Part Two: Course Completion

Directed Readings Supervisor

An important feature of an Athabasca University course is the directed readings supervisor. It is the directed readings supervisor's responsibility to help students complete the course successfully. A letter containing your directed readings supervisor's name, address, and telephone number was mailed to you shortly after you enrolled in HSRV 433: Directed Readings: Topics in the Human Services. If you have not received such a letter, please contact the Learning Services department by calling (780) 675-6196 as soon as possible.

Your directed readings supervisor has excellent academic qualifications and is committed to helping students learn at a distance. He or she is available to answer your questions about course content or how to approach your research. The directed readings supervisor may also be able to direct you to the correct person or department to help you with other problems that may be hindering your progress in your course or program. In addition, your directed readings supervisor will be responsible for marking your written work for the course. You may call your directed readings supervisor, collect, from any point in Canada or the United States, during hours set by mutual agreement, or leave a message on the directed readings supervisor's voice mail or email at any time.

You are advised to call your directed readings supervisor as soon as you receive the course materials, and then get into the habit of phoning regularly, either when you would like to discuss something you have read, or when you run into any special problem.

The directed readings supervisor is the person with whom the student negotiates a detailed learning contract once the program coordinator has accepted the prospective student's directed reading proposal. During the development of the proposal the student and coordinator may already have a directed readings supervisor in mind. However, the role of the directed readings supervisor begins formally only after the student's application to be admitted to the course has been successful, and the program coordinator gives written permission for the student to register in the course.

Once registered the directed readings supervisor is responsible for overseeing the student's progress in two stages. First, the directed readings supervisor works with the student, providing advice concerning the scope and content of the learning contract which is to be completed within two months of the start date of the student's registration in the course. Second, the directed readings supervisor provides written and oral feedback on the preliminary research proposal, the literature review and the research paper, which are the required written work for this course. Variations to this scheme of evaluation can be made by means of the learning contract, with the approval of the program coordinator.

Should the case arise that the student or the directed readings supervisor cannot complete the learning contract as originally agreed to, one or both of them is to contact the program coordinator.

When mailing an assignment to your directed readings supervisor, be sure to attach a supervisor-marked exercise form, and to keep a copy of your written work, in case the original goes astray in the mail. Please allow several working days, in addition to mailing time each way, before you expect to receive the graded assignment. Your directed readings supervisor will be pleased to provide additional feedback over the telephone or on email; be sure to mention any questions you have about the assignment or the grade.

Keep your directed readings supervisor's letter of introduction with your course materials, and, for quick reference, use the space provided below to record information on your directed readings supervisor.

Directed readings supervisor's name:

Address:

Telephone number:

Contact hours:

In contacts with your directed readings supervisor, or in any correspondence or other contact with the University, you may be asked to provide your student ID number. Record this number in the space provided below. Your student ID number will expedite the processing of requests, grades, and administrative matters.

Student ID number: