Deadline Policy

In order to benefit from class assignments, you must complete and submit them on time—typed, in hard copy, and at the beginning of the class session.  I am, therefore, quite strict about deadlines.  While I can accept two late assignments (not papers or grading letters) without penalty if those assignments reach my desk within a week of their due dates, additional late or missing assignments carry a serious penalty and will likely result in a failing grade for the course.  Again, please know that this allowance does not apply to endorsed papers or grading letters.

Your Grade

You may elect to take English 101 either for a letter grade (A-F) or on a Credit (CR) / No Credit (NC) basis.  If you wish to take this course CR/NC, you must indicate that preference through your Student Center by the posted deadlines. I do not issue Incompletes.

You may be surprised to learn, however, that I have no idea exactly how I will determine your course grade.  Here’s that I do know:

• You must submit at least two passing four-page papers by the posted deadlines to pass this class. 

• You must submit all--yes, all--assignments and the grading letter to pass this class.

• You must meet attendance and participation requirements to pass this class.

• I also know how I will arrive at your assignment grade (please follow these links to learn more).

As for how much each component is worth--well, that’s largely up to you.  We will hash out all that during our course negotiation session, and I will post the results of that negotiation the Grading Criteria page.

Attendance and Promptness

We have only fifteen short weeks together, and we have quite a bit to accomplish in that time. Please plan to attend every class session. Although you are allowed three absences without penalty—to accommodate special circumstances—four absences will lower your course grade by one full letter, and five absences will result in a failing grade for the course.

I can make small exceptions to this rule only if you have satisfactorily and promptly completed all course requirements to date and if you have been absent in the case of documented illness or emergency only (so apprise me promptly of your illness or emergency).  Use your absences carefully, please, and keep track of your attendance because while I appreciate the rigors of university life, I cannot grant college credit unless you do the work of the course—and that includes consistent attendance. 

I expect punctual attendance: Disrupting your colleagues and me by arriving late is both unprofessional and rude—and tardiness makes me crazy (and cranky). I will take attendance on the half hour; if you arrive even two seconds late, you will be marked absent, so you must see me after class to inform me of your arrival. If you arrive more than fifteen minutes late, you will not receive credit for that class session.  Frequent tardiness will radically lower your course grade, and chronic tardiness will result in a failing grade for the course.

You are responsible for the information you miss due to absence and late arrival.  This responsibility includes reviewing The Cache and polling your classmates—not me—to gather missed information.  While I am happy to provide clarification, I am unwilling to recreate a class session for an audience of one.   An additional word to the wise: unless you want to see me at my most grumpy, please avoid asking me if you "missed anything important."  Thank you.

The Bad News: While you are not required to attend our regularly scheduled final-session debriefing missing it will earn you two absences.  Arriving late to and/or leaving early from that session will earn you one absence.  I mean it.

The Good News: Perfect attendance will benefit borderline grades, and perfect attendance at, preparedness for, and active participation in Endorsement Group sessions will also allow me to augment final course grades. 

Participation and Preparedness

Because English 101 is not a lecture course, the success of its members depends in large part upon everyone's preparedness and participation.  It behooves you, then, to complete your homework before you come to class; to bring the appropriate course materials; and to contribute to class discussions, workshops, and Endorsement Group sessions. Coming to class unprepared or unwilling to participate seriously undermines your success, so repeated underpreparedness must result in either dramatic course grade reduction or disqualification from the course. 

I will use two different systems by which to grade participation.  The first is your own estimation of your participation as substantiated in your Grading Letter; the second is a variation of Professor Doug Hesse's criteria:

• If you "seem[] to come to class prepared," if you "seem[] to follow the discussion, and your body language seem[s] to encourage others in the class to share their insights," if ". . . you [are] prepared and engaged," if "[y]our presence [is] productive," you will earn a C.

• If "you satisf[y] all of the criteria for a [C]" and "also contribute[] in explicit and effective ways to the class discussion or work," maybe by making "several appropriate comments" while remaining "attentive to the needs of others to participate," maybe by making "only a few comments but these [are] of such quality that they move[] the class in good and productive directions," you will earn an A.

• If your participation falls somewhere between the above descriptions, you will earn a B.

• If "you c[o]me to class but . . . either you [don't] seem prepared or . . . your presence detract[s], in however small a fashion, from the quality of class experience for others," if you "read the paper or sle[ep] or browse[] email or your textbook," if "you mutter[] or talk[] or ha[ve] some behaviors that discourage[] others from talking," you will earn a D or F depending upon the severity and frequency of that disruptive behavior.

A Word about Classroom Behavior

I value our class sessions: they allow us to synthesize information, apply new knowledge, and learn from each other.  I therefore expect the following common courtesies:

• Arrive on time and prepared, and remain for the entire class session.

• Unplug: turn off or silence electronic devices before class begins.  Answering a cell phone or reading/sending a text message will earn you an absence for that class session.  Our class sessions will be lively enough to discourage this behavior, but I want to offer fair warning, too.

• Spend your time in English class on your English class.  You have committed these hours to this class this semester, and I and your colleagues expect you to fulfill that commitment.  Doing work for other courses or attending to personal business during class time will earn you an absence for that class session.

• Leave the classroom only in the case of an emergency (nosebleed, ruptured appendix, etc.).  Visit the restroom, get snacks, and print homework on your own time, please.

• Exercise respect for others and their ideas.

• Know that I will not tolerate disruption: disruptive students will be evicted and earn an absence for that class period.

Plagiarism: Academic Fraud

The University catalogue provides a detailed definition of both academic dishonesty and plagiarism and lists as the "usual penalty for a student found to have cheated" "disciplinary probation, suspension, or permanent expulsion from the university" (350).  Please know that I will not tolerate any form of academic dishonesty.  Those who submit another's work as their own—a roommate's or friend's paper, an essay purchased from a paper mill, work copied without proper citation from a printed or online source—will, at the very least, fail the course.  The Cache offers information concerning how to avoid plagiarism, and I am always happy to help you avoid this pitfall.

I reserve the right to adjust the above policies in the event of extenuating circumstances.

Updated: 02.03.13