Professor McCormick's Course Policies and Information
Office Hours, Spring 2021: During the pandemic, I'm available on email at mccormick@csus.edu. I try to answer all emails within 48 hours. I will also be holding Zoom office hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 12:30-1:30 and 4:15-5:00. I can also schedule a Zoom appointment with you. Email me to set up a time.
Student Conduct: Students are expected to conduct themselves with civility and respect towards other students and toward the instructor. As part of the university community, they are expected to foster and contribute to a constructive atmosphere of learning, intellectual development, and personal growth. In exchanges with other students and with the instructor, students and instructors should be polite and respectful of other views. Students (and instructors) should not post, respond, email, or communicate with other students or the instructor in anger or hostility. They should take some time to consider and acknowledge consider what's correct, helpful, or interesting in the contributions and ideas from other members of the university community. They should adopt a principle of charity, or strive to interpret the contributions of others in the best light. Students are required to abide by the policies, schedules, deadlines, and requirements established for the course by the instructor as outlined in the syllabus and course materials.
Attendance policy for non-online courses: class attendance in mandatory for all of my classes. In summer courses, a missed class will count for two absences. Anyone with 5 or more unexcused absences will receive a 0 for class participation.
In classes that meet 2 or 3 times a week, anyone with 5 or more unexcused absences will receive a 0 for class participation.
In classes that meet once a week, anyone with 3 or more unexcused absences will receive a 0 for class participation.
Everyone is expected to come to class prepared, having read the assigned materials, and ready to participate in the class discussions. Everyone who meets these requirements will receive the full portion of the course attendance and participation grade. Partial failure to meet these requirements will result in a proportional reduction of that grade.
If there are emergencies that force you to miss class, they may be excused in some rare cases. You must notify me that you will be missing class before it occurs. And I will require evidence in order to excuse the absence(s).
Attendance and participation policy for online courses: In online courses, students are expected to check their university issued Saclink email daily for important information from the instructor. Students are expected to be thoroughly comfortable with accessing online materials, Blackboard, email, Google Discussion Groups, and Google Docs. Students will be held responsible for meeting all dates, deadlines, and requirements listed on the syllabus, the course schedule, and the course policies pages. Students are expected to check the schedule daily. Students are expected to participate in the course discussion groups where applicable, they are expected to contact the professor by email promptly with issues, concerns, or requests for help. And they are expected to make use of either virtual office hours, or regular office hours in MND 3020.
Courses have participation and activity requirements, including engagement with the course material on a weekly basis. Students who do NOT:
Login to the course at least once each week during the first two weeks of semester
Actively engaged in coursework for at least one hour each week for the first two weeks of semester
Take the first two weekly quizzes during the first two weeks of semester
will be considered to have abandoned the course and may be administratively dropped by the instructor. Re-enrollment will not be permitted.
Being tardy for non-online courses: I take roll at the beginning of class and, if necessary, after break; students who are late will be counted absent and will miss assignments, important information, and as a result, will do poorly in the course. Three tardies count as an absence.
Late Assignments: Each student may take one extension on a due paper or question set (but not on the final, any quiz or exam, or any homework assignment, or on an assignment due at the end of finals week) until the next class period. This is the only extension you will have, so use it wisely. You do not need to inform me when you choose to take your extension. All other late assignments will be penalized one letter grade per day (not per class period). Assignments turned in after class on the day they are due will be counted late.
Missed Assignments: Be forewarned: A missed assignment will be entered as a 0 in the grade spreadsheet, and that has a substantial negative impact on your course grade. Even an F (55 points) has a less damaging effect on your grade. Every semester I get emails and calls from distraught students after course grades are in complaining about their grades. They did well on some assignments, but failed to realize that by skipping 2 or 3 or 5 of the course assignments, they had conceded 20-40% of the course grade.
Makeup Policy: There will be no extra credit or make up assignments for any missed work. The midterm and final exams will no be rescheduled for anyone. Plan accordingly.
Cheating: No cheating of any sort will be tolerated in this course. All sources in papers must be cited and given appropriate credit. The author of any information from the Internet or another student from class must be given credit; using such information without indicating the source is stealing someone else's hard work and it is immoral. Cutting and pasting someone else's work is not acceptable. It is also unacceptable to make minor revisions in language to disguise someone else's sentences/ideas. From the university policy manual: Plagiarism at Sacramento State includes but is not limited to:
The act of incorporating into one’s own work the ideas, words, sentences, paragraphs, or parts thereof, or the specific substance of another’s work without giving appropriate credit thereby representing the product as entirely one's own. Examples include not only word-for-word copying, but also the "mosaic" (i.e., interspersing a few of one’s own words while, in essence, copying another’s work), the paraphrase (i.e., rewriting another’s work while still using the other’s fundamental idea or theory); fabrication (i.e., inventing or counterfeiting sources), ghost-writing (i.e., submitting another’s work as one’s own) and failure to include quotation marks on material that is otherwise acknowledged; and
Representing as one’s own another’s artistic or scholarly works such as musical compositions, computer programs, photographs, paintings, drawing, sculptures, or similar works.
Students are allowed to discuss lectures and even assignments with each other. Students are encouraged to collaborate on many assignments. But every students must do his or her own work. Be cautious of sharing your notes, ideas, work, assignments, or papers with other students. Once you have given them a copy of or access to your work, you cannot control what they might do with it. If two or more students' work are found to violate the policy, all of the students will receive the same punishment, even if one did the work and the other plagiarized.
Here is the university policy on academic honesty:
The attempt by a student to cheat on an exam or other academic assignment or to engage in plagiarism is a violation of a fundamental principle of academic honesty and integrity and will not be tolerated in the University. Formal procedures exist for dealing with these cases and penalties will be imposed on students who are found guilty of academic dishonesty. In the event of expulsion, suspension or probation, a notation is made on the student’s transcript. Suspension and probation notations remain on the transcript for the life of the suspension/probation. For information, contact the office of the Vice President for Student Affairs.
All students will be responsible for reading and following the university honesty, plagiarism, and cheating policies. They are posted at:
University Policy Manual on Academic Honesty
Intellectual Property Right Policy:
The development of websites and businesses that buy students' notes and papers and resell them to other students who are willing to cheat has made this policy necessary:
I do not give my permission for any materials presented in my courses, including but not limited to lectures, lecture notes, assignments, tests, and handouts, to be sold without my explicit written permission. Those materials also may not be given, or otherwise transferred by anyone who is not currently enrolled in my courses to anyone who is. Nor can they be given or otherwise transferred to anyone who is currently enrolled in my courses to anyone who is not. They may not be used for any commercial purposes without my explicit written permission. Their use is educational and confined to use in my class. Anyone who violates these policies is in conflict with university intellectual copyright policy and will be subject to legal action.
Students with Disabilities:
If you have a documented disability and require accommodation or assistance with assignments, tests, attendance, note taking, etc., please see the instructor during the first week of the semester or sooner so that appropriate arrangements can be made to ensure your full participation in class. Also you are encouraged to contact the Services for Students with Disabilities (Lassen Hall) for additional information regarding services that might be available to you.
Laptop Policy for non-online courses:
Laptops are allowed in my classes. However, they can be a distraction to their users and students around them. Students with laptops should sit in the back of the room and only class related material should be on the screen. Likewise, cell phone use is strictly limited to use for class such as entering calendar dates.