Semester Kickoff Webinar

In this webinar, the University 101 Staff will provide important updates, review the available resources that can assist you in teaching this fall, and discuss upcoming fall faculty development events.

University 101 Title IX Training 2022

Presenter: Molly Peirano, Assistant Vice President for Civil Rights and Title IX/Title IX & ADA Coordinator
In conjunction with the university’s ongoing Title IX efforts, this training is intended to support us in our role as mandatory reporters. If a student discloses any behavior that has the potential to be discriminatory or harassing in nature, we have a specific responsibility to report it. This training will clarify what is expected of us, walk us through the specifics of completing the reporting process, and will highlight resources needed to support our students.

Unpacking Reflection through Strategies to Deepen Student Learning 

Presenters: Amber Fallucca, Julie Boyken, and Kristy Sokol
Reflection is an important method to facilitate learning and connections between experiences; yet, it can be perceived as ambiguous or overwhelming to students. This session will provide strategies for how to introduce reflection as a skill for students to practice over time to help them make meaning across their college careers. By highlighting activities from the Faculty Resource Manual and lessons learned from Experience by Design, the new Quality Enhancement Plan, participants will walk away with a variety of resources to help incorporate reflection into assignments, beyond the classroom activities, and debriefing exercises to help students deepen their learning in approachable ways.

Intervening Early and Often

Presenter: Austin LaForest
The goals of University 101 include fostering academic success and promoting  personal development, well-being, and social responsibility. In order to foster academic success and promote well-being, instructors must be prepared to support their students’ needs outside the classroom. This   includes the ability to recognize a potential need and appropriately connect a student with resources. This session is designed to equip instructors with skills and resources to achieve those goals in their classroom. Participants will leave this session with a toolkit to successfully support their students.

Integrating Career Outcomes and Competencies Development into your Course

Presenters: Vicki Hamby & Mark Anthony
As we come alongside students engaged in the career exploration process, what if they had access to key insights such as who hires graduates by major, clarity about the degrees and skills needed for specific positions, estimated alumni salaries at key benchmark points in their career, the opportunity to peruse individuals’ career paths, and the ability to determine an estimated break-even point based on tuition, debt and expected career earnings?  Now they do!  This fall all USC-Columbia students, faculty and staff will be able to access robust aggregate employment and education outcomes of USC alumni through a new, intuitive and simple digital interface called Steppingblocks.  This session will equip UNIV101 instructors to assist students with navigating and synthesizing career outcomes data and position them to make more confident and informed academic and career decisions.  In addition, faculty and staff will further their own knowledge of the employer hiring and graduate education attainment trends of USC alumni.  Most significantly, this session will provide strategies for instructors on integrating outcomes data, tenets of the University of South Carolina Employability Model and the Carolina Core Competencies into meaningful curricular activities to support students’ academic and career planning.  

Supporting First-Year Student Mental Health 

Presenters: LaQuana Sheppard & Kate Weaver
As we deal with adjusting to a new normal from COVID-19, we have seen an increase in student mental health concerns, such as increases in rates of depression, anxiety, and procrastination. These concerns impact students' adjustment to the university setting and can make it harder for students to perform well academically or feel connected to the campus community. Participants will learn how to set the tone in your U101 classroom to support students' mental health, identify when students are struggling, and be aware of on-campus supports that students can be referred to for a variety of mental health needs. 

Supporting University 101 Students Through the USC and You Survey 

Presenter: Liz Carmon
The USC and You Survey is an intervention tool that provides faculty and staff with student-initiated feedback. Responses are shared with university leadership to help with informed decision making. Attendees will gain a clear understanding about the survey, how to interpret the results, ideas for class activities and discussions based on student-initiated feedback, and an opportunity to engage with other U101 Instructors. 

Connecting with the Career Center: Discovering YOU in the First Year 

Presenter: Nicole Montgomery
In this session, we will discuss and introduce career services that support student learning and engagement through career development opportunities and beyond the classroom experience. In this session, the presenter will share a preview of SuperStrong and Handshake as core tools for students in their career development, introduce career resources that are available for students to plan and build their career competencies during their first semester, and present a First Year Bucket List: a suggested menu for activities and resources that U101 students can utilize to become confident and career ready.

Blackboard Basics

Presenter: Katie Hopkins
Blackboard is an important learning management system that your students will use throughout their time at USC. It is expected that instructors use this technology for their class. This workshop will outline three levels of use for instructors to consider to effectively use Blackboard. From posting your course syllabus, assignments and grades, your students will appreciate and expect your use of this tool in your class.

Peer Leader Training and Development

Presenters: Emma Reabold, Ailie MacLennan, and Dominique Harris
U101 Peer Leaders are well-trained and developed from the time of their selection through their semester of service. This session will walk you through the peer leader development model, specifically covering the topics and content covered during Spring Orientation, Fall Training, and EDLP 520. Instructors can expect to leave with tangible ideas of how to incorporate their peer leader into the planning and execution of the course based on their training, knowledge, and needs at different points of the semester.

A "Fresh" Perspective on Teaching "Quaranteens"

Presenters: Katherine Hilson & Amy Maier
As Admissions colleagues, we will share insight and lessons learned from recruiting the next generation of Gamecocks. In this session, attendees will learn how this incoming class differs from years past, and what we anticipate future first-year students will expect when transitioning from high school to college. We will share best practices to engage and connect with students in an endemic environment, specifically focused on building independence and navigating classroom dynamics.

Drinking, Belonging, Loneliness, and Retention: Building Connections Between Substance Use, Mental Health, and Academic Success 

Presenter: Aimee Hourigan
Within our high-risk drinking culture, it can be easy for students and  instructors to ignore the impact of substance use (or lack of use) on the first-year experience. Current research clearly demonstrates the effect substance misuse can have on grades, retention, academic persistence, and even employability and salary after graduation. This session will describe the trends in substance use among first-year students at USC, including the increasing number of non-drinking   students. We will also share an engaging resource that can be used as an assignment to encourage reflection on substance use and strategies for effectively discussing this challenging topic.

Improving the University 101 Student Experience with Formative Assessment 

Presenters: Carrie Van Haren and Keah Tandon
As University 101 Instructors, we strive to give our students what they need when they need it, and we design our course calendars with this in mind. But our students’ needs and timing of their experiences may not  always align with our plans. Formative assessments—things like daily check-ins, feedback note cards, reflective writing, and directed conversations—allow us to identify the real-time needs of our students and adapt our plans to provide a more relevant and meaningful University 101 experience. Join us as we discuss different types of formative assessments and share ideas for threading them throughout your  semester.

Dinner Dialogues – Connection. Engagement. Belonging.

Presenters: Leena Holt, Maureen Grewe, Tyson Lusk, and Christine Shelek
Hosting a dinner at your home through the Dinner Dialogue Program is one of the best strategies for creating a sense of belonging for your U101 students. This session will provide an overview of the Dinner Dialogue Program, which is housed in the Office of Parent and Family Programs and open to USC Columbia campus undergraduate courses, and will get into the nuts and bolts of how to plan, create, and execute a successful Dinner Dialogue for fall 2022. We will also hear from current U101 instructors who have incorporated a Dinner Dialogue into their class in creative and meaningful ways.

An Examination of High-Impact Practice Characteristics in First-Year Seminar Syllabi 

Presenters: Jennifer Keup & Brie Penaherrera
High-impact practices are the foundation for first-year seminars to allow them to enhance the transition, learning, and educational outcomes for new students, especially students from historically marginalized and underserved backgrounds (Finley & McNair, 2013; Young & Skidmore, 2019). A deep and well-rounded understanding of the tenets/characteristics of these high-impact practices is critical to providing successful engagement and outcomes for first-year students. In this session, presenters will provide suggestions on how to incorporate the eight conditions of successful HIPs into your U101 syllabus. 

Syllabus Building

Presenter: Katie Hopkins
Your syllabus will serve as the road map of your course for both you and your students. It is important that the syllabus is well thought out and intentional in design, but sometimes it can be hard to figure out where to start. This session will provide some best practices for constructing your UNIV 101 syllabus and overall course plan as well some time in small groups to work through syllabus questions and ideas. 

Integrating the FYRE into your Course

Presenter: Catherine Greene
University 101 Instructors can ensure students find significance in the University of South Carolina’s first-year common read, Biased: Uncovering the Hidden Prejudice That Shapes What We See, Think, and Do, by incorporating meaningful assignments, discussions, and  activities into the curriculum. During this session, instructors will walk through the curriculum guide to learn how to effectively integrate the First-Year Reading Experience book into U101.