You may miss 4 classes with no penalty.  After 4 absences, each missed class will result in a 3% deduction from your FINAL grade.  Please note that there is no difference between an “excused” and “unexcused” absence.  If you miss a class, it is your responsibility to find out what was discussed that day.  You may contact me via-email, but you should also get the phone numbers or email addresses of two fellow students as well. (Note: you may want to check the schedule first.)

Please note that there is no difference between an “excused” and “unexcused” absence. I know this sounds harsh, but in the end, it really doesn't matter why you aren't here, only that you aren't.

Please note that attendance means showing up ON TIME.  Anyone arriving more than five minutes late will be assessed a “tardy,” and two “tardies” will constitute an absence.  If you are late to class, it is your responsibility to see me after class to make certain I marked you present.

Absences on internet days will be assessed through the late assignment policy.

Late Assignments
Late assignments will be handled as follows:

• For FINAL DRAFTS ONLY, you get one “freebie”: you may turn in one paper one class period late with no penalty.  On the day the paper is due, simply notify me that you are exercising your late paper option.  If the paper is not turned in on the next class meeting, it will receive a “0.”  Once the later paper option is used, any paper not turned in one time will receive a “0.”  DO NOT USE THIS OPTION UNTIL YOU NEED IT.  Note that a paper is considered "late" if not turned in during the first 10 minutes of class.  Papers cannot be turned in to my office or the department office.  
• Papers that receive a "0" for not being turned in on time CANNOT be revised for a higher grade.
• Failure to complete one of the major assignments by the required deadlines or according to the late paper policy will result in failure of the class regardless of the mathematical average. See Course Work and Grade Distribution for details.
• Late rough drafts will not be accepted.  If you show up on workshop days without a draft, you will not receive credit for participating in the workshop, and 5% will be deducted from your final project grade.  Note: a common problem on draft days is disk failure.  DO NOT wait until we are in the classroom to print your paper out!
• Late exercise posts do not just affect you (the individual student) and me (the teacher).  They affect your entire discussion group.  If your post is not completed in a timely manner, they are unable to complete their replies in a timely fashion, and everything goes kerflooey.  Because of this, penalties for late posts are going to be pretty stiff. 
  • Any post not posted by the deadline will have two points deducted.
  • For every subsequent 24 hours that the post is late, two more points will be deducted.  So, if a post is due on Wednesday, and is posted on Thursday, two points will be deducted.  Now, you may be thinking, "hey, there's something like # posts due; one or two late won't kill me."  And this is true.  However, I can tell you from experience that this kind of thinking can lead to trouble.  It's very easy to lose track of how many late posts you have, and "one or two" can turn to "ten or fifteen" very fast, and ten or twenty late post will hurt your grade a lot.
• In-Class writings cannot be made up.  Missing one or two will not drastically affect your grade.  Missing five or six will.

Paper Preparation
ALL DRAFTS of your papers must be word processed, using a standard font such as Times New Roman or Ariel, 11 or 12 point.  We will be using Microsoft Word to work on our papers in class, so files MUST be saved in MS Word-compatible format.  If you are not sure if your word processor is compatible, come talk to me.  Special Note: Because Microsoft is Evil, MS Word and MS Works are not compatible.  Please check to see which you use, and let me know.

You are responsible for keeping back-ups of your work.  I have two cats that shred paper as a hobby, so it is essential that you make copies of any work you turn in. 

As a special side note: those 3.5 floppies that we all use to save work?  They are remarkably fragile things.  The corrupt if exposed to magnets. They corrupt if bent in any way.  They corrupt for no immediately obvious reason at all.  If you only take to heart one thing I tell you, it should be this: SAVE YOUR WORK IN MORE THAN ONE PLACE.  Get into the habit of emailing drafts to yourself.  Please note that a corrupted disk IS NOT an acceptable excuse for not having a draft or final paper.  It is YOUR responsibility to ensure that you will have a draft or final paper on time even if something goes wrong.

 
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is the use of another's words, content, or ideas without acknowledgment.  Don’t do it.  Plagiarism will result in failure of the assignment.  You may also wish to refer to Parkland's policies on plagiarism for potential repercussions. 

Please note that copying material from a web page, even a reference site, without proper attribution, is plagiarism. And before you consider doing that, take a good, long look at this web page. I've been on the internet a long time. If you can find it on the web, I can find it on the web.

Just as a note: I encourage you to seek feedback on your writing from family and friends.  However, they should limit that feedback to reactions, comments, and general suggestions.  Do not let them write the paper for you.  The goal of this course is to improve your writing strategies, and we cannot achieve that goal if you are turning in someone else's work.
 

Classroom Conduct
Part of becoming a good writer is learning to appreciate the feedback of others.  You will be sharing your writing with many people in this course. Therefore, you might wish to avoid writing about a topic that you are not prepared to subject to public scrutiny, or on which your feelings are so strong that you cannot consider alternate viewpoints.

I tend to run a fairly informal classroom.  In return, I expect that you will treat me and each other with respect.  Please be attentive and polite during discussions: you don’t need to raise your hand to speak, but you should also be careful to give everyone a chance to speak.  Remember that we will be discussing some "touchy" subjects.  Again, I expect you to be respectful of one another.  You can argue and disagree, even passionately, but don’t get personal.   Please not that absolutely NO ethnic, gender, religious, sexual orientation, or other slurs will be tolerated, in either spoken discussion or on-line.

Special Note for Computer Classrooms
Classroom time is to be used for classroom activities.  If you finish your work early, I will not object to you checking your email or looking at web sites; however, I expect you to return to class work when directed.

At no point should either a chat program or a game be opened during class time, even if you are finished with your activity.  The first time I see a chat program or a game open on your computer during class time, you will receive a warning.  The second time, you will be asked to leave the classroom and be assessed an absence for the day.

On-Line Policies and Etiquette
On-line issues can be divided into two categories: policies and etiquette, with one question that sort of strides the two.

The class WebBoard is for course material only.  I will create a "General Issues" conference where you may ask your classmates for feedback on paper ideas or ask me questions about assignments, etc, but nothing that is not directly related to the class should be posted on the WebBoard.  Also, please do not add class members to your email joke lists without permission.

To receive full credit for a discussion post, you must post it in the correct place.  WebBoard discussion will be divided by (a) assigned discussion group and (b) week. These divisions are called "Conferences."  More complete directions can be found here.  Any post not in the appropriate Conference will have one point deducted.

Separate posts must be made for each discussion prompt and each reply to a classmate.  Do not reply to all three prompts or all three posts in one message.

The same campus-wide policies which apply to class discussion apply to on-line discussions.  Racial, ethnic, sexual, religious, or sexual orientation slurs of any kind will not be tolerated, nor will threats of any kind.  What you say is your business; how you say it becomes mine.  If you have any doubts about the appropriateness of your language, run it by me first.

The goal of class discussions is to examine issues from multiple points of view.  Therefore, disagreement is not only expected but desirable.  At the same time, please try to state your disagreement in a respectful tone.  There is a world of difference between "I see things differently" and "that's the dumbest idea I ever heard."  The first is good; the second is bad.  At the same time, please keep in mind that disagreement with your ideas and interpretations is not a personal attack against you.  If we all proceed from the assumption that the other person is not actively trying to offend, we'll avoid a great deal of conflict.

Finally, some tips for facilitating friendly and useful discussion:

• In the first week, I will ask you to introduce yourself to your group.  Please indicate how you wish to be addressed in on-line posts.
• Conversely, please honor how your group members wish to be addressed.
• When responding to a discussion prompt, please indicate which prompt you are responding to.
• When responding to another post, it always helps to include a brief quotation that indicates what point you are replying to.
• Spelling and grammar are often played "fast and loose" on-line.  However, please remember that the purpose of writing is to communicate: I cannot appreciate your brilliance if I cannot understand it.  Although I do not expect these posts to be as polished as paper writing, a minimum of mechanical errors is expected.
• On that note, please use standard spelling and capitalization.  Remember that not everyone is familiar with net acronyms

Extra Credit
I do not offer extra credit options.

Withdrawal
At midterm, the faculty member is required to report any student the faculty member believes has ceased attending the course; all such students will be withdrawn.  After midterm, the faculty member cannot withdraw any student; withdrawal from the course must be done by the student prior to 5pm on the last day to withdraw as published in the Parkland College Schedule.  Students who cease attending after midterm and do not withdraw themselves will receive an F for the course.

AOD Compliance Notice
If you have a disability for which you may need an academic accommodation (including special testing, auxiliary aids, non-traditional instructional formats), please inform the instructor as soon as possible and/or contact one of the following for assistance: Evelyn Brown, Room X148, Ext 2587; Other Disabilities: Norm Lambert, Room A250, Ext. 2620.