GENERAL POLICIES

Attendance and Lateness:

* 3 absences equals a final course grade of ‘F’
* 3 late arrivals (more than 5 minutes) equals 1 absence
* Over 15 minutes late or missing more than 15 minutes during class equals 1 absence
* Students with a documented, ongoing serious health issue—which may affect their attendance—should speak with the Professor about an incomplete for the semester

Email and Blackboard use:|

Professor Umbach will respond ONLY to e-mails from John Jay e-mail accounts; emails from other accounts will likely not make it through our filters.

YOU MUST CHECK YOUR JOHN JAY EMAIL EVERY 24 HOURS DURING THE WEEK AND EVERY 36 HOURS ON WEEKENDS.

We will only accept homework submitted through blackboard (see below).

Grading Practices:

Because I review homework in class, I can NOT accept late homework. The essays, however, may be turned in late—but with a 10% penalty for the first 23 hours and a 20% penalty for the first 47 hours. Late submissions beyond 47 hours will not be accepted.

Assignments:|

All assignments must be submitted by Blackboard as demonstrated in class; e-mailed papers will not be accepted. Papers not submitted in .doc, .docx, .rtf, or .pdf format will not be considered as turned in. Students with questions about technical issues should contact DoIT (212 237 8200) well BEFORE assignment deadlines.

*REWARDS FOR EARLY HOMEWORK SUBMISSION*

Doing homework at the last minute can interfere with learning and makes it difficult to ask questions of your professors if you have them. I, accordingly, would like to encourage you to get an early start. So every assignment will have two submission links on blackboard (as explained in class): a regular submission link with a deadline as indicated on the syllabus and a second link for submitting the assignment 12 hours early. The links will vanish as the respective deadlines pass. Students who submit their work through the early link will receive a 5% bonus on that assignment. As noted above, if you miss the regular deadline you will NOT be able to submit that assignment and will lose whatever points are associated with that assignment.


Extensions:

I never want you to have to choose between doing well in this class and doing well in another course. So, if you give me a week’s notice, you may be able to receive an extension on a portion of an upcoming assignment. You will have to do some part of the assignment, however. Finally, you may receive only ONE such extension during the semester. In short, extensions are only granted for students who plan well ahead of time.

Extra Credit:

One of your professors’ primary obligations is to maintain a level playing field for all students so that everyone has an equal opportunity for success. Accordingly, there will be NO private extra credit arrangements made with individual students either during or after the semester. Instead, there will be extra credit opportunities for ALL will be either listed in the syllabus or circulated by e-mail.

In-class Behavior:

Every student has a right to a respectful, fair, and trusting space for learning; maintaining that environment is a shared responsibility. Accordingly:

* Students are expected to participate in class discussion and treat their peers and the professors with respect in such discussions.

* Use of cell-phones—including texting— in class shows disrespect for your classmates and professors. YOU WILL IMMEDIATELY FAIL THIS COURSE IF YOU USE YOUR CELL PHONE OR OTHER DEVICE DURING CLASS. NO EXCEPTIONS.

* Cell phone rings interfere with your classmates’ right to learn and so all cellphones must be turned OFF at the start of class; if your cell phone rings during class, we will take a 1% penalty from your semester grade for each occurrence. If we need to remind you more than once in a class of this policy, you will also be considered absent for that day which, accordingly, might trigger associated penalties. See attendance policies)

* YOU MAY NOT USE COMPUTERS, IPADS, OR OTHER DIGITAL DEVICES IN CLASS; we encourage you to take notes on paper instead

* Eating and drinking are permitted in class unless doing so proves to be disturbing to your fellow students—and so we reserve the right to ban eating and drinking either temporarily or permanently at any time.

* Private conversation and the exchanging of notes during class interfere with your peers’ right to learn and so will result in a 1% penalty from your semester grade for each occurrence. If we need to remind you more than once in a class of this policy, you will also be considered absent for that day (which, accordingly, might trigger associated penalties. See attendance policies)

Plagiarism

Given the nature of the assignments, there will never be reason to consult outside sources. In fact, in order to make unintentional plagiarism impossible, use of outside sources is NOT permitted for any assignment, except where noted.

Here is the college statement on plagiarism.

External Sources:

In order to make accidental or unintentional plagiarism impossible, the use of outside sources is NOT permitted for any of the written assignments in this class, except where explicitly noted in the assignment instructions.

Working with Other Students:

I encourage students to help each other, but you must indicate all students who worked on the assignment together. Failure to do so will constitute plagiarism in this class.

Consequence of Plagiarism: Without exception, all cases of suspected plagiarism will go directly to the Office Academic Integrity for a formal hearing; that body and not your professors will make the final determination as to whether or not you committed plagiarism and the appropriate penalties.

Working with Other Students

I encourage students to help each other, but you must indicate all students who worked on the assignment together. Failure to do so will constitute plagiarism in this class.

You may revise your essays for a better grade. However, you must: (A) have submitted the original paper by the deadline and (B) turn in the revision within 10 days of getting your comments and you must go to the writing center (who will send me a report of your visit)

LATE PAPERS

Because I review homeworks in class, I can NOT accept late homeworks. The essays, however, may be turned in late—but with a 10% penalty for the first 24 hours and a 20% penalty for the first 48 hours. Late submissions beyond 48 hours will not be accepted.

CLASS-WIDE TEXT MESSAGING FROM YOUR PROFESSORS:

If you sign-up for the optional class text-messaging service, 1 will send reminders to your cell phone about upcoming deadlines and announce when we have sent e-mails the class should read. We will also text (and e-mail) you if class is cancelled or delayed. Such texts are for your convenience only; we can not be responsible if you do not receive them.

Opting Out Of In-Class Review of Your Writing:

I will often go over samples of student writing in class. Although we will always do so anonymously, some student may still feel uncomfortable having their writing discussed in class. If you prefer NOT to have excerpts of your writing discussed anonymously in class, be sure to check the opt-out box on the student contract distributed the first day of class.