COURSE SYLLABUS: GSU-DEED 607
Introduction to Learning Support Centers in Higher Education

A 16 week on-line graduate level course, three units credit or CEU's, entitled Introduction to Learning Support Centers in Higher Education. The initial course will enroll no more than fifteen students. Students can be currently administrators or staff at a learning support center. At registration, students choose one of four virtual institutions ( large public university, small private college, large urban community college, or small rural community college) and become its administrative head. Each virtual institution has an abridged catalog on the course web site. Course assignments follow a student's choice of institution. NOTE: To learn about registering for this course, email Dr. William G. White at wgwhite@bayou.com

COURSE TEXTS AND RELATED READINGS. CRLA Monograph: Starting up a Learning Assistance Center: Conversations with CRLA Members Who Have Been There and Done That, edited by Frank Christ (University of Arizona), Rick Sheets (Paradise Valley College), and Karen Smith (Rutgers University). Clearwater, FL: H & H Publishing Co., Inc., 1999; and Improving Student Learning Skills: A New Edition by Martha Maxwell, (1997). Clearwater, FL: H & H Publishing Company, INC.

Additional full-text readings are on-line on the LSCHE web site as well as on the GSU-DEED 607 course web site. Over 125 supplemental readings (books, articles, dissertations, and ERIC documents) are referenced in the course bibliography with an additional 150 learning support center URL's in its webliography.

STUDENT INTERACTION. Discussion Forums are an integral part of the instructor to students and student to student course interaction. All reading assignments require that students not only post answers to questions in discussion forums each week, but also react to one other student's answer. At the end of the fifth and tenth week, formal progress reports are emailed to each student regarding the quantity and quality of their participation in the discussion forums. In addition to discussion forums that are specific to each session's required readings and Internet site viewing, three special forums have been designed: 1) a hospitality suite, to simulate social interaction among students, 2) a virtual faculty office, to promote instructor/student communication, and 3) visiting scholar forums where students will have an opportunity to ask questions of and dialog with learning support center directors, practitioners, support staff, and researchers. Among the visiting scholars will be Dr. Martha Maxwell, author of the course text, Improving Student Learning Skills.

Another instructor to student mode of communication occurs weekly in the "Announcements" section of the course. In addition, a global email function allows the instructor to communicate to all students.

GRADING. Grades are based on Forum Contributions, In Basket Exercises , Final Open Book Exam and an Annotated Bibliography.

Case Study (In Basket) exercises are included as assignments at appropriate sessions. Some assignments have special due dates to simulate real situations that students will encounter as center directors.

Final course projects include two papers: 1)Writing a "Next Steps" paper in which a student lists a series of objectives, each with its individual tasks, suspense dates, and accountable agents. This paper can reflect either a student's institutional center or it can be based on the hypothetical institution that was selected for this course from the institutional catalogs provided on-line. Next steps also include personal and professional growth activities; and 2) an Open book examination covering all the sessions and related materials. Given at end of session 15 and due (time stamped) during week 16.

COMPUTER REQUIREMENTS FOR ON-LINE COURSE DEED607. Hardware specifications are the minimum suitable to function in an on-line course: IBM/PC compatible or MAC with at least 8Mb of RAM and preferably 16Mb, printer and modem preferably at 28.8 kbaud speed; Software specifications are Windows 3.1/Windows 95/98 or MAC OS, Internet browsers IE 4.0 or higher, Netscape 2.0 or higher, any common word-processor or text-editor for course assignments such as MS Word, MS Works, Write (Win 3.1), WordPad (Win 95/98), Word Perfect (version 5 or higher). If not using one of those programs, files can be exported in a suitable format such as Word format, Word Perfect format or Rich Text Format (RTF). Internet access through a personal account with an Internet Service Provider or through an institutional connection.

COURSE SOFTWARE. Blackboard is the course software and is accessed on the Internet with a user ID and password unique to each student.

WEEK BY WEEK TOPICS. Each weekly session lecture has the following components: 1) Introductory remarks which may include any unfinished business from the preceding week, 2) Session assignments , 3) Instructor comments on the required readings including questions on the readings, 4) Session information, and 5) Final instructor remarks.

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COURSE DEVELOPER AND INSTRUCTOR. Frank L Christ. Originator of the learning assistance concept (1971) as described in literature. Founder and coordinator of the first Learning Assistance Support System in higher education at CSU Long Beach (1971-1989). Recipient of the John Champaign Memorial Award for Outstanding Learning Assistance Program from National Association for Remedial and Developmental Studies in Post-Secondary Education, March 1983. Director of Summer Institutes for Learning Assistance Professionals at CSU Long Beach (1973-89). Emeritus Professor, CSULB (1989). Visiting Scholar, University Learning Center, University of Arizona (1991 to present). Founder and Co-director of Winter Institutes (1992-2000). Director of sabbatical and week-long training program for learning assistance center directors and staff at CSU Long Beach from 1973 to 1988. Adjunct Faculty at Kellogg Institutes, Appalachian State University (NC) during summers of 1980 -1987. Web Site developer and editorial consultant of the Learning Support Center In Higher Education web site. Co-author of 100 Things Every Online Student Ought To Know (NY: Cambridge Stratford, Ltd., (2003). American Council of Developmental Education Associations Fellow, 2000. Adjunct Professor of Educational Leadership, School of Education, Grambling State University.