[Uhuru Hotep] Duration of our summer semester as Dr. Grigg's
indicated is four weeks from June 28th to July 24th.
On June 28th, we'll have our standard parent/student orientation, and that will be another online
virtual experience.
On Monday, the 29th of June, our classes begin and as Dr. Griggs indicated there'll be four
weeks of classes.
Our classes will meet every day, Monday through Friday for four weeks.
Now there are two classes that students will take.
One is called "Research and Info Skills."
It's a one credit class.
And the other is "Strategies of Academic Success," which also is a one credit class.
So, we're looking at four weeks, five days a week or 20 days of class.
And, each day students will take two classes.
So that ends up being 40 classes--40 class sessions---for the online portion of our summer
semester.
For the "Research and Info Skills" one credit class, we are fortunate to have one of the
instructors with us.
Mr. Ameya Ranade, could you speak to that class a bit?
[Ameya Ranade] Sure.
So basically, the class, as the name says, such as, it's that we do more research.
We find sources which could be used for your English writing or for any type of writing.
We'll look at the library website.
We look at the credibility of the sources.
There are two major projects in this course.
One is the ePortfolio, which is like a website creation.
In past, we have used wix.com as our platform to create the website.
So, each student will have their individual website that they can showcase their work,
not just from the summer, but from the fall as well as from the spring.
And basically, they can use the website as their electronic portfolio for employment
purposes as well.
The other project---we call this a capstone project---which is---I don't know if all the
high schools do it, but if you have done in the past, it's like a bibliography---an updated
bibliography.
So, what we will be doing with that project, is that we will be choosing four to five sources.
So, four to five of either, they could be a book.
They could be an article.
They could be a general journal article.
And we will look for their credibility.
We will look for their relevance, the accuracy, the priority, the purpose of the source, whether
it's a current source, and so forth.
And then we will note all the information and we will make a quick bibliography of it.
So, the whole course is developed so that the students get acclimated on how to research
for the sources, how to use their sources correctly and credibly.
Because most of the time, students just go to Google, find the first source, and just
use it, but that's not how normally it's done when you are writing a research paper or a
thesis paper.
So, we get you familiar with how to do the research for resources.
[Uhuru Hotep] The "Strategies for Academic Success" is
essentially a college level study skills class.
We find that most of our high school students who come to Duquesne, particularly those who
come through the Gussin Spiritan Division, may not have had any instruction in high school
on the art and science of how to study effectively.
So perhaps, the most important class in our summer program---at least in my opinion---is
the "Strategies for Academic Success" class, this college study skills class.
And here, such topics as academic motivation, time management, test prep and test taking,
concentration.
We use a technique called the SQ4R, which is a very effective reading study, test prep
strategy all rolled into one.
And the end goal of this class is to provide students with the reading skills, the writing
skills, the learning skills that will enable them to be successful students, not only in
the Gussin Spiritan Division, but just as important when they transfer out of the Division
to their schools of major.
[Vicki Bush] Okay, good morning again.
So, we have a curriculum committee and we are in the planning stages of putting together
the one-week orientation.
As Dr. Hotep mentioned, we'll begin on Sunday, August 9th and run through the 16th.
During that first week, there's going to be a lot of activities planned for you guys to
acclimate you to the University.
Typically, we do this over the five weeks, but we're going to kind of do an accelerated
introduction to Duquesne University and Gussin Spiritan Division.
That first week on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, you guys will be doing some diagnostic testing
inventories.
So, you will be taking the learning and study strategies inventory.
You will have a math assessment.
You also will have a reading assessment and possibly the career assessment that we're
working on.
And one assessment that we created within the Spiritan Division called the self-identified
profile.
We do have some workshops that we're developing for you.
The morning part of the orientation is where you will be doing your testing from around
10:00 AM to 12:00 PM.
And then you would have lunch around 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM.
During the afternoon, we're looking at some workshops---50-minute workshops.
So, you'll have one daily and we're looking at different topics.
We have a FAST program that we do for our incoming freshmen.
So, we're going to do a FAST program for you as one of the workshops.
That kind of covers things that parents and students need to know about your financial
aid and your FAFSA form.
There will be other offices there that can assist you.
During that workshop, we're also looking at the college experience as you transition,
what's expected of you, why do we go to college, and some other things in that particular workshop.
We're looking at some counseling activities and cultural activities for you as well.
So, we'll look at mindfulness.
We'll look at getting to discover who we are, as we kind of step into adulthood.
We will have some departments coming into the workshops.
So, we we'll have Disability Services come in for those students that may have a disability.
Andrew Graf is here so he'll probably speak to that, but we hope to invite him to participate.
I'm going to talk to you guys about our Disability Services.
We will probably have Public Safety come in.
The Psychology Clinic and some other resources.
So, a lot of times when students get the campus, they're having some difficulty with the transition,
so our goal is to help acclimate you to the University and make you as comfortable as
possible while you are here on campus.
And then we have some afternoon cultural activities that we'll be planning for you.
And so, we will introduce you to Pittsburgh and the Cultural District that we have here.
We do have a live and vibrant Cultural District that we will introduce you to.
So, we'll do a walking tour of the city.
We will do a scavenger hunt to get to know the campus.
So, I'll have you going all around campus, getting to know the buildings and, you know,
find some things, taking some pictures.
As Mr. Ranade mention, but doing your "Research and Information Skills" you guys will do it
ePortfolio.
And so, when you do the scavenger hunt, one of the goals is to go around to the different
(spots on) campus to take pictures.
You'll be put in groups to take a group picture and then you have that as a lifetime.
So, 10-, 15-years from now you'll look back at that snapshot and say, "Wow, this was my
first day at campus!"
And you'll have that picture.
And we have some other fun things planned for you during that week.
So, those are just some things that we have in place for you.
We hope it will be exciting and we look forward to meeting you in August.
[Uhuru Hotep] Very quickly--- "University Core English 101:
Thinking and Writing Across the Curriculum" is a class all freshmen students at the University
are required to take.
It's your standard college freshmen English class.
And here, the focus is on what the English department calls, writing arguments, being
able to write persuasively.
This persuasive writing role be encapsulated within the context of essays---research-based
essays---usually three-, five-, and eight-page essays.
The "University Core English 102," you will take in the spring.
The "University Core English 101"you take in the fall.
And the "English 102: Imaginative Literature and Critical Writing" is a course where students
are acquainted with the various tools that are used in literature to critique creative
writing imaginative literature.
And here, we're talking about the tools that students would use, and suppose literary critics
as well, to critique poetry, plays, short stories, and I do believe students will also
be reading a novella or short novel.
Those are two University Core classes, which once again means that every student at the
University is required to complete English 101 and 102.
The "Division Core: Exploring Intercultural Communication" is three credits.
This is a class that's designed to acquaint students with the techniques and strategies
and approaches that will allow them to work effectively across cultures.
It's our understanding that the 21st century American workplace is a culturally diverse
one.
And students need to have skills and approaches that will allow them to work harmoniously
and effectively with people from all backgrounds and cultural backgrounds.
"Division Core: Public Speaking" as the name implies that students will acquire the skills
that will allow them to craft an effective speech.
These speeches will be delivered in class before the other students.
And for the most part, these are three- to five-minute speeches that they will prepare.
"University Core: Basic Philosophical Questions" is perhaps the most demanding course in our
GSD curriculum.
Students will be taking this possibly fall and spring.
And, it's an opportunity to acquaint oneself with the major thinkers in the Western philosophical
tradition, beginning with Plato and Socrates and ending with Kant and Descartes, and possibly
David Hume.
So, it's an overview of Western philosophical thought, from its beginnings with the Greeks
and ending with the Northern European thinkers.
"University Core: Basic Biblical and Historical Perspective" is a class where students have
an opportunity to explore the Christian tradition, particularly the Catholic tradition, as exemplified
in the Bible and other theological works.
The "Division Core: Field Observation 207 & 208" are service learning classes.
Most students, if not all, who graduate from the University are required to take and have
some experience with service learning.
In the case of the Spiritan Division, the service would be delivered within the form
of tutoring for elementary, middle, and high school students.
In "Field Observation 207," students learn how to tutor and the philosophy and practices
of being an effective tutor in the fall term.
In the spring, they have an opportunity to actually work with the elementary, middle,
and high school students either here on campus on Saturdays or after school or they will
have an opportunity to tutor off campus.
And they put into practice some of these skills that they have learned in the "Field Observation
207."
So, that's the hands-on portion of the Field Observation experience.
Once again, tutoring elementary, middle and high school students.
The "Major Course Selection," six credits, that's three (credits) in the fall and three
(credits) in the spring.
And this is an opportunity for students to actually take courses in their major.
So, that constitutes our fall and spring curriculum.
Now, once this curriculum is completed, students are then eligible at the end of spring term---that
will be spring 2021---to transfer from the Division to the school of major.
And lastly, as Dr. Griggs indicated, our students---our Gussin Spiritan Division students---once they
complete the three semesters in the Gussin Spiritan Division, the summer semester, the
fall semester and the spring semester.
They are eligible (for transfer) provided that they have the QPA (quality point average),
which is identical to the GPA (grade point average), necessary they can transfer to their
school of major.
And as Dr. Griggs mentioned, all eight schools here at the University accept Gussin Spiritan
Division students.
So, that completes my portion of the orientation.
Thank you very much for your attention and welcome to Duquesne University.