Career Navigation

Kent State University

SPRING 2017
Bowman Hall 110
TUES & THURS / 1:10pm 2:00pm

Instructor: Evan Faidley

Office: 411 White Hall or

Exploratory Advising Center (Center for Undergraduate Excellence Suite 169)
Office Hours: By appointment
Email: efaidley@kent.edu
Phone: (330) 672-3676

COURSE DESCRIPTION
Navigating a career and life planning is highly complex. The course is designed to equip students
with self-awareness, knowledge, and skills useful in decision making about how to use
opportunities to build meaningful futures and how to maintain flexibility and adaptability in a
complex work environment. Students learn how to balance planning with uncertainty and navigate
a lifetime of meaningful occupational realities. Through experiential activities, discussions, and
reflective exercises students gain self-understanding and connect academic opportunities to careers
and narrow down specializations in career fields in order to select a major or evaluate career
changes.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Upon successful completion of this course, students will:
1. Respond to the Career Construction Interview questions to identify and describe their life
themes related to career development.
2. Adopt an expanded definition of career as encompassing all life roles across the life span.
3. Use the language of Hollands Typology to explain their personal preferences and preferred
work environments.
4. Make connections among life themes, interests, preferred environments, and academic and
occupational choices.
5. Synthesize course content in order to construct a Success Formula.
6. Identify major and/or occupational options that would enable them to implement their
Success Formulas and vocational self-concepts.
7. Compare and contrast suitable major and/or occupation options.
8. Explore the complex, dynamic, and unpredictable nature of work.
9. Reflect on personal career related life themes and motivations that influence their decision
making processes.
10. Demonstrate confidence in pursuing consultation, decision making, and authoring their
futures.
11. Learn to avoid overly rigid, narrow, and restricting thoughts when planning ones career
and life.
12. Apply flexibility and adaptability to career and life planning in order to achieve personal
goals.
13. Create a developmental plan and set career related goals.
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COURSE MATERIALS
Title: Career Navigation: Constructing Possibilities
ISBN: 9781680752793
Publisher: Great River Learning
Purchase/Access eBook at http://www.grtep.com

COURSE REQUIREMENTS
Class attendance and college-level writing are expectations for the course, considered critical, and
required to realize the stated learning outcomes and to successfully complete the course.

Attendance and Participation

All content is delivered in class. Students will attend class in order to gain explanations for homework
assignments, to complete in-class assignments, and participate in class discussion, which is vital to the
enrichment of this course.
*Use of cell phones, laptops and other portable devices are not to be used in class, unless otherwise
noted by the instructor for assignment/activity purposes. Use of these devices will result in zero points
for attendance unless otherwise instructed.*
**No attendance points will be earned if more than 10 minutes late to class.**

Contact the instructor if you experience extenuating circumstances that prevent you from attending
class. You should discuss your situation with the instructor, prior to the due date if possible, for any
in-class or homework assignments you may miss due to your circumstances.

Credit for in-class assignments will only be awarded for students in attendance, and these
assignments cannot be made up.

Assignments
Other than in-class assignments distributed in class, the majority of graded writing assignments
are embedded within the online textbook.
*It is with high recommendation that you complete the online coursework on a laptop/desktop
versus the use of a tablet/phone.*

Submitting Assignments
You will submit most assignments within online textbook. Generally, you will prepare your
assignments using Microsoft Word and then cut and paste them into the text box for that assignment
in the E-TEXT.
*The eText will send automated e-mails to your registered e-mail once submitted into the eText; it is
recommended that you retain these confirmations for proof of submission in case of technical issues.*

Assignments are due by the start of class unless otherwise noted by the instructor.

Late Work: All assignments are expected to be submitted by the due date and time. Late work will
be reduced by half the total point value per class session that it is late, and will receive no credit if not
turned in by the second class session after the due date.

Students will also complete in-class assignments and must be present to receive credit for those
assignments.

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Assignment Overview

1. In-text Reflections and Activities (5 points each)

2. In-class Assignments: (10 points each)

3. Short Journal Reflection Papers: (20 points each)

Writing assignment topics will be introduced and explained in textbook reading

assignments, and further discussion of assignments may be discussed by instructor in class.
In-depth self-reflection and examination of life events are necessary for all writing
assignments. You are expected to be thorough and detailed in each writing assignment.
Guidance will be given regarding length (usually 1 paragraph to 1 page). Reflections will
be written with proper spelling, grammar, and complete sentences as directed.

4. Cumulative Assignments (30 points each)

These assignments represent the culmination of progress you have made towards the course
objectives. These assignments will provide you the opportunity to describe and
demonstrate the self-knowledge that you have gained from the course activities. You are
expected to explore the meaning and significance of what you learned about yourself, not
simply reiterate the class activities and/or class discussions. Guidance regarding the
structure and length of these assignments will be provided.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Academic Integrity: As members of the community of higher education, we are all subject to the
standards of academic integrity. Students are subject to the Code of Student Conduct. Using
another persons words, thoughts or ideas without proper attribution is plagiarism and a form of
academic dishonesty. Academic dishonesty is a violation of University policy. All students must
become familiar with and abide by the Universitys policy on academic integrity, which prohibits
cheating and plagiarism. For more information about University policy see the University Policy
Register at https://www.kent.edu/policyreg. Further, I direct your attention to the APA style
manual for a statement on plagiarism and a helpful example of how to paraphrase.

Finally, Indiana University offers a useful guide regarding plagiarism:

http://www.indiana.edu/~wts/pamphlets/plagiarism.shtml.

Quality of Writing: As a college student, it is with utmost recommendation to practice collegiate

writing, which refers to proper use of grammar and sentence structure.
For the assignments in this course, it is intended that you provide detailed responses that are
thought provoking and provide information that will help you and the instructor to construct
meaning from this course.

Excused Absences: To view the Universitys policy on what constitutes an excused absence,
please read it here: http://www.kent.edu/policyreg/administrative-policy-regarding-class-
attendance-and-class-absence.

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 Evaluation
In Text Reflections and Activities (5 points each): 50 points / 10%
(In Text Reflections and Activities will be evaluated for completeness and on-time completion. Full
points will be given for complete/on-time responses. No points will be awarded for partial, late,
or no attempts.)

In Class and In Text Assignments (10 points each): 120 points / 20%
Assigned Assignment Due Date
Class #1 Early Career Dreams 1-24-2017
Class #2 Future Career Autobiography 1 1-24-2017
Class #3 Do You Know Survey 1-31-2017
Class #4b Genogram 2-7-2017
Class #11/12 Individual Meeting 3-10-2017
Class #19 Strengths Interview 4-13-2017
Class #19 Strengths Interview Feedback 4-13-2017
Class #21 O*Net Exercise 4-20-2017
Class #22 Building Your Team 4-25-2017
Class #24 Future Career Autobiography 2 4-27-2017
Class #25 Personal Introduction Presentation 5-2-2017
Class #27/28 Individual Meeting (FINAL) 5-11-2017

Assignments (20 points each): 280 points / 30%

Assigned Journal Entry Title Due Date
Class #3 Current Career Transition 1-31-2017
Class #4b Genogram Reflection 2-7-2017
Class #5 Who Did You Admire? 2-9-2017
Class #6a Favorite Stories from Books/Movies 2-16-2017
Class #7 Favorite Saying 2-21-2017
Class #8 Memorable Recollections & Headlines 2-23-2017
Class #8 Career Interests Game Activity & 2-23-2017
Reflection
Class #9 Favorite Magazines/Ezines/Websites 2-28-2017
Class #9 Preferred Environment 2-28-2017
Class #10 Success Formula 3-16-2017
Class #14 Exploring Majors 3-21-2017
Class #15 SMART Goals 3-23-2017
Class #19 Anothers Viewpoint 4-11-2017
Class #20 Strengths Assignment 4-18-2017

Cumulative Assignments (30 points each): 90 points / 25%

Assigned Assignment Due
Class #8 My Life Part 1 3-1-2017
Class #16 Career Decision Interview 4-25-2017
Class #23 Final: Action Taking I & II 5-4-2017
Attendance Points (5 points per class) = 130 points / 15%_
Total Course Points 670 points / 100%
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BONUS POINTS
In Text Polls [Complete (On-time)] 10 points
(If all polls are completed according the chapter assigned reading timeline, full credit will be
awarded, 10 points for all the polls. If one or more of the polls are not completed on-time per the
assigned reading timeline, then no credit will be awarded.)

EXTRA CREDIT 15 points

Job Shadowing and Informational Interviewing will be introduced during the Career Services
Center visit. You may earn 15 points if you job shadow or complete an informational interview
and related paperwork. All related paperwork must be submitted by finals week.

GRADING SUMMARY
Weighted
Item Available
%
In Text Reflections and Activities 50 10%
In Class/In Text Assignments 120 20%
Assignments 280 30%
Cumulative Assignments 90 25%
Attendance 130 15%
Bonus Points 10 -
Extra Credit 15 -
TOTAL 695/670 100%

GRADING SCALE
A 93%-100% B- 80%-83% D+ 67%-69%
A- 90%-92% C+ 77%-79% D 64%-60%
B+ 87%-89% C 74%-76% F 59% and below
B 84%-86% C- 70%-73%