UNIV 100  - The Student in the University
Section 0905        Fall 2001
Syllabus

Office Hours

Course Meeting Dates

Course Web Site

A web site will be used to post course materials and other useful resources.  The web area will be posted on our College of Life Sciences server at the following address:

I also encourage you to navigate the college site (www.life.umd.edu) and the campus website (www.umd.edu) to see what useful resources are there.

Overview of the Course
   UNIV 100  is a one credit, ten week course designed to accomplish several general goals:
 

   to make sure freshman become sophomores
   to orient students to the wealth of academic, cultural and social resources and activities at the
        University of Maryland.
   to help students clarify why they are in college and to set realistic goals for your college experience
   to help produce self-sufficient, independent college students through discussions of academic
        planning and proficiency, career decision making and communication skills.
   to help students come to better know the faculty and staff of the College of Life Sciences, and sources
        of College support for your academic and career goals.
   to help familiarize students with campus resources and tools for use in course work,
        research and academic planning.

At each weekly meeting, we will discuss the best and worst events of your week, talk about problem solving, give hints for success, have visitors or important discussion topics, and together build a supportive environment to share the experiences of your transition to college life.  I have volunteered to teach this course as an outgrowth of my genuine enjoyment of working with students.  I am prepared to offer assistance and advice during this course and throughout your career at Maryland - just ask!

Course Requirements and Grading

    Journal - completion of journal entries, as described below

Written Assignments - Completion of brief written assignments which will be given throughout the semester.

    Grading - course grades will be based on attendance and adequate completion of written journal and other written assignments.   Because attendance and participation is critical, each unexcused absence will result in a reduction of your course grade by 1/2 a letter grade (i.e. if you are absent twice, your grade drops to a B based on attendance).  I will communicate with you individually if your attendance or work on assignments is negatively affecting your grade.

Journal

Through the semester, I hope to meet and talk with each of you individually during each of the first ten weeks of the journey.  Keeping an active journal is another means by which I can keep track of what your experiences, feelings, problems and needs are, and gives me a space to respond to you on an individual basis.   The thoughts and ideas you share will be kept confidential and your honesty is important, as it helps me to assess best your progress and your needs.  Collectively, students journals help to give me a sense of the pulse of what the members of our group our experiencing, which will help in part to steer the direction we take the course.

Each student must keep a personal journal as part of the course.  Journal writing works best when you can write freely in your journal at any time -- so I encourage you to carry it with you, and write freely -- to capture your thoughts and struggles when they happen.  I will read your journals, make comments and suggestions, etc.  You will also have specific assignments which you must enter in your journal pages.

The journal must be a bound notebook (an example will be shown in class), which you should bring to class with you each week.  You should also keep a separate folder or three ring binder, as many resources and handouts will be distributed throughout the semester.

Journals will be collected in class each Tuesday.  I will review your journals during the course of the week, and they will be available for pickup from Karen Speorl in the Biology Department Office (BPS Bldg, Room 1206) on the following Friday..

Weekly Journal Assigments


Specific writing topics as journal entries will be assigned throughout the course.  However, EACH WEEK you should write a weekly summary which discusses the following:

    problems encountered during the week
    good things which occurred during the week
    SPECIFIC comments about how things are progressing in EACH of your courses.

As announced in class, in certain weeks, you will also need to enter a proposed weekly schedule, and review the actual schedule that you kept to during the previous week.  A format for charting this information will be distributed in class, and posted at our course web site.

Copyright, August 2001  © Dr. Robert L. Infantino
Comments and questions about this page can be directed to  infantino@umail.umd.edu
Updated August 29, 2001