Syllabus Policies

Syllabus/Class Policies

Instructor: Dr. Michael Weeks
Computer Science Department
Office: 34 Peachtree Street, Room 1444

PREREQUISITES
If you do not have the prerequisites (or equivalents from another university) shown on your GSU records, you may be dropped from class at any time. It is your responsibility to make sure that this does not happen. Any exceptions to the prerequisites, granted by Mr. Bhola or the department chair, must be in writing.

FINAL EXAM
The Final Exam will be given in the classroom. See the calendar for day and time. Also see the official GSU webpage for information about the Final Exam. If this information is different from what is given in the class calendar, inform the professor immediately.

HOMEWORK
Regular completion of all assignments, especially outside reading and the accomplishment of assignments, is critical to succeed in this course. The professor recommends spending about 20 mintues the night before each class reviewing the material from your notebook.

GRADING

If class is not held on an assignment collection or test date, the collecting or testing will take place on the next day class meets.
Because test dates are scheduled in advance, make-up tests will not be given. In the case of illness, written evidence from an MD physician or a hospital must be submitted on original letterhead stationary. A missed test will receive a grade of 0%.
Assignments are due at the START of class (by the professor's watch) at the professor's desk in the classroom on their due dates.
An assignment turned in after the start of class on its due date may be considered by the professor to be late and late penalty may be applied to that assignment.
A missing assignment will receive a grade of 0.
The grader is responsible for grading all assignments, tests, etc. While the professor will provide the grader with guidelines (for example, that a question is worth 10 points), it is the grader's job to determine how correct or incorrect your answer is compared to the answer provided by the professor. The grader is authorized to adjust grades if there has been a mistake in the grading (for example, if the grades were added incorrectly). Therefore, if you have questions regarding how your test/homework was graded (such as "why were 3 points taken off for this problem?"), it is your responsibility to ask the grader.
Any questions regarding graded work must be brought to the grader's attention within 1 week of the date in which the work was first returned to the class.
The nominal grade ranges are:

A is 90 to 100%
B is 80 to 89%
C is 70 to 79%
D is 60 to 69%
F is 0 to 59%
Any scaling is done solely at the discretion of the professor.

Grade Calculation Examples

Suppose a student receives the following grades, with weights of 1/3 for tests, 1/3 for homeworks, and 1/3 for project:

Suppose a student receives the following grades, with weights of 40% for tests, 20% for homeworks, and 40% for project:

PLAGIARISM
Plagiarism is using someone else's work as your own. For example, if you copy someone else's words (or figures) from a website, and paste them into your document, this is plagiarism. Students caught doing this may be expelled from the University, and/or given a failing grade. No copying and pasting from the Internet or any other source is allowed. Plagiarism is determined solely by the professor, and cases of plagiarism will be handled at the professor's discretion. That is, the professor will decide, on a case-by-case basis, the penalty(ies) of plagiarised work. Penalties include giving the student(s) an F for the semester, lowering the student(s) overall grade by a letter grade, and giving a 0 on the assignment.

Students must work individually on quizzes and exams without any assistance from persons or things. Any student found to be cheating on an examination will receive a score of 0 for that exam, and possibly be given an F in the class. It is the student's responsibility to protect work from copying. No outside help is permitted. If a book or paper is used, it must be referenced and not copied. Plagiarized work is determined solely by the professor and is graded solely at the professor's discretion.

COLLABORATION
Most assignments are intended to be completed individually. When an assignment is for a group, the assignment will clearly state this.

If you choose to do an individual assignment with one or more fellow students, turn in only one copy, with all student's names on it. There will be a 10% deduction in points per person, with additional points deducted for mistakes. For example, if 2 students in this section worked on an assignment together, where 7 points (out of 100) are deducted for errors, there would be an additional 20% penalty, and each student would receive a grade of 100-7-20 = 73%.
Students who turn in similar individual assignments without indicating that they collaborated, either within this section or outside of this section, will be assigned a grade of 0 for that assignment. Determination of collaboration will be made by the instructor.
People may be assigned to work on a project as a team. This is at the instructor's discretion. Note that it is possible to get a different score than your teammates on a project, since you will be graded on the presentation as an individual.

OFFICE HOURS
Office hours and the office location are given above. To schedule an appointment outside of these hours, contact the instructor with 3 suggested dates and times when you can meet, and be prepared to meet at one of those times. Office hours may be canceled occasionally because of meetings, seminars, talks, conferences, etc. Office hours for the Teaching Assistant will be given in class.

LATE WORK
Unless otherwise specified in class, work will be due on the date given in the attached calendar. Late work will be accepted by the instructor at the instructor's discretion. A late penalty of 10% will be applied for work turned in late, within 7 calendar days of the original due date. After this, late work will not be accepted. Additional points may be deducted for errors. Late copies of any work due during the last 3 classes will not be accepted so that the grades can be turned in on time. Any exceptions to this will be solely at the instructor's discretion.

ATTENDANCE
Attendance is vital to success in this class. Roll will be taken during class, and a late student will be counted as absent. If a student is marked absent 2 or more classes in a row then he (or she) may be dropped from this class. Anyone missing approximately 10% of the classes without notifying the professor in advance and obtaining the professor's concurrence may be withdrawn from the course or receive a lower (possibly failing, e.g. WF or F) course grade at the discretion of the professor; anyone receiving V.A. benefits will be reported to the Dean's Office in these circumstances. Students are responsible for all material covered or assigned in class whether or not it is in the text. See the current GSU Catalog for university guidelines.

If a student is not present when an assignment is given back, or when a handout is given to the class, then he/she is responsible for obtaining this item by visiting during office hours. Students are responsible for all material covered in class or in assigned reading. If you miss a class, be sure to get a copy of the notes from a fellow classmate.

For classes with team projects: Be aware that if you miss class, you will be hurting your team partner(s) as well as yourself. You may be removed from your team for excessive absences, including meetings held by your team outside of the classroom.

If you are disruptive during class, you may be counted as absent that day, or you may be asked to leave, or both. Do not come to class unless you plan to take it seriously.

POP QUIZZES
Pop quizzes may be given to the class, at the instructor's discretion, therefore it is important to attend all classes. These pop quizzes (if any are given) will factor into the quiz/test grade, as worth 10% of a test. If you get below an 80% score on a pop quiz, it indicates that you need to dedicate more time to studying the material.

CLASSROOM/LAB USAGE
Food and Drinks are not allowed at any time in the classroom and/or computer lab. Before leaving the classroom and/or lab students should make sure to log off from the computers and leave the area neat. Students found misusing or abusing the computer systems may lose access to the computer systems and/or be subjected to any other any other necessary action to preserve, conserve, and maintain the room and the equipment.

Your time in the classroom should be spent only on class-related activities. For example, you should not check your e-mail during class, nor read books unrelated to the topic, nor work on homework from another class. You may be asked to leave otherwise.

E-MAIL
There are some things that are best discussed in person; use your best judgement. If you do send me an e-mail, please make sure your name appears somewhere in the e-mail, and say that you are in my class. I try to answer all of my e-mail (a sometimes impossible task), but I try to give priority to e-mail from my students.

I have my spam filter set up to give precendence to e-mails with the class number in the subject, or when the sender's e-mail address is a GSU student account.

RELIGIOUS HOLIDAYS
If you have a religious holiday, recognized by the GSU administration, that prevents you from working on a certain day, notify the professor during the first week of class.

EXCEPTIONS / SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES
Any exceptions to these policies will be solely at the professor's discretion. For consideration of an exception (e.g. missing a test due to hospitalization), be prepared to provide documentation (e.g. a note from a MD physician). Remember that just because you provide documentation does not mean that you will be granted an exception. If you know about a problem in advance, notify the professor as soon as possible.

CS Department Policy
It is the policy of the Department of Computer Science that grades for all 1xxx - 3xxx courses be computed such that the student's performance on any/all work done outside of class and submitted for a grade cannot raise the student's final course score, but can lower it.

These are the steps that will be followed:

Compute the average of the exams [= EX_AVG]
Compute the average of all grades [= TOT_AVG]
Determine minimum of EX_AVG and TOT_AVG = FIN_AVG
Convert FIN_AVG to a letter grade (see grade ranges above)

OTHER

Disruptive classroom behavior will not be tolerated. Examples include: sleeping during class, playing games during class, in-class reading materials not-related to the class, walking in late, talking to each other, and noise generated by an electronic device such as a pager/cell phone. See the student catalogs for more information. You may be withdrawn from the class due to disruptive behavior.
Class participation is encouraged. Don't be afraid to speak up if you have a question.
If you have any special needs to be met in order to succeed in this class, get a note from Disabled Student Services, then inform the professor.
The instructor's professional opinion will be used to determine any instances of collaboration, cheating, etc.
Grades will not be given via e-mail, phone, fax, etc. Please do not ask. You may find your grade by seeing the Teaching Assistant in person.
You are expected to bring to class educational/office material. These items include: a stapler, a calculator, pencils, pens, extra paper, etc. Do not expect the instructor to provide these items.
If the class includes a project, then there will be a poster session/project presentation, where you will explain (possibly to outside observers) what your project does.
All dates are subject to change. It is important that students pay attention to the due dates given on the assignments. The schedule is tentative and the actual due dates may vary from the ones given on the calendar.
Students are responsible for all material covered or assigned in class whether or not it is in the text.
This course syllabus provides a general plan for the course; deviations may be necessary.