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"Without
overdrawing the contrast, students leaned toward a vision
of the student-professor relationship as easygoing, familiar,
and accommodating, whereas professors contemplated a relationship
marked by fair dealing, clarity of expectations, and a
strong commitment to learning by both parties."
Walsh,
David J. and Mary Jo Maffei, "Never in a Class by
Themselves: An Examination of Behaviors Affecting the
Student-Professor Relationship,” The Teaching Network
20 (1) (Oct. 1998): 2.
As
I interpret my role in this class, my responsibility is
to provide you an opportunity to meet the objectives outlined
in the syllabus. I am willing to help and sincerely hope
that students achieve these objectives. I have developed
the following policies for my classes with the advice
of students at UT-Austin and at the University of Illinois
at Urbana-Champaign. Some of these statements set the
boundaries for the class content and schedule. Others
outline expected behavior. Many of the policies arose
as a result of unexpected situations that may never occur
again; I now know how I would handle these situations.
The policies should help you to know what you can expect
of me, of yourself, and of your classmates. I hope they
help me deal fairly and consistently with students. Please
contact me if situations arise where you feel that these
policies are being abridged.
1.
Prerequisite: Students enrolled in this class must have
already completed 382L.12, “Introduction to Information
Resources and Services.”
2.
BREAKS. We will have a fifteen minute break approximately
halfway through the class.
3.
PARTICIPATION. Students are expected to participate in
general class discussion throughout the semester. Grades
for participation are based on the quality and consistency
of student contributions.
4.
ATTENDANCE. Class attendance is expected.
(A) Submit all work on or before deadline.
(B) If you must miss class, secure the cooperation
of a classmate to take notes for you.
(C) Sign the roster sheet distributed in class each
day.
(D)
Consider dropping the class if you miss four or more
classes.
Absences
will be excused only upon evidence of illness or emergency.
You need not call me to alert me to times you need to
be absent, just provide your evidence at the next class
meeting.
Failure
to attend without excused absences class meetings will
result in reduced class participation credit (1 point
or % deduction).
This
penalty also applies to the first class. Consistent late
arrivals to class or departures after the break will also
result in reduced credit for class participation. Also,
it is not advisable to show up for class to submit an
assignment on time and/or sign the roster and then to
leave class. These deductions may reduce a borderline
grade from an A- to a B+.
5.
SUBMITTING WORK. Please submit your completed course work
to me in class or to my mailbox in SZB 564. Assignments
are due at the beginning of class on the assigned due
dates. To prevent potential loss of your work, please
do not hand completed work to me in my office or deliver
your work under my office door. Under most circumstances
I will also not accept electronically transmitted work.
I occasionally accept faxed copies of assignment under
special circumstances.
6.
PLEASE SUBMIT PAPER COPIES. Use word processing computer
software to prepare your written assignments. I will not
accept handwritten work; such work will be subject to
the late penalty. Please use a relatively new cartridge
to print your work so that the type is legible.
7.
COVER SHEETS ON ASSIGNMENTS. Attach a cover sheet to your
assignments. This is a separate page that provides your
name, the title of the assignment, and the date and time
you submitted your work. Deductions (-1 point) will be
made when cover sheets are missing.
8. STUDENT
MAILBOX. Please make sure that you have a student mailbox.
These should be assigned by the Ischool office staff after
the 12th class day. Check with the office staff
for assistance.
9.
SIZE OF PAPERS. I will return your final work to your
Ischool student mailbox. Please submit your final work in
a physical format that will fit within your mailbox. Three
ring binders, for example, will not fit in your box.
10.
DUE DATES. Assignments are all due on or by the stated
due dates. In fairness to those who complete work on time,
a penalty of 20% will be assessed for each 24-hours an
assignment is overdue; deductions will be prorated per
hour an assignment is overdue. This penalty is taken off
the top. The overdue clock will begin at the beginning
of the class period that the assignment is due. Please
submit assignments in complete form; incomplete assignments
will not be accepted and the late penalty will apply.
If you are submitting work late, tell me in writing with
an estimate of when you expect to submit the work. It
is the student’s responsibility to ensure that I have
a paper copy of your paper. Please pay attention to dates
you are scheduled to give oral presentations; if you are
unprepared on that day, the late penalty also applies.
11.
INCOMPLETES. A grade of incomplete will NOT be given except
in extremely exceptional circumstances of a non-academic
nature. Generally, an incomplete is given only if a student
cannot finish the last assignment due to illness or a
family emergency.
12.
DROPS. A student should consider dropping the class if
the quality of his/her work indicates that he/she will
receive a C grade or lower. Please keep track of the points
you earn in your assignments. I will send warning notes
to students who should drop. Drop forms are available
in SZB 564 and must be submitted by the last class day
or else I will have to assign a letter grade for the class.
If in dropping this class you are dropping all your UT-Austin
classes, you will have to officially withdraw from the
University. See the Graduate Coordinator, Carol Carreon(471-2416),
and/or the Graduate Advisor for advice.
13.
CREDIT/NO CREDIT. Please tell me if you are taking this
course on a credit/no credit basis. You must take courses
for letter grades if you intend to count the course credit
towards graduation.
14.
CONDITIONAL OR PROBATIONAL STATUS. You may tell me if
you are on conditional or probational status and `need'
to make an A grade in the class. I can attempt to provide
additional encouragement to assist you.
15.
STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES. If you have special preexisting
circumstances that will affect how you perform in this
class, you may want to investigate the services offered
by the Dean of Students office for students with disabilities.
This office will help me make reasonable accommodations
for you. The Office for Students with Disabilities will
provide me with assistance.
16.
BONUS/EXTRA CREDIT. You will earn one bonus point (1%
of final grade) by preparing your pathfinder for a client.
You may need to ask your client to complete the Pathfinder
Bonus Point form in your syllabus. It is possible, therefore,
for a student to have a final score of 101% (101 points).
If you have to miss class to attend a professional conference,
you may make up this missed class by attending a meeting
or program related to reference service and reporting
on this event in class. Along with this oral report you
will need to submit a two-page (500 word) summary of the
event. Please submit all extra credit by the last day
of class.
17.
DRAFTS. I will not be able to review drafts of assignments.
Please consult the evaluation forms for each assignment
for guidance.
18.
PAGE LENGTH. Note carefully the required page length stipulated.
More detail on page length is found in in specific assignment
descriptions. YOU WILL LOSE CREDIT IF YOU EITHER DO NOT
REACH THE MINIMUM PAGE LENGTH OR EXCEED THE MAXIMUM ALLOWABLE
PAGE LENGTH.
19.
CITING SOURCES. Be sure to cite sources. Use quotation
marks or block quotations for direct quotes (five or more
words used verbatim from a source or significant words
or phrases). Credit sources when you paraphrase. ONE HALF
POINT WILL BE DEDUCTED FOR EACH SENTENCE THAT IS DRAWN
TOO CLOSELY FROM SOURCES WHEN SUCH SOURCES SHOULD BE CREDITED.
THIS DEDUCTION IS MADE OFF THE TOP OF THE MAXIMUM CREDIT
FOR AN ASSIGNMENT. For citation style, use Turabian (5th
or latest edition) or The Chicago Manual of Style
or some other pre-approved standard style manual. Also
consult a style manual to cite electronic sources.
20.
RESERVE AND REFERENCE MATERIALS. Students are asked to
control access to materials in PCL, especially with regards
to reference materials. Return reference materials to
their proper place on the shelves in consideration of
others trying to use these sources.
21.
SNACKING. Unless there is a medical reason to do so, please
consume your snacks before or after class or during class
breaks.
22.
UT POLICY. I adhere to the UT policy on academic dishonesty.
The UT-Austin Dean of Students Office recommends that
all UT-Austin faculty include the following statement
in their course syllabi:
"Students
who violate University rules on scholastic dishonesty
are subject to disciplinary penalties, including the
possibility of failure in the course and dismissal from
the University. Since dishonesty harms the individual,
fellow students, and the integrity of the University,
policies on scholastic dishonesty will be strictly enforced."
23.
INSTRUCTOR BEHAVIOR. As your instructor, I will endeavor
to:
A)
return assignments promptly;
B)
maintain office hours and inform you if I cannot be
available during regular office hours;
C)
meet with you at other times (within reason) if you
are unavailable to meet during regularly scheduled office
hours;
E)
tell you in advance what I expect of you;
F)
encourage individual class participation while preventing
anyone student from monopolizing the discussion, from
treating other students without respect or from otherwise
making class discussion disagreeable;
G)
make explicit a rationale for assigning grades;
H)
help maintain an atmosphere of learning in the classroom;
I)
as 'fairness monitor' or otherwise mediate in difficulties
students might be having related to the class;
J)
come to class prepared and organized;
K)
maintain confidentiality concerning student grades and
information you give me in confidence;
L)
apply class policies fairly and consistently.
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