Course Policies

1 Mandatory Activities

Except in extraordinary situations, students will not be excused from either examinations/quizzes, presentations, or group activities. I will be the sole arbiter of whether a situation qualifies as extraordinary. Hence, students should behave as if they will not be excused from such activities for any reason.

2 Adding/Dropping Courses

Students are responsible for registering for classes and for verifying their class schedules. Important dates/deadlines are available from the registrar. No exceptions will be made to these dates/deadlines.

3 Communications

Many out-of-class communication (including schedule changes) will be sent to you using Canvas (e.g., using the announcements feature). You are expected to "check" (which may depend on how you have configured Canvas to contact you) Canvas regularly (i.e., at least once per day).

You must not respond to Canvas communications sent by the Professor (because they do not identify the sender properly and do not have an informative subject line). Instead, you must use email to send personal/specific text-based (as opposed to voice-based) messages to the Professor.

You should send email using your JMU account whenever possible (which should be almost always). This will help in the authentication of your messages and will help ensure that your messages are not treated as "spam" by the JMU filters.

4 Final Examination Schedule

The dates and times of exams that are held during the final examination period are determined by the Office of the Registrar and cannot be changed. You are responsible for scheduling your other activities (including travel) accordingly.

5 Grades and Grading

5.1 Grades on Individual Assignment

Individual graded assignments have two related but distinct purposes. They help you learn the material covered in the course and they enable you demonstrate what you know, understand, and can apply. Because they have two purposes, the way in which individual graded assignments factor into the final letter grade is not based on the time required to complete them. Two graded assignments that contribute to the final grade in the same way may require vastly different amount of time to complete.

5.2 Questioning Grades on Individual Assignments

It is in everyone's interest that a student's grades accurately reflect that student's understanding and knowledge. Though every effort will be made to ensure that this is the case, mistakes may be made and students should feel free to question their grades. However, given the complexity of the grading process, all questions must be asked promptly for them to be addressed in a fair and consistent manner. Hence, all grade-related questions must be asked within one week of a grade being posted and/or an assignment being returned. Questions raised after that will not be considered.

5.3 Final Letter Grades

Final letter grades in this course are a measure of what you have demonstrated that you know, understand, and can apply. They are not measures of effort, interest, or desire.

Numeric grades will be converted to letter grades using the "traditional" approach. That is, numeric grades between 90% and 100% will be converted to a letter grade in the "A" range, numeric grades between 80% and 89% will be converted to a letter grade in the "B" range, numeric grades between 70% and 79% will be converted to a letter grade in the "C" range, numeric grades between 60% and 69% will be converted to a letter grade in the "D" range, and numeric grades of less than 60% will be converted to an "F". I will use "+" and "-" grades at my discretion.

Note that some assignments/exams may have "special" status. For example, some assignments may be strictly required, in which case you will receive a grade of "F" for the course if you do not complete the assignment in a satisfactory way. As another example, some assignments may have a minimal grade requirement, in which case you must earn a pre-specified number of points on that assignment. An assignment's "special status" will be explained in either the policies/instructions for that assignment or the syllabus.

6 Honor Code

Upon enrollment at James Madison University, each student is automatically subject to the provisions of the Honor system. Each student has a duty to become familiar with the Honor Code and the provisions of the Honor system. Ignorance of what constitutes an Honor Code violation cannot be used as a defense in an honor hearing.

7 Individuals with Disabilities

JMU abides by Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act, which mandate reasonable accommodations be provided for students with documented disabilities. The rights and responsibilities of individuals with disabilities are described in Student Handbook. If you have need of accommodations:

You must file the necessary documentation and supporting evidence with the Office of Disability Services (ODS).
You must arrange for the ODS to send me an "Accommodation Letter".
I will then send you an email that contains a description of the accommodations that are and aren't appropriate and/or possible for the course. Depending on the nature of the accommodations, this message may contain other requirements that you must satisfy.
If you think it is necessary, you may then schedule a meeting to speak with me further about your accommodations request and my response. This meeting should take place as soon as possible after you receive my response.

8 Intellectual Property, Releases, and Related Matters

In general, as discussed at Copyright@JMU, a student's coursework is her/his intellectual property. However, when you submit an assignment, you are granting a limited reproduction right to JMU. That is, your work may be copied both for assessment and the determination of it's originality.

In addition, various course activities (including lectures) may be recorded (auditory and/or visual recordings) for various reasons. You may be recorded as part of this process (e.g., asking or answering a question). By participating in this course you are granting JMU a release/consent for the use of your likeness for any purpose the University deems fit in the interest of education, knowledge, research, marketing, advertising, or public relations.

You may not record the visual or auditory portion of lectures (using any medium), in part or in whole, without the explicit written permission of the course's instructor. You may, of course, "take notes" during lectures, but they must be handwritten or typewritten.

9 Office Hours

Office Hours are a supplement to lecture/lab hours, not an alternative to them.

10 Religious Observances, Military Service, Jury Duty

If you can not satisfy a requirement of the course for religious reasons, required military service, or jury duty you must let me know at least 2 weeks in advance. In some cases you will be required to "make up" the requirement, in other cases the distribution of requirements will be changed accordingly.

11 Schedule

The schedule of activities for this course is a plan, not a contract. The schedule may change as the semester progresses. It is your responsibility to check the schedule regularly.

Important course activities may be scheduled just before and/or just after holidays/breaks. You are responsible for scheduling your other activities (including travel) accordingly.

12 Weather

In general, class will only be canceled when the President or a designee has closed the University as described in Policy 1309. The class may or may not be re-scheduled.

If you can not satisfy a course requirement because of extreme weather when the University is open, you must inform me immediately by both telephone and email. In some cases you will be required to "make up" the requirement, in other cases the distribution of requirements will be changed.

13 Withdrawals

I do not give grades of "WP" or "WF". You will have received enough feedback by the deadline for course withdrawal to determine whether you should or should not withdraw from the course (and receive a grade of "W").

Should something catastrophic happen to you after the deadline for course withdrawal, you should speak to someone in the Office of the Dean of Students about withdrawing from the University for a semester.