Week 4 Mini Session Overview and Back Pocket Strategies

Group Member Bill of Rights and Responsibilities
 Participants have the right and responsibility to select meeting times and locations that are convenient for all members.
 Participants have the right to contribute to the formation of group goals, the dividing of the work among group members, and the setting of deadlines.
 Participants have the right to expect all group members to do their fair share of the work and participants have the right to confront group members who are not doing their fair share in a respectful and professional manner.
 Participants have the responsibility to complete the work assigned.
 Participants have the responsibility to be an active participant in the group process. And participants have the right to expect active participation from other group members.
 Participants have the right to expect feedback from the group on work participants complete for the group and participants have the responsibility to provide constructive feedback on the work of other group members.
 Participants have the right to expect group meetings to begin and end promptly and that the group will follow an agenda that outlines the tasks it expects to accomplish during the meeting. Participants have the responsibility to help the group fulfill these expectations by getting to meetings on time and helping the group develop and follow the agenda.
 Participants have the right to participate in a group that works cooperatively and handles disagreements constructively.
 Participants have the right to ask group members to limit the amount of time devoted to socialization or the discussion of extraneous topics. Participants have the responsibility not to engage in excessive socialization or to bring up extraneous topics. Participants have the responsibility to help the group stay on task.
 Participants have the right to expect that group members will listen to participants respectfully and participants have the responsibility to listen to all group members respectfully.
Adapted from a study group bill of rights developed by D. G. Longman and published in The Teaching Professor, 1992, 6 (7), 5.
 Students have the right to be aware of and protect their own grades, even if that means doing a project by oneself.
 Group members have the right not to "wait" or be "held hostage" by an absent member. No matter what, the group work must move forward on schedule.
 The instructor / facilitator has the responsibility to monitor groups and ensure lost members are found and have a plan in place.
 Groups have the responsibility to keep the absent member in the communication loop, but not to wait for him/her to show up. The students who "show up" have the right to control the project.