Discussion
Sections
When you registered for Business X420, you also selected a discussion section. The discussion section is designed to highlight presentations on career planning, job search techniques, and key business skills that everyone should acquire for long-term career success. Although most sessions are taught by our Discussion Leaders, occasionally outside experts or alumni will lead the class.
Besides offering varied topics of interest to all X420 students, these sessions also provide an alternate management track of career information for students who have already secured initial career employment. Students can benefit from the presentations on skills in the workplace such as communication skills, leadership skills, organizational skills, public speaking skills, etc. Other useful topics include how to ace the job performance evaluation, how to dress for success, and what you should know about professional etiquette. More discussion sessions on topics covered in the textbook are also offered.
Each Monday we offer a special career topic session which is strongly recommended for foreign national students.
Career success does not end with successful interviewing.
And on-the-job success depends on continuously perfecting a variety of skills
that could be looked at as portable
skills that you can take with you on different assignments with the same
employer or at completely different employers. What are these skills and how do
you learn them? See the schedule matrix
link in the weekly schedule part of this syllabus for listings of the programs.
You will not be required to attend the discussion
on the evening specified by the Registrar. You are free to attend whatever
discussion session you prefer as long as there is an available seat in the
classroom. The operative rule at these sessions is first-come,
first-seated. When capacity is reached, the instructor will close the doors and
later students who can’t be seated will be asked to attend a different session
in another room or on another evening. Please be considerate of the Discussion
Leaders on this point. You should plan to arrive early to secure a seat. You
will have a
You may choose to use a discussion session as a substitute or make-up when you prefer not to participate in a particular lecture. You have several optional ways to gain course points. How you collect your points to earn your desired grade is up to you in consultation with your Career Counselor.
Content
Each discussion session will have a central topic and a moderator/instructor. Occasionally, the presentation will first center on a short, professionally-produced video segment dealing with some element of career enhancement – either on job search techniques that can be used throughout your career or on skills acquisition during your professional life. Other times it may be a PowerPoint or panel discussion followed by questions and answers. Nearly all sessions will include some sort of hands-on activity. Many seniors that have already accepted employment will probably be more interested in sessions dealing with on-the-job issues, such as dress for success, organization, training, promotions, and leadership issues. The course faculty have tried to incorporate the concerns of all student audiences and are open to suggestions of special topics that students would like to recommend.
Timing
During Week 1 of the class, each discussion session will feature the lecture called “Your UCSO.” This lecture contains very important information about putting together a top quality resume.
Starting with the second week of class, the discussion
sessions will be offered four nights a week with different topics appearing on
different evenings. All sessions will be offered from
These sessions will meet during the times (but not necessarily in the rooms) originally scheduled for the X420 discussion sections. You were asked to sign up for a discussion section time by the Registrar when you enrolled for the course. You will not be limited to the room and evening designated by the Registrar. As your schedule permits you will be able to choose any of the topics on any of the four evenings per week that you want to attend as long as there is available seating.
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Each
session is expected to last the entire 75 minutes. Please
plan to be present for the entire time. |
Seating
The challenge in trying to choose from a large array of possible topics is that the faculty does not know in a given semester which topics will prove to be the most popular. Therefore, we will limit the attendance in each presentation room to those students who arrive in time to occupy one of the seats assigned to that room: first come, first seated.
Students who cannot be accommodated by the regular seating will be asked to attend a different session that evening or another evening. Chairs from other classrooms cannot be brought into the designated classroom due to Fire Marshall regulations.
Activity Credit
At each session students will complete participate in an activity and submit a form based on it. There will also be evaluation questions included at the bottom of the form. You are expected to participate in the discussion! Attendance credit will be given only to students who are seated by the official start time, who listen attentively, and who remain for the entire class period. (Credit will be withheld from students who are engaging in other activities—or catnapping—during class time or for writing inappropriate comments on the activity sheet.) Also, credit cannot be given for attending the same topic more than once.
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Discussion Sessions are available during the first 8
weeks of class only. |
Advance Notice on Topics
The most up-to-date list of individual topics, with dates and classroom numbers, is maintained on the Oncourse website. You are free to attend any of the four evenings offered each week displayed on the Oncourse website.