ENGL 4/5106-01 CLASS POLICIES: To show that you have read and understand the following policies, please print out and sign this page where indicated. Policy sheets are due in class by Jan. 16, 2008.
Deadlines and Late Policy: All writing assignments that are due in class must be turned in within the first fifteen minutes of class in hardcopy unless the assignment sheet indicates otherwise. Papers not received by this time will be considered late. My strictness regarding this particular policy stems from two considerations. First, if you are not in class, you are missing discussion and thus course material. In addition, it is disruptive to the class and distracting for both the instructor and other students to have others straggling in midway through the class period. Plan your schedule so that you can have papers printed and ready by the time class begins. No papers will be accepted over email.
Late out of class assignments will be penalized one half of a letter grade for each day they are late. Papers that are more than four days late (including weekend days and holidays) will receive an automatic "F." Extensions will be granted only if you have a verifiable medical or other sufficiently serious ("seriousness" will be determined at the instructor's discretion) excuse and you request an extension (in person, via email or phone) before the paper deadline. Regardless of your situation, no extensions will be granted beyond the four-day late period. Having papers or exams for other classes, a schedule conflict with work or other responsibilities, or simply being "swamped" are not sufficiently serious excuses and will not result in your being granted an extension. Late penalties for papers turned in outside of class will be assessed based on when I receive the paper, since if you do not hand it to me directly, I cannot verify when you turned it in.
Paper Format: All papers should be typed, double-spaced, in a standard 12 point font (preferably Times New Roman) with 1" top/bottom margins and 1-1.25" left/right margins. Big fonts, extra spaces between your paragraphs, and large margins are pretty easy to spot, so stick to the standard size guidelines and use the revision process to help you generate enough information to present a clear and well-reasoned analysis within the designated space limitations. Papers are required to have inline citations where appropriate and a descriptive title (i.e. not "Faith Healer" but "Narrating Violence in Faith Healer"), and you must number your pages and staple (NOT paper clip, glue, or origami fold) them together. Title pages are unnecessary for your response papers; simply include your name, the course number and the date in the top right corner of your first page.
Outside Sources and Academic Dishonesty: Academic dishonesty involves any attempt on your part to claim ideas and/or specific phrasing that you have gotten from elsewhere as your own or to fabricate sources or evidence so as to make your argument sound stronger. Plagiarism thus includes actions such as copying papers from the internet or other sources, cheating on exams, turning in work written by someone else or turning in work that you previously submitted for another course. Academic dishonesty is a serious offense, and plagiarizing any assignment or part thereof, regardless of the relative value of the assignment in the calculation of your course grade, will result in failure of the course. In keeping with departmental and university honor policies, all cases of academic dishonesty will be reported both to the Chair of the English Department and to the Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs. In short, do your own work and when you use outside information, provide accurate citations for it. For more on the English Department's plagiarism policy, see http://www.westga.edu/~engdept/Plagiarism/pladef.html.
I have read the course syllabus and understand the requirements of the course and the above policies.
_______________________ _____________________________ __________
Print Name Signature Date