Ten Do's and Don'ts of Communicating with Instructors

1. DO ask the instructor how s/he prefers to be addressed.  This is respectful and demonstrates professionalism on your part.  While some prefer you to address them by first name, others prefer you to use their title, such as Doctor.
   
2. DON'T be offended if the instructor prefers to be addressed in a way that is different (more or less formal) than you are used to.  This is simply a personal preference that may stem from professional background, experience, and/or culture.  A preference for you to use a formal title, such as Doctor, before their name, does not indicate the instructor believes s/he is better than you or that that s/he doesn't like you. 
   
3. DON'T refer to instructor as "hun," "honey," "dude," or other informal term of endearment.  It is generally not appropriate in the context of school and/or work, even if you consider it friendly or harmless.  
4. DO read the syllabus.  A syllabus is usually provided or made available the first week of class.  It often includes essential class information, like the  learning outcomes, instructor contact information, class grading scale, and assignment deadlines.
5. DO find out if and how you are expected to inform instructors of absences in advance (especially during important deadlines).  This may be explained in the syllabus.
6. DO take note of instructors' office hours, office location, phone number and email so you can contact them  if you need to.
7. DO use your official school email account.  This provides a record for you and the instructor to keep track of communications with dates and times.
8. DO include enough information in any phone message for the instructor to return your call.  Include your name (and if applicable student I.D. number), short message, and return phone number. 
9. DON'T expect instructors to be at their desks waiting by the phone to return your calls and emails, when they are not in class.  They often have other commitments (such as other classes, research and meetings).  They also may have periods where they are off contract (if they are not full-time, full-year staff).  For instance, they may be off during winter, spring and/or summer break.
10. DON'T wait until the day (or hour) before a deadline to ask for help.  Pay attention to course deadlines and the school's academic calendar of important dates. 

How to start college at COCC in 3 easy steps

Watch this fun short video: Starting COCC Fall Term - 3 Easy Steps

Go to www.cocc.edu, select "Apply to COCC" quick link

Step 1:  Complete application online
Step 2:  Schedule placement test (or submit college transcripts if previously attended college somewhere else)
Step 3:  Reserve a seat in New Student Advising (accepting reservations online starting June 18th).

If you are transferring from another college with 20 or more credits OR you have additional questions about placement test or academic advising- call 541-383-7200).

(TIP:  See the financial plan page to learn how to apply for financial aid.  Start your financial aid application for free.  It takes at least 8 weeks to process your financial aid application so start the application as soon as possible - even if you are still just considering attending college).

Cramming 101 - Six Tips for Success

 
1.  Schedule study time (and exam dates) on your calendar

2.  Communicate ahead of time with friends, family and co-workers about your finals schedule and study commitments

3.  Break down study time into tasks you want to accomplish

4.  Prioritize items you need to review first

5.  Don't procrastinate—Get started early

6.  Recharge with nutritious food, water, short breaks, and rest

 

Big transportation savings for COCC students

Do you need a little help commuting to COCC?  Maybe your transportation is unreliable, or you want to support alternative commute options for environmental reasons, or you just like being able to surf the web on your smart phone while someone else drives.  Whatever your reason, as a COCC student, you may purchase Cascade East Transit monthly passes at deep discounts.  Interested?  See this COCC web link for more information:  Discounted CET Bus Passes.

Questions about the CET bus routes or policies, contact Cascades East Transit online or by phone at 541-385-8680. For questions about availability of the passes or the student discount, please call the office of Student Life at 541-383-7590.

Are you are a student attending another college?  Inquire about transportation options and student discounts through your college (office of student life or similar department).

Useful Stuff: 

See this link for a few tips on making the most of your time commuting:   Better commuting - publicly transporting

Fun Stuff:

Interesting information about Generation Y (called the "Internet generation", nexters, or millennials) and some findings about growing preferences for public transportation.

• Useful Commute:  Managing Generation Y (Listen to the podcast)
•  Generation Y is Rejecting the Auto
•  Why Generation Y is Causing the Great  Migration of the 21st Century

Simplify checking your email

Do you forget to check your school email account on a regular basis?  Have you checked it lately?  Official communications and important messages may be waiting for you.  Rarely does our college send letters home through "snail" mail (that is paper mail), even for important communications (like academic warnings or cancellation of courses).  Its recommended you check your COCC email at least twice a week.

Do you have another email account you check more often?  Do you have an email account you check by phone?  Simplify checking your emails and have all your COCC email forwarded to the email account of your choice.  For instructions on how to set up email forward, follow this link:  Forwarding your email or ask a computer lab attendant to help you during computer lab hours.  

Forwarding your emails is easy!

8 Pitfalls of Online Learning

According to a recent article in the Chronicle of Higher Education, Community-College Students Perform Worse Online Than Face to Face.  As an academic advisor in a community college, I have observed many factors that contribute to online disaster for students. I also have first-hand experience with the challenges of online learning, as a previous student of multiple online courses.  Here are a few tips to help you avoid common mistakes in online learning:

Top 8 Pitfalls of Online Learning:

1.  Underestimating Time -  Students who take online classes because they do not have time to attend a classroom-based course, will likely not have time for an online course either.  A common misconception is that online courses will require less time.  However, chances are you may actually log more hours in an online class in order to be successful, since there may be more reading requirements. The benefit of taking an online course is not that it will take less hours, but that it allows you flexibility to choose where to fit the hours in your daily/weekly schedule.

2.  Technology-  You need to have appropriate technology equipment and computer skills to excel in an online environment.  If you have trouble in either of these areas, you will struggle in an online environment.  Fortunately at COCC, students must take a free online orientation before they can register for online courses.  This assists the student in learning the basic structure of an online course, as well as check their equipment for compatibility.

3.  Reading Intensive - You need to be a good reader and enjoy reading to do well in an online class.  If this blog post is daunting, online learning may be as well.  Many online courses are reading intensive and although online course formats vary widely, they tend to be more text based as a whole.  Its helpful if your learning style preference leans in this direction.  To find out more about your preferred learning style see my earlier post on learning styles.

4.  Structure/Organization- The attractiveness of an online course is usually the flexibility it allows students. However, this flexibility also causes difficulty for students who are not skilled in organizing/structuring their time so they can meet deadlines in a timely manner.  Although you are allowed some flexibility within a given time period to accomplish deadlines, it is critical you have good time management skills and the ability to breakdown your workload into manageable parts.

5.  Accountability - Students must be highly accountable in pacing themselves to keep up with deadlines or they will quickly find themselves buried in school work.  Traditional classroom-based courses also tend to provide more opportunity for outside accountability due to regular face-to-face points of contact.  Its more difficult to procrastinate assignments when you have regular class attendance.  The combination of flexibility in schedule and low face-to-face contact is sure fire disaster for those who are prone to procrastination. 


6.  Isolation - Depending on how the online course is structured, online learning can be a bit isolating.  Its easy to fall through the cracks, if you are not proactively engaging in online discussions, seeking information and asking for help.  In a traditional classroom, there are also usually some "hogs and logs," or those who dominate conversation/learning and those who do not contribute at all.  In this respect, online classrooms are no different, except that it can be a little easier for you to disengage and become a "log" when people are not face-to-face.

7.  Distractions - Its difficult for students (and their families/supervisors) to separate home/work from school when everything is happening in the same space.  Traditional classrooms rarely have young children crying, customers calling, doorbells ringing and other distractions happening at the same time.  In an online course, all of these distractions are real and valid for students.  You appear "accessible" when you are physically present to others.  You may also feel pressure to complete necessary home/work tasks because you are there.  You will do better in online courses if you have set uninterrupted times to focus on school and others are supportive of those set aside times.

 
8.  Supports - Student supports, such as free tutoring or faculty office hours, may be lacking or feel less accessible because they are not physically present.  You may have to work at accessing student supports, but they are often still available to you in ways you may not have thought about.  An instructor may have Skype support available during office hours - allowing you to ask questions face-to-face over the internet or offer chat room hours for discussions and questions. Find out what supports are offered to you in alternative formats and/or traditional services that may still be offered to you (such as tutoring on campus).

Avoid Traffic - Take the Registration Shortcut!