NU 212 Course Policies Page 8
College of Nursing & Health Sciences, Department of Nursing
UNIVERSIT Y OF MASSACHUSETTS BOSTON
NU 212 Health Promotion & Teaching
Spring 2007
Victoria K. Palmer–Erbs, PhD, APRN, BC
NU 212 Course Policies
Considering The Many Issues Involved In Time and Energy Management Each Semester
This is a course that requires a significant amount of time and energy to do the work. Some weeks, you will find that you are probably working a minimum of one–two hours/day on some aspect of the course, in order to keep up. Some days you may be working on more than one aspect of the course at the same time:
• the identification of your interests and passions about working in the health professions, weekly personal self-assessments emphasis each week, writing your own definition of “Health” and your “Philosophy of Health”; or
• a review of required readings and writing activities using of critical thinking examples free writing assignments, a multiphase health education poster assignment, three written essay assignments and a Final Analytic paper; or
• in applications of health promotion & disease prevention course materials to real-life situations, free writing assignments and a multiphase health education poster project, and other assignments.
This is a 3-credit university course, which includes three in–class hours of required attendance and nine or more hours out–of–class preparation/each week. This is considered the minimum amount of time at the university for this type of General Education course. Many of you are experienced learners, but all of you will all need to rearrange your usual schedules to accommodate this one course. Be sure to add more time for adequate preparation as needed in any of your other courses. For example, previous course participants have reported that they were not be able to do all of the work due for NU 212 on a Monday night, before a class that meets on a Tuesday.
The work is not difficult, you have all the skills you need to get started on the course. You will notice that completing the reading and writing portions of course assignments, the independent study visits to websites, and the exercises to build academic capabilities can be very time consuming. Everyone works at their own pace. There are many course–related, modules and skill–building activities to complete. Some course related assignments and activities are designed to be done in pairs or small groups. Some of these activities are more interesting than others. In some instances, you may already be familiar with some of the activities within the course, and all will find new challenges in "trying new things", working with new classmates, and meeting the course objectives.
Many weeks, you will need to make yourself available to your small group members or plan to come to the campus more than the one night scheduled for class, in order to complete all of the work. For example, a course with a Monday schedule– means 13 scheduled Monday night classes, and out–of–class time reading independently, preparing for class, telephoning/e-mailing your classmates, exploring the library, doing homework assignments, finding the computing center, or arranging the details for your presentation. The class meets only once per week and you will have fewer natural opportunities to see your fellow group members and me. Therefore, it is important for you to maintain momentum with course activities on the other days when we are not together in class.
So, as the need arises, be sure develop the necessary course connections to be able to call a fellow class member or me at the office, to leave a voice message (617 287-7512), if I may be of further assistance to you during the time you are enrolled in the course. Be sure to leave a current number and some best times to return your call. I will return your call as soon as possible. E-mail is also another efficient and effective way to communicate with faculty and other NU 212 course members. Be sure to leave some details and a way to connect up with you, if an extended telephone conversation would be more helpful than an e-mail note.
Early in the semester is the best time to review your course credit load, family needs, and work demands. This is a good time to assess how much time you must free up for school–related responsibilities this semester. Let me know how I can be a resource to you, as you make your plans.
NU 212 Course Policies:
1. Obtaining A UMass Boston E-mail Address:
Achieving a level of comfort and ease with the use of computer technology skills is one of the expectations for the undergraduate General Education experience at UMass Boston. Course participants who do not have ready access to home computers should avail themselves of the many computer labs at UMass in Healey Library, at work, if that’s allowed, or at the local public library. Some students may decide to use the Healey Library Laptop Loan Program. (Please see the Librarian at the Healey Library Reserve Reading Desk for more details about the Laptop Loan Program.)
University E-mail accounts: Course participants will need a working UMass e-mail address prior to signing into course activities. You may have received an notice that UMass Boston has issued you a free, lifetime UMass Boston e-mail address as a part of your enrollment here at UMass. The Division of Enrollment Services in conjunction with UMass Boston Computing Services supplies all UMass Boston students with an official UMass e-mail address. The Registrar's office will mail you information about your new e-mail account and how to activate it. If you have any questions about your e-mail account, please stop by to see the UMass Boston Registrar or plan to contact the registrar directly by e-mail at . When you obtain an official UMass e-mail address, be sure to write it down and to remember it, as well as your UMass password and login name.
You must use an official UMass Boston e-mail address for all NU 212 course related correspondence. Failure to maintain a working UMass Boston e-mail address may result in your inability to receive timely notification about important NU 212 course information from course faculty; and you may also miss other essential College communications from other faculty members, the Associate Dean’s office, etc.
Many of you are thinking that you already have another favorite e-mail provider (e.g., hotmail.com or excite.com, etc.) and that you do not want to change to another provider. The University staff will show you how to set your new UMass e-mail address to automatically forward e-mail from other accounts to whichever account you designate, whenever you log in to e-mail. As you might imagine, UMass Boston and the College of Nursing and Health Sciences are very big places with many students, faculty, and staff. In a modern world, UMass and the College as organizations must be able to reach all students instantly through e-mail whenever the need arises. Please work actively to ensure that the e-mail accounts are set up properly, that you plan to read e-mail notices at least twice a week, and that you respond to requests for information in a timely fashion.
Remember, that you do not have to order expensive at home, cable modem computer Internet services in order to read e-mail from UMass at home. The university will also show you how to add the necessary ppp software for use with local dial-up modem service from your house—as long as you have local calling telephone services to Boston as a part of your phone service each month.
Changing Your Official E-Mail Address at the College:
Ms. ElizaBeth Garcia, Information Management Coordinator, College of Nursing & Health Sciences strongly encourages faculty and students to work together to fill out a form at the CNHS Reception Desk to revise student email addresses during the academic year. This keeps our data base accurate and helps strengthen communication to all members within the College. Students can also access the form online, complete it and email it directly to Ms. Garcia:
http://mirror.www.umb.edu/academics/cnhs/current/blitzes/CNHSEmailSolution.html
2. Distinguishing Active Class Participation From Talking & Visiting With Classmates During Class Time:
Learning to speaking effectively and preparing to participate each week for class are a key parts of any successful General Education Intermediate Seminar experience. Oral participation in classroom discussions, small group activities, and service learning settings is an important capability for future health educators to practice among peers and service recipients. NU 212 is designed to facilitate opportunities for the communication of your ideas and information clearly in the spoken word.
There will be many occasions for class members to talk and share ideas and it will be fun [and sometimes noisy!]. With this in mind, it is an expectation of this course that you will be courteous to everyone at all times, and that you will not speak out of turn, or speak in the background to a friend at the same time that the faculty member is speaking. Such same-time conversations are distracting and disruptive to the remaining class members who are actively engaged in the work of the course for that day.
If it is noted that anyone is consistently unable to abide by these classroom participation polices, you and the faculty member will discuss this and the conversation may result in your being asked to leave the classroom for that day or to withdraw entirely from the course that semester and to reenroll at another time with another instructor.
3. University of Massachusetts Boston Policy on Academic Dishonesty and Student Misconduct:
Professionals with health teaching responsibilities to learners and/or those working with patients in exercise physiology and rehabilitation programs, or nurses working in health care delivery settings will learn that all professionals base their work upon sound legal, ethical, and moral principles. All members of the teaching and health professions have codes of ethics or standards of behavior for their members. All NU 212 course participants must familiarize themselves with the Academic Dishonesty and Student Misconduct policy in the University catalog and with the most recent version of the College of Nursing and Health Sciences’ Student Handbook. Examples of academic dishonesty include, but are not limited to cheating on exams, submitting written material, the work of others as your own, or seeking unauthorized use of computer files of a student or faculty member. Misconduct includes, but is not limited to furnishing false, misleading, or inaccurate information, disruptive conduct, or theft or damage to university property.
Cheating: It is expected that all students at the College of Nursing and Health Sciences neither cheat, nor knowingly allow cheating to occur in the course during the semester. Any course participant found to be cheating or plagiarizing written work, or any student who authorizes someone else do his or her required written assignments or examinations will be given a grade of zero for that assignment(s) or examination. If there are any questions about this, the course participant will be asked to meet with the faculty member immediately, the situation will be reviewed, and if necessary, the student will be issued zero for that assignment or examination, and be given a warning with recommendations as to how to proceed in the course.
Plagiarism of any kind will not be tolerated (e.g., theft of another author’s ideas or website’s materials without proper citation in writing course papers, developing presentations and projects). Students should be aware that, at the discretion of the instructor, assignments may be submitted to plagiarism detection software programs for the purpose of detecting possible plagiarism. Students in this course must be prepared to submit an electronic version of any written assignment upon request of the instructor.
Any course participant who authorizes someone else to do his or her required written assignments and projects will be given a grade of zero for those assignment(s) or project(s). If there are any questions about this, the course participant will be asked to meet with course faculty immediately, the situation will be reviewed, and if necessary, the student will be issued a warning with recommendations as to how to proceed in the course. Repeated instances of plagiarism (e.g., theft of another’s ideas without proper citation) and continued improper citation of another’s materials in written work may lead to a failing grade in this course in accordance with University Policy.
4. NU 212 Class Attendance: Attendance and Participation In Class Each Week Is Required
Purpose of the Course Participation and Class Attendance Policy is to provide students with opportunities to build habits of the mind and strengthen academic/professional skills by routinely preparing for class, participating in course related activities, and contributing effectively to the larger learning environment. Students will:
1) learning new information, thinking–out–of–the–box, and sharing ideas;
2) reflecting on course related materials and activities within the context of your beginning professional life and your individualized learning needs;
3) developing, testing, defending, and revising your ideas; and
4) sharpening your group problem-solving skills while continuing to learn and work effectively in collaborative efforts with others.
It is a policy of the College of Nursing and Health Science that all enrolled students must be prepared to participate in class and that you arrive for every class ready to do this. This class meets for one three hour block of time per week. Given the highly interactive nature of the class and the collaborative work that we must do together, regular attendance and being prepared for class discussions is definitely on your MUST DO list. Class attendance will be taken each week. It is a matter of academic honesty that you do not sign another person into the course who is not present to sign themselves in for class that day.