Hi There!

You are receiving this letter because my records indicate you have signed up for my online Precalculus course at GRCC. Welcome! Please read all of the following information carefully and contact me, Julie Hess, at if you have any questions or concerns.

On the following pages you will find a list of four tasks that you MUST do before the semester starts to get ready for the course. If you have any trouble completing these tasks, please ask for help right away.

A few other important pieces of information about the course:

- This course is conducted online. However, four times during the semester you will need to come to GRCC to take tests and the final exam (or if you signed up through MCCVLC you can take your tests at your home college, but you will need to contact them to make arrangements). GRCC's testing center has weekday hours, evening hours, and Saturday morning hours, so you can choose a time that works best for you during each test week. A tentative schedule listing test dates is posted in Blackboard (our course site).

- THIS IS NOT AN INDEPENDENT STUDY COURSE. You will have a schedule and weekly activities you must participate in and midweek and weekly deadlines that you must meet. You will be expected to do basically the same things as my on campus students. Since it is generally expected that an on campus Precalculus student would spend 5 hours in class and another 5 – 10 hours per week outside of class studying and doing homework, you should expect to invest 10- 15 hours per week as well. Taking a class online will save you having to drive to campus, but it won’t take you any less time to learn the material than it would if you took the class on campus.

- Be sure to have a back-up plan in case you have problems with your computer. Think of your computer in this class like you think of your car for an on campus class. If it breaks down you still need to find a way to get to class. (There are open computer labs on campus you can use when needed.)

I look forward to working with you online. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to email me. See you online!

Julie Hess - Mathematics Professor – GRCC

(616)234-3521

Here is what you should do to get ready for the course.

1) Go to the website https://bbfall.grcc.edu/bbcswebdav/users/jhess/Jhess/pre-calculus.htm to get information about the class. Read through all the documents carefully and let me know if you have any questions. (There is a copy of this letter there. You don’t need to reread it.) At the website you will find your syllabus, your schedule for the semester, and other details about the course such as software needs.

1) Much of the work you will do in this class will be conducted online in Blackboard. IMPORTANT: If you don’t know how to log into Blackboard, you can get directions at my website. https://bbfall.grcc.edu/bbcswebdav/users/jhess/Jhess/pre-calculus.htm. You must log into this site before the semester begins, so we can correct any problems before the semester begins.

2) I will be communicating with you via Blackboard and e-mail. The email address listed for you in Blackboard is your GRCC e-mail address. Be sure to check your GRCC email regularly starting a week or so before school begins since I will be sending you information about what to do the first week of class.

If you use another e-mail account more frequently I highly suggest that you log into your GRCC e-mail account and set it to forward your mail to your other account so you don’t miss any important messages.

Even if you have previously communicated with me via your other e-mail account, I cannot change your address in Blackboard or get your mail forwarded to the other account. All class e-mails that I send out will go to your GRCC account, unless you set it to forward your mail. You can find information about how to use your GRCC e-mail account at my website.

Also, when e-mailing me, please send your messages from your GRCC account or through Blackboard. Messages sent from yahoo accounts, hotmail accounts, and some others tend to get blocked by our spam filter.

3) Once you have logged into Blackboard, take the Intermediate Algebra Worksheet as directed on the Announcements page. You will see information about this when you first log in. This worksheet will help you decide if you have the necessary pre-requisite knowledge to be successful in Precalculus. You will get homework points for completing it, but your actual score will not count toward your grade, so there is nothing to be worried about. It is just to help you find out if you are prepared for this course. If you can not get at least an 80% within three tries you should not attempt to take this class online. You must have a strong algebra background to be successful in this format.

Taking this pretest before the semester starts will also be to your advantage since you will receive a full refund of your tuition if you drop the class before the semester begins.

Be sure to carefully consider if Precalculus is the right level course for you and if taking math online is a good idea for your personality. You must be very self-motivated, disciplined, and good at making and keeping a work schedule for yourself. If you have any doubts or concern don’t hesitate to e-mail.

4) You will be using an online “textbook" called Thinkwell. A registration code can be purchased at the GRCC bookstore in person, or online through GRCC by going to http://www.grcc.edu/ . The name of the textbook is "Thinkwell's Precalculus”. It should be available soon, if it is not there already, but you might want to call (616) 234-3880 before making the trip into the bookstore. If you have to purchase your book through the bookstore for financial aid reasons, I highly recommend you go to the bookstore right away. They sometimes run out of copies because students in the on campus sections decide to purchase them as an extra resource.
If you are paying by credit card, you can also purchase it online directly through the Thinkwell website and this option is sometimes cheaper. Go to www.thinkwell.com and click the REGISTER link on the top right side of the screen.

NOTE: The online textbook cannot be sold back at the end of the semester since you are actually buying access to the site. So please consider this when deciding whether or not to take this class. Also, be sure that you are in the right course BEFORE opening the package from the bookstore or purchasing a registration code from Thinkwell’s website. Once you open the package purchased from the bookstore it can’t be returned or once you’ve paid a registration code at Thinkwell’s website there are no refunds. I suggest you wait until you have logged into Blackboard and taken the review worksheet before opening or purchasing the online “text”.

If you have high-speed internet viewing the videos online should work well, but if you are using a slow internet connection you may want to buy also purchase the CDs (available at the Thinkwell website) so you can view the videos offline.

IMPORTANT: DO NOT attempt to purchase the “text” from another site. Older versions of the book with CDs are out there, but they will not have a current registration code and you’ll end up having to repurchase one from Thinkwell.

If you have any trouble with Blackboard you can get help by calling the GRCC’s Student Help Desk at (616)234-3123 or if you have any problems with Thinkwell you can get help by calling their toll-free number (888) 416-8880.