Course Policies



ATTENDANCE: Since this is not a lecture class, you must attend class daily to understand course activities. No more than three absences (situation pending, see below) will be excused. For each additional absence, one whole letter grade (10%) will be deducted from the final grade. It is the student's responsibility to discover what was missed in class and any assignments. Only work missed during an excused absence may be made up.

The only absenses that will be excused are hospital stays and doctor approved absenses, a family emergency, and natural disasters. All of these excuses, excluding natural disasters, must be accompanied by appropriate documentation or they will not be accepted. Only written excuses in memo form will be considered by the instructor when you are attempting to excuse an absence. Students are encouraged to write the instructor, including appropriate documentation, immediately upon returning to request an excused absence. Excuses will be refused if they arrive more than a week after the absence.

This attendance policy is non-negotiable and will be strictly enforced.

CLASS TIME: Time in class will be spent on discussion of readings, student writing, and Internet activities. Quizzes, practice essays, and lectures are designed to benefit the entire group while personal problems and concerns should be handled during the instructor's office hours.

Since every minute of class time is important, please be avoid being late. Two tardy marks will equal one absence; see Attendance above.

CONFERENCES: There will be a certain amount of time in the middle of the semester (see Syllabus) for mandatory student conferences. A sign-up sheet will be passed around class two weeks prior to scheduled conferences. You must prepare your Mid-term Self-Assessment Questionnaire in memo form before attending your conference.

COURSE MATERIALS: Course books are integral parts of the course and should be brought to class daily. When readings are assigned to be discussed in class, please bring a copy of the reading with your reading notes ready to discuss. Bring the following course materials to class each day:
  • Lannon, John M. Technical Writing. Seventh Edition. New York: Longman, 1997.

  • Several 3.5 floppy disks

DEADLINES: Late work is not acceptable and will receive a zero. Allowing for a single contingency, one late assignment will be accepted with the penalty of losing a letter grade; this assignment cannot be more than a week late or it will not be accepted. Plan ahead and turn in your work on time. Late essays cannot, for any reson, be rewritten for a grade increase (see Rewrites below).
GRADES: Final grading in this class will be based upon a the traditional ten-point scale, see Table 1. For an explanation of letter grade distinctions, see Grade Descriptions. Table 2 offers a breakdown of this classes requirements and their concomitant weights. Accounting for the simplicity of Table 2's grading breakdown, I may alter the weight of assignments to account for various contingencies and student improvement.

A90-100
B80-89
C70-79
D60-69
F0-59
Table 1: Letter Grades
Class Participation10%
Class Assignments30%
Web Site20%
Class Project30%
Final Exam10%
Table 2: Grade Weights


INTERNET ACCOUNTS: All students are required to have a USF Internet account. Accounts are free to students and may be acquired on the sixth floor of the library. Point-to-Point Protocal (PPP) Software may be purchased for $1.00 in the bookstore, and Netscape offers its excellent browser free to students.

PLAGIARISM: The Oxford English Dictionary defines plagiarism as "the wrongful appropriation or purloining, and publication as one's own, of the ideas, or the expression of the ideas (literary, artistic, musical, mechanical, etc.) of another," or "a purloined idea, design, passage, or work."

Plagiarism will result in automatic failure of this class and will be pursued to incite the utmost penalty for such dishonesty. Academic falsehood, in any form, will constitute class failure.

Since this class will be publishing on the Internet, please consult Janice Walker's essay "Intellectual Property for Dummies" for an excellent overview of legal considerations of electronic publications.

REWRITES: Rewrites are an integral part of the writing process, so they will be accepted and encouraged throughout the semester. Students should attempt to edit and revise before a project is due for grading, but a rewrite may be submitted one time after the initial grading. Rewrites will be due one week after the graded assignments are returned. The final grade of the assignment will be the average between the original grade and the grade of the revision. Whenever you turn in a rewrite, always include a copy of the previously graded assignment.




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11 December 1997