Course Policies

A course syllabus is a contract between students and their instructor. As a result, this section sometimes takes on a litigious tone. Before we get to that language, I want to acknowledge that I know my students here at SIUE: you have lives, you often have full-time jobs, and you have homes and families that need you. Things happen. Let me know what those things are and tell me how I can help. Above all, I want you to succeed. The policies below are where we begin, but policies always have exceptions when the reasoning is good.

Getting in Touch with Me and E-mail Etiquette

E-mail is the best way to reach me. I check my SIUE e-mail account Monday to Friday from 9:00-5:00. You can expect an e-mail response from me within 24 hours, but I will not respond to e-mail on the weekend. Check your SIUE e-mail account regularly. Because I use Blackboard to communicate with the class, I will only email you using your SIUE account. Please provide a subject for all e-mails and close with your full name. E-mails about missed classes or assignments are not necessary and will not excuse absences or missed assignments.

Office Hours

Please take full advantage of my office hours; I will happily discuss paper ideas as well as any other issue related to the course. I wear many hats during the time I am on campus and often have obligations elsewhere, so I can only guarantee that I will be in my office during posted hours, but feel free to e-mail me to set up an appointment if those times don’t work for you.

The Writing Center

The staff at the Writing Center  (Student Success Center, Room 1254) is happy to schedule weekly free appointments with students. You may stop in to the center or give them a call at 618-650-2045. For more information visit: http://www.siue.edu/IS/WRITING/index.html.

Services for Students Needing Accommodations

It is the policy and practice of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville to create inclusive learning environments. If there are aspects of the instruction or design of this course that result in barriers to your inclusion or to accurate assessment of achievement—such as inaccessible web content or the use of non-captioned videos—please notify the instructor as soon as possible. Students are also encouraged to contact Accessible Campus Community and Equitable Student Support (ACCESS). The ACCESS office is located in the Student Success Center, Room 1270. You can also reach the office by myaccess@siue.edu or by calling 618-650-3726.

Mental Health

Dealing with the fast-paced life of a college student can be challenging, and I always support a student’s decisions to prioritize mental health. Students have access to counseling services on campus (Student Success Center, 0222). Make an appointment by visiting cougarcare.siue.edu or by calling (618-650-2842).

Attendance

Attendance and reading are mandatory. If you are not prepared to participate, you will not be meeting the basic conditions for passing the class. There are no permitted absences. If a student has a problem with excessive absence and misses more than five of the scheduled classes, he/she will FAIL regardless of his/her course grade. If you arrive late, I will have already taken attendance, and you will be marked absent.

Late Work

Because this class uses contract grading and privileges process, I will not penalize students for late work in the same way I would another class, but in order to receive prompt feedback and be successful in your projects, it will be necessary to do your best to meet course deadlines.

Plagiarism

A paper with your name on it signifies that you are the author—that the wording and ideas are yours, with exceptions indicated by quotation marks and citations. Plagiarism is the unacknowledged use of others’ words or ideas. Professionals in English studies adhere to Modern Language Association (MLA) style guidelines to avoid plagiarizing. The Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Purdue University offers helpful descriptions and samples of MLA style, the citation method we will use for this course. Southern Illinois University Edwardsville specifically states that: “The University recognizes plagiarism as a serious academic offense. Plagiarism, the act of representing the work of another as one’s own, may take two forms. It may consist of copying, paraphrasing or otherwise using the written or oral work of another without acknowledging the source, or it may consist of presenting oral or written course work prepared by another as one’s own.”  Students who plagiarize will fail the course and be reported to the Provost—no exceptions.