Course Policies

  1. Lateness/absence from class (after two) and/or any late assignment is excused only in case of (1) medical necessity for yourself or dependent, documented with doctor’s note; (2) death in family documented by copy of funeral announcement or note from clergy.

Since this is a weekly class, class attendance is very important. I expect students to attend every session. I will take attendance at the start of class.  You will have two “grace” classes to miss if need be.  After that, if you miss another class, you will lose 1% of your final grade. If you miss the class more than five times, you lose all the attendance grade (10%).

Excessive lateness will also result in a reduced participation grade.

2. Plagiarism results in failure of the class. Plagiarism includes copying sentences or parts of sentences from any source without citation; “forgetting” to include citations; copying, downloading, extracting or otherwise using internet sources without citation; copying from another student; presenting any one else’s work as your own; or “inadvertently” copying sentences, sentence fragments, paragraphs, pages, from any source. Plagiarism is also reproducing sentences or parts of sentence but substituting synonyms while maintaining syntactical structure, as in the following example:

3. Class participation = attending class + arriving on time + participation in discussion through relevant questions and comments.  Two latenesses or absences are OK.  Beyond that, if they are not documented (see #1 above), I will begin to grade you down for participation.

4. Assignments are due on dates and times that are listed on the course calendar, except as excused in #1 above. During the semester, assignments are graded down for each day of unexcused lateness, and submitting assignments later than the due time will affect your participation grade.

5. Not looking at the site information, losing or misplacing any material, not checking email, not understanding how to use the website,  computer/connectivity problems (including “losing” your paper because of a corrupt disk or other computer problem, not having internet access except in true emergency) or absence from class when instructions/information about assignments is given out, does not excuse students from doing assignments on time or otherwise participating in course.

6. Students experiencing problems of any kind (library access, securing of readings, online matters, background preparation, research problems, etc.) MUST contact me or the ITF immediately.  Such problems cannot be claimed as reasons not to hand in timely assignments or otherwise fulfill course requirements.

7. Check your baruch email frequently and let me know immediately if your web or email access is compromised.  Not checking your baruch email because you use gmail or another service is not an excuse for missing deadlines or important information.

8. Be considerate of fellow students and me.  Do not chat in class.  If you feel yourself drifting off, get up, refresh yourself with water, soda, or air, and come back.