Class Policies and Guidelines

Assignments

· Due dates are posted on the course website. Late assignments are accepted only with excusable reasons, for example, a written notice from a doctor or a notice from the university.

· Non-excusable reasons include but not limit to: traffic jams, door blocked by snow, kidnapping by aliens, simply forgetting, “I don’t know there’s a homework”, and so forth. If you cannot attend classes for any reason, please check the course website regularly for topics covered, suggested readings, quiz dates, and homework assignments.

· Most assignments will be sent via emails or email attachments (to save trees). You can use any email account. Please write the course number (for example, CIS 321) and your name on the subject of your email.

· In most cases you will have your assignment grade back by email in three working days after the due date. If you have turned in your homework on time but do not have your grade back in an email within this time frame, please contact me. If your email was not delivered due to technical reasons (which happened twice in the past few years so please do not use this excuse too often), you need to forward the original message in your "sent-mail" folder to prove that it was sent before or on the due date. So please save a copy in the "sent-mail" folder when you email your homework.

Exams and Quizzes

· A missing mid-term exam receives a zero unless you have an excusable reason, for example, a written notice from a doctor. In this case your final exam carries the weight of the midterm exam.

· Final exams will be scheduled by the university and we will follow those schedules. There is no makeup for final exams.

· There will be several quizzes. Dates for quizzes will be posted on the course website in advance. The lowest quiz score will be dropped.

Class Attendance

· Class attendance is not mandatory but it is highly, highly, and highly recommended if you are not good with the topics to be taught. Sometimes topics are built on each other; so skipping an important topic may give you difficulties for the rest of the semester.

· If you are new to most topics and you miss more than half of the classes, it is not likely that you are able to pass the course. If this is the case and you cannot attend most classes, cannot finish assignments, and cannot come to exams and quizzes due to various reasons, it is recommended that you drop this class this semester and retake it when you can allocate time necessary to complete the required course work.

Class Activities

· Please engage in class-related activities if you come to class. Please feel free to ask course-related questions any time, and make discussions during the lab or discussion sessions.

· I reserve the right to ask anyone who interferes with other students to leave the classroom. I understand many students are having part-time even full-time jobs, so I usually do not wake you up if you are taking a nap, except during an exam. The bottom line is that you cannot disturb other students.

· If you pay the tuition just for browsing the Internet, chatting, or taking naps in the classroom, there are better places with much lower or no costs!

· In-class exercises are designed to help you understand the theories, improve your programming skills, and prepare for exams. Please work on them and do not just wait for answers.

· Computers are much more than game boxes or email editors. Put some efforts in and have fun with this great human invention!