COURSE POLICIES

Syllabus

The syllabus for each course is available on the internet. The syllabus contains information relevant to that course including: objectives, textbook, grading basis, material covered, and approximate order and schedule. The syllabus is not considered to be a contract. Both the order, schedule, and content may change somewhat based upon class progress and other unforeseen events (such as school closings due to weather, instructor illness, computer/network problems, etc.).

American Disability Act

CBU is committed to providing reasonable accommodation for all qualified students with disabilities. It is the responsibility of the student to contact the Office of Accessibility to arrange for appropriate accommodations. When the disability has been documented and verified, the service officer will notify the student regarding any special accommodation to be provided. The student will then provide the accommodation information to the instructor. For more information, contact the Office of Accessibility in Student Success, located on the first floor of Barry Hall, Office 37D, or call (901) 321-3758.

Grading Scale

The grading scale is shown below. The number of tests indicated on a syllabus may change depending upon the progress of a class.

Methods of Instruction

It is generally recognized that different students learn best under one or more learning methods including verbal, visual, exercises and labs, self-paced, team-based, etc. Accordingly, in these courses many different techniques are used to enhance learning. At least one textbook is provided which generally covers much of the course content; some assignments come from questions or problems in the textbook. Class lectures include multimedia presentations (see below), which again cover the majority of the course content. Labs (both in class and outside class) also provide "hands-on" and self-paced learning.

Office Hours and Instructor Contact

Instructor can be contacted outside class either via CBU email or personal visit to instructor's CBU office (BU 302) during official office hours. Instructor checks CBU email several times each weekday, and response is generally same day. Office hours are typically on Monday and Wednesday afternoons, but details are posted outside of instructor's office door, and such hours may change each 8 week term. Office hours are not in effect during summer break, fall break, spring break, CBU holidays, nor any other CBU closure times. For fully online classes or in emergency situations such as pandemics, all office hours amy be online. Instructor is flexible to meet students outside office hours if student's class schedeule conflicts, but students need to schedule this via email.

Cheating and Plagiarism

Students must always do their own work, except where joint or team efforts are expressly indicated in writing. Cheating of any kind, including plagiarism, will result in a grade of "F" for the particular assignment, or a grade of "F" for the entire course upon instructor discretion and consistent with the policies expressed in the CBU Student Handbook.

Lesson Material

Course lesson material and class labs are available in on the Internet and linked to either the syllabus and/or the course page in Canvas. These can be accessed on and off campus. The lesson material is protected with a separate username/password which the instructor will supply to registered students. Lesson material is copyrighted and just for the personal use of the student during the course. Any re-distribution, publication, or reverse engineering thereof is illegal, and will also be considered plagiarism.

Assignments

All assignments should be submited in Canvas unless otherwise specified by instructor. For most assignments an attached file (such as a Word document or Excel spreadsheet) is appropriate. Submitting assignments, sending e-mail or attachments with a virus or other malware will result in a zero grade on the assignment. Assignments (and their due dates) are generally specified in Canvas or at the end of the lesson material (before appendices). In some classes, late assignments are penalized; and the date/time of the Canvas submittal or email is used as the bases for such penalties. The instructor will acknowledge assignments via an "OK" if the assignment is complete and correct, or with a specific note for assignments that must be re-submitted. Unless otherwise communicated, the last time to turn in assignments is NOON on the last Sunday of a term. Individual (not team) assignments are expected to be the work of the student submitting the assignment; such assignments that have been copied will receive no credit. There may be occasions when I suspect that an assignment has been copied from another person or source or has been completed without following the stated rules for such assignments. In such circumstances, I reserve the right to give an oral or written examination on the assignment. If this examination uncovers substantial lack of understanding of the assignment, the grade for the assignment will be based on that examination. In addition, the matter will be referred to the appropriate CBU body for their consideration.

Quizzes/Tests

Quizzes and Tests may be open or closed book depending upon the course and situation; they emphasize understanding, analysis, design, and implementation methodology rather than memorization of facts.

Final Exam/Project

Classes have either a final exam, final project, or several projects constituting a final student evaluation. Projects have specific due dates as presented in Canvas or on class web material, and final exams are administered on the day/time scheduled by the Office of the Registrar, unless: 1. Approved otherwise by the Dean of the School. Exams other than the last or final exam may be given during the last week of the semester prior to the Final Examination Week. 2. An individual student's exam schedule has a conflict with two or more exams being scheduled during the same period.

Computer Account

A computer account on the CBU student server is necessary. Make sure you have obtained your account name and password and that you can log in successfully. Check your campus e-mail regularly, you are responsible for announcements or memos sent by the instructor via campus e-mail.

File Backup

Students can use USB drives for their lab work and back up copies of assignments. Alternatively students can FTP/WinSCP files from their lab PC's (or laptops) to their CBU server account storage for backup, or to services such as Dropbox. Remember that USB drives or other types of drives may be damaged by many occurrences, and students are responsible for maintaining proper and redundant backup of their information.

Critical Questions

Some homework or in class assignments may involve "critical questions" which the student or instructor may compose. These questions are to stimulate critical thinking and class discussions. Critical questions should normally specifically reference an area in the lecture notes or textbook. The critical questions also must be well focused in the material, clear and concise, draw upon the knowledge and experience of the instructor or classmates, and not answerable with a simple yes or no answer.

Research Papers

Research papers should be submitted in APA format unless another format is specified with appropriate table of contents, executive summary, and references sections.

Attendance

Students must sign in for each class (except for on-line/hybrid classes); this can be accomplished via the Internet syllabus page for the respective class (a transaction will be logged for the student, class, date, time, and computer IP address). Every student is expected to attend classroom, laboratory and assembly periods regularly. A student who has been absent, even for a legitimate cause, is under obligation to make up the work by special assignment, to the satisfaction of the instructor. Any student who has missed 9 (50-minute) classes, 6 (75-minute) classes, 1.75 (7 hours) of a 4-hour course, or 20% of courses with "irregular" numbers of hours/week may be given a mark of "F" after the last day to withdraw from classes has passed. The Withdrawal option is available only during the University�s withdrawal period. Students are responsible for material, assignments, and announcements made in class, or announcements made in Canvas.

Inclement Weather Policy

In the event of an official school cancellation, learning and testing will continue through electronic means.

Make up Tests

Make up tests need to be scheduled with the instructor. Make up tests will be given for proven sickness, family emergencies, business travel, or CBU sports teams; for business or sports the instructor must be notified in writing (such as via email) before the test date. "POP Quizzes" cannot be made up. Make up tests are limited to one per term.

On-line Classes

Some online material needs a username/password which is different from the student's email username/password. The student should email the instructor for the username/password to view the course on-line content. The scheduled time of test/quiz is sent to students from the instructor, some quizzes may have timeslots when they need to be taken and others may not be so restricted; and on-line quizzes are timed and can only be taken one time. There are no make-up tests or quizzes for on-line classes. Students should make sure their computer and network connection is working in a correct and responsive manner before starting any test/quiz. Students should notify CBU ITS immediately (help@cbu.edu) if they suspect any problems with CBU networks or servers. If one cannot connect with (or gets slow response from) CBU, but can connect and get good response from other popular web sites (Yahoo, Google, etc.), then there is a likely a problem on the CBU side. Quiz questions are randomly chosen, in a random order, with answers also randomized. On-line activity including submitting assignments and taking quizzes may be used as "attendance". Students are responsible for providing all their own hardware, software, and data commications for online classes. Students are also responsible for any announcements posted on the Canvas course page.

Classroom Conduct and Manners

Students are expected to conduct themselves in a responsible, friendly, courteous, honest, respectful and open-minded manner both in the classroom and online. In the event of pandemics or similar cisrcumstances, students must comply with all safety rules: wearing a mask, keeping a safe distance, etc. Students must stay away from classes if they have any contagious or disrupting problems including: fever, cough, intestinal problems, etc. The instructor has the authority to remove a student form a class and/or call CBU security if they refuse to abide by these requirements.

Starfish

We care about your success at CBU! This spring, CBU is launching Starfish, a college success and retention program. You can access Starfish through my.cbu.edu (Links to an external site.) and are encouraged to go ahead and set up your Student Profile, if you have not already done so. Throughout the semester, you may receive emails to your CBU account regarding your course grades and academic performance. These emails are designed to be helpful and increase your success in courses. It is important that you check your CBU email account regularly and follow any advice we provide to you through Starfish. You can also log into Starfish directly to request advising support, referrals, or other guidance.

COVID-19

Beginning August 2, 2021, all students, faculty, and staff must receive a full complement COVID19 vaccination in order to be on campus. In alignment with the guidance provided by local and national public health authorities, there remains in effect the campus requirement that all students, staff, and faculty must wear protective face masks in all enclosed public spaces, including while teaching. If the mask requirement is later rescinded, those approved for a religious or medical exemption will be required to continue to wear protective face masks in all public spaces on campus (including, but not limited to, classrooms, offices, lounges, reception areas, hallways, study areas, dining facilities, athletic facilities, and public outdoor spaces) while also maintaining physical distancing in classrooms, laboratories, and other academic spaces. Students may be dismissed from class for not wearing masks, and it is not the faculty member’s responsibility to provide masks to students. (Disposable masks will be made available to the academic schools upon request to Academic Affairs). In the event that a student refuses to leave a class for not wearing a mask, class activities should be suspended, and the faculty member is to contact Campus Safety at (901) 321-3550 for immediate assistance.

Office Hours

For the 2021-22 academic year, virtual office hours via e-mail make up 1/2 of the ten (10) hours per week. Students must wear masks inside of faculty office.