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With Fran Northcutt, Honors Adviser, Hunter College of the City University of New York
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Staying Organized
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Our Friend, the Syllabus
HEAD Start
Everything's new and weird and fascinating... can anyone blame you for not paying all that much attention to the syllabuses (or syllabi, if you want to be fancy) your professors are handing out during the first week of class?

HEAD Lines
Even though you know these syllabuses/syllabi are important, somehow they're just hard to take seriously. Maybe that's because a syllabus is just a few pages stapled together, and it looks kind of skimpy next to the stack of huge scholarly tomes you just bought. But try to remind yourself each day of that first week: The syllabus is my friend.

The syllabus is the only friend that will never get you into trouble. And what other friend will give you such direct - and accurate! - insight into the mind of your professor?
  • Is attendance required... or just encouraged? What will really happen if you don't show up (other than the obvious failure to learn the material, be intellectually challenged, mind expansion, etc.)

  • What's the make-up policy: Is this one of those professors who will give you a zero on an exam even if you have a doctor's note? That you were in the hospital? After courageously rescuing 10 people and a cat from a burning building?

  • What level of participation is expected? Is staying awake enough?

  • What are you supposed to be learning in this class, anyway? The answer to this question is usually located in a handy but oft-ignored section called "learning outcomes."
And never underestimate the usefulness of an item at the very top of your syllabus: the correct spelling of your professor's name. Do you know how it feels when someone spells your name wrong? It hurts. Don't start the cycle of pain.

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From Other HEADS
IF YOU WANT TO BE PREPARED for class, print out the professor's notes. Our teachers post their notes online ahead of time. They are just bullet points on the lecture, but I like to print them out, read the corresponding text, and take a few notes on my own before class.

-- LESLIE ROBINSON
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES


I AM AN ACTIVE PARTICIPANT in class discussions; it helps me do better in the course. By voicing opinions or arguments you can bond with your classmates and your teacher while boosting your own participation grade. And, in those classes that require participation, I usually leave the class much more educated about my peers and much closer to my professors.

-- BRIDGET SCRABECK
UNIVERSITY OF ST. THOMAS


Web Resources
For the origin of the word (and an explanation of that tricky pluralization): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syllabus


HoH Tips
  • Program your professors' contact info into your cell phone. Do it today. You'll never know when you'll need it, like when you're in the hospital after courageously rescuing everyone from that burning building I mentioned.

  • Want to get on your professor's bad side? Ask him a question you should already know the answer to. Before you ask a really basic question about the course (like "When are office hours?" or "What textbook do I buy?"), check the syllabus.
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