Class Modality Details, Plans and Expectations

This section of HUM124 is an in-person section meeting MWF from 11-12:15 in ZAG244. As I write this, the circumstances of COVID19 continue to demand vigilance. My goal with our community is to provide a safe space and experience, creating opportunities to nurture community, share our work, and engage in authentic conversation.

It is my hope that we will be able come together as often as possible. That said, we will adjust if circumstances demand, and we will incorporate a degree of flexibility in our meeting schedule from the beginning.

What does in-person flexibility look like?

Our meetings and the shape of our semester will be fluid. There will be weeks when we all gather for class meetings. There will be weeks when small groups gather independently and/or with the instructor. There will be weeks when we will not meet as a class at all, rather, students will meet individually with the instructor to conference and workshop their compositions.

In the event that a student is not able to come to an in-person class meeting, a small group meeting or an individual conference, they should contact the instructor and we will work out an alternate plan for attendance credit. While I am open to “zooming” students in to in-person meetings, that is often not the most effective or convenient mode of attendance. As a student, you can depend on me to work with you, and to that end, timely communication is key.

HUM124 Statement of Care and Concern

Before you read through the course policies, I want to acknowledge what a strange and difficult time we’re navigating. You have had your lives disrupted in unprecedented ways, and that disruption is long from over. I want to encourage you to communicate with me early and often if you have any difficulties, big or small, emotional or practical, that you think might affect your engagement with the course. While it’s important that we respect and honor our ethical obligations to each other on this collective journey by participating to the best of our abilities, we may all need a little grace at times. 

We will follow the UNC Asheville Expectations of Mutual Respect & Care for All.  If you have not read the Expectations, please do so: https://coronavirus.unca.edu/return-to-campus/community-expectations/.

Submission Guidelines

SUBMITTING YOUR WORK:

• Unless otherwise indicated, your assignments should be submitted to Moodle at or before 11:59pm on the due date. 
• There will also be informal opportunities to participate in crowdsources and on the class website. Unless otherwise specified, students are expected to participate in these activities in the week they are assigned.
• Writing is a process and a practice. The class is designed to facilitate good writing. Treat journals as rough drafts and work to develop those ideas in the longer projects. You will have the opportunity to revise any work that does not receive full credit; you will need to take responsibility for letting me know you have revised the work. As a community of thinkers and writers, we will read and encourage and support each other’s work many times over the course of the semester.

COMMUNICATION BY EMAIL
Email is my go-to method of communication with you; I use it to clarify assignments, to check in, and to detail reading and writing assignments and due dates. I email the whole class through Moodle (“via Home”) weekly. Please note this and make sure to read these emails, follow the links and pay close attention. If you ever need to communicate with me outside of class, email is also the first choice; I usually respond within 24 hours at the most. 

LATE WORK: 
Showing up prepared and meeting deadlines is and should be a priority. That said, life happens. Late work will be accepted, but students must keep in mind that in order to earn credit for each assignment it must meet the minimum requirements. This necessitates timely submission of all drafts for feedback, so that revisions do not run well past the due date for each assignment. All revisions are due the last day of class.

Need Help?

Wonderful! That’s what office hours are for. Come see/Zoom with me! If you need accomodation to do your your best work, contact the Office of Academic Accessibility at (828)232-5050 or academicaccess@unca.edu or visit them in the Academic Success Services Center. Accomodation will never negatively affect your grade. See this document (Appendix A) for more information.

Mental Health Support

As a student, you may experience a range of challenges that can interfere with learning, such as stressful life events, experiences of anxiety and/or depression, self-harm, substance use, and/or unusual difficulty with ordinary life activities. The increased stress of school can also make existing mental health struggles more difficult to manage. Support is available and treatment can help. Learn more about the confidential mental health services UNC Asheville provides to support student success at https://www.unca.edu/life/health-counseling/

The Health and Counseling Center is located at 118 W.T. Weaver Boulevard. Appointments can be made by calling 828-251-6520. A UNC Asheville counselor on call is available after 5 p.m. and on weekends; the counselor on call can be accessed by calling the UNCA Campus Police dispatcher at 828-251-6710. Additionally available after hours and on weekends, call the Bulldog Health Link at 1-888-267-3675, where you can get immediate support for mental health, medical consultation, concern for a friend, and/or community resources. In case of an emergency, you can also call RHA’s Mental Health Mobile Crisis Unit at 1-888-573-1006.

Media Design Lab

The Media Design Lab in Ramsey Library is a one-to-one instructional resource that supportsstudents, faculty, and staff of all ranges of experience to create podcasts, recorded slide presentations, videos, websites, infographics, printed materials and more. All questions are welcome, even for general computing tasks related to Microsoft Office and Google Drive, for example.

An assistant is available (remotely) during all lab hours to provide individual tutoring and support. Whether you drop by to use the Media Design Lab or you are working from home, immediate assistance is available during lab hours. For details,please click here.

Our website now features an updated resources page. It includes a variety of how-to guides addressing common software questions to help students get started.

The library’s Audio Recording Studio and TV Studio are available by appointment, and a staff member provides individual assistance throughout the recording session. To promote social distancing, these recording studios are currently limited to single-person occupancy. Microphones and cameras can also be checked out from the library.

Writing Center

The University Writing Center (UWC) supports writers with online, one-on-one sessions with student writing consultants. Consultants can help writers decipher a prompt, organize ideas, document sources, and revise prose. For your consultation with the UWC, have a copy of your assignment, any writing or notes you may have, and the sources you are working with. To make your appointment, simply visit writingcenter.unca.edu and click on “Schedule an Appointment.” 

Academic Honesty

Your own work and words are ALWAYS best, even if you feel it is not your best work. You will always have the opportunity to get feedback and revise. Turning in work that is not your own, whether lifted off the internet, from a book, or done by someone else, will not count for any assignment. Sometimes when we are learning how to work with sources, plagiarism happens accidentally. If I think this is the case, I will meet with you, and allow you to rework and resubmit the assignment for credit. You can find the full academic honesty policy of the Humanities Program in Appendix A of this document.