Course Syllabus

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Course Number: Behavioral Sciences 255:                                                 

                                                  (AODS 73348; PSYC 73349; SOC 73350)

Instructor: Sandra Graves, Ph.D., LMFT

Phone: (442) 444-0255 (cell phone primarily for texting)

Email: sgraves@palomar.edu

Virtual Office Hours: Mondays 9:00 am until 10:00 am, Tuesdays 8:00 pm until 9:00 pm, Thursdays 9:00 am until 10:00 am

Please read this syllabus carefully, to ensure that you understand the course schedule, policies, and procedures. There will be a quiz to ensure you have read the syllabus. A printable copy of the syllabus.

Instructor Objective

          It is my goal to create an environment that is supportive of the goals and objectives for this course for every student.  I will strive to communicate effectively and with respect.  I will endeavor to engage each of you in the process of learning through my use of case vignettes, personalized videos, participation in class discussions, timely feedback on assignments, periodic announcements, and by providing you with opportunities to participate in video/audio chats. I have designed this course to meet the requirements for your certificate program and to provide you with hands-on experiences similar to what you will be required to do in your field experience internship and later as a Certified Chemical Dependency Counselor. I intend to conduct this class with a passion for the subject matter and commitment to the standards noted below so that every student leaves with the foundation and knowledge of case management and the laws and ethical standards that guide this field. My #1 goal in the course is to see you become successful.

Student Learning Outcomes

Successful students will be able to:

  1. Describe the interdisciplinary approach to addictions treatment and discuss its value.
  2. Describe the components of a treatment plan; problem-solving models and processes;
  3. Identify the ways screening for psychoactive substances is performed.
  4. Describe the managed care and continuum of care concepts and the implications for client services.
  5. Identify the current DSM diagnostic criteria for substance use disorders.
  6. Evaluate commonly used assessment instruments. Determine which instruments are sensitive to age, developmental level, culture, and gender.
  7. Identify the addiction counselor's limits and scope of practice.
  8. Identify legal and ethical issues encountered in the client treatment process.

  9. Evaluate a case history of a presenting client to include screening, assessment and treatment planning, aftercare and follow-up.

Textbooks and Publications Revision     Stop Sign

I have eliminated the textbook that was originally required for this semester's course. There is no required textbook for this course. There are two recommended texts, but they are both optional. You will not be held accountable for gaining information from either text unless that same information is made available by supplemental readings, slides, lecture, or video recording. While this book was not terribly expensive, I understand that living on a student's budget is not easy. I also understand that you may have other courses that may require expensive textbooks. Thus, I have made the decision to make the previously required textbook, optional.

Supplemental Reading Sources/SAMHSA and National Institute of Drug Abuse Publications (these are all free to download)

          You will have short reading assignments in the various publications above. Each of these publications can be downloaded from the noted web addresses. In some cases, a hard copy of the publication is available for free. I would recommend downloading and saving each of the resources above and keeping them as a professional library for the future. There are additional publications in the TIP/TAP Series that we will not be utilizing in this course that you might find useful.

Series: TIP Series - Treatment Improvement Protocols (TIPS)

Series: Technical Assistance Publications (TAPs)

Suggested/Optional Purchase:

Finley, J. R. & Lenz, B. S. (2005). The addiction counselor's documentation sourcebook: The complete paperwork resource for treating clients with addictions, (2nd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons

Berton, Jennifer D. 2014. Ethics for Addiction Professionals, Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons

Other supplemental information and documents will be provided during the course.

If You Need Help

          If you need help with any aspects of this course, please ask for help. If you are struggling with understanding the course material or keeping up with the pace of this course, please let me know right away so we can address your needs, not later when you are so far behind that your options are limited. There are many resources available to help you with any of the challenges you may face. Palomar College has excellent tutoring and counseling services available. Do not hesitate to use these support systems! Please let me know if you need help in these areas.

          The beauty of being an instructor at a community college is that I get to work with such a diverse group of learners. You differ from age, life experiences, ethnicity, gender, prior educational experiences, interests, family makeup, and responsibilities.  Many of you are working either part-time or full-time while you attend college and juggle family responsibilities.  I am very aware that as an adult learner you can be faced with sudden circumstances that make meeting your academic responsibilities difficult. Please call me if such is the case. We will figure out some acceptable solution. I am committed to your successful completion of this course.

Would you like to be able to read your course materials offline? Read "How do I view course content offline as an ePub file as a student?" 

Discussions and Confidentiality

          You will be expected to participate in discussions and group projects in a respectful manner.  Communicating with respect means that you will not make judgmental statements or attempt to impose your beliefs or morals on other members of this class. You are expected maintain the confidentiality of any personal information other students disclose during this course, just as you would with a client.

Participation  

          Participating in class is a very important aspect of this course.  This course is 16 weeks long (17 weeks but off for a week at Thanksgiving). You are expected to turn in assignments and participate in discussions twice a week. Most weeks, one activity (discussion, quiz, graded lesson) will be due on Wednesdays (by midnight) with the bulk of the weeks work due on Saturday by midnight. Attendance and participation in an online course are vital, are achieved not just by a student logging into the course, but by completing assignments that indicate you are active in the course and making progress toward course completion.  You are expected to participate in discussion board posts and replies as well as complete written assignments, quizzes, and exams to demonstrate your attendance, participation, and achievement in the course. 

Course Points Available Per Unit (Subject to minor changes)

       Unit                    Points

Unit Orientation           35

Unit 2                           95

Unit 3                           87 plus 300 (Biopsychosocial Report,150- Due 10/28) & (ASI Report,150- Due 11/28)

Unit 4                           90

Unit 5                           95

Unit 6                           95

Unit 7                           50

Final Project                200

Total                           1047

Requests for Re-grading

          If you do not agree with the grade you receive in any particular exam or assignment, you must submit in writing the reasons for the request for re-grading to the instructor via email. Please place “Request for Regrading” as the subject of your email. I reserve the right to regrade the entire exam or assignment, which may raise or lower the initial grade earned.  To ensure a fair reassessment, requests for re-grading must be submitted in a timely manner (i.e. within two weeks of a disputed grade).

Questions About Grades

          There should be very few questions regarding "what you grade is" as Canvas keeps track for you of your grades on each assignment and your grade "to date". Grades can be accessed by clicking on the "Grades" button on the left of the Canvas page. I will do my best to grade assignments quickly. Quizzes are graded immediately after completion. If you wish to repeat a quiz in order to improve your grade, you have two chances to take each quiz with the best of the two grades standing.

Writing Standards

          Unless otherwise requested, a cover page is not needed for any written assignments. Make sure your name appears in the upper left-hand corner of the first page of the assignment along with the title of the assignment. For example:

John Smith

Biopsychosocial Assessment

The format for all written assignments turned in as a word doc, Docx. or pdf are as follows:

  • 12 point, Times New Roman or Arial font including headers,
  • Double spaced unless instructed otherwise
  • Consistent use of headers and no excessive space between paragraphs,
  • Margins are 1 inch on all four sides of the paper,
  • If a Header ends up at the bottom of a page (referred to as an ‘orphan’), move it to the top of the following page.

          For the major written assignments in this course, you will be provided with a sample copy for your review, so you will know exactly how your paper's formatting should appear prior to turning it in for grading. In some cases, I will offer you the opportunity to turn in a completed draft of an assignment for my review (well in advance of the due date). I will read your draft and return it to you with comments on what revisions you might want to make prior to turning in your final assignment.  I want you to be successful in this course!

          When writing, please be aware of run-on sentences, poor grammar, misspelled words, and inappropriate punctuation. Try to avoid "redundancy"(using the same word or phrase over and over again). Proofread your document before you submit it. This is a reflection of your ability to communicate in a professional manner, an important aspect of being a case manager and counselor. I will deduct points for writing errors. If this is an area of deficit for you, my letting you slide will not improve your writing. The tutoring department will be happy to help you improve your written communication skills.  If I receive a paper that is difficult to read because of multiple errors, I will return it to you for correction. If it is turned in again after the original due date, it will be graded as late. On the other side, I encourage you to turn in a “draft copy” of any written assignment early so that I can provide you with feedback, allowing for correction of errors prior to the due date. I will accept “drafts” of assignments up to one week before the due date. Writing Resource: Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Purdue University

Dishonesty and Cheating

           This topic is covered thoroughly in the policies portion of the orientation unit--listing all the potential negative consequences you will earn if caught cheating. I want to talk about intrinsic consequences. Integrity--how much do you value yours? My integrity is one of the most precious possessions I have. Likely every student is tempted at some time to take what may seem the "easy road" to a good grade on a quiz or a paper. But most, I would argue, talk themselves out of cheating and settle down and gather their resolve to just doing the work. 

           You should be here for more than a grade. I hope you are here for an education. For those of you, most of you who intend to go on into some form of the counseling profession, you owe it to your future clients to learn every possible thing you can learn, both inside and outside of the classroom. If you had to have surgery to remove a tumor from your brain, would you want a doctor who was satisfied with "doing the minimum to get by", maybe she/he cheated to pass a few quizzes and plagiarized a few papers? Or would you want the doctor who worked his/her butt off to be the premier student in their graduating class? Don't your future clients deserve the best? You and your clients will have to live with the consequences of "taking the easy road."

Missed Assignments, Quizzes or Exams

          Assignments that are not turned in on the date due will not receive full credit. If they are not turned in within a week from their due date they will not be accepted and will receive a zero.  Please plan your time accordingly.  Quizzes completed after the due date will only be considered for credit in the case of "documented emergencies." 

Course Final

         The final project for this course is "still under construction."  What I will tell you is that it will be worth 200 points and will involve an oral presentation via online technology. Your grade will be based upon the content of your presentation, not how great a speaker you are. The purpose of the final will be to provide you with a "real-life" experience of a clinical case presentation. In your internships and in your professional career, you will have situations where you will be asked to provide a clinical summary and update on a particular client to the other members of a treatment team. The final will replicate that experience. I may offer this as a face-to-face final "experience" on campus for those of you interested in doing this presentation in that format as opposed to a video conferencing format. 

Grading

          Your grade in this course will come from your participation in discussions, from quizzes, and various written assignments in each unit of this course including the Orientation Unit. At present, I do not have any planned tests. One thing that would lead to my adding tests to the course would be cheating. If I become aware of a significant problem with student dishonesty, I will add tests to this course.

A

 100 %

to 90 %

B

< 89 %

to 80 %

C

< 79 %

to 70 %

D

< 69 %

to 60 %

F

< 59 %

to 0   %

 Course Schedule 

          This course runs from 8/21/17 until 12/16/17 with the week of Thanksgiving having no classes (no assignments due for online). The final will be the last week of the course. A copy of the Palomar 2017-2018 Academic Calendar is available below Unit/Module 7 in an "8th" module being used to store useful information for your convenience.  The following Course Calendar is subject to minor changes.

 


 Construction

    Below Still Under Construction!

 

Course Summary:

Date Details Due