What every college
student needs to know
Unlike in second grade, middle school, or even high school,
in college all academic responsibilities
are yours ― not your parent’s, not your advisors’ or your
professor’s.
Set yourself up to
succeed. It is your responsibility to plan your schedule and choose the
courses that you take. If you have trouble with this, go back to your advisor.
You can still change your courses the first week of school.
Attending class is required. Class attendance is not optional. It is your responsibility to get to class. The main reason students flunk out of college is from not attending class. You may need to go to bed earlier, buy another alarm clock, or not go out the night before. If you are sick and miss class it is your responsibility to get the notes from someone in the class and to catch up. The most important advice for a college student is: Never miss class.
Do not schedule appointments during class time. An academic advisement appointment is not a reason to miss class. Never schedule academic advisement appointments during your class. It is your responsibility to ask your academic advisor for an appointment that is not during any of your classes. If you have a job, schedule your work time outside of your class time. An excuse from your boss is not acceptable.
It is your
responsibility to read the text and stay caught up. If we are covering
chapter 3, it is your responsibility to read chapter 3 without officially being
given a reading assignment. Read ahead so that you have already read the
material before it is covered in class. In college
If you have special circumstances and had to miss class or have fallen behind, it is your responsibility to contact the professor to ask for help. Don’t wait until you are way behind, do this as soon as you can. At the end of the semester it is too late.
It is your responsibility to take notes. Write down what is said. It is difficult to remember all of the details if you don’t write them down. Even if you think that you are not good at taking notes, do it anyway. Tests usually come from the lecture and your notes are the best study guide that you will have. The second most important advice for the college student is: Always take notes.
Know what is on the class web site. It is your responsibility to look at the class web site frequently. It contains useful information such as dates of tests and other announcements, assignments, deadlines, handouts, and study guides.
Deadlines are deadlines. You need to schedule your time in order to meet the deadlines. If you are given a week to do an assignment, do not wait until the night before or even the day before to start the assignment. Start assignments early.
If you have problems with an assignment it is your responsibility to ask your professor for help. All professors have office hours and if you have a class during those office hours it is your responsibility to ask for an appointment at another time.
The grade you receive
is the grade that you earned. This
grade is based on your achievement on the required assignments. These
assignments were your responsibility to complete and turn in on time. Your grade
is not based on special extra credit dreamed up to improve your grade because
you did not do well on the required assignments, so don’t bother to ask. Read
the comments by
If you are worried about how you are doing in a class, go and talk with the professor. Don’t put it off; the sooner you go the better. Find out what help is available, if your professor can give you advice on how to study, if he can help you understand a particular topic, etc.
It is your responsibility to check your university email account frequently. Always use your university email address when communicating with your professors. Keep your email professional; no colored text, backgrounds, cute quotes, etc.
Don’t ever cheat;
not even on homework. All cases of cheating are to be reported; in our case at
the
It is ok to discuss your work with others but you need to understand it and do it later on your own. If two students turn in the same work, the one who did the work and gave it away is as guilty as the student who took it and turned it in as his own.
Think now about how terrible you would feel if you were
called in and the proof that you had cheated was spread out on the desk.
Frequently, students in this position say, “I did this, but I want you to know
that this really isn’t me; I am not a cheater.”
Are these students different from the other students who cheat?
Professors are obligated to turn in all cheating cases, no matter the amount of
crying and begging. It is your
responsibility to do what is right; cheating is never worth the consequences.
Your personal
well-being affects your academic success. If you are sick, go to the student
health center. Don’t wait, go ahead and go before you get worse. The link to
Student Health Services at the University of South Carolina is
Phone numbers/appointments:
If you are having trouble functioning, are extremely unhappy, think you could be suffering from depression, or have a relationship or family problem there is free help available on campus. Don’t be embarrassed; this is not uncommon. Call and make an appointment and go and get help. Your information will be kept confidential. Don’t delay; get help as soon as possible.
At the University of South Carolina the Counseling &
Human Development Center:
Hours:
Appointments: 803-777-5223
Location: CHDC is located in the
(on Sumter St.across from the Horseshoe)