Grading Policy, Marks, Requirements
Here are the policies under which I conduct all my courses. Ask me if you have any questions or need anything clarified.
Students with disabilities
I wish to make this course as accessible as possible to students with disabilities or medical conditions that may affect any aspect of course assignments or participation. You are invited to communicate with me at the outset of the course or at your discretion about any accommodations that will improve your experience of or access to the course. You can also contact the Disability Resource Center at 338-2472 (Voice/TDD).
Office hours
My office is HUM 530, and my hours are posted outside. My office phone number is 338-7428, and I always return calls. You do not need an appointment to see me, but I appreciate any advance notice that you're coming. I would like to see you in my office at least once during the course.
In Class
Our class is like a workshop: you're expected to contribute and educate the other students with your own ideas. We don't believe that I'm the only person in the class with ideas. Therefore good classroom participation can, at my discretion, add as much as two bonuses to your final course grade (for instance, raise a B to an A minus) or lower the final course grade by an equal amount. However, you may not shout out answers and opinions nor may you interrupt and speak over others. You must raise your hand and wait to be acknowledged, and you must pay attention when others speak. You may not carry on side conversations or do work for other classes while in class. This notice is your warning and it is sufficient notice.
Electronic devices and note-taking
Your laptop computers, PDAs, cell phones, and any other electronic devices may not be visible or audible during class. You may not use tape recorders nor any other recording devices during class. You may not take pictures or videotapes with your cell phones or by any other method. Students taking them will be immediately dropped as "disruptive." My courses are 100% my intellectual property, so while you may share your notes with your classmates, you may not sell or distribute them.
Attendance and Classroom Participation
Punctuality, attendance, positive participation, and your whole effort at creating a classroom environment which supports other students trying to learn-- or at least doesn't destroy their morale and interfere with their efforts-- will all count in your final grade, up to one full letter grade. If you miss class, you alone are responsible for catching up on what you missed. Do not expect me to re-deliver the lecture for you alone at a time of your choosing. I use sign-in sheets to take attendance, and you are responsible for signing in. If you miss class, you are responsible for catching up on anything you missed. If you are late more than twice or leave early more than once (for instance, during the break in a night class), I will lower your grade without discussing it with you further. It's not my job to scold you into following clear rules. You may leave the classroom in response to an emergency phone call once, but you may not re-enter. Take your books with you. If you disrupt the class with grand entrances and exits to handle your email or calls, again, I will lower your grade.
Deadlines
I set deadlines already considering the fact that many of you work, commute, and have family obligations. I do not extend deadlines for individual students, but I do grant a standing grace period. I will consider your work on time if I find it under my office door when I come in on the second calendar day after the deadline. If your work appears under my door later that day, I will consider it late. Late work loses a grade for each day it's late. A B+ paper will get a B if a day late, a B- if two days late, and a C+ if three days late.
Exams
Have a blue book or two with you in class every session, in case there is a quiz. Use the large blue books, not the small ones, for all exams. Since I'd like you to write on every other line for clarity's sake, bring twice as many as you normally would. Use pen, blue or black ink. You may not retake missed or failed exams. A missed exam is an F in that exam, and I don't give early or late exams.
There will be no final, but there will be a comprehensive exam usually held during the last class period of the year. That exam will be worth 1/2 of the final course grade. You must take your exams with the rest of your classmates, unless you are registered with Disability and can take exams there. If this is the case, you must see me far ahead of time so we can set it up. It's your responsibility to stay on top of that situation.
Certain approved term projects (for instance, those done by graduate students) will be finally due on the date and time listed in the class schedule, and in the place listed, for the (optional) final examination that we will not have. That will give you an extra week. Oral evaluations of the term projects will take place in that meeting. You may not submit any work after that date.
Grades
You will earn your grade through attendance, participation, assignments, and exams. All assignments involve writing because all my courses are, at heart, writing courses. Midterms and finals may consist of papers or exams. The midterm is worth 1/8 of your grade; the final comprehensive exam is worth 4/8 of your grade; everything else is worth 3/8 of your grade. I do not give out course incompletes. For further circumstances that can raise or lower your mark, see "Attendance and Classroom Participation" above.
Assignments
All assignments are due in class on their deadlines, though you may also submit assignments under my office door. Do not submit your assignments through any third party, including our department's secretary; I will not accept such submissions. All your assignments must be typed, and you must type them yourself. You may not use typing or editing services. You may use tutorial services only if they are school-funded and campus-based. Writing assignments will be marked according to the standards of good writing described, in detail, in Break Your Writer's Block, which has been prepared specially for SFSU students. Incorporate into your assignments the writing advice I give in Break Your Writer's Block. I will look for evidence of this, and I may mark your paper down if you don't. Turn in any first, rough, or working drafts along with your final draft. You must keep an extra paper copy of your final drafts for possible final projects. Until the third-to-last class period, you may, if you get my permission, rewrite an assignment after talking to me about it.
Museum Work
One class will be held in a museum on a Saturday or Sunday, or else at some related event, like a reading. According to the official University policy, that meeting is "optional." However, the paper I require afterwards is not optional; it is required. If you cannot attend this class meeting, you can ask me for an alternate assignment, which will also include writing a paper. However, I strongly encourage you to attend this Saturday or Sunday meetings; many prior students have said it's one of the best parts of the cours.
Plagiarism
I take plagiarism seriously. If you plagiarize, you will get an F in the course and you may even be expelled from school. And I will catch you because I can easily tell your writing from other people's writing. You must be able to show me any texts you worked from, and I always ask for a few at random. You must put quotation marks around any words that are not yours. You may quote words and phrases without limit, but the most you can quote at one time is one complete sentence, and then not more than once per page. See the Bud Vase technique in Break Your Writer's Block.
"Plagiarism occurs when a student misrepresents the work of another as his or her own. Plagiarism may consist of using the ideas, sentences, paragraphs, or the whole text of another without appropriate acknowledgement, but it also includes employing or allowing another person to write or substantially alter work that a student then submits as his or her own. Any assignment found to be plagiarized will be given an "F" grade. All instances of plagiarism in the College of Humanities will be reported to the Dean of the College, and may be reported to the University Judicial Affairs Officer for further action."
College of Humanities Plagiarism Resources
Extra credit
See me for an extra credit assignment as soon as you discover that you're not doing well in class. I can create the opportunity for you to do well, but you must not wait until it's too late. You must obtain my approval for any extra credit assignment no later than three weeks before the first class period following Thanksgiving or Spring Break.
Do not email me unless I specifically ask you to. Do not email me for any other reason -- which means, don't use it to alert me about absences or excuses, but also don't use it for questions, clarifications, or teaching in general. Read my full email policy here.
Emergencies
If you must attend weddings, funerals, or help relatives out in hospitals just get me the formal paperwork (wedding or funeral announcements, for instance.) You must support any emergency claims with official corroborating documents. If you have a medical emergency, you must show me a doctor's note. If your backpack with your paper is stolen, you must file a police report and show me a copy. I am sorry that my experience, over the past 22 years, with a tiny percentage of students makes it necessary for me to ask everyone to provide these things, but I have to be firm about asking.
Recommendation letters
I'll be glad to write you a recommendation letter for our school's Study Abroad program or a course enrollment verification for your employer. I will write you a general recommendation letter only if you've earned an A in at least two of my courses. That is my firm cut-off requirement, and I put it in writing so that no fine student who just got their first A from me feels singled out or doubts my respect for them.