas Homepage for the Course

• Please read the Syllabus

• Most of your work outside class will be done through the Canvas Modules - this includes accessing the textbook

• Complete Modules in order or you will be locked out of later assignments

• You must pass the Syllabus Quiz with a perfect score to continue with the rest of the course!

    - This is a great use of the independent work day, September 4!

Course Outline/Procedures (Continued)

• Check Canvas Announcements and your official school Outlook email three times a week

    - If you don't know how to get your school email, it is available in MyEagle...I will show you how to get there!

My Eagle

September 4 Independent Work Day! No Class!

• No class September 4! Introduction Module Work Day!

September 4 Independent Work Day! No Class!

• No class September 4! Introduction Module Work Day!

• The Syllabus Quiz is required

    - You must get 100%

September 4 Independent Work Day! No Class!

• No class September 4! Introduction Module Work Day!

• The Syllabus Quiz is required

    - You must get 100%
    - You can retake it until you get 100%

September 4 Independent Work Day! No Class!

• No class September 4! Introduction Module Work Day!

• The Syllabus Quiz is required

• The Extra Credit Quiz is extra credit AND it is required

    - Even if you miss everything, you get 1 point for taking it

September 4 Independent Work Day! No Class!

• No class September 4! Introduction Module Work Day!

• The Syllabus Quiz is required

• The Extra Credit Quiz is extra credit AND it is required

    - Even if you miss everything, you get 1 point for taking it
    - You are required to take it.

September 4 Independent Work Day! No Class!

• No class September 4! Introduction Module Work Day!

• The Syllabus Quiz is required

• The Extra Credit Quiz is extra credit AND it is required

    - Even if you miss everything, you get 1 point for taking it
    - You are required to take it
    - You can only take it once

September 4 Independent Work Day! No Class!

• No class September 4! Introduction Module Work Day!
• The Syllabus Quiz is required
• The Extra Credit Quiz is extra credit AND it is required
• Introduction Module complete by 11:59 PM, September 4…

Course Policies: Basics

• Number 1 Rule: Respect for other people

Course Policies: Basics

• Number 1 Rule: Respect for other people
• The policies exist to help me help you succeed
• I may update policies if things are not working
• You are responsible for keeping track of due dates and assignments

Time Commitment

• HCC is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC)

Time Commitment

• HCC is accredited by SACSCOC
• Without accreditation an HCC degree is worthless - not good for transfer, not considered a valid degree by employers

Time Commitment

• HCC is accredited by SACSCOC
• Without accreditation an HCC degree is worthless
• Without accreditation HCC students can not receive federal or state financial aid

Time Commitment

• HCC is accredited by SACSCOC
• Without accreditation an HCC degree is worthless
• Without accreditation HCC students no financial aid

Time Commitment

• HCC is accredited by SACSCOC

• Without accreditation an HCC degree is worthless

• Without accreditation HCC students no financial aid

• • According to SACSCOC:

    - 1 credit hour = 1 hour in class + 2 hours out of class

Time Commitment

• HCC is accredited by SACSCOC

• Without accreditation an HCC degree is worthless

• Without accreditation HCC students no financial aid

• • According to SACSCOC:

    - 1 credit hour = 1 hour in class + 2 hours out of class per week
    - This is a 3 credit hour course
    - 3 credit hour class = 3 hours in class + 6 hours out of class per week
    - This is a minimum, but the institution (UH) may set a higher standard!

https://sacscoc.org/app/uploads/2019/08/Credit-Hours.pdf

Commitment

Professionalism

• Professionalism is a graded component of this class.

Professionalism

• Professionalism is a graded component of this class.
• A major hallmark of professionalism is taking responsibility for doing what is expected of you and not blaming others for the consequences if you do not.

Professionalism

• In other words:

    - If you don't attend class and pay attention...
    - If you don't put in two hours a week of real work outside class...
    - If you don't do the assignments...
    - If you don't study for the exams...

Who is responsible for the consequences?

Your responsibilities

You are responsible for:

    - Time management
    - Your own learning
    - Doing the assignments
    - Showing up and engaging
    - Applying brainpower
    - Working on the material
    - Following through on commitments
    - Taking responsibility for your own work and results!
    

My responsibilities

• I am responsible for

    - Providing you a structured environment to learn
    - Providing alternate explanations to help you understand the material (lecture, discussion, and question-answer)
    - Setting standards and goals
    - Challenging you to do your best
    - Holding you accountable
    - Providing you with resources to succeed
    - Assessing you fairly based on the standards and goals provided
    - Alerting you early if your work is not up to standard, so you can fix the problem
    - Offering suggestions to help you improve your work

My responsibilities

I am not responsible for:

    - Forcing you to work
    - Doing your work for you
    - Navigating the HCC bureaucracy for you 
    - Anything your other professors require of you that may interfere with this class
    
    
    

Course Policies: Communications

• Face-to-face is the best communication

Course Policies: Communications

• Face-to-face is the best communication:

    - Office hours are your main communication to me outside class

Course Policies: Communications

• Face-to-face is the best communication:

    - Office hours are your main communication to me outside class
    - There will be a question period every class

Course Policies: Communications

• Face-to-face is the best communication:

    - Office hours are your main communication to me outside class
    - There will be a question period every class
    - Any important announcements will always be made in class

Course Policies: Communications

• Face-to-face is the best communication:

    - Office hours are your main communication to me outside class
    - There will be a question period every class
    - Any important announcements will always be made in class
    - There may be opportunities for extra credit or even regular credit that are only announced in class.

Course Policies: Communications

• Face-to-face is the best communication

• Announcements: Canvas

    - Since class cancellations can't be announced in class, you'll find them here if they happen
    - These are a good written place for recording important information - reiterating class announcements
    - That said, you still need to be in class. There may be opportunities for extra credit or even regular credit that are only announced in class.

Course Policies: Communications

• Face-to-face is the best communication

• Announcements: Canvas

• Email announcements

    - go to your official @hccs.edu email address

Course Policies: Communications

• Face-to-face is the best communication

• Announcements: Canvas

• Email announcements

• Emails to me - to ensure your privacy! - must:

    - come from your official @hccs.edu email address
    - come to my official tom.hanna@hccs.edu email address

Course Policies: Communications

• Face-to-face is the best communication
• Announcements: Canvas
• Email announcements
• Emails to me - to ensure your privacy! - must:
• Canvas messages will NOT be answered, except Gradebook messages

Course Policies: Late Work and Makeups

• Late work is automatically accepted

    - 10% per day penalty
    - No exceptions, no excuses
    - No need to email
    - No need to apologize or explain
    - All work must be turned in by the 26th of November

Course Policies: Late Work and Makeups

• Late work is automatically accepted with penalty
  

• Makeups for exams

    - The final is your makeup
    - You will get the percentage score for the final applied to any missed exam
    - No excuses, no exceptions
    - This is completely automatic
    - Let your grandmothers know their lives are safe from this class!

Course Policies: Late Work and Makeups

• Late work is automatically accepted with penalty
  

• Makeups for exams - the final is the makeup, automatic

• Makeup for quizzes, participation exercises, etc.

    - I will drop three participation scores
    - No makeups, no exceptions

Course Policies: Late Work and Makeups

• Late work is automatically accepted with penalty
• Makeups for exams - the final is the makeup, automatic!
• Makeup for quizzes, participation exercises, etc. - Three dropped, no makeups!

Course Policies: Attendance and Participation

• HCC requires attendance
• There will be almost daily short written exercises
• These will only be done in class
• I will drop the three lowest scores including missed classes
• No other makeups will be allowed

Course Policies: Academic Integrity

• Academic integrity is non-negotiable
• Do your own work

Major course expectations - revisit

I sincerely hope that all of you will succeed in this course, but HCC and I are not in the business of selling grades and degrees. You will get out of this course what you put into it, both in learning and your final grade.

Questions

Authorship and License

• Author: Tom Hanna

• Website: tomhanna.me

• License: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.