COURSE POLICIES

"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."

I interpret my role in this class as one where my responsibility is to provide you with an opportunity to meet the objectives as 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. 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, yourself, and your classmates. I hope they help me deal fairly and consistently with students. Please contact me if situations arise where you have questions.

1. PREREQUISITE.Students enrolled in this class should have already completed INF 382D, Introduction to Information Resources and Services. Concurrent registration in both classes will satisfy the prerequisite requirement.


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 and on BlackBoard throughout the semester. Grades for participation are based on the promptness, quality, and consistency of student contributions.


4. ATTENDANCE. Class attendance is expected.

• Submit all work on or before deadline.
• If you must miss class, secure the cooperation of a classmate to take notes for you.
• Sign the roster sheet distributed in class each day.
• Consider dropping the class if you miss four or more classes.

Failure to attend class meetings will result in reduced class participation credit (deduction of 10 points for each class missed).

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. While these deductions may reduce a borderline grade from an A- to a B+, missing a class usually will not greatly impact a final grade.

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.

5. SUBMITTING WORK. Please submit your completed course work to me in class. Assignments are due at the beginning of class on the assigned due dates. 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. Staple your pages together. Under most circumstances I will not accept electronically transmitted work.


6. COVER SHEETS ON ASSIGNMENTS. Attach a cover sheet to your assignments. This is a separate page. Provide this information in the upper left hand corner of the cover page: your name, the title of the assignment, and the date and time you submitted your work. Deductions (-5 points) will be made when cover sheets are missing.


7. 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 an email 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.


8. 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.


9. 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. Drop forms are available and must be submitted by the last class day or else I will have to assign a letter grade for this 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.


10. 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.


11. 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.


12. STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES. Any student with a documented disability (physical or cognitive) who requires academic accommodations should contact the Services for Students with Disabilities area of the Office of the Dean of Students at 471.6259 (voice) or 471.4641 (TTY for users who are deaf or hard of hearing) as soon as possible to request an official letter outlining authorized accommodations.


13. BONUS/EXTRA CREDIT. I reserve the right to add bonus credit to exceptional work.


14. DRAFTS. I will not be able to review drafts of assignments. Please consult the evaluation forms for each assignment for guidance.


15. 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.


16. 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 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 or The Chicago Manual of Style or some other pre-approved standard style manual. Also consult a style manual to cite electronic sources.


17. IN-CLASS SNACKING. Please limit your snacking to class breaks unless there is a medical reason for in-class snacking.


18. UT POLICY. I adhere to the UT policy on academic dishonesty. The UT-Austin Office of the Dean of Students recommends that all UT-Austin faculty include the following statement in their course syllabi. See the Office website at http://deanofstudents.utexas.edu/sjs/acadint_conseq.php for additional information.

"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."

20. INSTRUCTOR BEHAVIOR. As your instructor, I will endeavor to:

• return assignments promptly;


• meet with you if needed at a mutually agreed upon time;


• grade fairly;


• tell you in advance what I expect of you;


• 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;


• make explicit a rationale for assigning grades;


• help maintain an atmosphere of learning in the classroom;


• as 'fairness monitor' or otherwise mediate in difficulties students might be having related to the class;


• come to class prepared and organized;


• maintain confidentiality concerning student grades and information you give me in confidence;


• apply class policies fairly and consistently.