English

Dear Students,

Welcome Back to Ketchum Hall and the English Department!  As you return to the department this fall, or join us for the first time, here are some things to keep in mind:

Organizing and Planning Your Semester

Please make sure that you are registered for your classes. For returning students, you should have completed your registration in the Spring.  If you have not registered, please do so as soon as possible (registration ends Sep. 6) . In looking through your schedule, please keep the following in mind:

• Make sure that you are taking the correct number of classes. For most students, this is 15 credit hours (5 classes), though for some students 12 credit hours (4 classes) or 18 credit hours (6 classes) are better options. What will be best for you will depend on a number of factors, including your financial aid requirements, work or home demands, etc. If you have questions about this, you should check with your academic advisor.
• Make sure you are taking the right mix of classes. For frosh and sophomore students, your schedule should be a combination of General Education courses and lower division courses in your major. Students in their junior and senior years should be taking mostly upper division courses in their major, with a couple of gen-ed courses sprinkled in. Keep in mind that you need to take a certain number of upper division courses (300 and 400 level courses) to earn your degree. If you have questions, please contact your department advisor (your advisor is listed in your Degree Works sheet).
• Think about minors, certificates, concentrations, or even a double major. For many students, you will have room in your course of study to add an additional program, so explore your options! You need at least 120 credit hours to earn an undergraduate degree, so you should speak with your academic advisor about what kinds of minors, certificates, or even double majors might be good fits for you. While the college offers many options, the department offers minors in Literary Studies, Writing, Film, and English Education, and a certification in Technical Writing.  The college offers interdisciplinary minors in Women and Gender Studies, African and African American Studies, and Indigenous Studies. Other departments, like Philosophy, Art, and Theater also offer minors that have been popular with English Students.
• During the early days of the semester, you should re-acquaint yourself with campus and campus spaces. Find where you want to study during the day (a quiet corner in the library, the study carrels in the fireside lounge in union, etc). Figure out where you can work on assignments, print up papers, get quiet studying/reading done, etc. Refamiliarize yourself with library services like course reserve and interlibrary loan. As you transition back to long days on campus, you will want to find spaces that help you feel connected and productive!
• Remember, we have a student lounge for your use! Our lounge is located in Ketchum 322 and is open during business hours. There are tables, seating and work areas for you to use, and all the books and materials in this room are for student use (feel free to borrow or keep a book if you would like). Please feel free to use this space to study between classes. You can find info on the lounge here: https://english.buffalostate.edu/student-lounge

Prepare for a Successful Semester

We want you to have a successful semester back on campus and excel in your courses. Some early organization will go a long way in helping you do this. Here are some tips for creating some good organization systems to help you succeed.

• Make sure you have all the books you need for your courses! Check the book requirements through the bookstore's website (https://buffalostate.bncollege.com/shop/buffalostate/page/find-textbooks). For courses that offer more than one section, please make sure you are choosing the correct CRN number. You cannot succeed if you do not have the course materials!
• Create a file system for your work early--how and where you organize your assignments for your classes--and make redundant copies of your work. Save your files to your computer, to an online file storage system (like Google docs or Dropbox), and to a thumb drive. Make sure you are backing everything up weekly! Setting up your file organization system early will make organization easier once the semester begins.
• If your classes ask you to do work like discussion posts/journals/blogs, etc. that you submit through Blackboard or a web interface, consider writing your work in a word processing program, and then cutting and pasting it into Blackboard. This keeps a record of your work, and you will not lose the work if the browser freezes, the Wi-Fi goes out, etc.
• Check your Buffalo State email regularly! This is how we will communicate with you, so you need to check a few times a day.

Understand your course requirements/expectations

When the semester begins, make sure to print out a copy of your full syllabus, including all of the policies, grading scales, etc. If your professor is using Blackboard, take time the first week of class to go through the entire course and course materials. Here are some good practices to get into:

• Carefully read your syllabuses in their entirety. Understanding what is in the syllabus—the policies, grading criteria, the grading scale—is key to your success. This is the document of record for the class, so it is important that you understand what is being asked of you, including what format your work needs to be submitted in, etc. It is helpful to actually print all of your course syllabuses, so you can make notes on them. If you have questions, jot them down on the syllabus and ask your professor for clarification.
• Understand your professors’ policies about things like attendance, late work, submission policies, etc. Also make sure, if you are doing sessions over zoom or teams, what your individual professor is requiring in terms of participation, camera activation, etc.
•  Calendar all of your assignments. Physically write out when your assignments are due (including the times). Include both smaller assignments (like weekly responses or journals) as well as big projects (like papers, exams, group projects). This will help you easily see what is due when, so you can plan accordingly. We recommend using a physical planner for this. The bookstore has academic weekly pocket planners for about $6.00. If you do not want to buy a planner, many websites offer free printable PDF downloads that you can staple together or paste into notebook. Most word processing programs, like Microsoft Word, have free planner templates, and you can find many templates online. We like the following:
  • https://daydesigner.com/collections/printable-library
  • https://passionplanner.com/collections/free-downloads
• Schedule enough time for big projects. Keep in mind that for big projects and papers, you should be preparing drafts and revisions in order to produce the best possible work. Please give yourself enough time to do this. We strongly recommend you use our Writing Center, which is taking virtual appointments, as you work on your drafts and revisions. You can find info on the writing center here: https://academiccommons.buffalostate.edu/writing-center
•  Make sure you are citing information correctly. Improper citation can lead to academic misconduct charges, failing the course, and expulsion from the college. You can review the academic misconduct policy here: https://academicstandards.buffalostate.edu/misconduct

Communicating with Faculty

We are happy to respond to your questions and concerns. If you are having trouble in a course, if you are confused and need clarification, or if you just have a question, we encourage you to reach out to us! All of your faculty keep weekly office hours for students, and all of us check our email regularly during the academic year; we are here to help you. Below is some general tips and advice:

Quick Questions:

If you have a quick question about something (an assignment, due date, or policy) the easiest way to address it is usually to just send your faculty an email. Before you contact your faculty member, however, you should:

• Check your syllabus to see if the information is provided there (be sure to check the policies, as well as your course schedule)
• Check any/all of the other course documents your faculty member has provided, such as assignment descriptions, guides, rubrics, etc. Look through all the folders and areas in Blackboard for this information.
• Check discussion board posts, Blackboard announcements, etc. as your question may have been answered there.

If you have gone through all the documentation provided for your course, and still cannot find an answer to your question, by all means, contact your faculty member for help!

When contacting your faculty member, keep the following in mind:

• Use your Buffalo State email, not your personal email, as this makes sure your message does not end up in our spam folders.
• Contact your professor using the method they have provided—usually their Buffalo State email. Messages that are sent through Blackboard do not get forwarded so these may be missed.
• If your faculty member provided rules or guidelines for sending email, follow them.
• Remember that email is professional communication and should be treated accordingly. Include a relevant subject line (including the course you are in). Spell check your email. Use a proper greeting and signature. OWL at Purdue has a good resource for how to do this: https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/academic_writing/email_etiquette_for_students.html
• Think of email in terms of business hours and give plenty of time to respond. If you send an email on Monday at 9am about an assignment due that Friday at 5pm, you likely have plenty of time to get your question answered. If you send that same email on Friday at 8am, there is less chance that you will get your response in time. If you have an assignment due in the morning, do not wait until the night before to email your professor.
• If you do not get an immediate response, be patient. Remember, just like you, professors are juggling classes, family and home life, etc. We will get back to you as soon as we can.
•  If it’s been a few days and you have not heard back from your faculty and your question has not been answered, send a polite follow up email.
•  If this still does not address your concern, email the English Department at english@buffalostate.edu and we will try to help.

If you need help with something that is more extensive that a quick question, then it is probably better to attend your faculty’s Office Hours or set up an appointment.

• Office Hours are times we set aside every week exclusively to meet with students. Our office hours are posted on the course syllabus, on your faculty's office door, and can be found here: https://english.buffalostate.edu/faculty-office-hours. Please do your best to use office hours if you have questions, concerns, or need additional feedback or help. For most faculty, office hours function on a drop in basis—that is it is a time when any student may pop in to chat with them. As such, it could be the case that you stop by office hours and other students are already there.
• Appointments are another option for meeting with your faculty. If you need to meet privately without other students dropping in, or if you are unable to make your professor’s office hours, you should ask to make an appointment. When contacting your faculty to ask for a meeting outside of regularly scheduled faculty office hours, provide 2-3 possible meeting times when you are available. Please keep in mind that different faculty have different standards for appointments. For some faculty, if they set time aside exclusively for you in their calendar, and you do not show up, they may count it as an absence, etc. Make sure you understand, or ask for your faculty’s standards when asking for an appointment.

Other things to be mindful of:

• Check out our department Social Media on Facebook and YouTube for updates on department activities and news. Our YouTube channel hosts our virtual events such as the virtual Drop Hammer readings.
• Make sure you are checking your email regularly (a few times a day). If a class is cancelled, if there is a weather emergency, or if your faculty need to communicate something to your class, this is how it will be done.
• As the semester begins, keep in eye out for reading series, film series, student group meetings, talks, etc. We are happy to be able to host these on campus again!