Course Policies

First, three key things to remember:

• I don't expect perfection.  As long as you're writing and researching and turning stuff in, you'll do fine.

• Everyone needs a break sometimes.  Please let me know if you need more time for an assignment — I want to help everyone succeed, and I'm happy to give extensions if you're facing illness, family emergency, or other extenuating circumstances.

In my years of teaching, I've found that the majority of students work hard and do well.  But what happens when life gets in the way?  What happens when you just aren't feelin' it today?

That's why we have course policies.  You deserve to know what your grade depends on.  The course has certain expectations, and you should know what happens when you don't meet those expectations.

My goal to support success and prevent failure.  The policies are designed to encourage positive behaviors like consistent attendance and steady drafting, and they also penalize negative behaviors like missing class, skipping assignments, and plagiarizing with AI.

Most of my students succeed.  My expectations are pretty basic: if you come to class and do the work, then your writing will almost certainly improve and you'll pass my course.

Don't let external challenges stop you.  You might face work obligations, family emergencies, or illness — you can overcome those.  Talk with me about extended deadlines — I've been through tough times myself, and I want to see you succeed.

Be Present In Class.  Whether you're feeling ready or feeling unprepared, simply showing up to class will help you succeed.  And please don't use your phone in class — if you're on your phone, you aren't listening, and you'll miss important details about the assignments.  And then you won't know why your paper did so badly.

Write Your Own Words.  Nothing will kill your grade like plagiarism — and copying from AI for an assignment is a form of plagiarism.  Because of how common AI has become, I now require version histories as proof that you've done your own work.

Don't use AI for your planning, writing, or editing — end of story.  No GPT, no Grammarly, nothing that generates words for you.  Sure, we'll have a few assignments looking at AI's capabilities and shortcomings, but you better not use any AI in the writing you turn in for my assignments.

AI may be the future of society, but it is not proof of your learning.  Too many students have wasted my time by turning in material that they did not write themselves.  If you rely on AI to pass my course, you will fail, end of story.  I don't just check if papers have AI — instead, I require every paper to have proof that you wrote it.  If I don't see that proof in your version history, then you have not the completed the assignment, and you will receive a zero.

• This class does not test your ability to use AI.  This class is only about your ability to communicate.  I have a zero-tolerance policy for AI — and this includes Grammarly.

• This is a writing class — I am teaching you to write.  Don't submit AI work as if it's your own.  I can't teach you to write unless I see your genuine work.

• Do not use AI as your "thought partner" or "editor."  In this class, you need to learn to be a thought partner for your classmates, and you need to learn to edit your own work.

• All assignments require a version history.  If I catch any evidence of AI usage in a paper, I will check your version history.  If the version history is absent or if I see major sections of copy-paste, you'll receive zero on the assignment.

• If I suspect AI, then resubmissions must be handwritten from scratch.  And when you bring me the handwritten copy, you'll write a one-page summary of your paper for me by hand while I watch.  I'll compare your summary and your handwriting to the draft you hand in.  If they don't match, it's a zero on the assignment with no redos — and I will file an academic integrity report with the college.

English 101 and 102

The grading percentages are designed to encourage effort and reward success.  Notice that half the grade depends upon being in class.  Although you can make up the assignments from missed days, there's a limit to how much make-up work can be allowed.  For more information about each component, see the Grading Percentages Page.

• 20% Attendance

• 25% In-Class Activities

• 25% Process Assignments

• 20% Research Papers

• 10% Presentations

English 099

As a developmental course, English 099 uses a different grading system than 101 and 102.  The higher percentages assigned to in-class activities reflects the strong focus on discussion and reflection:

• 60% In-Class Activities

• 40% Learning Journals

English 101 and 102

The grading percentages are designed to encourage effort and reward success.  Notice that half the grade depends upon being in class.  Although you can make up the assignments from missed days, there's a limit to how much make-up work can be allowed.

• 20% Attendance: simply being present in class.  This also includes not being on electronic devices unless they're part of the activity.

• 25% In-Class Activities: Discussions, Worksheets, Group Projects, and Quizzes on Content Materials.  These also represent process assignments to help you understand the research projects.  Some of these activities will require you to use AI in order to see the capabilities, limitations, and ethical concerns surrounding these technologies.

• 25% Process Assignments: Finding Sources, Mapping Your Ideas, and Drafting Your Project.  These are generally graded based on completion.  All planning and organising must be your own: you are not allowed to use ChatGPT or other AI platforms to aid you in your process assignments, but you may use Wikipedia to help you find sources.  Please note that I do not take off points for grammar, spelling, formatting, or any other visual elements — I encourage you to use whatever bullet points or freewriting will help you reach your word count goals.

• 20% Research Papers: The final grades on completed papers.  All work must be your own: you are not allowed to use ChatGPT, Grammarly, or other AI platforms to modify your work, but spellcheck is okay.  Please note that I do not take off points for grammar and style.

• 10% Presentations: The final grades on in-class presentations.  You may use images and sound clips from outside sources with attribution, but you are not allowed to use AI editors to modify your presentation materials.  Please note that I do not grade based on the quality of the sound or visuals.

English 099

As a developmental course, English 099 uses a different grading system than 101 and 102.  The higher percentages assigned to in-class activities reflects the strong focus on discussion and reflection:

• In-Class Activities: 60%

• Learning Journals: 40%

I require version histories for every homework assignment you submit:

• All written assignments must be composed either in Google Docs or by hand.

• A copy of each assignment must be submitted through Canvas.

Click here to see why I require version histories.

Attendance helps you know what's going on.  If you aren't present, then you won't hear the course explanations and the answers to questions.  So if you miss class, you lose participation points — click to learn how attendance affects your participation grade.

If you have too many absences or your missing too much work at Midterms, you may be withdrawn from the course at miderms.

In my courses, you are required to do all your own writing.  You are NOT allowed to:

• submit material that has been produced or edited by AI.

• submit copied material from outside sources as if it is your own writing.

• submit material that has been written or edited by other individuals.

In general, this means no ChatGPT, no Grammarly, and no friends or family "fixing" your paper for you.

Visit the AI and Plagiarism Policies Page for more details.