COURSE INFORMATION
Instructor Name
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Elizabeth Sanderson
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Building/Office Number
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Office Hours
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T – F 7:45 – 8:00 AM
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Virtual Hours
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Wednesdays 3:45 PM
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Office Telephone
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(409) 882-3926
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Email Address
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Elizabeth.Sanderson@lsco.edu
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Course Description
ENGL 1301 3-3-0
Composition I (23.1301)
Principles and intensive study and practice in techniques of written, expository, and persuasive composition; expository and persuasive texts; and critical thinking. Prerequisite: Passing English placement test(s). AC.
Required Textbook & Materials
Achieve for Successful College Writing – Access. 8th edition. Kathleen McWhorter. Macmillan, 2021. Electronic Resource.
Upon registration for classes, LSCO students are automatically charged $14 per semester credit hour for access to all required textbooks, lab manuals, lab codes, and electronic books on the first day of class through the Gator Book Pack. Information about the LSCO Gator Book Pack as well as responses to common FAQs can be found on LSCO's webpage. ALL STUDENTS WILL HAVE UNTIL THE SECOND DAY OF THE SEMESTER TO OPT-OUT OF THE GATOR BOOK PACK.
Every student MUST have access to the required textbooks by the week of class. The student will be responsible for all assignments given. Failure to have a text may result in being dropped from the class. Failure to follow instructions (written or oral) will result in penalties.
Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs)
Upon successful completion of this course, students will acquire the following course learning outcomes:
Core Objectives
Course Level Learning Outcomes (ACGM or WECM) |
Core Objective |
Associated Course Activities/Assignments/Projects |
Demonstrate knowledge of individual and collaborative writing processes |
Communication, teamwork |
Students will learn and use the process approach to writing (including prewriting, drafting, revision, and preparation of the final document) to prepare a minimum of five essays in a variety of rhetorical and analytical styles and addressing a range of potential audiences and rhetorical dynamics; students will participate in collaborative activities involving invention, drafting, peer review, and presentation. Assessment measures will include the causal analysis project (a collaborative planning, composition, and teaching presentation; a persuasion essay peer review; and a critical thinking project (invention and planning for persuasion project). |
Develop ideas with appropriate support and attribution. |
Communication, critical thinking |
Student essays will review samples of well-developed and poorly developed essays and discern the distinctions; students will develop appropriately focused topics with authoritative, rich content organized effectively and supporting a college-level thesis; students will explore research options, selecting relevant and credible information, unambiguously distinguish source material from original content, and document sources properly using an approved documentation style. Assessment measures will include selected individual, collaborative, and reflective exercises from the text; the persuasion essay; and a library research project. |
Write in a style appropriate to audience and purpose |
Communication: critical thinking |
Students will read sample essays from a wide variety of different publications and will discern target audiences and authors’ purposes; required essay assignments will address a variety of writing situations and purposes, from personal to informative to persuasive, at varying levels of formality and technicality and to varying audiences. Assessment measures will include the persuasion paper the one causal analysis presentation project. |
Read, reflect, and respond critically to a variety of texts. |
Communication, critical thinking |
Students will read sample essays from a wide variety of different publications and will discern target audiences and authors’ purposes; required essay assignments will address a variety of writing situations and purposes, from personal to informative to persuasive, at varying levels of formality and technicality and to varying audiences. Assessment measures will include the final essay exam; and reflective exercises from the course text. |
Use Edited American English in academic essays. |
Communication |
Students will complete an independent learning plan; students will correct nonstandard constructions in at least four essays; students will track deviations from standard Edited American English across a range of writing assignments. Assessment measures include an objective pre- and post-instructional achievement test; corrected essays; and student error logs. |
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Course Topical Outline
Unit One
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Grammar and punctuation, convention, usage, and writing mechanics
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Unit Two
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The writing process (invention, development, organization, audience, analysis, tone, drafting, revising, presentation)
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Unit Three
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Personal Narrative (essay required)
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Unit Four
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Library research skills and documentation conventions (project required)
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Unit Five
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Process Analysis (essay required)
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Unit Six
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Comparison and Contrast (essay required)
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Unit Seven
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Argument/Persuasion (essay required)
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Major Assignments Schedule
English 1301 Freshman Composition 1 Fall 2023 Major Assignment Schedule (subject to change)
Week 1 First week of class. Introductions. Discuss syllabus, Achieve Online Platform,
8/7 – 13 classroom rules, expectations, grading criteria. Review of Google Classroom and introduction to Blackboard.
Week 2 Grammar and Punctuation review and practice (Achieve online platform).
8/14 – 20 Edited American English proficiency pretest/practice.
Week 3 Continued discussion over grammar and punctuation. Achieve online platform
8/21 – 27 test. Discuss the writing process and its conventions. Begin discussion over the Personal Narrative Essay and voice. Review thesis statements.
Week 4 Continued discussion over the writing process and its relationship to the Personal
8/28 – 9/3 Narrative Essay. Discuss topic sentences and supporting the thesis statement.
Week 5 Essay 1, Personal Narrative, is due. Begin discussion over the library project;
9/4 – 9/10 discuss accessing LSCO’s Library database as well as VISD’s database. Watch plagiarism video and discuss.
Week 6 Assign Essay 2, Process Analysis, and discuss. Continue discussion over the
09/11 – 17 library project, which will culminate in an annotated bibliography for the Process Analysis Essay (assign).
Week 7 Continued work on Essay Number 2, Process Analysis (research and gathering
9/18 – 24 sources) and library project.
Week 8 Library Projects Due. Continued work on Essay Number 2. Peer review of
9/25 – 10/1 Essay Number 2.
Week 9 Essay Number 2, Process Analysis, is due. Assign Essay Number 3,
10/2 – 8 Comparison and Contrast. Begin discussion of Comparison and Contrast
Essays and assign readings (Achieve Online Platform).
Week 10 Continued work on Essay Number 3. Discuss and work on brainstorming and
10/9 -- 15 outlines for the essay and finding topic sources through the database.
Week 11 Continued work on Essay Number 3, Comparison and Contrast. Peer review of
10/16 – 22 Comparison and Contrast Essay.
Week 12 Essay Number 3, Comparison and Contrast, is due.Essay 4,
10/23 – 29 Argument/Persuasive, is assigned. Begin discussion of Argument/Persuasive Essays and assign readings (Achieve Online Platform).
Week 13 Continued work on Essay Number 4.Discuss and work on brainstorming and
11/30 -- 5 outlines for the essay and finding topic sources through the database.
Week 14 Continued work on Argument/Persuasive Essays. Peer review over
11/6 – 12 Argument/Persuasive Essays.
Week 15 In-class presentations over Argument/Persuasive essays.
11/13 – 19 Essay Number 4, Argument/Persuasive, is due at the end of the week.
Week 16 Thanksgiving break.
11/20 -- 26
Week 17 Review for final exam. Practice essay writings for college applications.
11/27 – 12/3
Final Exam Date – 12/4/2023. The final exam will be given during the regularly-scheduled class period.
Final Exam Date
December 4, 2023 - 1:15 PM
COURSE POLICIES
Academic Honesty
Faculty who suspect violation of academic honesty, cheating, plagiarism, collusion, or abuse of resource materials may assign an academic penalty. Students must be notified of their right to appeal before the academic penalty is imposed.
Students subject to penalty due to academic honesty have the right to appeal the decision. Refer to the current LSCO Catalog for details on the appeal process.
Academic Honesty:
Faculty who suspect violation of academic honesty, cheating, plagiarism, collusion, or abuse of resource materials may assign an academic penalty. Students must be notified of their right to appeal before the academic penalty is imposed.
Students subject to penalty due to academic honesty have the right to appeal the decision. Refer to the current LSCO Catalog for details on the appeal process.
Electronic Communication
LSCO students are required to use either their LSCO Blackboard account or their LSCO email account (Office 365 / Microsoft Outlook) for all electronic communication. In order to ensure the privacy and identity of the student communicating via electronic methods, LSCO faculty will direct students to use their LSCO email accounts rather than personal accounts. If a student has trouble accessing their LSCO email account, they should contact the LSCO Help Desk at (409) 882-3033 or helpdesk@lsco.edu.
Electronic Communication:
VHS/LSCO dual credit students are required to use their VHS email system for all electronic communication to instructor.Please do not use Blackboard to send instructor emails. Student may use their LSCO email account if corresponding with other parties on the LSCO Campus. If a student has trouble accessing their LSCO email account, they should contact the LSCO Help Desk at (409) 882-3033 or
helpdesk@lsco.edu.
Attendance Requirements
Federal regulations require students who receive financial aid to have begun "attending" and participate substantially in each course for which they are enrolled on or before the official census reporting date outlined on the LSCO Academic Calendar. Students documented as "not attending" a course upon the census date are assumed (for financial aid purposes) to have not begun attendance for that course, negatively affecting their financial aid eligibility and disbursement.
Attendance in an ONLINE course is verified by substantial participation in the course on or before the census date published in the LSCO Academic Calendar. Substantial participation in this online course is defined as logging in and completing/participating in at least one requirement of the course. Note: Simply logging in to your online course does not constitute attendance.
Hybrid classes are a mix of face-to-face and online environments. Students will be expected to attend a certain number of classes as required by the instructor. (Include the policy on absences and tardiness.) In addition to classroom attendance, your weekly active participation in the online component (Blackboard and/or homework software) will be considered and expected.
COURSE POLICIES
Attendance Requirements:
Attendance is mandatory and attendance records of every class will be kept by the instructor. Student should confer verbally or by email with the instructor on or before the day of absence. Also, it is the student’s responsibility to refer to Google Classroom to retrieve any makeup work and to see what the class covered during the missed class period.
Instructor will comply with the policies set by Vidor High School as they apply to tardiness.
Course Procedure:
Unless otherwise indicated, class will meet Monday through Friday at the specified time and in the location specified in the course schedule and in this syllabus. Class time will be used for lecture, drill, research, testing, and writing; in addition, a number of reading and writing assignments will be completed out of class.
Writing practice will be organized around rhetorical strategies modeled on student essays offered in the textbook and based on student responses to professionally written offerings included in the textbook; these readings will serve where applicable as models of structure and function for student writing assignments and, where applicable, as topics for student writing. Writing will be treated as a process and a product; generally, assignments will demand progressively more complex responses as the term progresses, beginning with narration or description and concluding with persuasion of a skeptical, learned audience.
Electronic Communication:
VHS/LSCO dual credit students are required to use their VHS email system for all electronic communication to instructor.Please do not use Blackboard to send instructor emails. Student may use their LSCO email account if corresponding with other parties on the LSCO Campus. If a student has trouble accessing their LSCO email account, they should contact the LSCO Help Desk at (409) 882-3033 or
helpdesk@lsco.edu.
Expected Time Requirement for this Course:
For every hour in class (or unit of credit), students should expect to spend at least two to three hours per week studying and completing assignments.For a 3-credit-hour class, students should prepare to allocate approximately six to nine hours per week outside of class in a 16-week session OR approximately twelve to eighteen hours in an 8-week session. All Online/Hybrid students should expect to spend at least as much time in this course as you would in the traditional, face-to-face class.
Grading and Evaluation Method:
Our course will use the following grading scale:
A: 90-100%
B: 80-89.9
C: 70-79.9
D: 60-69.9
F: below 60
The student's grade will be determined by compiling scores on in-class assignments, out-of-class assignments (including essays), a grammar test, a library assignment, and a final exam.
80 percent of grade:
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Four essays
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One grammar test
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Library assignment
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Comprehensive final exam
20 percent of grade:
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Peer review assignments
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Online Achieve activities
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Quizzes (as needed)
Incomplete Grade:
LSC-O instructors have the option to issue a grade of “I” (which signifies that the coursework is incomplete) when any requirement of the course, including the final examination, is not completed. In order to qualify a student must
demonstrate that some remarkable or emergent circumstance is directly responsible for the failure to complete the required work. A student who simply fails to turn in a paper or come to the final should not expect to automatically receive an “I” grade. Typically, 75% or more of the coursework should be completed for the student to qualify for receipt of an “I” grade. Any student receiving an incomplete grade is solely responsible for making any necessary arrangements to complete the deficiencies. Incomplete work
must be finished during the next long semester; if not, the Admissions and Records Office must change an “I” grade to the grade of “F.” The course must then be repeated, if credit is desired. An “I” grade also automatically becomes an “F” if the student registers for the course before removing the deficiencies and receiving a grade change.
Instructor Response Time:
The instructor will respond to emails within 24 hours, excluding weekends and holidays. On weekends and holidays, the instructor will respond to emails from students within 24 hours of the first business day following the weekend or holiday.
Participation Requirements:
Weekly participation and engagement in the courses are critical for student success. Assignments should be completed by the due date. Students should also refer to the instructor’s attendance policy for additional information. (See
LSCO Student Handbook, Class Attendance.)
Review of Test Grades:
Students wishing to review or contest a grade for a major assignment should contact the instructor within one calendar week of receiving the grade.
Student’s Responsibility:
This syllabus contains information, policies, and procedures for a specific course. By enrolling, the student agrees to read, understand, and abide by the rules, policies, regulations, and ethical standards of Lamar State College Orange as those contained in the current LSCO Catalog and schedule of classes.
Syllabus Content:
The instructor reserves the right to make changes to this syllabus if deemed necessary. All changes will be provided to the students orally or in writing before the implementation of the change.
Textbook and Required Materials Access:
Every student MUST have access to the required textbooks by the second week of class. The student will be responsible for all assignments given. Failure to have a text may result in being dropped from the class. Failure to follow instructions (written or oral) will result in penalties.
Make-up Work Policy
Make-up Work Policy:
Students missing work because of an excused absence may be allowed to make up work. See the VHS Student Handbook for a description of an excused absence. It is the student's responsibility to keep up with missed work by checking Google Classroom. Tests missed due to an unexcused absence will be penalized 10 points per calendar day, at the instructor’s discretion (in either case the policy will be enforced uniformly in all applicable cases). In-class work such as quizzes or daily exercises missed due to an unexcused absence may not be made up for credit. Emergent or exigent circumstances could mitigate the application of this policy.
Classroom Etiquette
Classroom Etiquette:
Face-to-Face - Adherence to the personal responsibility and teamwork components of the course requirements is mandatory; failure to comply may result in expulsion from the course. Classroom behavior should not interfere with the instructor’s ability to conduct the class or the ability of other students to learn from the instructional program. Unacceptable or disruptive behavior will not be tolerated. Students engaging in unacceptable behavior may be instructed to leave the classroom. Inappropriate behavior may result in disciplinary action. This prohibition applies to all instructional forums, physical and virtual.
The use of cell phones is prohibited. Food and drink is also prohibited (closed water bottle is allowed).
Online - Since face-to-face meetings in the classroom may be replaced by online meetings through discussion boards, emails, and/or Blackboard Collaborate, students are expected to follow the rules of netiquette in these forums.
Hybrid - When face-to-face meetings in the classroom are replaced by online meetings through discussion boards, emails, and/or Blackboard Collaborate, students are expected to follow the rules of netiquette in these forums.
Prohibited Items in the Classroom:
No food or tobacco products are allowed in the classroom.
Cell phones are prohibited from use in the classroom. Only students enrolled in the course are allowed in the classroom, except by special instructor permission. It is inappropriate for minor children to be on campus due to the potential liability to the College, the risk of harm to the children, and decreased employee productivity due to distractions and disruptions.
Exam Policy
Exam Policy:
Instructor will adhere to the course outline for tests and exams as much as possible. In case of an exam date change, instructor will notify students verbally and through Google Classroom of the new exam date no later than five days prior to said exam.
Expected Time Requirement for this Course
For every hour in class (or unit of credit) taught in a 16-week session, students should expect to spend at least two to three hours per week studying and completing assignments. Example: For a 3-credit hour class taught in a 16-week session, students should prepare to allocate approximately 6 to 9 hours per week outside of class studying and completing assignments. For a 3-credit hour taught in a 10-week summer session, students should prepare to allocate approximately 10 to 15 hours per week outside of class studying and completing assignments. For a 3-credit hour taught in an 8-week session, students should prepare to allocate approximately 12 to 18 hours per week outside of class studying and completing assignments. For a 3-credit hour taught in a 5-week summer session, students should prepare to allocate approximately 20 to 29 hours per week outside of class studying and completing assignments.
Grading and Evaluation Method
Grading and Evaluation Method:
Our course will use the following grading scale:
A: 90-100%
B: 80-89.9
C: 70-79.9
D: 60-69.9
F: Below 60
The student's grade will be determined by compiling scores on in-class assignments, out-of-class assignments (including essays), a grammar test, a library assignment, and a final exam.
80 percent of grade:
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Four essays
-
One grammar test
-
Library assignment
-
Comprehensive final exam
20 percent of grade:
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Peer review assignments
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Online Achieve activities
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Quizzes (as needed)
Instructor Response Time
The instructor will respond to emails within 24 hours, excluding weekends and holidays. On weekends and holidays, the instructor will respond to emails from students within 24 hours of the first business day following the weekend or holiday.
Participation Requirements
Participation Requirements:
Weekly participation and engagement in the courses are critical for student success. Assignments should be completed by the due date. Students should also refer to the instructor’s attendance policy for additional information. (See
LSCO Student Handbook, Class Attendance.)
Review of Test Grades
Review of Test Grades:
Students wishing to review or contest a grade for a major assignment should contact the instructor within one calendar week of receiving the grade.
Student's Responsibility
This syllabus contains information, policies, and procedures for a specific course. By enrolling, the student agrees to read, understand, and abide by the rules, policies, regulations, and ethical standards of Lamar State College Orange as those contained in the current LSCO Catalog and schedule of classes.
Syllabus Content
The instructor reserves the right to make changes to this syllabus if deemed necessary. All changes will be provided to the students orally or in writing before the implementation of the change.
Textbook and Required Materials Access
Every student MUST have access to the required textbooks by the second week of class. The student will be responsible for all assignments given. Failure to have a text may result in being dropped from the class. Failure to follow instructions (written or oral) will result in penalties.
STUDENT SUPPORT RESOURCES
Advocacy Information
Any student who faces challenges securing their food or housing and believes this may affect their performance in the course is encouraged to contact the advising office for guidance on how to identify possible resources. Please notify the instructor of your circumstance if you are comfortable doing so.
Affirmative Action
LSCO is an affirmative action/equal opportunity institution which provides educational and employment opportunities on the basis of merit and without discrimination or harassment in full compliance with the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended; the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 503,504); Americans with Disabilities Act, as amended, Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972; the Vietnam Era Veterans Assistance Act of 1974; Article 522lk V.A.C.S.; and Executive Orders 11246 and 11758.
Title IX of the Education Amendments
LSCO prohibits discrimination, including sexual harassment and retaliation, against any student on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, national origin, disability, or any other basis prohibited by law. Any student who believes that he or she has experienced prohibited conduct or believes that another student has experienced prohibited conduct should immediately report the alleged acts to the Title IX Coordinator, Patty Collins, at patty.collins@lsco.edu.
Blackboard Resources
LSCO students will access Blackboard through the MyGator portal. Login credentials will use the following format: username@my.lsco.edu and Password. For help in identifying your Username/Password, visit
https://www2.lsco.edu/sspr/.
Blackboard student resource videos and help-sites are available at
https://www.lsco.edu/distanceed/blackboard-student.asp.
Career Coach
Lamar State College Orange provides career advising services to all students and alumni through Career Coach, an online career planning tool. Career Coach assists students through all phases of developing, initiating, and implementing career plans.
Information regarding employment opportunities and career options are provided along with access to live local job postings. Full-time and part-time employment opportunities, as well as internships, are available through Career Coach. Visit
https://www.lsco.edu/advising/career-planning.asp for more details on how to use LSCO's Career Coach to plan for and learn more about your future career.
Gator Assistance Services
Lamar State College Orange provides currently enrolled technical students support for daycare costs as well as other services.
Visit
https://www.lsco.edu/advising/gator-assistance.asp for details on assistance services.
Gator Success Center
Students are encouraged to make an appointment or walk in to receive tutoring, support services, or access to an open computer lab. Face-to-face and online supplemental instruction sessions are available to help students through any LSCO course. Reach out to learning.center@lsco.edu for more information on how students can receive academic support.
Library Services
Students are encouraged to visit library.lsco.edu to find the library's current operating hours, access the catalog to locate print materials, and access GatorSearch to explore the vast electronic collection. The library provides over 77 electronic database collections that include eBooks, newspapers, magazines, academic journals, and streaming video. The physical library contains a specialized collection of research materials specifically chosen to support the degrees and courses offered. Additionally, Students with research questions or questions about library services are encouraged visit the library in person, call 409-882-3352, access the chat on the library webpage, or to email their question to lscolibrary@lsco.edu.
Student with Disabilities
Under the Texas State System, Lamar State College Orange complies with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, pertaining to the provision of reasonable academic adjustments/auxiliary aids for students with disability. We strive to provide reasonable academic adjustments/auxiliary aids to students who request and require them.
Students who believe they have a disability requiring an academic adjustment/auxiliary aid are encouraged to contact the Special Populations Advisor at (409) 882-3393 or visiting the Advising Office located on the first floor of the Ron Lewis Library Building (RLB) room 113. Students are encouraged to apply before the start of the semester when at all possible. The Accommodation Request Form and details regarding the appropriate documentation needed can be found here:
https://www.lsco.edu/advising/disability.asp. Once approved, the signed accommodation form provided by the Special Populations Advisor must be submitted to the instructor at least two business days in advance of need.
Upswing 24/7 FREE Tutoring Services
Lamar State College Orange provides currently enrolled students with access to online tutoring through a partnership with Upswing, an online tutoring platform. Tutors are available 24/7 online in almost every subject.
Visit
https://www.lsco.edu/tutoring/online-tutoring.asp for details on how to log-in to the FREE services.
INSTITUTIONAL POLICIES
Campus Closure
In the event of an emergency campus closure in excess of three class days, Lamar State College Orange's classes will continue via the use of Blackboard. In such an instance, the college website, www.lsco.edu, will have information concerning the event and anticipated re-opening plans.
Civility
Please be considerate of other classmates' feelings, ethnic background, cultural differences, situations, and level of maturity. Students will be asked to leave the course if disruptive or inappropriate behavior is exhibited in any of the course requirements. If your instructor feels that you have not contributed appropriately to course requirements, your final course grade may be reduced accordingly.
The instructor reserves the right to manage a positive learning environment and will not tolerate inappropriate conduct in the course. Rude correspondence (discourteous or impolite, especially in a deliberate way) in e-mails, telephone calls, in person, or comments made to other class members, the instructor, or the office staff.
Contingency Plans
Students should develop a backup plan should their computer system or their Internet provider fail. Computer or internet connectivity issues are not valid excuses for missing a deadline. The College provides many opportunities for using computer equipment, as do many public libraries. Refer to the LSCO website for operational hours of the Library and Success Center.
COVID Notification Policy
Students who have been diagnosed with COVID 19 are required to report their condition to their instructor and to the College via the COVID Notification Form. Guidance on how to proceed will be delivered to the student's email after completing the required notification form.
Credit Transfer
Students should check in advance with the institution to which they plan to transfer credit to confirm transferability.
Criminal Background Policy
LSCO awards some certificates and degrees in which a criminal history MAY disqualify candidates from becoming licensed, certified, and/or employed upon degree/certificate completion. Students with a criminal background enrolling in courses leading to a degree/certificate in Criminal Justice, Cosmetology, Emergency Medical Technology, Massage Therapy, Medical Assisting, Vocational Nursing (VN), Registered Nursing (RN), Pharmacy Technician, Real Estate, or Teacher Preparation program are STRONGLY ENCOURAGED to discuss the certification and/or licensing regulations of the program with the program director listed in order to learn more about the current guidelines related to criminal history as well as the right of individuals to request a criminal history evaluation letter.
Drops and Withdrawals
Never attending or ceasing to attend classes DOES NOT constitute a drop or withdrawal. You remain registered until you request a drop from the instructor. Failure to act in a timely manner will result in an "F" grade for the course. It is the student's responsibility to follow up with the LSCO advising office to ensure that all drops/withdrawals are processed as desired.
Grade of "Incomplete"
The grade of "I" may be given when any requirement of the course, including the final examination, is not completed. Students seeking an incomplete should have completed 75% of the course requirements and be passing the course at the time of the request. Arrangements to complete deficiencies in a course should be made in advance of the end of the semester with the instructor. The instructor will process the Incomplete form online, and a confirmation will be sent to the student's LSCO email.
Incomplete work must be finished during the next long semester. If not, the Office of Admission and Records must change the "I" grade to the grade of "F." The course must then be repeated if credit is desired. An "I" grade also automatically becomes an "F" if the student registers for the course prior to removing the deficiencies and receiving a grade change. The instructor may record the grade of "F" for a student who is absent from the final examination and is not passing the course.
Grade Appeals and the Academic Grievance Process
Grade determination and awarding of grades in a course are the responsibility of the instructor and should be calculated according to college policy, procedures, and written details provided in the course
syllabus. NOTE: Final grades are available to students within 48 hours of the instructor posting the grade in Banner. Students may view final grades by logging into MyGator and then accessing Gator Self-Service.
An academic appeal process is afforded to students who desire to dispute a grade or any decision that affects the student's ability to complete and earn a grade for the course provided it is not related to a violation outlined in the LSCO Student Code of Conduct. If an informal conference with the faculty member regarding an academic complaint fails to reach the outcome requested by the student, the student may initiate the formal process outlined below. Even after initiating the formal complaint process, students are encouraged to seek informal resolution of their concerns. A student whose concerns are resolved may withdraw a formal complaint at any time.
Refer to the current catalog or for details on the formal grade appeal process.
Institutional Educational Goals
Lamar State College Orange has identified seven educational goals to specify the knowledge and skills that students should gain from completing academic and technical programs with the College. These goals are:
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Critical thinking (General Education, Technical) - Students will be able to demonstrate creative thinking, innovation, inquiry, analysis, evaluation, and synthesis of information.
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Communication (General Education, Technical) - Students will be able to effectively develop, interpret and express of ideas through written, oral and visual communication.
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Empirical and quantitative skills (General Education, Technical) - Students will be able to manipulate and analyze numerical data or observable facts and create informed conclusions.
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Teamwork (General Education, Technical) - Students will be able to consider different points of view and to work effectively with others to support a shared purpose or goal.
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Social responsibility (General Education, Technical) - Students will be able to recognize and acquire a sense of intercultural competence, knowledge of civic responsibility, and the ability to engage effectively in regional, national and global communities.
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Personal responsibility (General Education, Technical) - Students will be able to connect choices, actions, and consequences to ethical decision-making.
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Professional competency (Technical) - Students will be able to recognize or demonstrate skills and that depict professional values and employability. If the career has licensure or certification requirements, students may prepare for the licensure and certification in a capstone course and sit for the licensure or certificate at the end of the program.
MyGator and Log-In Credentials
Current students will access many LSCO applications through the MyGator portal. Login credentials will use the following format: username@my.lsco.edu/Password. For help in identifying your username/Password, visit
https://www2.lsco.edu/sspr/.
It is a violation of College policy, state laws, and federal laws for anyone to gain or help others gain unauthorized access to MyGator or any LSCO application or service. All accounts shall be for use by a single individual - the person for whom the account was approved or assigned. This includes Blackboard accounts as well as any application within MyGator. Sharing or loaning accounts is strictly prohibited, can be construed as a form of cheating, and violates College policy, state laws, and federal laws.
Policies and Procedures
LSCO adheres to the policies and procedures established in the Texas Education Code, Texas State University System Rules and Regulations, LSCO Faculty Handbook, LSCO Student Handbook, and LSCO Catalog.
Prohibited Items in the Classroom
No food or tobacco products are allowed in the classroom. Only students enrolled in the course are allowed in the classroom, except by special instructor permission. It is inappropriate for minor children to be on campus due to the potential liability to the College, the risk of harm to the children, and decreased employee productivity due to distractions and disruptions.
Student Privacy
The privacy of all students, including Distance Education students, is protected through strict adherence to the rules of the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act. LSCO's statement regarding the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act can be found in LSCO's Student Handbook, page 70. Additional information regarding privacy for Distance Education students can be found in the Distance Education Handbook, appendix D.