1. ACP 101: FIRST YEAR SEMINAR PROF. PRISCILLA PERKINS
FALL 2012 OFFICE: AUD 626
M/W 12:30-1:45 OFFICE HOUR: M 11:30-12:30
AUD ____ (or by appointment)
EMAIL: pperkins@roosevelt.edu *
WEB: http://sites.roosevelt.edu/pperkins/
PHONE: (312) 341-2283
*email is the best, quickest way to reach me
Welcome to Roosevelt University, and welcome especially to ACP 101: First Year Seminar.
This syllabus (which is also posted on our class Blackboard site) is your official source of information about ACP
101 (assignments, schedule, policies, resources). Hang onto it and make it the first place you look for
clarification about our course.
The transition from high school to college is challenging in many ways. A lot of students are leaving home and
family for the first time, while those who commute begin to learn new, more independent ways of interacting
with their elders and siblings at home. For many students, the city of Chicago is a big, kind of scary place.
Making friends can be difficult. And for everybody, figuring out what is expected of you as university students
takes a lot of energy. ACP 101 is designed to help you navigate all of these challenges.
While an important goal of ACP 101 is to support you as you make the social transition from high school to
college, you’re also here to learn about and practice three of the most important academic tools for college
success: 1) reading and writing to learn; 2) oral communication; and 3) information literacy. Because college
isn’t just a collection of disconnected, unrelated learning experiences, you’ll be learning these skills in other
classes, too. In ACP 101, though, we will always use reading, writing, speaking, and researched sources in order
to explore ideas that are relevant to you as new members of Roosevelt University, an academic community
which is focused on social justice.
Another thing that makes ACP 101 different from most of your other RU classes is that each section of the
course is co-taught by an undergraduate student. In our class, _____________ will participate in all of our
activities, and will also talk to you every week about the issues many new students encounter in their first
weeks and months at Roosevelt. Because __ is a student, _____ knows Roosevelt in a different way than I do—
so ___ is in a great position to talk with you (both as a class and as individual students) about the stuff you may
be going through.
This year's ACP 101 theme is Youth Activism.
Roosevelt U. was founded in 1945 when the faculty and president of the Chicago YMCA Colleges walked out in
protest against the college's racist and anti-Jewish student admissions policies. Since our founding, Roosevelt
faculty and students have always been actively engaged with the social justice issues of our times. In part
because we are directly located across from Chicago's Grant Park--the site of large-scale youth protests in 1968
and again, today, in the form of the Occupy movement and anti-NATO demonstrations--our students (no
matter what their political beliefs are) have many questions about what it means to be "politically active."
Through our reading and discussion this semester, ACP 101 classes will create informed dialogue about our
reasons for political involvement, whether we choose to define it as participation in electoral processes,
grassroots pressure to improve educational policies and funding, direct provision of services to people in need,

2. or, in specific situations, mass protests against social or economic injustice.
Required texts include:
Liu and Hanrauer, The True Patriot
Taft, Rebel Girls: Youth Activism and Social Change Across the Americas (available at the RU bookstore and
through many other sources: be sure that you have your copy well before our first reading assignment is due!)
You should also make sure that you read with a dictionary by your side and a pen in your hand! If you don’t
already have a quality college dictionary, please buy one for this class.
Required Activities (see schedule for dates, as appropriate):
• A brief, informal, individual conference with me during Week Four to discuss your College Inventory
report. (Some of these meetings will be scheduled during what would have been our class time, while
others will need to be outside of class time. I’ll circulate a sign-up sheet so that you can choose a time
that works for you.)
• Weekly in-class, informal writing activities
• Regular self-evaluations of your writing, oral communication, and participation in classroom work
• Attendance at a panel discussion of The True Patriot
• One class session in RU library
• Two community excursions….locations to be announced as we approach each date.
• If, after getting a chance to read your writing, I believe that you would benefit from regular tutoring, I
will require you to visit the Writing Center (AUD 724) to schedule regular appointments with a peer
tutor.
Learning outcomes for ACP 101:
1. As evidence of gains in reading and writing to learn, students will
• Participate consistently in inquiry-focused discussions of challenging texts
• Complete weekly in-class writing assignments that respond thoughtfully to instructors'
questions/prompts
2. As evidence of information literacy, students will
• Explain the research process involved in an academic project, which begins with a research question,
and involves finding, evaluating, and using a variety of resources.
• Define and identify various types of information (book, scholarly article, newspaper article, reference
source) and parts of a citation.
• Locate specific resources using the library
• See the physical space of their home-campus library
3. As evidence of oral communication skills, students will
• Interview members of the Roosevelt community and present their findings to the rest of the class
• Prepare and present an engaging “Pecha-Kucha 20 X 20” (grading criteria: clarity, audibility, eye
contact, coherence of ideas and images)

3. 4. As evidence of community engagement and personal development, students will
• Identify campus-based student resources (offices, people, and services, like the Center for Student
Involvement, Student Accounts, Career Development, etc.)
• Demonstrate understanding of time and money management, wellness and balance, interpersonal
communication, and other skills needed for success in college and beyond
Required assignments, plus point values toward final grade:
• Five in-class writing assignments (3 possible points each)
• Educational autobiography (10 possible points)
• RU community interview and presentation (15 possible points)
• Pecha-Kucha presentation (20 possible points)
• Written reflection on Taft's research process (20 possible points)
• Final exam, which will be based on engagement and personal development course content (20 possible
points)
Attendance policy:
Much of the learning in this course happens as a result of student interaction, so there’s no way for you to
“catch up” on the ideas generated in discussion and group work if you miss class. After six missed classes
(whatever the reason for the absences), you risk failing the course, even if all of your work earns passing
grades. If you are going to be absent, please email me.
Other policies:
• Please talk to me at the beginning of the semester if you have a documented disability that may require
accommodation. If you have any questions about services available to students with disabilities, please
contact Nancy Litke, director of the Academic Success Center (nlitke@roosevelt.edu).
• Roosevelt University respects the rights of students to observe major religious holidays and will make
accommodations, upon request, for such observances. Students who wish to observe religious holidays must
inform their instructors in writing within the first two weeks of each semester of their intent to observe the
holiday so that alternative arrangements convenient to both students and faculty can be made at the earliest
opportunity. Students who make such arrangements by the deadline will not be required to attend classes or
take examinations on the designated days, and faculty must provide reasonable opportunities for such students
to make up missed work and examinations. However, all work missed for such absences, including papers and
examinations, must be made up. Students who do not arrange for excused absences by the deadline are not
entitled to such accommodations.
• Much of your work for this class will be done in small groups (just like it will be in the workplace, later on in your
life). For this reason, it is extremely important to be on time, prepared, and committed to doing your best work.
I use rubrics that allow me to evaluate each participant’s contribution, and I give individual grades (not group
grades) for collaborative projects. Remember, however, that this is an academic community of practice: a space

4. where students and faculty are committed to creating new knowledge through our interactions with each other.
Letting your group down is not cool.
8/24 (Friday) Introductions and review of syllabus; RU history (Pecha-Kucha?)
8/27 Liu/Hanrauer 1-18; complete online “College Inventory” outside of class time
8/29 Living Independently (PI)
9/3 LABOR DAY—no classes
9/5 Time Management (PI); Educational Autobiography due in class
9/10 Pre-discussion writing time; Liu/Hanrauer 19-30
9/12 “Social Justice at RU” oral presentations (interview write-up due)
9/17 College Inventory Conferences—no class meeting
9/19 College Inventory Conferences—no class meeting
9/24 Liu/Hanrauer 31-51; post-discussion writing time
9/26 Pecha-Kucha oral presentations #1
10/1 Liu/Hanrauer 53-67 (images)
10/3 Effective Communication (PI)
10/8 pre-discussion writing time; Liu/Hanrauer 69-91
10/10 Pecha-Kucha oral presentations #2
10/15 Liu/Hanrauer 93-117
10/17 Financial Management (PI); ACP 101 EVENING PANEL DISCUSSION
10/22 Community Excursion #1 (planned by PI)
10/24 Pecha-Kucha oral presentations #3
10/29 pre-discussion writing time; Taft 1-19
10/31 Taft 23-46
11/5 Taft 47-70; post-discussion writing time
11/7 Taft 99-122; Information Literacy assignment #1 due
11/12 LIBRARY SESSION—meet in computer class area
11/14 Taft 123-150
11/19 THANKSGIVING BREAK—no classes
11/21 THANKSGIVING BREAK—no classes
11/26 pre-discussion writing time; Taft 151-175
11/28 Taft 193-200
12/3 Community excursion #2

5. 12/5 In-class review for final exam; end-of-semester celebration
FINAL EXAM DATE/TIME TBA