Expectations

Most USF online courses take place over eight weeks. Some weeks may require more work than others. Individual experience may vary from week to week.

Due Dates

Unless otherwise noted, all assignments are due before 11:59 p.m.(Eastern Time) on the specified due date.

Teaching Methods

The following teaching methods will be utilized:

Reading, discussion, and analysis of assigned materials
Viewing, discussion, and analysis of assigned multi-media materials
Socratic questioning and answering
Project-based learning
Research

The Learning Environment

Classes for this course will take place in a virtual classroom, using web-based computer technology. Online courses require a strong commitment to responsibility for one's own learning and include a significant amount of writing that replaces the classroom conversation. In this virtual classroom, there will be a collaborative approach to learning by students and facilitator. The facilitator will assist students in identifying experiences which promote achievement of the objectives.

Spirituality is a personal perspective and journey that is life-long. During this course, you will look within for many answers to your questions about spirituality as well as how to deliver healthcare that is spiritual. Most of your answers will result in more questions. Please feel free to question everything you read, listen to, write and think. One basic tenant of this course is to meet people where they are spiritually and not to proselytize your ideas onto them. From a spiritual perspective, the healthcare provider can best help by "being there", by actually listening to what people say with no other agenda and by recognizing how they feel, without trying to fix them. In order to be there for others, you must be authentic and genuine, willing to risk having a relationship for the purpose of "being with" rather than doing to or for others. The case study blogs are metaphors meant to reflect a person's struggle with an illness as well as reflect the values, turmoil and struggles you face every day in your life. As you process these blogs, you will examine your personal perspectives about spirituality and look within as part of your spiritual growth.

Expectations of Students

Class participation as required for discussion, cases and team projects
Reading assigned material prior to web-based classes
Honor attendance policy as defined for web-based classes
Spend as much time as necessary to understand the material
Follow all policies outlined in the syllabus

Note: This is an online course that requires a balance of independent study and the adult learning model which facilitates instruction through the shared learning experience. In this model, students offer guidance and assistance in the learning process in addition to the support and instruction of the professor. Because we are not meeting face-to-face with the ability of offer immediate guidance in the classroom setting, the online model requires a high level of patience, willingness to embrace the academic struggle, confidence that the support will be there when needed, and the acknowledgement that all students must engage at a level that is different from the classroom experience where it is possible to be more of an observer. In this format, students MUST participate and assist each other.

Expectations of Faculty

Conduct the class as outlined in the syllabus
Provide meaningful and constructive feedback on assignments and papers
Faculty will return papers and exams with feedback normally within one (1) week
Faculty will successfully facilitate student learning, providing group and individual assistance as appropriate

Faculty will assess the quality of your postings and not the quantity (we're not looking for "good idea" or "I agree").

Participation

Information sharing is extremely valuable in any learning experience. Your fellow students are excellent resources to tap for stories, information, and different perspectives on your project work. At the same time, they can benefit from your ideas and insights. That is why you need to participate and post questions as often as possible. If you do not participate, you and your classmates will miss out on worthwhile opportunities to enhance learning.

Interaction in a virtual environment such as the discussion involves many of the skills used in face-to-face communication. Below are some tips for effective asynchronous discussion.

Keep postings short and to the point.
Include pieces of the original message in any response.
Be respectful of others' ideas and comments. Consider what is useful in the opinion shared and how it is similar to and different from your own point of view.
Post responses in a timely manner.
Keep your faculty member and other students informed about any events that could affect your progress.
Choose words carefully and consider how the reader might interpret them. Sometimes text may seem more harsh or critical than the spoken word.

Discussion grading criteria

In order to show active engagement in our course discussions and to possibly achieve the highest score for overall class participation, you should provide two (2) substantive seed posts by Wednesday and two (2) additional substantive responses to other students by midnight Friday. The discussions begin on Saturday at the beginning of the unit.

Postings will be graded on three key elements:

Participation—shows high degree of engagement and interaction with others
Timeliness—responses are made on a consistent basis for each Discussion Board and throughout the semester
Critical thinking—addresses the questions or topics completely and in-depth; points are clearly made and they show a clear grasp of content

Do not wait until the last minute to post. The reason for not waiting is that another student may express your idea before you, or you might make an interesting post that nobody sees because you posted it so late in the week. Post early and post often!

A substantive post adds to the discussion and encourages a response from your fellow students. It can be answer to one of the questions posted on the course Web site, or it can discuss relevant themes, concepts, main ideas, components, or relationships among ideas. A substantive posting can also describe thoughtfully what a theory or model means or new insights about readings, or raise a question as a seed for clarification or further discussion. A substantive posting should not exceed more than 250 words.

Note: There are five (5) Discussion Boards in this course, and you earn a separate grade for each Board. The Unit 8 Discussion board in this course is weighted more than the other four Discussion Boards. (See syllabus and Unit 8).

Attendance

Attendance Policy which affects your grade:

This is an online course which requires regular and consistent participation that is both independent and interactive via team discussion threads and full class discussion threads. The expectation of satisfactory participation in discussion threads will be determined subjectively based on both quantity and quality of posts that demonstrate meaningful engagement in the adult learning process. Engagement in the adult learning process is measured by critical thinking, analysis, synthesis, and application of learning. Adequate Discussion thread posts are respectful, supportive, and helpful to fellow scholars. It will be extremely important that all of us—each student scholar and the instructor together—commit to assist and facilitate in the learning process. Discussion threads and responses to announcements will be our virtual dialogue that will both facilitate and permit the learning to occur. We will need to agree to help each other as a learning community.

Self-Directed Adult Learning

The fact that you have signed up for this course indicates something about you—that you are a highly motivated and courageous learner. That is commendable. It also establishes a major platform that will guide the next few weeks of your online learning experience: while you will have the collegial support of your fellow scholars and the instructor, you will need to determine how much additional instruction you will need to reach a level of comfort with rather complex ideas. Do not allow frustration with the challenge of learning online and leadership theory and practice online to derail you from the ultimate objective which is to develop the skills (and the art) of critical thinking. Expect this to be a challenge and expect the challenge to be fun. Learning is fun!! A challenge is not hard, something to be endured with grit. A challenge is to be embraced and valued with reverence because at the end, we grow. This is what it means to be a self-directed adult learner. These are the skills and attitudes that are the cornerstone of excellence and leadership.

Plagiarism

Plagiarism is the presenting of others' ideas as if they were your own. When you write an essay, create a project, do a project, or create anything original, it is assumed that all the work, except for that which is attributed to another author or creator is your own work. Be aware that word-for-word copying is not the only form of plagiarism.

Plagiarism is considered a serious academic offense and may take the following forms:

Copying word-for-word from another source and not giving that source credit
Cutting and Pasting from internet or database sources without giving that source credit
Paraphrasing the work of another and not giving that source credit
Adopting a particularly apt phrase as your own
Reproducing any published or copyrighted artwork, both fine and commercial
Digitally duplicating or downloading any copyrighted software, programs, or files
Paraphrasing another's line of thinking in the development of a topic as your own
Receiving excessive help from a friend or elsewhere, or using another project as your own

[Adapted from the Modern Language Associations MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. New York: MLA, 1995: 26.]

Each student will be expected to use the APA format regarding documentation of all sources, including the Internet. If you are not familiar with APA, please get a manual from the Campus Shoppe or go on the Internet and search "The Owl at Purdue."

Academic Consequences and Student Rights

A first offense will be dealt with according to consequences regarding individual acts of academic dishonesty or plagiarism detailed in each individual course syllabus; however, a first offense will be reported to the Graduate School and Office of the Provost. The student, or students, will be sent a certified letter. After a second offense the student, or students, will receive an F in the course in which the offense occurred. The student, or students, will be brought before a Graduate School committee which consists of the following:

School Dean
Director of Graduate School, Chair
Department Chair or Program Director (specific to the student's program)
Professor of course in which plagiarism occurred
Faculty member outside of the student's discipline appointed by chair of faculty forum

The committee will determine whether a one-year suspension or permanent dismissal is warranted for the second offense of academic dishonesty or plagiarism. The student, or students, will receive a certified letter stating the committee's decision. The decision of this committee is final and cannot be appealed.

All students are required to keep graded assignments, quizzes, papers, projects, and other coursework for all courses.

Note: The instructor reserves the right to amend, adjust, or deviate from this syllabus when necessary.

If You Need Help

Dropping a Class: If you stop participating but do not follow proper procedure for dropping a class, you may fail to receive any refund due and may receive a failing grade in the class. If your intent is to drop a class, contact the Registrars Office, (260) 399-7700, extension 6522.
Disability Accommodation: Students requiring reasonable accommodation for a disability should advise the instructor during the first week of classes.
Personal: A full range of free personal counseling services is offered to University of Saint Francis students (commuters as well as residential students). The intention of this program is to offer guidance and support to students as they face challenges during their university years that may include emotional distress, peer pressure, substance abuse, or family conflict. Confidentiality is strongly emphasized. For more information, call Student Life at (260) 434-7533

Student Academic Support Services

Any student who may require class or test accommodations based on the impact of a documented disability should contact Student Academic Support (SAS) (website). SAS coordinates reasonable accommodations for students with documented disabilities.

Americans with Disabilities Act

If you have a disabling condition that will require an accommodation in tests or other activities, please let me know as soon as possible so that all necessary accommodations can be made.

Code of Conduct

Our students are members of an academic community founded upon principles of integrity and respect for others. It is critical that students and faculty trust one another to act with professionalism and integrity. Faculty members expect students to adhere to the following Code of Conduct:

Unless the assignment description explicitly states otherwise, all work you submit will be your own. You are encouraged to share ideas and questions about your work as you do it, but the work itself should not be shared. If you would like to work with others—whether other students in this course or anybody else—it is best to check first with your faculty member.

In assignments and discussions, you will state your own ideas in your own words, clearly citing any borrowed words or ideas. (Exceptions would be course content or assignment instructions that ask you to apply templates, data, or information contained in the course materials or to use ideas generated in course discussions.)
For a quiz or exam, you will work independently, without sharing answers with others.
For a group project, you will share work with other members of your team, but not outside of your team.

You will not share finished or draft work (individual or group project) with others unless you are explicitly directed to do so by course materials or your faculty member. For example, providing such work may create a situation where another individual would violate the Code of Conduct.

Academic dishonesty (i.e., plagiarism and cheating) is not acceptable in this institution's community. Cases of academic dishonesty are to be reported by both faculty members and students. If a case of academic dishonesty is substantive, transgressors are subject to punitive action.

"Plagiarism" as defined for the purpose of this and any courses taken at this institution is the appropriation of all or part of someone else's work (such as, but not limited to, writing, coding, programs, and images) and submitting it as one's own without proper citation. Common sources of plagiarized work include published books and articles, another student's work, free Internet websites, and websites offering academic papers for sale.

"Cheating" is defined for the purpose of this course and any courses taken at this institution as using false pretenses, tricks, devices, artifices, or deception to obtain credit on an examination or assessed work in a college course.

To prevent and detect cases of plagiarism and cheating, assignments turned in for any and all undergraduate and graduate courses at this institution are scanned with Turnitin plagiarism prevention software. Sanctions for plagiarism or cheating can range from failure on an individual assignment or the entire course to expulsion from the institution.

Each student enrolled in a course agrees that, by taking such course, he or she consents to the submission of all required work for textual similarity review by Turnitin to detect plagiarism. Each student also agrees that all work submitted to this service may be included as source documents to that service's database, solely for the purpose of detecting plagiarism of such work.

Whenever you have any doubts or questions about appropriate work processes or academic integrity standards, check with the faculty member teaching your course to clarify his or her expectations. For updates to the Code of Conduct and related disciplinary actions, refer to the Student Handbook.