Contacting Instructor: Preferred method of contact: I am available most efficiently through Email at all times during the day. All course business will be conducted through email,  phone calls or video calls.  It is HIGHLY encouraged that students check email often, generally daily. Changes made to course content, deadlines, school issues, general announcements will be communicated via email that pertain to the course and to the campus. This is very similar to your career as a counselor. In the real world of clinical work, email is utilized daily. Learning to stay up to date with email now, will serve you well in the field. Professional communication is expected when writing an email. If you are unsure what that entails, please don't hesitate to ask, and I gladly assist you in learning to communicate as a professional.  Note: I will not discuss grades, due dates, course assignments, tests, discussion board assignments via text.

Course Calendar and schedule of assignments All assignments, due dates, in person lecture dates, and other needed information will be in the course calendar or assigned in class. These will be available on the first day of class. All in person courses will meet the first week of class.   

Discussion Board Posting
Forums are made up of individual discussion threads that can be organized around a subject. A thread is a conversation within a forum that includes the initial post and all replies to it. When you access the forum, the thread appears. In most cases, each student must post an original thread and respond to at least two other students by the due date. A requirement of the original post must be at least 3 complete sentences. setting Once a discussion board has closed, you may email me directly for extended time to be approved on a case by case basis.
 Discussion boards are considered professional spaces. Unprofessional communication including slang writing, incorrect spelling, lack of sentence structure, inappropriate or overall bad grammar will be graded and points taken off within discussion board posts. Abbreviations, text language, or other short forms of casual conversation are not generally accepted as professional language. Write your discussion posts as if you were talking to your instructor, a clinical supervisor, CEO of agency, or a probation officer. Instructor may chose to not grade a post based on lack of proper grammar and professional written communication which would result in a 0 for that assignment. 

 Core Rules of Netiquette: Netiquette is a set of rules for behaving properly online. Your professor and fellow students wish to foster a safe online learning environment. All opinions and experiences, no matter how different or controversial they may be perceived, must be respected in the tolerant spirit of academic discourse. You are encouraged to comment, question, or critique an idea but you are not to attack an individual. Working as a community of learners, we can build a polite and respectful course community. The following communication tips apply to all classroom settings or discussion board postings.

 CONFIDENTIALITY/Content Advisory:
It is expected that this class will contain information that at times will be of a personal nature to many students. These classes prepare you for a career in counseling. Some class discussions will deal with difficult and sensitive topics around drug use, alcohol use, consequences of that use and other matters. The topics often lead to personal information being shared in the classroom or online in discussion boards. Privileged information that is shared may under NO CIRCUMSTANCES be repeated or shared outside the classroom. I will be available to any student who wishes to discuss private matters regarding material in class/ If you feel you need professional counseling services, the College has a counseling center available to students, or I can furnish a referral for you.
This is an opportunity for you to learn to operate in a confidential manner. If any student uses personal information shared by any class participant in a manner deemed unprofessional or harmful, it will be considered for disciplinary action within the Department of Allied Health, including possible suspension from the SAC Program.