New Acting Director

Kim Miller has been selected to assume the role of Acting Director of Continuing Studies.

Kim served as the Practicum Coordinator in the Centre since 2003 where she has enjoyed great success in negotiating student practicum arrangements with partners in local, national and international sites.

Previously, Kim was an academic counselor who worked with nearly 500 students enrolled in the University's Scholar's Electives and Western Scholar's programs, as well as more than 100 students registered in Diploma and Certificate programs offered through the Centre.

"Kim has an excellent understanding of the structure of the university's academic programs and has worked closely with administrative staff in many of the faculties and the university's support units to assure coordination and smooth transitions for students enrolled in Continuing Studies programs," says Roma Harris, Vice-Provost (Academic Programs & Students) [Registrar], adding Miller brings both enthusiasm and energy to this important position.

A practitioner with a strong personal commitment to continuing education, Miller recently completed a Master of Education program in Counseling Psychology. She also presented a poster session about the experience of working with high-achieving students in the Scholar's Electives program at the National Academic Advising Association Conference.

New Post-Degree Programs  

Following last year’s successful implementation of the Diploma in Public Relations and the Diploma in Occupational Health and Safety Management, Continuing Studies at Western is pleased to announce that beginning in 2007, we will be offering the following new Post-Degree Diploma and Certificate programs:

As with all of our academic programs, the success of these new Diploma and Certificates will depend on the quality of our curriculum and the expertise and enthusiasm of our instructional team. If you, or someone you know, has experience in these particular fields and is interested in course development and teaching, please contact program coordinator Cory Saarinen at (519) 661 3658 or csaarin@uwo.ca to discuss potential opportunities.

Continuing Studies is offering a Professional Certificate in Teaching Adult Learners.

The courses in the certificate have been designed to enable registrants to develop practical knowledge and skills for designing and delivering training for adult learners in any capacity. We have reserved two spots in each course for our instructors, free of charge.

Choose from the following upcoming courses:

Virtual Teams and Communities of Practice (Online)
Feb 16 - Mar 1 online only

Teaching with Technology (Online)
Mar 20 - Apr 2 online only

More information is available on the web at uwo.ca/cstudies. Space is on a first-come-first-served basis, so register early. To reserve your space in one of these courses, contact Continuing Studies at 661-3658.

Please note that due to space limitations, you are limited to taking one of these courses per year.

 

These exciting new programs continue on with our commitment to providing innovative
and relevant programming that helps university graduates and working practitioners develop a career specific skill set that complements their undergraduate work and experience, and helps them achieve their career goals.

Click here to find out more
about our Post-Degree Programs

WRITING A SYLLABUS

By Howard B. Altman, University of Louisville and William E. Cashin, Kansas State University

"Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?"
"That's depends a good deal on where you want to get to."...
(Alice in Wonderland, Chapter VI, P 64; Carroll, 1960)

Etymologically syllabus means a "label" or "table of contents." The American Heritage Dictionary defines syllabus as outline of a course of study. We agree that a syllabus should contain an outline, and a schedule of topics, and many more items of information. However, we suggest that the primary purpose of a syllabus is to communicate to one's students what the course is about, why the course is taught, where it is going, and what will be required of the students for them to complete the course with a passing grade.

Most of this paper will list suggestions from the literature about what information might be included in your course syllabus. It is extremely unlikely that you will include every listed. We suggest two criteria in deciding what information to include. First, include all information that students need to have at the beginning of the course; second, include all information that students need to have in writing. We believe that any really important information about the course should be in writing. However, it may be better to introduce some information later in the term, e.g., the details of a required project. To attempt to include every single item of importance in your syllabus is to insure that the student will not read much of it.

To the experienced teacher, probably few of the items listed in this paper are likely to come as a surprise. However, Lowther, Stark, and Martens (1989) found in their interviews with faculty and in their examinations of syllabi that "obvious" items were often omitted. At the very least we hope this paper will provide the reader with a useful organization of what is already known.

In compiling the list of items of information that might be included in a syllabus, we started with the unpublished article by the first author -- an abbreviated version of which appeared in The Teaching Professor (Altman, 1989). We found additional items in other publications (Birdsall, 1989; Lowther, Stark, & Martens, 1989; Millis, no date; Wilkerson & McKnight, 1978). There was surprising agreement about the major areas of information to be included in a syllabus.

Major Content Areas of a Syllabus ... continue reading
Q. I have a class until 10 p.m. and am concerned about walking to my car alone. What should I do?
A. Mall Security is available to accompany you to your vehicle. There is a telephone in the lobby beside the vending machine in the event that you need to call security after the office has closed. Dial 9 to get an outside line, and then call 434-5719. Alternatively, students and instructors may wish to organize a buddy system to ensure that everyone arrives at their vehicle safely.
 

 

 

 

 

Email: cstudies@uwo.ca

Web Site: www.uwo.ca/cstudies

p: (519) 661-3658

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