These policies assume that students think about academic performance in a professional manner, that academic training should be treated as a job for which one will be evaluated in accordance with stated criteria. Further, as academic training prepares students for careers and professions, the following policies assume that student demonstrate in their college course work the same responsible maturity that is demanded in the workplace.
1. Attendance. Class attendance and participation are essential since we do many in-class writings and much group work, which are part of a student’s grade in the course. If you must miss class, please contact me in advance so that we can discuss work and assignments that you will miss. For excused absences – student illness, an accident, religious holidays – you must contact me, and arrange to make up work missed, and that work must be submitted within a week. Please email the instructor or a classmate to find out the assignment for the next class.
Other absences will be considered unexcused. According to WLAC policy, you may be excluded from class if you miss more than 3 classes. Further, arriving late to class or leaving prior to the scheduled ending counts toward your participation grade as well. Arriving 15 minutes late or leaving 15 minutes early will count as a half-absence; arrival or departure of 30 minutes will count as a whole absence. Note that more than three absences, excused or not, will lower your final grade by one full letter (so an A becomes a B and so on).
2. Deadlines: All assignments must be turned in on the deadline BOTH via email and in person. You are allowed one late paper which will be due within one week of the original deadline. After that it will not be accepted. A missing assignment earns an F, severely impacting your final grade in this class and your chances of passing.
3. Format – to enhance your success!
a. All papers must be word-processed, double-spaced (no double-double-spacing between paragraphs). Follow specific instructions listed on the assignment sheet or explained in class. To do this well, please attend all classes, listen well and take careful notes.
b. All papers must be sent both via email as either doc, docx, rtf or pages documents.
c. All papers must include a copy of one working draft, plus peer
reviews from in-class writing workshops.
d. ACADEMIC INTEGRITY -Plagiarism – Plagiarism is passing off someone’s else’s ideas and information (including writing) as your own. Turning in a paper written by someone else, whether it is from the Internet or written by a friend or family member who gives you permission, even submitting a paper in one class that you wrote for another class, is deliberate plagiarism.
Any instance of plagiarism will result in failure on that assignment and will be reported to the Vice President of Student Services. Careful citation of your sources, in the form of an in-text citation and a Works Cited page will prevent problems in this area. For some assignments, I may require you to furnish photocopies or PDFs of your research. Plagiarism is counterproductive, non-writing behavior that is unacceptable in a course intended to aid your growth as an individual, accomplished writer.
e. Documenting sources: Each assignment requires MLA in-text citations and a Works Cited section. Listen carefully for directions and use Purdue’s OWL for correct MLA Style. Additional, credible sources are also required.
f. If you do not bring your annotated text of the day’s reading to class, I will assume you have not done the reading which will negatively impact your grade.
4. Courtesy: Be considerate to me and your fellow students by not texting or eating in class, by not going in and out of class or talking out of turn as this disrupts the learning process for everyone.
Dropping the Course:
According to college policy, you may be excluded for excessive absences or for not following the Standards of Student Conduct (printed in the Schedule of Classes). If you drop the course, be sure to do so officially at the Admissions and Business Offices. Otherwise, the grade drops to a “D” or “F” and cannot be removed. Pay attention to drop dates in the Schedule of Classes.
Resources:
Disabilities:
Students with disabilities who believe they may need accommodations in this class are encouraged to contact the DSP&S Office, in the Student Services Bldg 320, 310.87.4430 as soon as possible to better ensure such accommodations are implemented in a timely fashion.
http://www.wlac.edu/dsps/
Writing Lab:
I encourage students to visit the Writing Lab, located on the first floor of the library, to get help in writing their papers or online at http://library.wlac.edu/writinglab.html. Writing tutors can help you in sharing your response to the instructor’s assignment. They do not, however, proofread or edit your writing. They also expect you to bring in clear directions for the essay assignment.
In addition, I recommend that you use on-line resources, such as http://owl.english.purdue.edu. If you have continuing problems with grammar, verbs, spelling, etc. consider taking the appropriate Learning Skills class.
If you’d like more review and practice of specific grammar and sentence problems, please use