Grades and Policies

ATTENDANCE
This is a class that depends on your being there. Your participation, readings responses, and quizzes cannot be made up. Therefore, you must be in class. You are allowed three absences. No excuses. No penalties. After three absences, your grade will be dropped a letter per absence; you will be dropped from the course with a WF after six absences. Excessive tardiness will also impact reading response averages and accumulation of absences.

GRADED ASSIGNMENTS:

  • Assessment (reading responses, short assignments, in-class work & quizzes: 150
  • Workshops/Writing Responses (all elements of workshop including participation, preparation, ms. format, and formal response must be met in order to earn credit): 100
  • Formal Writing (one short story, one creative nonfiction piece, three short poems w/reflective response): 300
  • Final Portfolio: 150
  • Artistic Community Response Paper: 50
  • Mandatory Writing Conference: 50
  • Creative Writer Presentation: 100
  • Participation: (participation points are earned for thoughtful, productive discussion and contributions, logged at the end of each class): 100

TOTAL: 1000 points

FINAL GRADES will be based on the following scale:
A=900-1000
B=800-899
C=700-799
D=600-699
F=GRADES BELOW 59

COMMUNICATION

  • I answer e-mails using my Georgia Southern Gmail address (tmorris@georgiasouthern.edu) and NOT the Folio e-mail tool. I do not review or respond to e-mails sent to the Folio e-mail tool.
  • Please send me all communication via Gmail, and be sure that it meets the standards outlined in the Professionalism section.

PROFESSIONALISM

  • This is a writing course, and you will be asked to craft all language and communication as an effective writer. I am happy to answer all queries that seek clarification or ask specific questions. However—e-mails written to me should be professionally written, properly punctuated, and polite. Every instance of our communication should.
    • Include a specific, appropriate subject line (ex: Question regarding Hoagland poem)
    • Use a greeting and a close (ex: Hi, Professor Morris and Thanks for your time)
    • Use paragraph breaks, proper grammar and mechanics
  • I generally answer e-mails promptly during the week between the hours of 9 am to 5 pm, and I check e-mail once or twice on weekends. Please note that e-mails sent outside this time frame are not guaranteed an immediate response. In the case of holidays or when I am out of town, e-mails may go unanswered for longer periods of time; you will be notified of these instances, via Folio, before they occur.

PHONE, WEARABLE, LAPTOP & TABLET POLICY

  • You are asked to silence and stow your devices at the start of class time. Please do not leave your phone out on your desk, your lap, or on your bag or purse. Do not use your phone as a clock, computer, or phone at any point during our class time. I will mark any appearance of a cell phone—not only usage—as a penalty, and you will lose points from your attendance and participation grade.
  • Our in-class assignments and writing time are designed around the idea that all class members are working in notebooks. Please close and stow your laptop, iPad, or other tablet when class starts.

FOOD AND DRINK POLICY

  • Please make arrangements with me beforehand, clean up after yourself, and eat in a tidy, quiet manner that does not distract you from the task at hand.
  • If you are late to class because you were obtaining food or drink, I reserve the right to confiscate and consume your food or drink.

CLASS DECORUM

  • We will be reading and writing a wide range of topics and subjects in this course, and we will be expressing ourselves in writing. While this gives us a wide berth in both language and subject, and your familiarity or experience with some of these topics will vary, you must always conduct yourself as a professional.
  • Be respectful of the work you are assigned, and the work your peers have created. Approach all work with an open mind and ask yourself why a writer would choose to write about this subject in this way. Be sure that you respond to work in a way that you would want be addressed.
  • You may not submit work that is gratuitously violent, pornographic, racist, sexist, or otherwise offensive for the sake of being so. If you submit such work, I will contact you privately to discuss your work, your failing grade for such work, and why that work is not eligible for workshop.

STUDENT DISABILITY POLICY

  • It is university policy to provide, on a flexible and individualized basis, reasonable accommodations to students who have disabilities. Students are encouraged to contact Student Resource Center to discuss their individualized needs for accommodation. In order for any arrangements to be made, students with disabilities needing academic accommodation must register with and provide documentation to the Student Disability Resource Center (SDRC) and provide a letter to the instructor from the SDRC indicating what your need may be for academic accommodation. This should be done within the first week of class.

IN CASE OF EMERGENCY

  • The only exception to the late work policy is a major family or medical emergency, which will require appropriate paperwork and documentation. If such an emergency arises, please contact me privately and we will work to accommodate you. Note that vacation plans or holidays are not major family emergencies.
  • In the case of a major family or medical emergency, or other extenuating circumstances, you will be asked to provide official documentation from a health care provider or other approved source. If such an emergency occurs during the duration of the semester, please also contact the Dean of Students Office as soon as possible. Please be prepared to provide such documentation and familiarize yourself with both FERPA and HIPAA regulations.
  • WRITING CENTER
    The Writing Center, located in 109 Gamble Hall, can be a good resource for revising your essays if you would like a little extra help with your writing. It is a free service. Please consider taking advantage of it.

PLAGIARISM

  • You are responsible for reading and understanding the GSU Student Conduct Code (especially the section on Academic Misconduct).
  • You may not:
    • Submit someone else’s ideas, words, work, or other material as your own
    • Submit any work created for other courses (including my own) for credit in this class
    • Submit any work created for other sections of this course (including my own) for credit in this class
  • Any student or student organization found to be responsible for academic dishonesty, misconduct or plagiarism is subject to University sanctions. Punishment can, and will, range from failing the assignment to failing the course.
  • If you engage in any behavior listed above or that is otherwise in violation of the Student Conduct Code, you will receive a zero on the assignment and be reported to the Dean of Students Office. You may also fail the course, at the instructor’s discretion.

DISCLAIMER

  • This syllabus is subject to the occasional change in deadlines, assignments, point values, I will always have the most recent version of it available on Folio for your access. Please contact me with any questions regarding course policies as soon as possible.