Syllabus framework

First-year Seminar LEH 250 sec#

Day/time/meeting | Meeting location

Instructor:

Email:

Office hours:

Course description (from the catalog)

Selected topics in the social sciences, life and physical sciences, humanities or applied perspectives. Nature and value of the liberal arts and sciences, critical thinking within a disciplinary area, goals and objectives of General Education, technological tools for education, campus services and supports, and links between the disciplinary area and careers. Pre-requisite: Completion of 30 credits or less.

Welcome to Freshman Seminar, LEH250!

Welcome to our classroom, I am thrilled to have you join me in this semester-long investigation into college life and success! During our semester together, we will work on three areas- skills that will help you succeed in college, academic skills that you will need as you progress through your degree, and disciplinary knowledge and skills that will help you dig deeper into important ideas and themes. My role here is to be your coach and guide as you find your place in our college community. And we are a community- with many resources you’ll want to get to know and take advantage of! I hope that this course will give you the chance to reflect on your choice to attend college and what it means to your life.

We will use technology heavily through class, so it is important that you set up your Lehman email as soon as possible and make sure you have access to Blackboard.

As your coach and guide, I am here to help you move froward, and that means that I will remind you, push you, and ask for your best. I will offer you feedback that I hope helps you develop the skills, knowledge, and values you will need here at Lehman College and beyond, as you become an educated, empowered, and engaged person. I am here to work with you and together we can have an interesting and successful semester! You are welcome to reach out to me by email anytime, and I hope you stop by office hours for assistance or a lively discussion!

What can you expect to learn and do during this course (learning outcomes)?

By the end of the course you will (at a level appropriate to completing an introductory course):

• Employ the methods of critical inquiry and analysis in at least one of the following disciplinary areas: social sciences, life and physical sciences, humanities, applied perspectives.
• Demonstrate skills in critical thinking and problem-solving including inquiry, analysis, and reading.
• Communicate using writing, oral presentation, or other diverse media (e.g., visual representation, performance or design).
• Transition to college and to campus life at Lehman College by being able to:
• Identify the mission and values of Lehman College and the existing Lehman services supporting that mission (e.g., Academic Advisement, Campus Life, Career Services, Counseling Center, Instructional Support Services, Office of Prestigious Awards, Student Disability Services).
• Identify requirements of college degree curriculum
• Use existing technological tools (e.g., Blackboard, CUNYFirst, DegreeWorks, Lehman360, Library resources).
• Examine the career exploration process and how their own skills and interests match a chosen major/career path

What do I expect from students?

Academic integrity: Your academic work serves to describe and document your thoughts and understating of material in your courses. As such, it needs to be your own work, created in the course you are taking. For this reason, you are expected to create new work, not use previous work you’ve completed, and to give proper academic credit to any sources that you use within your work (quotes or paraphrased). In addition, you are expected to write all of the work yourself and not use online sites that create or share work or to turn in work that others have completed.

Active participation: Active engagement is key to a good learning experience in this course! We expect all members of our community to come to class prepared to work with the materials and to be both a good listener and prepared speaker and writer. We all value substantiative responses and supportive and honest comments. Constructive feedback is part of the learning experience, and our community looks for you to both give and reflect on feedback throughout the course.

Respect and privacy: In this course, we may discuss subjects that people have strong opinions about or feelings. People may want to share information with the group. What we discuss in class should remain in class, and I ask that you not share any individual’s information without their clear and explicit permission. This includes assignments they share, ideas, or stories.

Careful reading: We will read as part of our semester work, and I take our reading seriously! Please be sure to schedule time into your week to cover our readings and to prepare for our classes- being prepared makes it much more interesting when we have class discussion. My goal with reading is to help you7 become a stronger critical and close reader, who is able to move beyond consuming reading, to deeply understanding and even questioning what you read.

Materials

• Textbook (please specify cost, ISBN# etc)
• Required materials (please specify cost, ISBN# etc)

Course grading

Your assignments will be weighted as follows, based on the area of the material.

Course area (broad)	% of course grade
College success skills	25%
Midterm project	5%
Academic & Disciplinary skills	60%
Final reflection or portfolio project	10%

Final grading

93-100%: A90-92.9% A- 87-89.9% B+ 83-86.9% B 80-82.9% B- 77-79.9% C+

73-76.9% C70-72.9% C-67-69.9% D+60-66.9% D59.9% of below: F

Course organization and design

This course is designed with 3 areas of focus. They are college success skills, academic skills, and disciplinary knowledge and skills. You will complete college success skills with a mix of direct instruction and online modules. I will work with you to build your academic skills such as close reading and analysis, and disciplinary skills related to the readings we cover.

In designing the common structure of the course, a unifying concept is the “Characteristics of a Lehman Graduate.” More information about this is available on the college website.

First-year success community

This advisory group meets several times during the semester to discuss the transition to college and managing the challenges inherent in working towards a college degree. Members of the first year team will work with you and your class throughout the semester.

Course calendar

Week	Dates	Weekly information
Week 1	8/25/22 (Thursday) to 9/3/22 (Saturday) No classes 9/2- 9/5 (Friday through Monday)
Week 2	9/5/22 (Monday) to 9/10/22 (Saturday) No classes 9/5 (Monday)
Week 3	9/12/22 (Monday) to 9/17/22 (Saturday)
Week 4	9/19/22 (Monday) to 9/24/22 (Saturday)
Week 5	9/26/22 (Monday) to 10/1/22 (Saturday) No classes 9/26 and 9/27 (Monday and Tuesday)
Week 6	10/3/22 (Monday) to 10/8/22 (Saturday) No classes 10/4 and 10/5 (Tuesday/Wednesday)
Week 7	10/10/22 (Monday) to 10/15/22 (Saturday) No class 10/10 (Monday)
Week 8	10/17/22 (Monday) to 10/22/22 (Saturday)
Week 9	10/24/22 (Monday) to 10/29/22 (Saturday)
Week 10	10/31/22 (Monday) to 11/5/22 (Saturday)
Week 11	11/7/22 (Monday) to 11/12/22 (Saturday)
Week 12	11/14/22 (Monday) to 11/19/22 (Saturday)
Week 13	11/21/22 (Monday) to 11/26/22 (Saturday) No classes 10/24 through 10/26 (Thursday through Saturday)
Week 14	11/28/22 (Monday) to 12/3/22 (Saturday)
Week 15	12/5/22 (Monday) to 12/9/22 (Saturday)
Week 16	12/11/22 (Monday) to 12/13/22 (Wednesday) Last day of instruction 12/13/22 (Wednesday)
Final exams	12/15/22 (Thursday) to 12/21/22 (Wednesday)

https://lehman.edu/registrar/documents/GRADAcademicCalendarSpring2022.pdf

Technology use

Technology is a significant tool in this course. You are expected to have access to the Internet and to technology including Blackboard and Microsoft Office. We will be using a Blackboard site for much of the class activities. It can be accessed through the Lehman website at www.lehman.cuny.edu. We will
go over how to access the site and its topography during the first week of class. If you have any questions about your Lehman email address or your password, or if you have any problems accessing the site please call the computer helpdesk at 718-960-1111

Basic Needs

Lehman College defines basic needs as food security, stable housing, financial sustainability, transportation, healthcare, and mental health and wellness. As a college student, you need these in order to learn and thrive. If you or any student at Lehman has concerns in any of these areas, we urge you to contact the Basic Needs Center at Lehman College https://www.lehman.edu/student-affairs/basic-needs-center/.

Accommodating Disabilities

Lehman College is committed to providing access to all programs and curricula to all students. Students with disabilities who may need classroom accommodations are encouraged to register with the Office of Student Disability Services. For more information, please contact the Office of Student Disability Services, Shuster Hall, Room 238, phone number, 718-960-8441.

The Academic Center for Excellence (ACE) and the Science Learning Center (SLC) The Academic Center for Excellence (ACE) and the Science Learning Center (SLC) are two of the tutoring centers on campus. The ACE provides appointment based and drop-in tutoring in the humanities, social sciences, and writing, as well as general writing and academic skills workshops. The SLC provides drop-in tutoring for natural and computer science courses. To obtain more information about the ACE and the SLC, please visit their website at http://www.lehman.edu/issp, or please call the ACE at 718-960-8175, and the SLC at 718-960-7707.

Academic Integrity and Plagiarism Policy

Students are expected to create their own work at the time assigned. In addition, students are expected to give credit for any work that they use in creation or completing of assignments. The full statement may be found in the student handbook. For more information refer to http://www.lehman.cuny.edu/student-affairs/documents/student-handbook-02.pdf

Class attendance

Absence may make the heart grow fonder, but it makes learning disjointed and difficult. You are expected to attend classes regularly, and instructors are required to record attendance for grading and counseling purposes. Individual instructors, as well as departments or degree programs, may establish specific attendance requirements. Instructors have the right to weigh attendance and class participation in determining grades. It is the student’s responsibility to ascertain the effect attendance may have on the
grade in a course. Students receiving financial aid must be certified as attending classes regularly for continuing eligibility.