Policy on Informal Curriculum Participation

The Seminar Informal Curriculum is a valuable additon to the classes and readings we will do this spring. It provides students with the opportunity to engage with texts through programming that helps to elucidate texts and references and gives guidance with, for example, difficult dialogues.

Students are expected to attend at least two events this semester. As these events will be tired to a form of feedback (TBD), we will discuss this requirement during the semester. The schedule of events begins on Monday, Feb 19th. During the first week of the semester, you should familirize yourself with the Spring 2018 offerings, HERE and make a note of the events you prefer to attend.

Absence Policy

  1. Using the following items as a guide, my policy for absences states that any student who misses more than 25% of the scheduled class sessions should receive an F for the course.
  2. that is, any absences beyond beyond 6 on a two-day/week schedule;
  3. this includes the final exam session;
  4. this includes any absences excused for athletic competitions under the policy stated in 3.1.6.1 of the Faculty Handbook.
  5. this includes any absences excused as part of a Student Disabilities Services accommodation.
  6. first week absences due to the drop/add process may be included depending upon the existence of any extraneous circumstances
  7. If you are sick, I expect to hear from you at least 12 hours before class otherwise I will mark you absent. This means I expect to hear from you by 11pm the day before the class; remember that email is timestamped)

Academic Honor Code

Saint Mary’s College expects every member of its community to abide by the Academic Honor Code. According to the Code, “Academic dishonesty is a serious violation of College policy because, among other things, it undermines the bonds of trust and honesty between members of the community.” Violations of the Code include but are not limited to acts of plagiarism. For more information, please consult the Student Handbook at www.stmarys-ca.edu/your-safety-resources/student-handbook [for traditional undergraduate students] or http://www.stmarys-ca.edu/graduate-professional-academics/graduate-and-professional-student-handbook [for graduate and professional students]. If a reasonable suspicion arises that you have plagiarized an assignment, you will receive 0 point for the assignment and you will be referred to the Academic Honor Council for further review and necessary sanctions.

Turnitin.com Policy

Saint Mary’s College uses the services of Turnitin.com, a widely used plagiarism checking service. The faculty (through the Senate) has mandated that all students enrolled in composition and Collegiate Seminar courses submit their essays to Turnitin.com, in order that a complete database be compiled. Per College policy, all essays will be turned into Turnitin.com. Failure to turn in an essay to the site by the prescribe deadline will constitute a late paper, which will result in the lowering of the final grade.