Learning Agreement

Journalism 1110

Instructor: Professor Cathy Stablein

Office: SRC 1560

Office phone: 630-942-2650

E-mail: stablein@cdnet.cod.edu

Student name ___________________________________________________________

Semester/Year __________________________________________________________

Students enrolled in Journalism 1110 (Newspaper Production) get laboratory experience in writing, editing, photography, circulation, advertising and other aspects of publishing the campus newspaper during the regular academic year, or writing news and feature stories for local newspapers during the summer term. Experiences are assigned by the instructor as needed. Course may be taken four times for credit.

Assignments will be covered and written outside of class, sent to the instructor via the official campus e-mail address assigned to students and stored digitally on campus. Stories that are submitted to the Courier student newspaper for publication will be input in the QuarkXPress page layout system for publication. Students must earn their lab credit through non-class time activities that include interviewing sources, attending assigned events and writing. Other laboratory activities that support the operation of the student newspaper may be assigned by the instructor. Total minimum course experience time must equal a combined 30 hours of class and lab work during the regular semester. Because of the specific class objectives, all work must be completed within the semester in which the student enrolls for Journalism 1110. No grades of “Incomplete” can be granted. ALL ASSIGNMENTS ARE DUE BEFORE OR ON THE LAST WEEKDAY OF THE REGULAR SEMESTER SCHEDULE, BEFORE THE START OF THE FINAL EXAMS/CULMINATING ACTIVITIES SCHEDULE.

A. General Course Objectives:

Upon successful completion of the course the student should be able to do

the following:

1. Perform newspaper assignments in a timely fashion for publication

2. Develop newspaper assignments under an editor's guidance

3. Demonstrate a beginning level understanding of the functions of a campus or community newspaper

B. Topical Outline:

1. Story preparation

2. Newspaper design

3. Graphic development

4. Photography

5. Circulation

6. Copy editing

7. Proofreading

8. Advertising

C. Methods of Evaluating Students:

Students will be evaluated on successful completion of their laboratory experience on campus assignments, ability to follow instructor guidelines, and participation in classroom assignment preparation.

D. No textbook or supplementary materials are needed. However, students must

submit their writing in plain text via an assigned campus e-mail address. No

attachments will be accepted. Assignments will be written in many drafts before

final publication in the Chaparral feature magazine at the end of

the semester, except for the Summer Semester when no magazine is published.

E. Course guidelines

The instructor reserves the right to assign and evaluate available laboratory

experiences to meet course standards.

E. Student Rights and Responsibilities

The college Board of Trustees maintains a Student Code of Conduct from Board

Policy 5715 as stated on pages 49-53 in the College Catalog. The Catalog is in

print and available online for reference.

Plagiarism – The college Board of Trustees also maintains Course-Related

Academic Integrity Policy 5050. This is an excerpt from that policy:

Plagiarism occurs when a student uses language or ideas from materials without

acknowledgment and/or when the work is copied from other sources and is

submitted as the student’s own. Examples of plagiarism include, but are not

limited to,

a. Copying a phrase, a sentence or a longer passage from a source and

submitting it as one’s own.

b. Summarizing or paraphrasing someone else’s ideas without

acknowledging the source.

c. Submitting group assignments individually as one’s own independent

work.

Disciplinary action will be pursued in all instances in which it is determined that academic dishonesty has occurred. Disciplinary action may include, but is not limited to,

1) Assignment of a failing grade for a test, examination or assignment.

2) Assignment of a failing grade for a course.

3) Student disciplinary sanction under Board Procedure

F. Students will be required to account for all time spent on course assignments.

While students will average at least 2 hours a week on assignments, including

class, assignments can be spread over a shorter timeframe. Depending on the

length of assignment, students may be asked to write several shorter

assignments or one long assignment to meet class requirements.