Attendance and Academic Policies
Updated Monday, March
10, 2003
In an
effort to reduce recurrent academic problems and to better serve students
seeking a quality education, you are required to
- Read
the rules listed below.
- Sign
the contract below stating that have read and understand the rules
- Return
the contract by the second meeting of the course.
Attendance:
Louisiana Tech University mandates attendance. If you must miss class, you should be
prepared to present a valid and verifiable excuse for you absence. Dr. Graves will randomly seek to verify the
validity of excuses.
- Excuses must include the student name, date(s) of absence
and course student missed.
- Because course enrollment
may exceed 200 students, attendance is often taken as a random sample
through and by various means. It is
possible to only miss 2 days during a quarter and only get 80% for
attendance.
- Students who have excused
absences DO NOT get attendance credits for classes they miss.
- Any student with a score of
less than 50% for attendance may expect a failing grade for the course.
- Special exceptions can be
made for students with serious illnesses or other outstanding
circumstances, but ONLY if they contact the instructor as soon as the
problem arises. Do not expect
leniency if you alert me of special circumstances late in the quarter.
- There are no “make-ups” for
unannounced quizzes during the quarter.
You will receive a 0 for those you miss.
- In order to take a test
early or later than the regularly scheduled time, you must present me with
a written, valid excuse, unless you are a graduating senior.
- Graduating seniors should
make arrangements with Dr. Graves several weeks in advance of the
published date for taking the exam.
Incompletes:
- On occasion, a student may
have a legitimate reason for missing multiple assignments. A grade of incomplete can be assigned to
the student, if the student signs a contract formalizing the agreement to
complete all the assigned work left incomplete by an agreed upon date.
Writing Assignments and Plagiarism:
- Plagiarism
is a serious academic offense and will not be tolerated in my courses.
- I
will consider a paper plagiarized if:
- the
student turns in a paper that has been used for grade in another course
- the
student turns in a paper that was written by another person
- the
student uses more than a few words in sequence that is not his or her
own in a paper and fails to quote the source of the words.
- the
student claims another author's words or ideas as his or her own.
- the
student turns in work copied and pasted from an internet source or email
- the
student purchases a paper on-line or from a paper dealer.
- Students
must keep copies of their notes and rough drafts of their paper as
evidence of their integrity.
- Students
must keep a record of where they got the information they used in
construction of a paper (where appropriate).
- Plagiarized
papers will receive a grade of zero (0) and there will be no opportunity
to redo the assignment.
- I
actively check for plagiarism and frequently find students in violation
of these simple rules.
Cheating:
- Students who are caught
cheating on an assignment or during a quiz or exam will receive a grade of
zero for that assignment and may receive an F for the course.
- Cheating includes, but is
not limited to copying other students' answers, the use of cheat sheets or
crib notes, handing in assignments with a false name, taking versions of
the test not assigned to you.
- You may not walk out of an
exam and return without permission.
Academic and Classroom Conduct:
1. According to the
faculty and staff handbook, the instructor reserves the right to determine what
constitutes academic misconduct. I
consider disruptive behavior in the classroom such an offense. If you disturb fellow students by talking
too much, coming to class late repeatedly, leaving class early frequently,
taking phone calls during lecture, or by otherwise causing a consistent
disturbance you will be removed from the course and receive and F.