Student Development

HIRAM 101: HOW TO BE SUCCESSFUL IN COLLEGE ~ Starting college can be like moving to a foreign country without knowing the language or the customs. This course introduces elements that first-year students need to adjust to the college setting and become successful managers of their own education and lives. Topics covered include identifying short- and long-term goals, finding your way around campus, learning and using the language of the Hiram College environment, reading a syllabus and assignments, creating a study plan and managing your time, reaching out to professors, knowing who to go to when you need help (academic, financial, personal), becoming an active learner, and managing stress and anxiety. Students will be required to attend all classes, participate in discussions and activities, complete assignments, and write a short essay concerning their experience at Hiram College.

MAKING CONNECTIONS:TRANSFER STUDENTS ~ This course is specifically designed to provide transfer students an ongoing orientation to college life at Hiram.

MAKING CONNECTIONS:INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS ~ This course will build upon the discussions begun during International Student Orientation on topics relevant to navigating Hiram College and life in the U.S. In addition to short readings, class discussions, and reflection essays, students will be encouraged to actively engage in campus activities and off-campus excursions.

CONNECTING TO AND THROUGH HIRAM COLLEGE ~ Attaining a college degree is a major accomplishment. Whether you are completing a bachelor’s degree following your associate degree at a community college, coming back to school after many years, or embarking on your college journey for the first time, this course is designed to help you make that transition successfully. Not only will this course include topics like time management skills and navigating the challenges that go along with being an adult learner, balancing school with work and life responsibilities, but it will also explore the roots of a liberal arts education. What does that mean? Why is it important to know? What are the benefits? Finally, this course will begin your journey through Hiram Connect, a program of experiential learning and reflection that focuses on fundamental questions like where do you want to go in this life and who do you want to be?

EXPLORING MAJORS AND CAREERS ~ This course will present an overview of the issues involved in career planning. Students will participate in self-assessment activities to identify their interests, abilities and values. They will also learn research techniques which will help them explore career options. Pass/No Credit Only.

STUDENT SUCCESS ~ This course will equip students with the tools, knowledge and resources to improve their academic performance. Students will have an opportunity to meet and hear from several representatives of on-campus student support services and explore topics common to students

TOOLS FOR ACADEMIC SUCCESS ~ All first-time students on academic probation are required to take the Academic Recovery Course. This course is designed to offer academic success skills that can be directly implemented in your additional courses. This course will emphasize basic learning theories and their practical application as they relate to the mastery of content material in a student's current courses. Students will study a hierarchical model of learning and knowledge mastery. Students will refine their abilities to develop study strategies and time management plans, which they will analyze and execute in their current courses. The course will also focus on the process of self-efficacy in learning goals as well as collaborative, student-centered models of learning. Pass/No Credit ONLY.

EFFECTIVE LEARNING, REFLECTIVE LEARNING ~ This course trains students both to be more engaged and effective learners even as they work to be consciously and regularly self-reflective to understand how their college education integrates with other aspects of their life. * Effective Learning: Students will gain an understanding of basic learning theories and their practical application as they relate to the mastery of content material in a student's current courses. Students will refine their abilities to develop study strategies and time management plans, which they will analyze and execute in their current courses. The course will also focus on the process of active versus passive knowledge mastery, as well as collaborative, student-centered models of learning. * Reflective Learning: Students will look beyond daily work in the classroom to see how class content connects to other aspects of their lives, including their place in the community and their future calling and career. Students will be required to attend all classes, participate in discussions and activities, complete written work and other assignments, keep an online reflective journal of their academic and collegiate experience, and to write a final essay concerning their experience in at Hiram College.

PUTTING YOUR MAJOR TO WORK ~ Experts predict most adults will have between five and seven careers in their adult lives. This course teaches basic lifelong job search skills including skills identification, targeting employers, resume writing, correspondence in the job search, networking, and interviewing. Pass/No Credit Only.

EXPLORING CAREERS FOR HUMANITIES MAJORS ~ This course offers students the opportunity to learn about a variety of careers that a major in the humanities prepares them for. Most class meetings will include a professional who majored in a field in the humanities and who uses the skills from their undergraduate major extensively in their career. Students will learn about speakers’ educational and professional paths and the skills that they honed in their major and use regularly on the job. Assignments will include reflections on the speakers and the students’ own career goals as well as student development of their own job search materials, including a résumé and cover letter.

SEMINAR ~

STEPS TO GRADUATE SCHOOL ~ This new one credit Student Development course is recommended for juniors and seniors who will be graduating within the next year. We will examine the important decision about attending graduate and professional school from several angles. First – is graduate or professional school the right step to take? What are the intellectual, career and personal advantages of gaining another degree? How will additional education enhance and/or focus your strong liberal arts background? Further, what are the challenges and downsides – the time, the added loans, the challenging curriculum, the job market in your field? Second – the course will clearly identify the steps to take to research and apply to grad school including topics such as exploring the wide variety of grad school programs, working closely with faculty advisers, preparing for the dreaded testing, the application process, funding options, and the final decision. Students will come out of the course with a clear set of steps to take to move their educational plans forward. Pass/No credit Only. This class is recommended for juniors and seniors.