Course Policies

general policies

In order to have the opportunity to pass this course, students are required to present three 5-10 minutes speeches to a live audience of 5 or more people (see complete guidelines for specifics on this policy). Students who do not complete all three speeches will not be able to pass the course, regardless of other grades.

Plan out who will be in your audience well ahead of time. Students will not be given an Incomplete if they are unable to gather 5+ people for their audience for each of the three presentations.

Plagiarism will not be tolerated. Your speeches should include properly paraphrased and minimally quoted information from credible sources, but the actual speech organization should be created by you. Do not use an outline that is already created or a speech that is already written.

Late work

You are strongly encouraged to work ahead of the schedule. Deadlines are given to keep you on track and you should be mindful of when assignments are due. I understand that life happens, though, so there will be an opportunity to complete assignments late.

Most all assignments are due on Thursdays at 11:59 p.m. EST. You should complete all assignments BEFORE the due date. However, if you happen to miss an assignment for whatever reason, you will have the opportunity to complete it during the late period (3 days after the due date). At this point, the assignment will close. So, for example, if a quiz is due on a Thursday at 11:59 p.m., that means you should complete it before the date and time that it is due, but if you need to complete it late, it will remain open for three (3) more days until 11:59 p.m. EST. Please note that near the end of the semester there may be assignments that do not re-open. It is your responsibility to know the deadlines and complete your work BEFORE all deadlines.

You will be able to submit four (4) assignments during the late period for credit. This includes speeches. If you submit more than four assignments after their due date, only four will count toward your final grade; all other assignments will be given zero points.

Please do not ask for me to open an assignment individually. I will not open assignment on an individual basis. If you miss the due date and the extension date, you will not have another opportunity to make up that assignment.

Communication

Students are expected to exchange professional communication with the professor via official California University of PA email accounts (please do not email from a Gmail account or any other personal account). Sometimes students feel less inhibited online in terms of communication and may engage in unprofessional communication (e.g. rude language in emails, inappropriate comments). Unprofessional communication or comments via email, over the phone, or on any assignments (open-ended questions on quizzes) will not be tolerated.