Cheating will not be tolerated. If
academic dishonesty is suspected, it will be reported to the judicial
coordinator and to the All University Judicial Board, where appropriate.
See the University Policy on Academic Honesty.
Grading scale:
All papers, examinations and other work for credit will be graded on the basis of a
raw score equal to the percentage of the total number of possible points
(100). The final letter grade will be determined by the total raw score.
Thus, two people with the same raw scores will receive the same letter
grade. The scale of determination, however, is made only at the end of
the course, once all the grades are in. Estimates may be offered earlier.
Class attendance:
Students are expected to attend classes.
In the unlikely event that a class needs to be canceled (e.g., because of
weather), I will try to leave a message on my voice mail (575-5826).
Occasionally quizzes will be
given, often without prior announcement. Sometimes extra projects offered
to the entire class may count as quizzes. For example, students might be
offered an opportunity to attend and comment on a public philosophy
lecture. There will be no make-up opportunities for in-class quizzes.
Missed quizzes will be given a grade of zero. However, the lowest quiz
grades will be dropped.
Late papers:
Late case studies
will be accepted, but the
instructor reserves the right to deduct up to one point for each day a
paper is late.
Spelling and Grammar:
Mistakes in spelling and grammar are
not appreciated. While (with one exception, noted below) no points will
be taken off any paper or examination solely for mistakes in spelling or
grammar, clarity is important in philosophy and errors in spelling or,
particularly, grammar can make writing more difficult to understand. The
same applies to illegibility. A paper with such errors may therefore
receive a lower grade than it otherwise would, because it may therefore be
less clear than it could be. One point will be taken off for
each misspelling of "lose" or its cognates. Furthermore, the
instructor may disregard any claim made in an ungrammatical sentence.
Make-up tests:
If for any reason a student has to miss an
examination, she/he should contact the
instructor (preferably by e-mail) as
soon as possible. Make-up tests will be given where a timely, reasonable
(to the instructor), and verifiable excuse for inability to take the test
at the scheduled time is offered. Any make-up tests, however, will be
offered without options. For example, if on the normal test students were
asked to answer three out of five questions, the student taking the
make-up test will have no choice about which three questions to answer
(and the questions may be different from those offered in the original
examination). However, in classes where the instructor is teaching
multiple sections, whenever possible instead of taking a make-up test the
student should (after notifying the instructor) simply take the test at
the time another section (taught by the same instructor) is taking it.
Reevaluation:
Any
student may request that any paper,
examination, or other course work be reevaluated if she or he feels that
it has been unfairly or carelessly graded. No penalty will be imposed for
taking advantage of this option, of course, but neither is there any
guarantee that the grade will not decrease if the work looks inferior on
the second reading.
Incompletes:
Failure to complete the assigned work on time
is not a sufficient reason to be granted a grade of "incomplete" in the
course. Giving birth to a child the morning of the final examination is,
if a good faith effort has been made up to that point to keep up with the
work.