University of Illinois at Chicago LAS 100

Department of Sociology R. T. Campbell

Fall, 2000 Jessica Carr

How Universities Work

Goals of the Course	This course has two major goals: (a) to teach you a bit about the nature of the major research university in which you are now enrolled, and (b) to teach you how to use its considerable resources.
Instructor Teaching Asst.	Richard T. Campbell, Ph. D. Department of Sociology, Epidemiology and Biostatistics. 4146B BSB; Email dcamp@uic.edu Office Hours: 12:00 - 1:00 Wed. and by appointment Jessica Carr Undergraduate Psychology Major 4146 BSB; Email shimmerjess@worldnet.att.net Office Hours: 3:00 - 4:00 PM Mon. and 12:00 - 1:00 PM Tuesday
Readings	Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom
Assignments	There are three assignments. You will be asked to write one two brief ungraded essays and to do one "activity" which you will report on in class. In addition, you will be asked to schedule a "one on one" appointment with the instructor in the first week of class, and to schedule one "oil check" with either the instructor or the teaching assistant during the week of Labor Day when this class does not meet. More on this later..
Grades	This course is graded on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis. In order to earn a grade of S you must attend class regularly, contribute to class discussion and complete all the assignments.
Consultation	In order to get to know you, I would like to meet each of you privately. During the first class, an appointment schedule will be circulated. Also, a brief survey is appended. which we would like you to fill out.

Regarding the Reading Assignment

Tuesday's With Morrie is a rather unusual book. It deals with a series of conversations between Mitch Albom, a successful sports columnist for the Detroit Free Press, and Morrie Schwartz, who is dying of a neuromuscular disorder ("Lou Gehrig's disease"). Schwartz was Albom's favorite professor. I am asking you to read it because it offers a vision of a student-professor relationship which is rarely if ever found in nature and because it offers a view of what a college professor is all about that you will not have considered before. The book has been a best seller for more than two years. You can buy it at any book store or get it at any library. It costs about $15.00. One thing you might consider doing is buying it and giving it to someone else as a gift.after you are done reading it. You can't do that with your used chemistry book.

Course Outline

Week	Dates	Topic
1	Aug. 21	Introductions, setting up computer accounts, discussion of course.
2	Aug. 28	Library orientation, more on computer resources.
3	Sept. 4	No class, Labor Day; 3000 mile check*
4	Sept. 11	What is a Research University?
5	Sept. 18	What Do Professors do? What did Morrie Schwartz do?
6	Sept. 25	The Structure of UIC/College, Schools etc
7	Oct. 2	Where Does the Money Come From?
8	Oct. 9	Big Time Sports and the University
9	Oct 16	Student reports
10	Oct.23	Student reports

* To be explained in class

Essay Assignment 1(Due in class Aug. 30)

Write a brief essay (750 words max) describing why you decided to attend UIC. Tell us what other schools you considered and what factors led to your decision. As noted, the essay is ungraded, however, it must meet college standards for writing. Essays which are badly written or flawed by numerous grammatical or spelling errors will be returned for rewriting. You must either type your essay or use a word processor. Hand written essays will not be accepted.

Essay Assignment 2 (Due in class Oct. 2)

Find out about a piece of research done at UIC sometime during the past two years. You can locate examples of research by looking up UIC faculty using the internet, buy checking UIC news releases and in various other ways. Write a brief essay describing the research. What was done and why? How was the research paid for? Who benefitted from the research? What else is important about it?

Activity Assignment (Due last two weeks of class)

This activity is designed to teach you something about what a complex university is all about. It is intended to make you dig just a little deeper into the institution around you and find about the people and organizations within it. Please do one of the following.

1. Chose any faculty member in the university (not a teaching assistant) and find out everything you can about his or her work from published sources. What kind of research does he or she do? You can interview the faculty member if you wish, but it is not necessary. If you chose this alternative, please see one of us first, so we can give you some help.

2. Chose any research organization in the university and find out what it does. You will learn more about "research organizations" in class.

3. Chose a university service organization and find out what it does. You will learn more about "service" organizations in class.

4. Take some current controversy in higher education, read about it in newspapers and other sources and provide a discussion of the issues. Here are a few examples:

A. The "Prop. 48" controversy involving athletics.

B. Open versus selective admissions

C. The role of tenure

D. Rules limiting what kinds of speakers may appear on campus.

You can use other controversies, but please clear it with one of us in advance.

5 Find a novel that is set in a university. Moo by Jane Smiley is an example. Provide a brief oral report on the book in class.

6. Propose some other activity to us for our approval.

Please provide us with a brief written statement, just a paragraph or two, indicating what you intend to do for your activity no later than class time on Sept. 11. You can give us your statement via e-mail or in hard copy form. Remember that you are not restricted to the list above; you can do anything you want to. However, if you decide to do something that is not on the list, we need to approve it first.

You can do a written or an oral presentation based on your activity. If you decide to do an oral presentation, you must prepare a ten minute talk on what you did. These presentations will be given in class during the ninth and tenth week. There will be a discussion in class on how to do an oral report. If you decide to do a written report, you must hand it in prior to the end of the ninth week of classes. Your report should be three to five double spaced pages long. Hand written assignments are not acceptable.