Class Attendance and Participation
You are expected to attend all scheduled classes. Greater than two unexcused absences warrant a fail. Tardiness counts as 1/3rd of an unexcused absence. If you are unable to attend a class, notify me before that class. If you are ill and need to miss more than a week of classes, you must speak to the Health & Wellness Office in order to get an excused absence. I will not look at doctor’s notes, both for your health privacy reasons and because I cannot verify the authenticity or content of the notes. Please also note that classes begin at 13:15 sharp; unless I specifically indicate to the contrary, you may not use a mobile in class; and you may not make a personal recording of the class.
University Policy on Make-up of Absence from Class due to illness:
When students are ill, they are expected to notify professors in advance of class, if at all possible. Students should negotiate with professors the time and place for make-up of assignments, tests and/or examinations missed. In cases where students are seriously ill and will miss more than a week of classes, the Office of Health and Wellness should be contacted so that the student’s other professors may be contacted. The Office off Health and Wellness will not verify medical absences of under a week.
Extra Course Activities or Class Sessions
Undergraduate students often have many commitments, including other classes and work. University policy is that faculty may not require undergraduates to attend a particular event outside class hours. If faculty want to ask students to attend a special event or exercise outside of the regular class hours, then faculty must make it either optional or provide several times.
Late Assignment
Assignments are due at the date and time indicated in the syllabus. Missed assignments will be earn an F. Exceptions can be made only with the prior approval of the instructor.
The late penalty for the final paper/project is one third of a letter grade per day. So, an ‘A’ project that is one day late will be graded an ‘A−’, two days late a ‘B+’, three days late a ‘B’, etc.
Group Work Policy
Everyone must take part in a group project. All members of a group will receive the same score; that is, the project is assessed and everyone receives this score. However, that number is only 90% of your grade for this project. The final 10% is individual and refers to your teamwork. Every person in the group will provide the instructor with a suggested grade for every other member of the group, and the instructor will assign a grade that is informed by those suggestions. Also, everyone must take part in a group essay. The grading criteria are the same as the group project. Once formed, groups cannot be altered or switched, except for reasons of extended hospitalization.
Instructional Technology
Other Electronic Information Sites:
Your participation grade depends upon your communication in class sessions and online. In addition to email and discussion boards, you may also communicate via comments on the course blog, podcast and or Twitter account, where the instructor will post news items and provocative questions related to our content.
Professionalism Policy
Please attend to all university policy and classroom etiquette procedures. Those not heeding the policies will be asked to leave the classroom/lab immediately so as to not disrupt the learning environment. Please arrive on time, be attentive, and respectful for all class meetings. Students who habitually disturb the class by talking, arriving late or other unprofessional behavior may suffer a reduction in their final class grade.
Academic Honesty/Plagiarism
Students are expected to read and understand the university’s policy on academic integrity as laid out in the Undergraduate Bulletin. Plagiarism and cheating will be penalized. If you have any questions or doubts about plagiarism, please do not hesitate to come to my office hours.
Violations of Academic Integrity include, but are not limited to:
- Cheating: Intentionally using or attempting to use unauthorized materials, information, notes, study aids, or other devices in any academic exercise.
- Fabrication and Falsification: Intentional and unauthorized alteration or invention of any information or citation in an academic exercise. Falsification is a matter of inventing or counterfeiting information for use in any academic exercise.
- Multiple Submissions: The submission of substantial portions of the same academic work for credit (including oral reports) more than once without authorization.
- Plagiarism: Intentionally or knowingly presenting the work of another as one’s own (i.e., without proper acknowledgment of the source).
- Abuse of Academic Materials: Intentionally or knowingly destroying, stealing, or making inaccessible library or other academic resource materials.
- Complicity in Academic Dishonesty: Intentionally or knowingly helping or attempting to help another to commit an act of academic dishonesty.
Plagiarism includes, but is not limited to:
- Copying or borrowing liberally from someone else’s work without his/her knowledge or permission; or with his/her knowledge or permission and turning it in as your own work.
- Copying of someone else’s exam or paper.
- Allowing someone to turn in your work as his or her own.
- Not providing adequate references for cited work.
- Copying and pasting large quotes or passages without properly citing them.
Disability Disclosure Statement
Academic accommodations are available for students with disabilities. Please contact the Moses Center for Students with Disabilities (212-998-4980 or mosescsd@nyu.edu) for further information. Students who are requesting academic accommodations are advised to reach out to the Moses Center as early as possible in the semester for assistance.
Religious Observances
New York University, as a nonsectarian institution, adheres to the general policy of including in its official calendar only certain legal holidays. However, it has also long been NYU policy that members of any religious group may, without penalty, excuse themselves from classes when compliance with their religious obligations requires it. In 1988, the University Senate affirmed this policy and passed the following resolution:
- Students who anticipate being absent because of any religious observance should, whenever possible, notify faculty in advance of such anticipated absence;
- Whenever feasible, examinations and assignment deadlines should not be scheduled on religious holidays. Any student absent from class because of religious beliefs shall not be penalized for any class, examination, or assignment deadline missed on that day or days.
- If examinations or assignment deadlines are scheduled, any student who is unable to attend class because of religious beliefs shall be given the opportunity to make up that day or days.
- No adverse or prejudicial effects shall result to any student who avails himself or herself of the above provisions.