LP762-L2 WEEK 1

Week 1 Discussion Board Hello Everyone!

Welcome to Week 1 of LP 762. Each week the discussion board of the course will start with a prompt or prompts and students in the course will respond to the initial prompt(s) and then later in the week you are expected to then respond to classmates and take the conversation to the next level.

Given the number of readings in this course, as we move through the semester there will be different prompts assigned to different students (or groups of students--not to work as a group on responses but just there may be more than one person assigned to a specific prompt) so in no one week will a single student be responsible for commenting on every single article and chapter assigned that week.

So, your job each week is to be familiar with all the readings but to specifically do deeper reads on the readings you are specifically responding to as per the prompts. I also strongly recommend that this week you go to ARES on the CANVAS page where all of the articles are posted and you download every single one and just put them in a folder for this course so you have them and then can go back and utilize whichever ones you want to at any time (e.g., for the papers, for other courses, for a consultation down the road). At some point after the course is over the CANVAS system does not allow you access back into the ARES section (not just for this course but for all courses) so this is a good practice to get into as you move through the program.

You may notice that there are a number of articles throughout the course on Impostor Syndrome. If someone comes to a brand new program or jumps to a brand new field and they do not have ANY trepidation or concerns this would be concerning on a whole different level, because of a variety of potential reasons (and we will be exploring the psychological side of this as we move through the course, with an obvious leadership view of things). Feeling a bit overwhelmed in a new situation is common. Change is hard. And exciting. And it is also much easier when you realize that you are not alone. The articles on this topic are there to let you see the research side of the equation and your cohort this semester (and those you are with throughout your time here at WJC) are the people and human side of the equation.

You belong here. You have supports. BUT you have to be able to know when to reach out for help when you need. Cool?

As I say at Orientation, historically there may have been some students who found this course a bit daunting because looking at the syllabus, and hearing from students further along in the program who were trying to freak out newer students by telling amplified

stories about the enormous workload and the scary and challenging professor, it just seemed like too much BUT of course YOU know that you are here to learn and to grow and to be challenged. And you also know that everyone will be pushed to grow and learn in this course (and this doctoral program) because otherwise, what was the point of coming here?

But you do not need to memorize everything or manage it all at once. In no one week on the discussion board will you be asked to write 10,000 words about every single reading. On neither of the papers will you be asked to include 70+ references to readings. All of the expectations for the discussion boards and for the papers are definitely manageable IF you are organized and plan ahead. As already mentioned in different places the "400 word limit" for weekly posting is a department guideline that different professors and courses either follow or do not--I DO NOT. Write what you need to write to say what you need to say. There is NO word limit on posts in this course. Do not worry about counting words, ok? (On the papers, minimum page count does matter, but that is a different issue/conversation)

By the end of Week 1, please make sure you have read the John Smith and Lillyvanian Systems Case (and addendum which is labeled "John Smith and Lillyvanian Systems Background Data")--both are in the Files section of the Canvas course (look to the column on your left)-- AND have read and understand the Paper #1 rubric included in the syllabus. Then, when you have done so, please send me a simple email that says: "Hi Dan. I have read the LP 762 course syllabus, and have also read the John Smith Case materials and the rubric." Students that have done this in the past have historically done better than those who have not done so BECAUSE they realize that as they go through the readings each week it is easier to figure out which ones might fit into certain sections of the rubric and it helps making the paper a much more doable project. If you do not send this email to me at the end of Week 1 you will lose discussion board points.

I am sure I will be talking about all of these things in different places and in different ways (and will likely hold some voluntary synchronous sessions as well--no one will be required to attend them, I understand that you signed up for an asynchronous program--except for certain circumstances such as Orientation and In Residence and specific courses--and will respect that) but I hope that my comments above send a few helpful points to you this week:

*You belong here and we are all glad you are here.

*Planning ahead and being organized will definitely help you with this course and the program as you balance your WJC and outside family/work/other life.

*Learning can be fun and hard and that is ok.

*Reach out when you need support (to me, to your other instructors, to your academic advisor, to the Academic Resource Center) because if you do not tell people you need support, they will not know. And do it sooner than later.

*On Wednesday 9/9/26 at 3:00 pm EST there will be a voluntary synchronous Q & A session with myself and representatives from WJC's Academic Resource Center (ARC) regarding Paper #1 (they are amazing supports and if you can attend, do so). I will record the session and will send a link to everyone afterwards as well. Here is the link:

https://williamjames.zoom.us/j/88226066834?pwd=e6UnpS0yFkhSOb9BM5SuKe9n6Sb Krk.1

Ok. That was a lot from me for the first introduction but hopefully it was helpful. Try to be open to learning what works and keep listening to those in your cohort and you will find you can get much, much, much more out of this program. As I say all the time (having been taught this from one of my favorite past supervisors/mentors, Dr. Harriet Berman): Try to get FROM this program and do not just try to get THROUGH this program. One of the best ways to do that is to fully engage and get involved on as many levels as is possible for you (given everyone's different circumstances).

Ok. Thought I was done but not quite: I highly recommend against taking on new jobs/consultation gigs/extra responsibilities if possible (beyond whatever you are already responsible for and need to do) because there is a lot to do this semester (and beyond) and you are making a huge commitment to be here at this time in your life and adding even more external tasks has historically not been great for students in the past in terms of pressure and distractions. Also, obviously make sure to block out time for loved ones because of how important work/life/school balance is and those times with those we love (I am not just saying "spend time with family" because for some there are family members who are draining and loved ones who are energizing are more of one's "chosen family" and I always vote for as much time with those who energize than those who drain) (but this is a whole different discussion so I think I will leave those comments at that for now).

Ok. That feels like a good start to the semester now.

And now, here are this week's prompt's to start our discussion:

Group 3: Sule, Ashley, and Michael:

*What were the key points in the Burns (Chapter 3) reading that got your attention and made you think the most this week?

*What were the key points in the Bennis reading that got your attention and made you think the most this week?

*What were your thoughts about what Pless, et al. had to say in their article? What did you agree with/disagree with, and why?

*What in the Salehuddin, et al. article "called out to you" and did anything in that connect with the other readings? How so?

(*I will divide up groups/prompts in a bunch of different ways throughout the semester, this just happens to be how I am doing it this week. Remember, you are not working as a group on these prompts, it just happens to be that those in the group you are in are all responding to the same prompts/discussing the same readings. This helps to avoid having every person in the class talking about the same few articles in a given week. Hope that makes sense.)

By splitting up the readings for discussion board purposes in this manner I am not suggesting that you should not familiarize yourself with the other readings and in fact I recommend that you make sure for the journal articles you read all of the abstracts and summaries and figure out which ones have topics you want to do a "deeper dive" on as you go (but find the heart of each of the readings in whatever way works for you the best and then circle back to them, which will be especially important when it is time to write the papers, and consultation reports in the field after that of course). I definitely think you should do the readings from the books as well but it might help you with time management to know what you are responding to on the discussion board in terms of how you plan your readings. My hunch is that as you hear what others have to say about readings your own interests will be engaged and you will hone in on points raised. You cannot respond to someone about a topic if you do not understand the topic. Well, many people do do that but it usually does not go well, even if they think it does. And YOU are better than that and...sorry, I was about to go off on another tangent. Time to end this prompt section.

Welcome to the course, to the program, to the next step in your journey.

I am very glad that you are here.

Please know you can reach out if you have any questions about any of this or anything else.

I look forward to getting to know you this semester.

Thank you.

-Dr. Dan Jacobs