Course Syllabus

Overview

The following syllabus contains much of the basic information about the course: what the course is about, what assessments you will be expected to submit, and so forth. Much of the information is repeated in the first module, so feel free to bounce back and forth between this page and those in that module. Note: Pay particular attention the the relative weight of assignment chart, which is on the top left of this page, below the calendar. And also pay attention to the calendar of assignments below the syllabus, which will give you a really good sense of what is actually due each day. Many students get confused about the point system, for instance: since different categories or work are "weighted" differently, not all points are created equal! Keep that in mind as you plan your time: it is much more worth your while to turn in a major essay, for instance, than to do an individual discussion post. 

 

About Your Instructor

Hi all, my name is Dr. Glenn Keyser and I have been teaching in the English department here at Solano College since 2005. I went to UC Santa Cruz as an undergraduate and received my PhD in English from U.C. Davis in 2003. I'm married, have two children, and one cat. If I'm not teaching writing and reading I'm probably out hiking at Pt. Reyes National Seashore or down in the Santa Cruz mountains. I have a variety of other interests, however, including art, architecture, urban design, old books, and astronomy. I like to go to thrift stores and find valuable old books. I even once found a book printed in 1632 in a local thrift store!  I can't draw to save my life. 

 

Instructor Contact information

• Email Address: canvas conversations/inbox tool preferred, but also gkeyser@solano.edu

• Text Number: 707-980-2861 (text me anytime!)

• Office Hours: 1 - 2 pm every Wednesday. For now, I will hold these office hours in room 708, our classroom. However, that may change so stay tuned for more information! 

Basic Course Information

The following is the basic technical information you need to know about the course:   

• • • Course Title: English Composition
    • Course Number: English 1
    • Section Number: 80453
    • Class Meeting Times: MW 9 - 10:50 am in Classroom 708 in building 700  on the Main Campus. 
    • Co-requisites: LR10. LR10 is a library science course that teachers you the basics of research—how to tell if a source is credible, how to find sources, and how to integrate sources into your papers. More detail on LR10 will be provided to you in the first module and by your LR10 instructor. There is a separate Canvas shell for LR10, so make sure you locate that as soon as possible if you haven't already done so. 

Course Description

The following is the course description from the official Solano Course Catalog: 

"This college-level course will help you to develop your critical reading, thinking and writing skills—skills that are essential for future success! Students read essays and articles dealing with multi-cultural issues and current events, and write effective thesis driven essays which synthesize these readings. Students will produce at least 5,000 words of formal, final draft writing that draws upon the assigned readings as well as articles that students have researched on their own.  Students will also read, analyze and write about one book-length work." 

It is important to clarify that while the focus of the course is on college-level reading, thinking, and writing skills, it is also essential that you master the basics of format, research, and sentence-level work as well, and so some time will be devoted to these subjects as well. However, English 1 is not focused on grammar or sentence-level errors, so if you feel (or I determine) that you are having trouble in these areas, we should get together via ZOOM or by phone or at office hours to discuss the matter and come up with an personalized "action plan." I'm happy to help! 

 

Course Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) 

According to the official Solano College course description, a student should be able to have mastered the following skills upon completion of this course: 

Course Content Outline

To achieve these objectives, you will be required to do the following: 

• Read approximately 50 - 100 pages per week, including both course readings and online instructional material. 

• Write a variety of essays, include argumentative and synthesis essays. 

• Engage in a variety of hands-on activities

• Engage with the class in a variety of interactive activities, including course discussions. 

• Engage in the writing process, including revision and peer review. 

In order to do all of this in only 16 weeks, you will likely need to spend a total of about 8-12 hours per week. Please manage your time accordingly, and make sure that you don't take too many units this semester! Please see me and/or make an appointment with a counselor if you wish to discuss time management in more detail. 

1. The three major unit essays major unit essay assignments will, combined,  make up 50% of your final grade. Each of these assignments includes a detailed prompt, either a suggested or a mandatory outline, and a rubric. Both the prompt and the rubric need to be followed carefully if you want a solid or exemplary grade. Typically I will give you both marginal and rubric comments in addition to an "overall" or "end" comment, and all three are designed to allow you to revise for a higher grade if you desire. Please contact me about this for more details. Please make sure that you know how to access all three of these on Canvas, which can be difficult. For instance, often students trying to access marginal comments through a hand-held device have trouble seeing marginal comments. 
2. Hands-on activities and discussions account for an additional 20% of your grade. Typically a short rubric or at least clearly grading criteria will be included with these assignments as well, detailing why points will be deducted. In general, however, submissions that that meet the minimum word counts for the assignment and that follow directions will receive full credit, even if there are some 'mistakes.' For that reason, it is particularly important that you remember to look at my feedback on hands-on activities: just because you got full credit does NOT mean you got everything right! 
3. The midterm, which will include both a multiple-choice section and a reflective essay prompt. 
4. The final exam, which will also include a multiple-choice section and an essay. The first will be done online as a multiple-choice test and will be graded automatically as soon as you finish.  Combined, the final and midterm make up 20% of your final grade. 
5. Finally, most modules include graded multiple-choice quizzes at the end and, combined, these quizzes account for the final 10% of your grade. Unlike the midterm and the final, however, there will be no extra credit to help you boost your score on these exams, although I will allow multiple attempts on some quizzes (such as the first one!). 

 

Attendance, Log-in, and Participation Policy

It is expected that you will participate regularly and thoughtfully in the course, both coming to class regularly and logging on to the canvas shell on average average 5-6 times a week at least and for a minimum of about 8-12 hours per week. You are expected to turn in assessments regularly, and If you miss several in a row, I will contact you. If you continue to miss, I might conclude that you are no longer interested in taking the course and may drop you. So if you find yourself in that situation, please make sure to stay in regular contact with me via text or email so I will not do so. 

 

Instructor Initiated Contact Policy

I promise that I will contact you frequently and in a variety of ways. First, of course, through our twice weekly in-person meetings. Also, I promise to provide you with timely feedback on assignments and to contact you if an assignment needs redoing. 

Note: instructors are allowed up to two weeks to turn back assignments, but my goal is to get most assignments back within one week and, if possible, sooner. 

Also, I will be making frequent announcements, at least two per week and often more, in which I

• Provide feedback about course assignments

• Remind the class of upcoming critical assignments

• Announce corrections / changes in the syllabus

• In some cases, share a story  in the news that is relevant to the course.

Finally, I will try to contact you regularly through the Canvas conversations / inbox tool, especially if there is an ongoing issue that we need to discuss, such as trouble keeping up with assignments. 

 

Student Initiated Contact Policy

It is your responsibility, and in your best interest, to contact me regularly throughout the semester. You can do this in a variety of ways: through the Canvas conversations / inbox tool, by text at 707-980-261, or by participating in our weekly ZOOM meetings or through appointments. Please contact me especially if you have any questions about your grade or about an upcoming assignments, but I encourage you to contact me just to say hi ... I know we are all feeling isolated during this strange period! Please remember that I am happy to answer texts within 1 or 2 hours when you send them from 9 to 6 on week days, and often in the same time frame at other times of day or on weekend. Note, however, that I may take more time to return texts if sent at night or on Saturdays.  

 

Student to Student Contact Policy

Part of any good class is student-to-student contact. We will achieve this in a variety of ways, including through small group work and larger discussions in class, as well as through some collaborative work online. 

 

Class Workload Expectation

Be prepared for about 8-12 hours of work per week in this course. A three unit "lecture" course, by virtue of what is known as the Carnegie Unit (Links to an external site.), mathematically establishes a standard the amount of work expected from a student (and the instructor) in any college-level course. California state law upholds this, see California Code of Regulations, Education Code, Title 5, Section 55002.5. (Links to an external site.)

Table shows calculation of number of hours per week to be spent on class.

Type of Unit	Units	x Hours Per Unit	Total Hours
Lecture	3	x 16	= 48
2 hours homework per hour of lecture	3	x 36	= 108
		Hours of work per term	= 162
		/ number of weeks	= 16
		Hours of work per week	= about 8-12

 

Critical Administrative Dates

The following are the most important administrative dates that you need to know for this course: 

• First Day of Instruction: Monday August 14

• Last Day to Drop with a Refund:   Friday August 25

• Last Day to Add the Course: Friday September 1

• Last Day to Drop without a "W":  Friday September 1

• Census Date: Tuesday September 5

• Last Day to Drop with a "W":   Friday November 17

• Course End Date: Friday December 15 

Note that once the section begins, students may only enroll with instructor permission. Please see me about getting an "add code" if you wish. A "W" stands for "withdrawal"—so that in place of the usual A - F letter grade, the letter "W" will appear on your  academic record, including transcripts. See a counselor or me for more details. 

Also note: While I strive to make the information above accurate, there may be errors—so it is your responsibility to double-check the information by visiting the Solano College website calendar. 

 

Critical Course Due Dates 

The following are important academic / course dates that you need to remember for this course: 

• Official Start of Course:  Monday August 14 

• First Major Essay:  Wednesday October 11

• Midterm Exam:  Monday October 16

• Second Major Essay Due: Wednesday November 8

• Final Major Essay Due: Friday December 1 

• Final Exam: Monday December 11 -  Wednesday December 13 (it will be held over several days)

Note: These dates are tentative and are subject to change as necessary. You will be given plenty of notice if this is required, however. Also, I will never move a date "forward" so that it is sooner than it appears initially in Canvas and on this syllabus. I will only provide you with more time on assignments, if I deem it necessary. I practically guarantee that this will happen at least once over the course of the semester. 

 

Holidays

The following holidays will have an impact on our usual schedule: 

• Monday September 4: Labor Day.  No Classes or assignments due on September 4. 

• Friday November 10: Veteran's Day. No assignments due on November 10. 

• Thursday November 23- Sunday November 26: Thanksgiving Break. No assignments due on November 24. 

• Finals Week: December 9 - 15. Special Schedule This week. 

Note that some assignments that might have ordinarily been due on a holiday are being shifted to other days. More details TBA. 

 

Required Books and Materials

My goal is to keep the cost of books down for this course as much as possible. For that reason, I will only be requiring that you buy the following full-length book:

• Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City, Written by Matthew Desmond and published by Broadway books in 2016. 

The book should be available online and is modestly priced. 

In addition to these books, you will need regular access to the Internet, which I recommend doing by laptop, tablet, or desktop computer as much as possible, as accessing course materials via phone can sometimes be difficult. That said, you obviously need to make your own decision on this point. 

Office Hours and Optional Zoom Meetings

As I say above, I will hold office hours every a week, on Wednesdays, at one pm. For the moment, I'm planning to hold these in our classroom, room 708. However, this may change. If you wish to meet with me at another time, please  contact me via the Canvas inbox or via text to make an appointment. 

 

Student Services Overview

The following are important support services that you should be aware of. Please contact me if you would like more information or help contacting one of these services. I can always be reached by text at 707-980-2861. 

 

Accessibility Services (formerly DSP/Disability Services)

If you have a documented disability and require accommodations, please inform me at the beginning of the semester if you with to receive accommodations, or as soon as possible after documentation has been received. Students with documented disabilities may receive reasonable classroom accommodations and/or testing. Last minute requests may not be determined to be “reasonable.” For more information please go to the Solano College Accessibility Services page. 

 

ESL Lab

The ESL lab is brand new to Solano College. Here is a quote from the official ESL lab Solano College webpage: "Over the past several years, it has become increasingly evident that there is a campus wide need to support our non-native English-speaking students.  Specifically, there is the need for across-the-curriculum writing and reading support.  Our new ESL lab will be working to address this need.  The ESL lab is open to all Solano students, and we can help with writing assignments for all of our classes." Please see the ESL page for more details. 

Counseling

The Counseling Department is the place to get advice on your academic plan, career planning, personal decision making, and personal concerns, among other things. Please link directly to the counseling page, or see me first to help you, should you wish assistance. 

 

The Transfer Center

It is never too early to think about transferring! If you think that you might be interested in doing so, then check out the  Transfer Center. Again, I would be delighted to discuss transfer issues with you myself before or after you contact the office directly; there is a lot more to transferring than simply worrying about your grades! :-) 

 

The Solano College Library

For textbooks on reserve and help with research, visit the Solano College Library. 

 

Computer Labs

For access to a computer, check out the many labs on campus! For more information about labs and computer resources on campus, check out the Solano College Computer Resources Page.