Monday and Wednesday, 12:30-1:20 pm
General Education Outcomes are the knowledge, skills, abilities, attitudes, and behaviors that students are expected to develop as a result of their overall experiences with any aspect of the college, including courses, programs, and student services, both inside and outside of the classroom. The General Education Outcomes specifically learned in this course are:
- Critical Thinking
- Responsibility
Faculty Contact Information
Generally 9am-5pm, but I have meetings and conferences that will take me away from the office. Feel free to stop by, but if it's important that I be there, you might want to email to check with me first.
Course Information
At the end of this course, students will be able to:
- Evaluate their strengths and weaknesses as college students.
- Identify strategies for managing their time, money, and stress.
- Demonstrate effective communication skills appropriate to the situation.
- Apply critical thinking and problem solving skills in a variety of contexts.
- Demonstrate proficiency in a variety of study skills.
- Develop effective and ethical strategies for locating, evaluating, and using information to inform their ideas.
- Articulate what it means to become a learner.
| TOPICS: | EXAMPLES: |
| College Foundations: Suggested Week 1 | Understanding the value of higher education |
| Campus resources | |
| Using Canvas | |
| Growth Mindset and Belonging | Skills, values, and interests inventories |
| Community building | |
| Equity, diversity, inclusion, and belonging | |
| Social interactions and relationships | |
| Campus events and involvement | |
| Self-Advocacy | Setting goals and identifying priorities |
| Time management | |
| Communication strategies | |
| Managing stress | |
| Career Exploration | Career Coach |
| Career exploration | |
| Money | |
| Preparing for Success | Critical thinking and problem solving |
| Information literacy | |
| Active reading |
Bhargava, Rohit and Jennifer Brown. Beyond Diversity. Ideapress Publishing. (2021).
There is no required book for this course. Please show up to class with something to write with and something to write on (notebook, looseleaf paper, whatever).
A variety of assignments will be given throughout the course, including shorter assignments such as surveys and assessments, and longer assignments, such as time management and career exploration essays of 2-3 pages. Points are listed with each assignment and totaled over the course of the semester. Assignments that take more time, effort, and thought are worth more points. Points are listed with each assignment and totaled over the course of the semester. Attendance is also part of your grade for this class - coming to class and turning in assignments are both essential to receiving a passing grade. Grades will be given on the following scale:
A 90-100%
B 80-89%
C 70-79%
D 60-69%
F 59% and under
Rounding of grades is at the instructor's discretion, and may be considered based on attendance, participation, and effort given in the course.
1. Student Passport to Online Learning
2. LASSI Inventory
3. Information Literacy
4. Career Exploration and Academic Mapping
5. Campus Event Participation (2)
6. Financial Literacy
7. Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging writing assignment
Liberal Arts & Sciences
Dean, Jennifer Huggins; 815-802-8484; R310; jhuggins@kcc.edu; Division Office- W102; 815-802-8700
Attendance and Participation:
Foundations for Student Success is a course where regular class attendance and active participation are of critical importance to your learning and to the experience of your classmates. Additionally, research has shown that regular attendance (in this class and all your classes) is a strong predictor of your academic success. Therefore, you are expected to be in class and on time (in your seat when class begins) each day your class meets on campus and to actively participate both online (logging in at 4-5 times per week) and in your face-to-face class meetings with course content, your peers, and your instructor. In fact, attendance is considered part of your final grade in this course. I allow two absence (excused or unexcused) over the course of our 16 in-person meetings. In the event that you need to miss a class, you can work with me in advance to find out what you will miss and how we may adjust due dates. If you miss a class without notice, it is your responsibility to check Canvas for assignment information and connect with a classmate to review what happened in class.
Academic Integrity:
Students are expected to submit honest, original work. Examples of cheating include copying another students’ work or submitting your own work that has already been used in another class. All information taken from a source must be properly cited. Submitting work from Internet sites and databases, including AI such as ChatGPT, as your own original work constitutes both cheating and plagiarism. The college regards cheating as a very serious offense and may result in failure of the class and dismissal from the college.
Artificial Intelligence:
You may NOT use generative AI in this course, including ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, or any other generative AI system. You are not being graded for grammar here, so you do not need to use AI to "make it sound better" or "fix my mistakes." Your mistakes are welcome - we're all human, and we all make them! I am interested in YOUR experiences and YOUR opinions - not those that AI makes up or that you think I want to hear. We will have a conversation the first time I suspect AI generated work. Repeated instances will earn zeroes.
Late Work:
In general, assignments are expected to be turned in by the due date and time. I tend to give grace for missing deadlines, but I do not have an unlimited supply, so don't abuse it. Exceptions may be made for valid reasons, but must be arranged and approved with me. I will enter zeroes in the gradebook for missing assignments, so you know what your grade would be if you do not turn something in. In general, once we are more than 2 weeks past a due date, I will no longer accept that work.
Technology/Canvas:
We will be using Canvas regularly. It's important to understand how to complete common tasks in Canvas. Please reference the Online Passport to Student Learning course or visit Tutoring Services if you need Canvas support. Please submit work through Canvas in the appropriate assignment submission box instead of through email. You may contact me with questions or issues either through the Canvas inbox or by emailing me at my KCC email. Please, right now, send me a Canvas message telling me what your favorite candy/candy bar is. If you are absent from class, you are still responsible for submitting your work in Canvas by the due date. Technology is not an excuse for missing assignments. Keep multiple copies of assignments; use your KCC drive, Google
Drive, or another cloud-based storage system in order to have access to your files at all times and to ensure you don't lose assignments. Submit assignments in advance to minimize last minute problems.
To ensure an enjoyable, inclusive, and engaging learning environment, you are expected to openly share your ideas and express your opinions in class; respect the opinions, values, and identities of your classmates, instructors, and guests; and honor the open environment of the class by respecting confidentiality when appropriate. You are expected to do your best work, meet assignment deadlines, engage regularly in class discussion and activities, and treat other members of the class with courtesy and respect. Please be respectful of others by letting others have a chance to speak, giving the speaker your full attention, and responding to questions and discussion thoughtfully and in a mature manner. This includes waiting to pack up your materials and belongings until you have been dismissed.
Cell Phones, Texting, and Laptops:
Respectful behavior includes giving what’s going on in class your full attention. Please put phones away during class time. If an emergency has come up where you need to answer your phone/texts, please leave the classroom to do so. Likewise, laptops should be away or closed unless we are using them for in-class work. Please do not be engaged with homework or other assignments for this or another class during our meeting time.
Communication:
Please reach out to me with any questions, issues, or concerns you may have with the course. Communication IS KEY! If at any point you are experiencing a challenge in our course, please reach out to me ASAP. I want you to success and help provide or direct you to the resources needed to do so. Proactive communication is always better than waiting until it's too late.
| Week | Topics |
| 1 (August 17, 19) | Welcome to KCC, Community, Library |
| 2 (August 24, 26) | Academic Support, Tutoring |
| 3 (August 31, September 2) | AI, Note Taking, Study Strategies |
| 4 (September 9) | Time Management |
| 5 (September 14, 16) | Mental Health, Stress Management |
| 6 (September 21, 23) | Career Exploration |
| 7 (September 28, 30) | Academic Planning |
| 8 (October 5, 7) | Prep for Exams and Finals, Financial Literacy |
College Policies, Resources and Supports
For information related to the Student Code of Conduct Policy, Withdrawal Policy, Email Policy, and Non- Attendance/Non-Participation Policy, please review the college’s Code of Campus Affairs and Regulations webpage, which can be found at catalog.kcc.edu under the Academic Regulations & Conduct Guide.
KCC offers various academic and personal resources for all students. Many services are offered virtually, as well as in person. Please visit Student Resources - Kankakee Community College to access student resources services such as:
- Clubs and organizations
- Counseling and referral services
- Office of disability services
- Student complaint policy
- Transfer services
- Tutoring services, etc.
The materials on this course are only for the use of students enrolled in this course for purposes associated with this course. Further information regarding KCC's copyright policy is available at https://kcc.libguides.com/copyright.
|Course syllabus/calendar is subject to change.