Grades

The COLL 1000 evaluation structure is comprised of 190 points, divided into the following categories:

• Assignments=70 points

• Attendance/Participation=70 points

• Final Capstone Project=35 points

• Course Assessment=15 points

Course activities such as reflections, discussions, and quality of student engagement may

contribute to a student’s attendance grade.

Unsubmitted assignments earn a zero.

If you do not complete an entire assignment, you will only be graded out of the proportion of the assignment that you completed and submitted. If an assignment has ten questions, for example, and you only complete five of them, the maximum grade that you would be able to earn is 50%: the percentage of the assignment that you completed. This is to ensure fairness in grading to all students. 

If you are concerned about your ability to complete an assignment, I encourage you to work with the tutors and/or your instructor. 

You must complete your own work. Plagiarism, including AI usage, will result in a zero.

In-class activities cannot be made up without communication with the instructor in advance. 

Most assignments will have a 10% deduction per day for late submissions. 

If you are worried that you might miss a deadline, please contact me before the assignment is due. Extensions can be arranged in advance if you are facing extenuating circumstances, such as medical procedures. 

 Absolutely no late work can be accepted during the last week of classes or finals week. This is to allow for end-of-the-semester grade calculation. 

As Brightspace works better with some file types than others, you are required to save and submit your work in the approved formats. 

• For images, such as photographs of hand-drawn brainstorming, submit photographs as JPGs. 

• For typed work, submit .doc or .docx files. 

• Do not submit typed files as pages, PDFs, or rtfs. If

• Do not give me URLs, links, or invitations to edit documents.

• If you are working in Microsoft or Google Docs, you need to download your document as a .doc file in order to upload it to Brightspace.

If you submit an unapproved file type, I will not be able to open and grade your work. You will need to resubmit the assignment in an acceptable file type. Points may be deducted for submitting the incorrect file type, as submitting work correctly is part of the assignment. If this is a persistent issue, you will be graded with the late grade policy or treated as not submitted. 

You can complete up to three extra credit assignments.

The extra credit opportunities will be updated throughout the semester. Make sure that you are selecting one of the opportunities available to your class, not a different class.

I am already allowing you to complete three extra credit assignments, and I may choose to give extra credit during classes or in other extraordinary circumstances. I expect you to respect this generous extra credit opportunity by completing the regular credit and not asking for additional extra credit. 

I respect your time and will never assign busy work. 

I will always grade work as quickly as I can. Please note, though, that providing feedback on your work takes a lot of time. I have around 100 students per semester. If I spend just ten minutes each providing feedback, that adds up to roughly seventeen hours of grading for me to do. I know that my feedback is important to your learning, so I will provide you with individual feedback on most of your work.

My goal is to provide feedback on all work within two weeks of the due date. There may be times, though, where grading may take me longer. This is because I also value other commitments, such as being available to you during student hours. Please do not contact me asking when an assignment will be graded unless it has been three weeks since the due date.

At the end of the semester, I will have all final grades submitted by noon on Friday, December 9. As soon as your final grades have been calculated, I will make them visible to you, with an end of the semester note, in Brightspace. 

If you are unhappy with a grade that you have received on any assignment, you should first review the assignment sheet, your work, and the instructor's feedback. If you are still unsure why you received the grade that you did, you should respectfully contact your instructor to discuss. Any concerns about grades must be addressed within two weeks of receiving the grade. Grade changes will be considered if an error was made with your grade. Fairly assigned grades will not be changed on the basis that you needed/wanted a better grade. 

*Note that I try to grade as generously as possible on first gradings. If you want your grade reassessed on an assignment, I will review your assignment. I will also consult the departmental grading standards and/or a colleague. As a result, it is possible that your grade could be lowered, instead of raised. 

A student may only appeal a final grade if one or more of the following conditions exist:

• Error in the calculation of the grade

• Substantial deviation from the syllabus

• Clear violation of Pellissippi State Community College and/or the Tennessee Board of Regents policies.

Students have a right to a clear explanation (from the instructor or dean, as appropriate) of

actions taken by the instructor, such as how a grade was calculated. An appeal will not be

considered because of general dissatisfaction with a grade, penalty, or outcome of a course.

Disagreement with the instructor's professional judgement of the quality of the student's work and performance is also not an admissible basis for an academic appeal.

The first step in any appeal is to discuss the situation with the instructor. If no resolution is reached, the next step is to consult the English Department Dean to find out more about the process for a formal appeal. For further information, you may also read the policy: http://www.pstcc.edu/ppm/pdf/03-11-01.pdf. Scroll down to XII, Academic Grade Appeal.