Summit Seminar

Course Description

This course is the final requirement completed by SCPS students to earn their undergraduate degree. Its primary purposes are: 1) to bring appropriate and reflective closure on the SCPS experience; 2) to enable students to celebrate and share their work with others who have accomplished goals and projects; and 3) to reflect upon the overall SCPS experience, its developmental effect, its contribution to lifelong learning, and the transferable skills and attitudes that were developed as a result of the SCPS program.

Course Learning Goals

After completing this course, you will be able to:

• Articulate and discuss significant undergraduate experiences in terms of the social value of transferable learning.
• Formulate connections between past, present, and future learning.
• Prepare materials that effectively document, summarize, and clearly present your acquired expertise, experience, and qualifications, for future outside audiences that you will identify.
• Prepare documents in which you introduce yourself to a specific audience on your desired professional path.

Course Competencies

In this course, you will develop the following competencies:

Assessment Criteria for the L12 Competence

Like most other of the competences of the Lifelong Learning Area, the L12 competence is assessed on a Pass/Fail basis. In order to pass the course, you are required to successfully complete all of the following, according to the specifications of each assignment as indicated in this course guide:

• Introductory posting to discussion
• Competence Document
• Resume
• Resume Cover Letter OR Graduate School Application Essay
• Course-Related Experience Summary and Analysis
• Externship and Advanced Project Summary and Analysis
• Replies to three (3) postings of fellow students

You must also submit the following form electronically to your Instructor:

• Evaluation of the SCPS Program for Summit Seminar

Course Resources

There are no required texts for this course.

Required Reading:

• Evaluation of the SCPS Program for Summit Seminar
• The SCPS Competence Document
• Sample of completed Competence Document
• Career Center Resume Packet
• Career Center Cover Letter Packet
• "Resume Writing Guide," by Susan Ireland
• "Cover Letter Guide", by Susan Ireland
• "Graduate School Application Essays," published by The Writing Center at Rensselaer

Course Grading Scale

Summit Seminar is a graded pass/fail.

Course Structure

This course consists of three modules.

The following table outlines the course:

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Assessment of Learning

Grading Policies and Practices

To complete the course, you must complete each of the assignments as described in the course and submit them to your instructor by the assigned deadline.  In addition, you must participate in the course discussion forum by responding to all instructor requests and by interacting with fellow classmates as necessary.

Points are deducted for late work.

Assessment Criteria for All Writing Assignments

Assignment 2: The Competence Document

Will be assessed on the basis of the following:

1. Your accuracy in transcribing your competencies.
2. Your thoroughness in this transcription.
3. The specificity of your X competence statements as reflections of your acquired knowledge, skills and abilities.

Assignment 3: The Resume

Will be assessed on the basis of the following:

1. Your format, including the logical and readable compartmentalization of information within and between sections of the resume.
2. Your logic and consistency in the use of fonts, typeface, bold text, underlined text, italicized text.
3. Your logic and consistency in grammar for the lists that you create.
4. Economy and relevance of the information you include.
5. Your thoroughness in the proofreading of your document.

EITHER

Assignment 4: Resume Job Cover Letter

OR

Assignment 5: Graduate School Application Essay

Will be assessed on the basis of the following:

1. The clarity and specificity with which you state your purpose.
2. Your format, including paragraph style, paragraph order, and document structure.
3. Your attentiveness to the audience you address.
4. Your success in capturing audience interest.
5. Your attentiveness to grammar and sentence structure.
6. Your care and thoroughness in the proofreading of your document.

Assignment 6: Essay: Transferable Learning from Course-Related Experience

AND

Assignment 7: Essay: Transferable learning from Externship OR Advanced Project will be assessed on the basis of the following:

1. Your reference to detailed and specific examples in describing the learning experience.
2. Your specificity in reflecting upon the learning experience.
3. Your application of the experience to learning that occurred as a result of it.
4. Your grammar and style.

Assignment 8: Commentary on Peer Submissions

Will be assessed on the basis of the following:

1. Your specificity in discussing connections between your peers' experience and your own.
2. Your specificity in discussing the connections between your peer's learning processes and your own.

Assignment 9: Reflective Essay on Myself as a Mentee

Will be assessed on the basis of the following:

1. Your reference to the assigned articles and skills inventory, with detailed and specific examples in describing the learning experience.
2. Your specificity in reflecting upon the learning experience.
3. Your application of the experience to learning that occurred as a result of it.
4. Your grammar and style.

Assignment 10: Contribution to "Reflection in Celebration" Discussion

Will be assessed on the basis of the following:

• The specificity of the insight that you share with the group.

General Assessment Criteria for All Writing Assignments

All writing assignments are expected to conform to basic college-level standards of mechanics and presentation.

Consider visiting the Writing Center to discuss your assignments for this course or any others. You may schedule appointments (30 or 50 minutes) on an as–needed or weekly basis, scheduling up to 3 hours worth of appointments per week. Online services include Feedback–by–Email and IM conferencing (with or without a webcam). All writing center services are free.

Writing Center tutors are specially selected and trained graduate and undergraduate students who can help you at almost any stage of your writing. They will not do your work for you, but they can help you focus and develop your ideas, review your drafts, and polish your writing. They can answer questions about grammar, mechanics, different kinds of writing styles, and documentation formats. They also can answer questions and provide feedback online, through IM/webcam chats and email.

Obviously, the tutors won’t necessarily be familiar with every class or subject, but they are able to provide valuable help from the perspective of an interested and careful reader as well as a serious and experienced student-writer.

Schedule your appointments with enough time to think about and use the feedback you’ll receive. To schedule a Face-to-Face, Written Feedback by Email, or Online Appointment, visit www.depaul.edu/writing.

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Discussion Forums

Discussion Forums are an important component of your online experience. This course contains discussion forums related to the topics you are studying each week. For requirements on your participation in the Discussion Forums, please see "Course Expectations" in the syllabus.

A Course Q & A discussion forum has also been established to manage necessary, ongoing social and administrative activities. This is where the management and administrative tasks of the course are conducted, and where you can ask 'process' questions and receive answers throughout the course. Please feel free to answer any question if you feel you know the answer; this sharing of information is valuable to other students.

Assessment Criteria for Online Discussion Participation

In order to receive credit for your participation in the online discussion parts of the course it is important that:

• You are able to contribute to the online discussions in a collegial fashion beginning your postings by addressing, where appropriate, your peer students by name.
• You must maintain a kind and collegial tone and close with your signature.
• You regularly demonstrate good "listening" skills and active inquiry skills in the online discussions. This means that you pay attention with openness to the commentary of others and you offer constructive and interested commentary, whether in the form of questions or statements.
• You contribute your own original ideas to the online discussion in ways that facilitates learning for other people.

Online Participation Guidelines

A significant part of your online learning experience involves learning with and from your classmates and the instructor in the online discussions and group assignments.

Active participation means sharing information and resources and posting you ideas and critiquing and expanding on the ideas of others in a collegial fashion. This discussion is informal in the sense that it is meant to encourage interested discussion. You are expected to follow accepted standards of English spelling, grammar and usage, although you will not be assessed for these particular characteristics when you are participating in the discussions.

These discussions are for you to exchange your reflections with your classmates and instructor about what you are learning. The discussions will be organized into forums around the particular topic you are studying each week.

Your instructor will set up discussion forums containing individual topics. Please read the topic headings carefully and submit your responses to the appropriate discussion topic. Guidelines will be given for your responses to each topic and should be followed carefully.

All discussion contributions should be made by the due dates given in this study guide.

For each Discussion Forum, you are required to make at least one original contribution to each topic and respond to one classmate's contribution.

College and University Policies

This course includes and adheres to the college and university policies described in the links below:

Academic Integrity Policy (UGRAD)

Academic Integrity Policy (GRAD)

Incomplete Policy

Course Withdrawal Timelines and Grade/Fee Consequences

Accommodations Based on the Impact of a Disability

Protection of Human Research Participants

APA citation format (GRAD)

Additional Course Resources

University Center for Writing-based Learning

SNL Writing Guide

Dean of Students Office

Changes to Syllabus

This syllabus is subject to change as necessary. If a change occurs, it will be clearly communicated to students.

Credits

This course was designed and produced by faculty and staff at SCPS Online of the School for Continuing and Professional Studies DePaul University.

© 2017 School for Continuing and Professional Studies, DePaul University. All Rights Reserved by SCPS.