policies

[PDF of course policies]

Classroom Participation (15% of course grade) Resources
Exercises and Weekly Review Quizzes (15% of course grade) Academic Integrity 
Critical Writing (25% of course grade) Grading scale 
Exams (45% of course grade)

CLASSROOM PARTICIPATION [15% of course grade]

Attendance is vital to your success a class such as this one. Being prepared and present positions you for an active and engaged classroom experience, twice a week.

I know, however, that there may come a time when you will need to miss class. My compromise: you are granted three absences for the semester, no questions asked (which means I make no distinction between excused and unexcused absences). Beginning with your 4th absence, you will lose 5% of your course grade–that is, one half of a letter grade–per absence. If you miss a class, you are responsible for that day’s work, including turning in (on time) any work due regardless of your attendance at class, understanding assignments, and getting the gist of class discussion. Needless to say, if you’re not in class, whatever the reason, you’re not accruing participation points. Make sure you are in class, ready to begin discussion, when class is scheduled to start. Because I take roll at the very beginning of class, tardiness gets recorded as absence unless you approach me after class to confirm your attendance.

Before coming to class each day, you should do the following. Each step is necessary.

  • Reading the assigned material listed on the schedule.
  • Responding: Do the exercise in Relevant Linguistics or take the weekly review quiz for Inventing English, as appropriate. (See details below).
  • Preparing for textual engagement in class: Bring to class the book(s) from which you did the day’s reading.

Required meeting: Many of you will find yourselves coming to meet with me regularly outside of class, but for those of you who wouldn’t automatically do so, I am requiring an out-of-class meeting early in the semester so you can discover how painless and even enjoyable it is. As part of your in-class participation for the course, you will need to meet with me by 4pm on September 11. The meeting is informal and has no specific content. Simply show up and chat with me for 10-15 minutes. This can happen during my office hours, unscheduled (office hours: TR11-12 + R 3-4). If those windows don’t suit your schedule, then you’ll need to email me to arrange an alternative meeting time. Consider this meeting a substitute for class missed when I’m away at a conference.

EXERCISES AND WEEKLY REVIEW QUIZZES [15% of course grade]
7% for exercises
8% for weekly review quizzes

Exercises: During the first half of the semester, a series of written exercises will be assigned from the Relevant Linguistics text. We will also discuss and correct these exercises in class. At the start of each class for which exercises are assigned, I will confirm that the exercises were completed (that is, a full point for fully completed exercises; no points for anything less).

Weekly review quizzes: In the second half of the semester, each Friday I will post in OAKS a Weekly Review Quiz consisting of 10 multiple-choice questions reviewing that week’s material. You can make 5 attempts at the quiz (with the highest score being recorded as your grade for the quiz). These are auto-graded in OAKS so that you can consider those questions that are posing you difficulty and return to the book and your notes before re-taking. On Tuesdays at the start of class, we will go over the previous week’s Review Quiz and address your questions.

CRITICAL WRITING [25% of course grade]
10% for project 1
15% for project 2

Your critical writing projects will offer you an opportunity to engage at length with some of the issues we discuss during class throughout the semester. I will grade these critical writing projects in terms of grammar, style, and structure as well as in terms of analytical content. I’m always happy to discuss your ideas and implementation with you, so please make use of my office hours (and, of course, the Writing Lab).

The first project is eligible for revision. However, if you want to revise, you must see me outside of class to discuss your revision; otherwise, I will not accept it. The revision is due within 10 days of my returning the graded project to the class. (This will happen in OAKS and I will email you when graded papers are available; the timing of that email will determine the start of the “clock,” so the revisions will be due 10 days from then.) The grade for the assignment will be determined by averaging the grade on the first and second graded versions of your response to that assignment.

Since the deadlines for formal written work are so clearly spelled out on the syllabus, late projects will not be accepted except in very extraordinary circumstances.  Due dates for the critical writing projects are days when our class does not meet; these papers will be due at 11 p.m., in OAKS, on the indicated date.

EXAMS [45% of course grade]

You will take two exams—a midterm and a final, part of which will be cumulative. I will provide exam structure guides and study guides for each exam. Before the first exam, we will examine some sample responses together in class.

RESOURCES

Office hours are reserved for you to drop in as suits your schedule, to discuss your writing and/or the course: TR 11-12 and R 3-4. Should that not suit your schedule, please email me to arrange an alternative time. Emailing is the most efficient way to communicate with me outside of class; I would discourage contacting me by phone except during office hours.

The Writing Lab is located on the first floor of Addlestone Library, within the Center for Student Learning. Here you will find many resources for your writing (for this and other classes): handouts, reference books, sample bibliographies, and consultants who have been trained to assist you in generating materials for your essay, organizing your ideas and materials, revising and editing your writing, and any step in the writing process. You can find information, including hours and schedule, at the link above.

Academic accommodation for a documented disability can be arranged through the Center for Disability Services: 953-1431, Lightsey Center, Suite 104. If you are approved for accommodations, you should let me know as soon as possible so we can organize appropriate arrangements.

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY

All students, needless to say, must follow the College of Charleston’s academic integrity policy, which forbids cheating, attempted cheating, and plagiarism. Any case of suspected cheating or plagiarism (on any written response for the course) will be sent to the College’s Honor Board, and any student found guilty will receive a grade of XF, indicating failure of the course due to academic dishonesty.

“Recycled” papers written for other courses are not acceptable in this class.

College of Charleston Honor Code and Academic Integrity, from the Student Handbook:

Lying, cheating, attempted cheating, and plagiarism are violations of our Honor Code that, when identified, are investigated.  Each incident will be examined to determine the degree of deception involved.

Incidents where the instructor determines the student’s actions are related more to a misunderstanding will handled by the instructor.  A written intervention designed to help prevent the student from repeating the error will be given to the student.  The intervention, submitted by form and signed both by the instructor and the student, will be forwarded to the Dean of Students and placed in the student’s file.

Cases of suspected academic dishonesty will be reported directly by the instructor and/or others having knowledge of the incident to the Dean of Students.  A student found responsible by the Honor Board for academic dishonesty will receive a XF in the course, indicating failure of the course due to academic dishonesty.  This grade will appear on the student’s transcript for two years after which the student may petition for the X to be expunged.  The student may also be placed on disciplinary probation, suspended (temporary removal) or expelled (permanent removal) from the College by the Honor Board.

Students should be aware that unauthorized collaboration–working together without permission– is a form of cheating.  Unless the instructor specifies that students can work together on an assignment, quiz and/or test, no collaboration during the completion of the assignment is permitted.   Other forms of cheating include possessing or using an unauthorized study aid (which could include accessing information via a cell phone or computer), copying from others’ exams, fabricating data, and giving unauthorized assistance.

GRADING SCALE

A 94-100 4.0
A- 90-93 3.7
B+ 87-89 3.3
B 84-86 3.0
B- 80-83 2.7
C+ 77-79 2.3
C 74-76 2.0
C- 70-73 1.7
D+ 67-69 1.3
D 64-66 1.0
D- 60-63 0.7
F 0-59 0.0