Course policies
<>Laptop
use >
If
you wish to bring a laptop, please keep
it closed until there is “tops up”
time for writing a few notes to yourself or there is a need to do some
research
online. I find it hard to connect with students who are focused on a
laptop
display; some students find the key clicks and monitor images
distracting as well.
If you have a disability verified by the
Services to Students With Disabilities (SSWD) office and you wish to
discuss
academic accommodations relative to laptop use in class, please talk
with me
immediately.
If you must be
available for a call or expect to receive a text message, let me know,
then put
your phone on vibrate and sit near the classroom door so you can
discretely
exit and take your call or text. I expect this will be an extremely
rare event.
I will not discuss any
grades for any assignment on the day I
hand it back to you, nor will I discuss individual grades in the
classroom. All such discussions will
take place in my office at least one day after the grade was received. If you wish to contest a grade, write out
your argument clearly, concisely and completely and bring it with you
to the
meeting in my office.
Your attendance and
participation each day is important. I expect you will attend each scheduled class meeting unless you
are ill or
have an emergency. After three (3)
absences, (which I assume will be used only in case of emergency or
illness—I
don’t ask for nor do I want excuses if you choose to miss two days)
your final
grade will be lowered at least one (1) grade
(e.g. B+ to C+) for each day missed thereafter
Note: I take attendance
each class period. If you are late to
class, it is your
responsibility to see me at the end of that class period to make sure
you are
marked present. If you do not take care
of the attendance at that time, I will not change the attendance record
at a
latter date. Please be considerate of your colleagues and me by coming
on time.
If you are late, please be discrete and quiet as you enter the class
and take a
seat near the door.
All
assignments are due
at class time on the date announced or assigned. Late assignments
for
whatever reason will be penalized one (1) full grade for each calendar
day late
(e.g. B to C). After three (3) calendar
days, I will not accept the assignment.
So, if a due date is Monday, I will accept the assignment no
latter than
Wednesday; if the due date is Wednesday, I will accept the assignment
no later
than Friday.
There will be no make-ups for missed quizzes. No exceptions.
I follow the departmental
policy on plagiarism reproduced
below. In a nutshell, plagiarism
is the use of other’s ideas or
words without giving them credit.
This includes paraphrases of another’s ideas.
You must always give credit where credit is
due. Plagiarism is a serious academic
offense. Note that the Department Policy is very strict and very clear:
“Any
student proved guilty of plagiarism in this course will be failed for
the
entire course.” (If you are still unclear as what defines plagiarism,
go to
http://library.csus.edu/content2.asp?pageID=353
If you are
not sure if
are plagiarizing on a draft, ask me about it. I’m happy to help you
and am
completely forgiving if you ask when drafting your work. I am not forgiving when plagiarism occurs in
completed essays.
Department of
Communication Studies Plagiarism Policy
Any student proved
guilty of plagiarism in this course will
be failed for the entire course, not just for the piece of work in
which the
plagiarism occurs. It is important,
therefore, to understand exactly what plagiarism is.
Plagiarism is literary
thievery: the use of somebody else’s
material as you
own in a speech, film, or research paper without giving credit to the
author. It includes, particularly, the
following:
1.
Use of
somebody else’s exact wording, whatever the material, without
indication of the
source and quotation marks or other accepted typographical devices. Changing a few words here and there is not
sufficient to avoid plagiarism.
2. Borrowing
the whole pattern of organization and points of view of a source
without giving
credit via standard in-text written citation.
3. Borrowing
facts, figures, or ideas with originated with and are the property of a
particular source, rather than a matter of common information available
in many
sources.
Collaborating with
other students to the extent that two or
more assignments are identical in pattern of organization, points of
view, or
wording.
Cheating on quizzes is
copying answers from a classmate,
consulting with a classmate; bringing notes or “crib sheets” to the
quiz; using
electronic resources during a quiz. If I observe any such behavior, I
will take
the quiz from you at that time. Cheating on quizzes will result in a
zero for
the quiz and I will report the incident to Student Affairs.
I follow the attached
departmental policy on dropping. Be
sure you drop by the end of the second week if you are at all inclined
to do so
because dropping after the fourth class session will require
documentation of
extenuating circumstances.
Department of Communication Studies
Add/Drop Policy
During the first two
weeks of the semester, Communication
Studies classes may be added only by using an Add Permit (obtained on
the 5th
floor of Mendocino) signed by the instructor and brought to the
Department
Office in
During the 3rd and 4th
weeks of the semester, students must
obtain a Petition to Add/Drop After Deadline form to add or drop a
class. This form must be signed by the
instructor
and by the Department Chair. Attached to
the petition is a student statement to be completed by the student
explaining
the reason for dropping or adding after the deadline.
This statement must be completed before the
petition can be processed in the Department Office.
Please be aware that,
after the 4th week of the semester,
all adds must also be signed by the Dean of Arts and Letters and then
processed
through Admissions and Records. The same
is true for all drops requested after the 6th week of the semester.