GAP Semester (GAPS1-CE)

<p>The NYU School of Professional Studies (NYUSPS) Get Ahead Professional Semester (GAP) provides students who have recently graduated from high school with an immersive academic experience in the heart of New York City&mdash;the cultural and financial capital of the world. Students enrolled in this program will participate in a six-week comprehensive learning experience that is designed to give them the competitive edge prior to entering college. The program is specifically designed to sharpen students&rsquo; professional communication skills and to build career readiness by exposing them to a variety of career paths and to the expertise of industry thought leaders. Professional development courses provide the basis for the acquisition of critical skill sets that are valued in the college admissions process and in today&rsquo;s competitive job market.</p><br><br><br><br><p>The content focus will be on three curriculum tracks:</p><br><br><br><br><ul><br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<li>Project Management</li><br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<li>Professional Communication</li><br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<li>Industry Exposure</li><br><br></ul><br><br><br><br><p>An integrated approach will be taken to synergize content and to create a holistic learning experience that grows over a six-week period. Students will be guided in the application of this knowledge through the delivery of individual and group work products. This will culminate with the presentation of an individual Capstone Project presentation by each student on the final day of the program.</p>

This portion of the course will be structured weekly by topics that build progressively on one another. Week 1: NYC (Orient students this unique geographic, socioeconomic place, letting them surprise and delight in the diversity, the grandiosity, the intimacy, the historic and the now, the iconic and the hidden.) Week 2: HAPPINESS (Students consider the foundation of choosing a career, learning to pay attention to their sense of satisfaction, locate their joy, and answer, &ldquo;Do I really like this kind of work/workplace?&rdquo;) Week 3: THE &ldquo;OFFICE&rdquo; (Students develop an expansive notion of the myriad of physical work environments and professional lifestyles that exist.) Week 4: LEADERSHIP (How do you not just attain employment but what are the skills needed to lead, run, direct, and own?) Week 5: INNOVATION (What does it mean to think innovatively and why is it so important? How do you push not just your business, but an entire industry forward?)

In addition to weekly individual and group presentations, the Professional Communications track is split each day between lessons and writing workshops. In the lessons, students will engage in instructor led discussions and activities that support their understanding of weekly topics. Students will review and evaluate mentor texts and will be invited to develop, share, and discuss individually curated mentor texts lists. In the writing workshops, students will craft documents (traditional and multimodal), receive instructor feedback, and work to develop habits of writing and editing. Students will be prompted during writing workshops to draft and revise pieces for individual presentations and will be given time for collaborative writing exercises with their group presentation teams.

This course will provide a framework for understanding and applying the tools, techniques, processes, methodologies, and core knowledge associated with project management. Students will develop the insight and the skills required to be effective as a project participant as well as a project manager. They will be able to successfully characterize the relationship between the project life cycle and the core practice areas associated with a structured project initiative. The content will be delivered through facilitated interactive discussions and in-class group exercises. Each project management session will include at least one practical application of a tool, technique, concept, or practice. In-class work groups were made up of different team members for each week of the semester, to engage in collaborative activities.