The Fine Print

English 105 -- Technical Communication

Eric Sonstroem

Attendance and Lateness Policies:

Treat this class like a job: Don't be late, and don't be excessively absent. You may take three "personal" days for any reason. Each additional absence will reduce your grade by one-third of a letter grade. Your grade will also be affected by chronic lateness.  I reserve the right to count very late days as absences.

You need to be mentally present as well.  This means no cell phones or other texting devices, and no open computers. 

All work is due at the date and time specified on the syllabus. All late work will be marked down one letter grade for each day it is late. The same standard for lateness--that is, lateness is unacceptable--applies in the business world and in tech comm. Although you may miss a deadline and receive an F for an assignment, you must complete and submit all work in order to pass this course.

Attendance at Peer Editing sessions is required. Failure to submit a suitable draft on the Peer Editing day will result in a letter-grade penalty on the final version of the document.

Early in the course, I will schedule a few progress report meetings with you to handle one-on-one issues with course material and to guide your work toward your final project. Failure to meet with me at the conference time you sign up for will count as an absence.

Document presentation:

Much written work will be submitted to me electronically. If you are turning in actual paper to me, please print in a normal font on normal, 8 1/2 by 11 inch, white paper.  Your name, my name, the course number, and the date should appear at the top of every assignment. Assignments of more than one page must be stapled. All assignments are due at the start of the class in question. You cannot use "personal" days as a way of getting an unauthorized extension.

Honor Code and Plagiarism:

The full text of the University’s Academic Honesty Policy can be found here.  Academic honesty is an essential element in the academic integrity of our campus community.  If I believe you to be in violation of the University Honor Code I will refer the matter to the Office of Judicial Affairs.  Penalties for violating the Honor Code can include suspension from the University.  If you plagiarize in this class I will probably catch you, and you may end up in serious trouble.

Plagiarism is the attempt to pass off someone else's text or ideas as your own. If you copy or paraphrase from any outside source, even another student, and fail to formally acknowledge this in your text, you are guilty of plagiarism. If someone else writes a paper for you, or even part of a paper for you, you are guilty of plagiarism. If you are found guilty of plagiarism, you will receive an F for the assignment, an F for the course, and a letter will be sent to your dean. In such cases, you will be prevented from dropping or withdrawing from the course, even if the deadline to do so has not expired.  There are no exceptions.