WMST/CMST 419

Classroom Behavior

Essentially, I expect you to act like a grown-up and to assume responsibility for your own education. This means coming to class consistently and punctually, and keeping distractions to a minimum. It also means completing your work on time.

This course is designed as participatory seminar, so your absence not only affects the quality of your education but that of other students in the class, thus more than three absences will negatively affect your course grade. (More than five absences may result in being disenrolled from the course.) Attendance means attending the entire class. Persistent late arrivals and/or early departures are distracting and disruptive, so please make every effort to minimize them. Students who anticipate regular work or other personal conflicts with this course should drop it. If you must miss class, it is your responsibility to get notes and information you missed from other students in the class and from the class web site (not from me). While I am always willing to discuss course topics and your work during office hours, I do not repeat lectures for private audiences.

I reserve the right to require to leave the classroom any student who displays disrespect for the rest of the class by interfering with class discussion in any or all of the following ways:

• Coming to class unprepared.
• Engaging in any disruptive behavior, including private conversations, inappropriate commentary, persistent late arrival or early departure from class.
• Engaging in any non-participatory activity, such as reading non-class-related material, studying for tests or doing homework for other courses, writing papers due for this or other classes, doing crossword puzzles or needlework, listening to an mp3 player, using your cell phone, etc. Using your cell phone includes sending or receiving text messages, playing games, checking messages, or attending to it in any way. Please turn your phone off during class. (Your cell phone is not considered “off” when it is on vibrate.) If it rings during class, I will count you as absent for that day.

Please let me know about study problems, assignment difficulties, and crises in dealing with assignments. I’d like this class to be an enjoyable experience for all of us. If you have questions about the course material, consider raising them in class for the benefit of all students.

If you can’t meet during office hours, let me know and we’ll find a mutually agreeable time for discussion. I can be reached by phone or by email; please put the class number and abbreviation in the email subject line (CMST or WMST 419) to keep it out of the university spam filter.

Please note that as long as the University remains open, class will not be canceled for inclement weather. If you believe that weather conditions are so severe that we will not be able to meet, you should call the University’s official emergency information line 359-SNOW (359-7669) to find out if the University is open or closed. (You can also sign up to receive notification by text message on your cell phone.)

A NOTE ABOUT ACADEMIC DISHONESTY: As you know, it is morally reprehensible to represent the work of others as your own, fabricate research data, and cheat on exams. Handing in the same assignment in more than one class without permission in advance from both instructors is also a violation of EWU’s Academic Integrity Policy. Such acts of academic dishonesty will result in failure of the course and be subject to disciplinary action from the University. It is therefore a good idea to keep a copy of major assignments, and to save your notes and rough drafts, to prevent any misunderstandings.

Re-write Policy

I almost always permit students re-write essays, but I do not always recommend it. Remember, when you re-write an essay, you re-submit it for re-evaluation. Basically, this means that I will hold the revised essay to a higher standard: You have had the benefit of additional time to think about the issues, additional class discussions, and detailed feedback from me. You will not automatically get a higher grade because you rewrite; it is possible to reduce your grade with a poorly executed rewrite.

Given these conditions, you should consider carefully whether it is a wise use of your time and energy to re-write a completed assignment. It is usually wiser to concentrate on doing better work on upcoming assignments. If you do wish to re-write, you must contact me within seven (7) of receiving your graded essay and negotiate a mutually agreeable deadline. You must submit your original essay along with the revised version. I generally grade re-writes when I have other student work to grade, so you probably will not receive an immediate response to submission of a re-write.

Please note that this re-write policy does not apply to final exams.

Grievance Policy*

You have the right to challenge any grade you receive by providing a reasoned argument explaining why the grade you received is not a representative assessment of your work on the project. For example, you may receive a grade lower than you expected because you did not provide sufficient examples or evidence; however, you may believe that your examples were sufficient. You have the right to inform me of how you arrived at this analysis, and I have the right to change your grade if your response is persuasive, or to keep your grade the same if you fail to make a compelling argument.

24/7 Rule: You must wait 24 hours after assignments are returned to challenge the grade, but you must submit your case no later than 7 days after the assignment has been returned. After you have carefully considered my feedback and still feel that you wish to challenge your grade, complete the following steps:

1. Review the assignment requirements and re-read my comments, making a sincere effort to understand why you received the grade you did. If you still do not understand why you received a particular grade, write me a memo with the following elements:
   1. Your name and the date, and the title of our course.
   2. A clear description of what you’d like me to do. For example, “I would like you to review the organization of my paper and your comments on organization on page 3 of my paper.”
   3. Write a detailed, cogent rationale for why you believe the grade should be reconsidered. Be sure to include supporting materials, such as specifics from the assignment, from class readings, and from class discussions.
2. Submit this memo to me within seven (7) days. You may submit the memo electronically or in print, but it must be accompanied by your original assignment (with my comments) for me to assess your challenge.
3. I will review your analysis in a quiet place when I am well rested, so that your concerns can have my full attention. I will put my response in writing, either as a reply to your electronically submitted memo or on the paper you submitted to me.
4. I do not discuss grades or grade changes in class. Students are entitled to thoughtful, reflective, and private responses concerning their evaluations and the classroom environment inhibits that.

*This policy is adapted from one developed by Dr. Dacia Charlesworth at Indiana University–Purdue University, Fort Wayne. I am grateful to her for sharing her materials.