Syllabus, schedule, and assignments may be modified at discretion of the instructor, who will announce any such changes if and when they are made.
To leave each and every student dwelling in a new world of research and writing, coming from a created future out of which their MA project unfolds in the present, taking the appropriate and effective actions to fulfill on their invented projects.
I promise to deliver the course such that the intention is fulfilled in partnership with each and every student who has chosen to be in the course, having agreed to the rules of the game.
To participate in and play any game, it is necessary for players to agree to the rules that constitute, provide the grounds for, the game to be played in such a way that winning the game is possible.
The intention or aim of this game is for each student (in their own way) to access a new world of research and writing, to create and come from a new future out of which your MA project unfolds in the present, to lead yourself to take the appropriate and effective actions to fulfill on your invented projects.
In short, these rules are:
be a person of your word
be willing to experience cognitive dissonance and be coachable when dealing with cognitive dissonance
relate to all assignments as exercises and relate to me and your group mates as coaches committed to your success
be respectful of what others share and maintain confidentiality
respond appropriately to suggested changes, comments, and written interactions regarding all written exercises throughout the course.
Being a person of one's word
Simply by being registered for this course, you have already made a fundamental agreement to be a person of your word, and in particular, you have already agreed to the first rule:
Rule 1: Show up on time for and attend every class session, having done the work (assigned reading and writing exercises), and if you cannot keep your word you are to honor your word by communicating with me and your group, making a new promise as to by when you will keep your word.
Dealing with cognitive dissonance
In many ways, this course will diverge from the everyday expectations for being in a college course. You will not just be learning information to merely add to your inventory; rather, in this course you will open up a new space in which to hold your inventory. This is both simple and quite difficult.
As a course in the MA in Writing, you are expected to bring a high level of maturity and a profound willingness to learn and to even encounter experiences beyond what you are accustomed to experience in terms of your thinking and feeling. As adult writers and researchers you may encounter matters of the utmost importance regarding what it means to be a human being, which will likely bring you to face moments of cognitive dissonance--that is, you may encounter in your research, or in class discussion (which is one very important avenue of research), discoveries that do not fit with your current perspective, your inventory, and for some this might pose a challenging confrontation, and for others exhilaration, and for others everything in between.
Rule 2: Be willing to encounter challenging moments of cognitive dissonance, and if you require assistance in dealing effectively with any such challenge, reach out to me for guidance and coaching, operating from the commitment to include and transcend (integrate) any such challenge.
Writing as Exercise
Given that the course is structured as a semester-long workshop, each and every piece of writing you produce will be provisional, temporary, not final, a draft, including the Prospectus, the last writing exercise for the course. Your grade for each of these low-stakes assignments is a function of your simply having done the work completely, responding appropriately to the request posed in the assignment. Initial efforts to fulfill a given assignment fall short from time to time, and I will support you in seeing and putting in place whatever is missing such that you can honor your word to complete a given assignment.
Consequently, it is critically important that each and every student be coachable--open to being coached by me and by your group mates throughout the course. Being open means being willing to authentically entertain the coaching, to be in dialogue with the coaching, committed to discovering something beyond what you already know, to be willing, in response to feedback, to revise any portion of what you have written in this class.
Rule 3: Relate to assignments as exercises and to me and your group mates as coaches who are committed to you discovering a world of research and writing beyond your current understanding (your inventory).
Confidentiality
In this course, everyone is expected to share writing "publicly" in the class (within a shared folder), and to interact with others (including me, your small group and others in the class) who will respond directly to your writing efforts. Everyone in the class deserves both respect and confidentiality regarding whatever they share, which will be primarily with your group and me; though the entire class will have access to what you have written and placed in the communal class folder, that does not mean that everyone in the class will actually read your writing, and you are not required to read anyone's writing beyond your small workshop group. However, from time to time, if there is something you have shared that I suspect would be valuable for others to interact with, I will ask your permission to highlight that for the whole class. Regardless, if you are not comfortable sharing (speaking or writing) certain things, especially matters that might put you in any sort of jeopardy, don't share those things. If you have any questions about this, meet with me.
Rule 4: Create and maintain the space of the course to be both safe and inviting for each student to participate bravely and fully by interacting with each other respectfully and by keeping confidential what anyone says or writes in this course.
Regarding interacting with each other in the course
Along with the other members of your assigned small group, I will engage directly with you on each writing exercise. That may be in the form of acknowledgement or of suggested changes or of comments concerning surface level issues (as per those functions in Google Docs), and especially in the form of my written interactions in blue, which I will leave in the document itself. It is in your responses, wherein you share your discoveries with me and your group that the work of the course gets done, which is done not just for your sake, but also for the sake of your classmates, who you will contribute to greatly in these interactions.
Rule 5: Respond authentically to suggested changes, comments, and written interactions regarding all written exercises throughout the course.
Department of Writing Arts Attendance Policy
Because the success of writing courses results, in large part, from the establishment of learning communities in which all members participate, and because participation in such learning communities requires attendance at and involvement in class meetings, and because the particular classroom experiences in writing courses are unrepeatable, the Department of Writing Arts has established the following attendance policy for all courses.
Excused Absences
You will be permitted to make up missed work for excused absences only. These include:
religious observances
official University activities
illness
death of a family member or loved one
inclement weather
You must provide official or verifiable documentation. Consult with your instructor for what is considered acceptable.
In the case of religious observances or official University activities, you must inform your instructor in advance of your absence for it to be excused.
In the case of illness, death of a family member or loved one, or inclement weather, you must inform your instructor as soon as possible after the fact.
In the case of rare and compelling circumstances not listed in above, you should make every effort to discuss reasonable accommodations with your instructor in advance if feasible or as soon as possible afterward.
If you exceed the maximum absence limit, even for reasons that are excused, you must withdraw from the course. Normally, you will receive a WF (Withdraw Failing) on your transcript, but the Dean of Students, in consultation with your instructor, may change this to a simple W.
Intellectual Property and Plagiarism
Plagiarism is a serious breach of academic honesty. When you use material from other sources, you must acknowledge that work, whether it is verbatim material from a text, general outlines or rewritten forms. This applies to published work, online sources, or texts produced by other students.
The following statement is from the Rowan University Academic Integrity Policy:
The integrity of academic programs is imperative to Rowan University’s mission. While acknowledging the social and collaborative nature of learning, the University expects that grades awarded to students will reflect individual efforts and achievements. All members of the Rowan community are responsible for understanding what constitutes academic dishonesty; upholding academic integrity standards and encouraging others to do likewise; and knowing the procedures, rights and obligations involved in the Academic Integrity Policy. Academic dishonesty, in any form, will not be tolerated. Students who commit an act of academic dishonesty are subject to disciplinary sanctions up to and including expulsion from the university.
Specific definitions of academic dishonesty and explanations of penalties can be found in this document, available at the following link.
The Department of Writing Arts also has stipulated that students are not allowed to “double dip,” or use similar works for different courses:
The Department of Writing Arts does not allow students to turn in the same writing assignment for more than one class. Students must receive express permission of their instructor to submit writing or a substantial part of a written text previously submitted to another class. Not doing so is considered academic dishonesty and, following the policies laid out by Rowan, may result in an F for that assignment and possibly an F for the semester.
I expect that the work you turn in for this class will represent your own work, done solely for this course, and the appropriately attributed work of others. If you have any questions at all about citation, please ask me since the consequences for plagiarism are severe. If you plagiarize in this class, you will fail the course. Additionally, the Office of the Dean of Students will be informed of the reason for the failing grade.
Statement on the use of AI while writing for this class
First of all, don't do it. Using AI to avoid the intellectual labor of the course (within any assignment) robs you of the growth and development the course is designed for you to undergo through participating in the assignments as they are designed. If I suspect the use of AI, I will require that you meet with me to demonstrate the process (step by step) you moved through to produce what you have written and handed in as your writing.
YOU are responsible for understanding and abiding by these policies.
Maximum Number of Allowable Absences
You are expected to attend class every day. You cannot pass this class if you miss more than the maximum number of permissible absences, including excused and unexcused absences. The maximum number of permissible absences for a 15-week course is as follows:
Class Meets per week/ Max. absences
Once/three
Twice/six
Three/nine
Writing Center
The Writing Center supports students in Writing Intensive courses with one-on-one or small group consultations. Students can get help with all steps of the writing process: inventions strategies, rough drafting, revising, and editing.
Call 856.256.4376 or email writingcenter@rowan.edu. Limited walk-in appointments are available.
Bring the writing assignment your instructor gave you.
Have a clean copy of your draft.
Be prepared to work on big issues first (organization, thesis, voice, paragraph focus) before addressing grammar and editing. Editing a paper with structure and content problems is like putting lipstick on a pig!
Make your appointment well before the due date to allow yourself time to revise and polish your writing.
Come ready to work. Your success is going to take our best efforts.