1. Participation:
Know what's happening in class and arrive prepared for class. Bring pen (with plenty of ink), paper, and your textbook. Be prepared to take notes, participate in activities, and answer or ask questions. You do not get credit for sitting at a desk.
Get around the book thing: If you are short of money, you can request a short-term loan through the Dean of Students office, Bldg. 3, or use the book on reserve in the Writing Center until you can get your own book. You cannot take the reserve book out of the room, and photocopying the whole book violates copyright laws, so don't even think about it! Do what's necessary to get your own copy.
Notes: Take notes and use them. One of my professors at Brown University once told my class that notes should include, "Every word I say, everything I write on the board, and everything I project on an overhead or screen."
Homework: Assignments are listed online along with their due dates. An assignment with no due date listed is due by the next class. Assignments are either completed on paper or in Angel. You must earn credit in all 6 major grades categories with an average of at least 70 in order to pass the course. Finally, you always have homework even if none is listed: study your notes. Once assignments are completed, I post grades in Angel.
2. Attendance and Absenteeism:
Attendance:
The college requires that I take attendance, so I will call roll at the start of class.
If you're late for roll, sign the sheet when the class is dismissed, not while other things are going on.
You must remain in class in order to get credit for attendance. If you leave early, I will mark you absent. I have been known to take roll a second time at the end of class and will mark absent any person who is not in class at that time.
It is your responsibility, not mine, to make sure your attendance is recorded.
Absenteeism and/or lack of academic progress:
No show: If you do not attend the first week of class, I will withdraw you from class.
Late arrivals: If you are late 4 times, I will record 1 absence.
Excessive absenteeism: You are allowed 4 absences before I withdraw you from the course for excessive absenteeism.
Grades:
If you do not submit one of the three essays, I will withdraw you from the course.
If your average drops below passing (70) because of missing assignments, I will withdraw you from the course.
I will not sign you back into the course after I withdraw you. I will check attendance and progress periodically throughout the semester. If I think it is necessary to withdraw you will be notified of the withdrawal by email to your myMDC.net account.
I will answer any questions about the work we covered or assignments we have, but not questions like "What did we do?" or, my all-time pet peeve, "Did we do anything?"
There are no excused absences.
There are no make-ups unless you have an emergency. See Ground Rule #3.
If you're absent when I return papers, you will have to come to office hours to get your paper. I do not carry them around indefinitely. In fact, if you don't pick them up, I assume you don't care about your progress or your grade in the course.
3. Submissions:
Due Dates:
Assignments are due on the dates listed online. Essays are due in the first 10 minutes of class.
Do not email your essay to me. I will not print it for you.
Do not slip your essay under my office door or in my mailbox instead of bringing it to class on the due date. I will not grade it.
There are no make-ups except for a documented emergency. See "Emergencies" below.
To get your paper evaluated, essays must be word processed following MLA format requirements (see Ground Rule #5)
Emergencies:
Examples of emergencies:
Your own illness that makes you go to the emergency room or stay home on doctor's orders, including H1N1 Severe Symptoms (third-party documentation: the hospital’s paperwork, a doctor's note)
An accident on the way to campus (third-party documentation: a police report)
Your car breaks down so you have no transportation (third-party documentation: repair receipt)
Talk to me during office hours if you're not sure how to or if you're not sure your situation fits these examples (sometimes, I make exceptions based on the situation)
Examples of non-emergencies:
The fact that your sister is due to have her baby during class time is not an emergency; at least it is not your emergency.
A doctor’s appointment in your doctor’s office that could have been scheduled at a time that does not conflict with class is not an emergency. The same goes for a dentist’s appointment.
A vacation that you scheduled before registering for class is not an emergency. If you know you’re going away, you should take the course through the Independent Studies Department or Virtual College.
Lack of planning, like running out of printer ink or getting up late, is not an emergency.
Submitting a late essay because of a true emergency:
Send me an email message (I want it in writing) as soon as you can to let me know why you are absent.
You must submit the late essay during office hours with a photocopy of your third-party documentation stapled to the back within one week of returning to campus. Bring your file so that I can upload it to TurnItIn.Com for you. You should still do any required edit in Criterion before giving me your paper.
Submitting documentation for a late essay does not change your attendance record.
4. Disruption: I will tell you to leave and you will incur an absence if you disrupt the class.
Carrying on personal conversations during class is disruptive to those around you, especially during a film.
Distracting the professor during a lecture, either by talking or moving around the room, is disruptive.
Ringing cell phones are disruptive to the class, and listening to your mp3 player is distracting to you. Turn off cell phones, iPods, etc., when you walk in and stow them away out of sight. Don't take them out during class.
If you have a family emergency that necessitates leaving your cell phone on, tell me about it at the start of class.
If you are late, come in quietly without disrupting the class, preferably through a back door if your classroom has one. Don't walk between the students and the professor if you can help it.
The Five Great Don'ts:
Don't wander in and out of class. Take care of business before you come in.
Don't chat with your friends in class while a film is running. This is annoying to everyone around you.
Don't block everyone's view of the film screen for any reason during a lecture.
Don't try to sign the sign-in sheet until the end of the period if you're late.
Don't stand between the professor and the class for any reason when the professor is talking to the class.
5. Assignment Requirements:
Submission requirements: See Ground Rule #3
Help with Microsoft Word: Computer Courtyard technicians or the Writing Center tutors, Room 2207
Help with Criterion: The Writing Center, Room 2207
MLA Format Requirements for college papers (directions are for Word 2007; requirements are for everyone):
White, regular weight 8.5” X 11” paper
Black ink
Format paragraphs
Select "paragraph" from the menu or right click and select "paragraph"
Set "alignment" to "left"
Set "indentation" to 0.5"
Set "spacing" before and after to 0
Set "line spacing" to double
Click "OK." As you type, do not hit the enter key at the end of a line. You computer will automatically double space properly and indent new paragraph 1/2-inch.
Format font
Select "font" from the menu or right click and select "font"
Set "font" to "Times New Roman"
Set "font style" to "regular:
Set "size" to "12"
Click "OK."
Format margins
Select the "page layout" menu
Set margins to 1-inch on all edges of the paper
Click "OK."
Format page numbers
Select the "insert" menu
Select the "page number"
Select "top of page"
Select "plain number 3." This will open the document's "header."
The number will be be highlighted with cursor right in front of it.
Type your last name and make sure the font is Times New Roman. If it's not,
Select the "home" menu
Highlight your last name
Choose "Times New Roman" and "12" from the dropdown menus
Click "OK."
Format "Heading”
Return to the body of the document by double clicking on it
Type the following information in this order:
Your name
Your professor's name (spell it right!)
Your course (for example: ENC1101 Mon./Wed. 1:25)
The due date (for example: October 1, 2007)
Staple all pages together in the upper left corner (I never have a stapler with me in class.)
If you give your paper a title, the title you choose should have something to do with the content of your paper. By this, I mean don't use a title like Comparison Essay in a composition class or the title of the book you're writing about in a literature class. Instead, keep it short and write something like Toyota Camry vs. Honda Accord for an essay comparing the two cars or Guilt in The Exception for an analysis of the theme of guilt in the novel. As far as format is concerned, center the title.
Your paper represents you! Following directions and being neat counts toward your grade.
6. Competencies and the Gordon Rule requirement: Complete all the assignments to learn all the material included in the course (competencies). State law, called the "Gordon Rule," requires that you do a certain amount of writing (3 to 4 essays) in courses designated "Gordon Rule." You must complete all the assignments; if not, your final grade is affected. In fact, most students are not able to earn more than a D if they have even one major grade missing. Click for course competencies: ENC1101, ENC1102.
7. Incomplete policy: Incompletes are given only in the event of an extreme, documented emergency during the last week of class. All assignments up to the time of the emergency must have been submitted. Incompletes will not be given if the student has missed earlier work. See examples of emergencies in Ground Rule #3.
8. Plagiarism policy: Plagiarism: Material copied or based on sources that are not properly documented in the paper
Any paper that is plagiarized:
No credit for the plagiarized paper, depending on the amount of plagiarized material in the student's "Originality Report" generated by TurnItIn.Com. In my classes, plagiarism includes submitting a paper that includes researched materials without complete documentation (introductory signals, parenthetical notation, and a Works Cited).
Flagrant plagiarism (multiple instances):
D for the course
May be referred to the Dean of Students for a disciplinary hearing
See MDC’s policy: “Academic Dishonesty”
9. Class cancellation policy:
No one shows up: Wait at least 20 minutes before leaving and check your myMDC.net email for instructions
Sign posted on the classroom door: Check your myMDC.net email for instructions
Substitutes: You are responsible for finishing any work given during a class led by a substitute and will incur an absence, and perhaps a missing grade, if you leave. If you are writing in class, you may not take the writing assignment out of the classroom with you and turn it in to me later.
10. If you are on financial aid:
Late payments: The college will withdraw you from classes if your financial aid does not arrive on time. You can get help with extensions through the Dean of Students office in Building 3. However, you must be pro-active, not re-active: monitor your financial aid payment carefully. If you are withdrawn from the class and someone else registers in your place, I will not be able to override you back into the class.
Withdrawal from the course (including if I withdraw you for absenteeism or lack of academic progress: You will have to pay back any Pell Grant money you received for the course.
11. Laptops in the Classroom:
You may use your laptop as long as you are not disturbing me or those around you.
Students with disabilities who have provided me with a written statement from Access Disabilities Services (Room 2121) may use laptops to take notes even if I have to ban laptops in a particular class because of disruptive noise, etc.
12. Email from Your Professors and MDC:
The College has provided each student with a mymdc.net email address, for example Joe.Schmoe001@mymdc.net. Be sure to go into your myMDC account to open your student email account if you have not already done so. This is the email address the college and your professors will use to initiate email contact with you.
Email is my preferred method of communication, so if you want a quick answer, email instead of leaving a message on my phone voicemail. Be sure to include your name, course and the time it meets in your message to help me answer quickly. If I'm not sure who you are, I will email back asking you to identify your course, and that will slow my real answer to your original email.