Class Policies
Attendance is required at all class meetings, including field trips. If you cannot attend a class due to illness or other personal emergency, you may obtain an "Excused Absence" by notifying the instructor prior to the class session. Leaving a message by voice mail is sufficient to obtain an Excused Absence. Please note that whether or not an absence is excused, you are responsible for learning what happened in class and mastering that material (e.g. obtaining notes from a reliable classmate).
Tardiness disturbs the teacher and your classmates. Furthermore, it can affect your work in the class. I usually make important announcements at the beginning of class (e.g. announce the location of exams, change assignments). If you miss these announcements, there is no guarantee that information will be repeated later. On occasion, tardiness is unavoidable. If you find yourself arriving late to class, please take your seat with a minimum of commotion. Three late arrivals constitute an unexcused absence. (Note: if your work schedule necessitates regular late arrivals, please clear this with me in advance).
Plagiarism and Cheating are serious offenses that may be penalized severely. You are plagiarizing or cheating if you:
- present someone else's words or ideas as your own, in writing or in speaking
- present ideas without citing the source
- paraphrase without crediting the source
- use direct quotes with no quotation marks
- use direct quotes without footnotes or other textual citation of the source
- present work in a group project that is not your own or the work of the group
- submit the same paper for credit in more than one course without discussing this option with the instructors
- submit material written by someone else as your own (this includes purchasing a term or research paper)
- submit a paper or assignment for which you have received so much help that it is no longer your own work
- do not do an equal part of the work on a group project
- copy someone else's exam or graded homework
- refer to a text, class notes, or other materials during an exam without being authorized to do so
- purposefully allow another student to copy your work or submit work you have written as his/her own
- collaborate with others on a take-home exam, or spend more time than that specified by the instructor on a take-home exam.