MY COURSE POLICIES  apply to all of my courses. The college's policies can be found in your course syllabus or on the college website.​

SUSTAINABILITY POLICY:
My classes are web-enhanced, which means that a large majority of your work will be submitted or done online. 

• This will allow you to review all materials via the web outside of class using the LMS and other online venues.
• This also allows for transparency in the grade book and your ability to hand work in by the deadline even if you must have an absence.
• Digital documents lessen the impact of paper waste on the environment, and helps to prepare you for other courses and professional positions in which technological skills are needed.
• Submitting work, quizzes, and completing other assignments and readings must be done through the LMS system
• Failure to utilize these online systems will result in a poor grade in the course.

LATE WORK:  See Grading Policies for more information

LATE Project Research and/or Sketches:
You will earn 0 points for that portion of the assignment, which is a letter grade reduction from the project grade. However, concept and composition planning is required of all assignments so you are still responsible for completing this portion of the project. Failure to do so will result in extra points lost in other grading criteria such as CONCEPT and PROBLEM SOLVING. 

LATE Presentation NOT PRESENTED IN FRONT OF THE CLASS:
You will earn 0 points for that portion of the assignment, which is a letter grade reduction from the presentation grade. However, the presentation must still be completed and turned in for grading. Ensure your script is completely written out in the Notes area of your slideshow since your script could not be graded during the presentation.
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LATE Project or Presentation:

• First missed deadline, one letter grade reduction from assignment grade.
  The highest possible grade a student can earn after one week is a B on the project. The B is only attainable if the work is otherwise A level work.
• Second missed deadline, one letter grade reduction from assignment grade.
  The highest possible grade a student can earn after two weeks is a C on the project. The C is only attainable if the work is otherwise A level work.
• Third missed deadline, one letter grade reduction from assignment grade.
  The highest possible grade a student can earn after three weeks is a D on the project. The D is only attainable if the work is otherwise A level work.
• Fourth, assignment will earn a 0 grade and will receive no written feedback.
• All projects, presentations, and exams must be completed to pass the course, these are the elements that are most important for assessing your understanding of the course subject matter.
• You may only miss one critique per semester, and the final critique is mandatory unless you have a documented emergency.
• Quizzes and Exercises can earn a zero grade. These 0 grades will affect your GPA but will not prevent you from earning a passing grade in the course, unless they cause your GPA to fall below a passing percentage.

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ASSIGNMENT REQUIREMENTS:
Work must be handed in correctly in order to be graded without penalty:

• Sized Correctly
• Met Deadline
• Complete, Incomplete work is not graded
• Named Correctly:  lastname-firstinitial-assignment# and/or name 

• Correct File Format
• In proper location 
• Native layered files or sketches may be required and can be asked for on an individual basis, failure to produce required work results in Plagiarism research. Every assignment handed in, regardless of suspicion of plagiarism, is subject to a plagiarism check.​​

Assignment Policies:

• All required assignments must be handed in as outlined above to pass the class.
• No work may be handed in after the last day of class.
• Work can still be turned in by the due date if you miss a class using the internet. So even if you are absent your work is due.
• Emergencies require documentation, but there are no "excused absences". All absences will count towards the absence policy unless you have a serious Mitigating Circumstance that occurs. So save your absences as insurance!!!!
• Students not meeting requirements will be called into an individual meeting with me during office hours.
• Missing an Exam or Quiz requires a makeup within one week during my office hours.

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GRADING (SEE GRADING DEFINITIONS)
You do not "get" grades, you earn them

See the college's grading policies here: https://www.tompkinscortland.edu/academics/grading-policies

• All assignments that show significant effort and are handed in on time may be revised for a better grade by the final class.
• No extra credit.
• Grade grubbing and bullying will be documented, it will not produce a positive outcome.
• Students are responsible for reading and following policies, outlines and course information.
• Students can not pass most courses with less than a "C". A letter grade of a "C" or higher is usually required to graduate from the college and is often needed to apply credits for transfer to a four year college.

Grades will be reduced for:

• Being continually unprepared, disruptive, or distracting
• Not having progress on assignments weekly for professor to view
• Not making progress during class work time
• Not handing in work according to requirements and deadlines
• Lateness & Incompleteness
• Attendance 
• Mobile device usage outside of allotments 

Grades will be added to the Learning Management System, in this case Blackboard. Students are responsible for reviewing their grades in feedback in the My Grades section of their Blackboard courses. Students are responsible for revising work based on feedback to earn a better grade and submitting it by the revision deadline.
Grades and feedback are generally posted within one to two weeks of the final due date for an assignment.
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CORRESPONDENCE POLICY:
EMAIL: Write Professionally

• Address your professor/advisor using their title and last name
• Clearly describe why you are contacting your professor/advisor and provide details.
• Provide your full name and student ID
• If contacting your professor also provide the Name and Section of the course you are enrolled in
• Respond to your professor’s reply politely thanking them, inquiring more, or accepting their appointment.

I generally respond to emails from students within 1 to 2 days. Do not expect a reply on weekends or evenings. However, it is possible you may receive one.​

I generally prefer to review grading questions with students in person and will arrange a meeting during office hours for grade concerns.
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ATTENDANCE POLICY:
​Professors are to be informed if you have planned a school activity or have a religious holiday during the semester
https://www.tompkinscortland.edu/academics/attendance-policy

SINGLE ABSENCES:

• 2 ABSENCES -You will miss a lot of information with each absence , catch up using tutor!!
• 3 ABSENCES - 1 LETTER GRADE REDUCTION FROM COURSE GRADE
• 4 ABSENCES- 2 LETTER GRADE REDUCTION FROM COURSE GRADE
• 5 ABSENCES- COURSE FAILURE

CONSECUTIVE ABSENCES:

• 2 absences in a row – 1 LETTER GRADE REDUCTION FROM COURSE GRADE
• 3 or more absences in a row – AW Grade with Financial Aid repercussions, see college policy in course syllabus

EVEN IF YOU ARE ABSENT:

• You (or a representative for you) must hand in any work due by the deadline or it is late.
• You are responsible for using the Professor's materials and contacting other students to get caught up. You are responsible for completing and understanding any work due when you return, any assigned readings and any content gone over while you were absent. 

Mitigating Circumstances (Emergencies) require documentation from a verified party (such as a doctor note with dates, diagnosis and doctor orders, car accident report, death notice/obit from newspaper and explanation of your relation, etc.)

LATENESS: Doors to Classroom lock 10 minutes after class begins!!!

• Being perpetually late will reduce your grade. Being disruptive coming in late will reduce your grade. 

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CODE OF CONDUCT & CLASSROOM CIVILITY EXPECTATIONS
https://www.tompkinscortland.edu/academics/statement-academic-integrity-policy

• Abusive, disrespectful, harassing or other unprofessional behavior will be reported. Student may be removed from class.​
• Talking, internet use or other distracting behavior during lectures and class time will result in removal of student from classroom.
• Mobile devices should only be accessed in class for critical emergencies you have warned the professor about prior to class;  or as the use of a tool for inspirational music while working independently, research, note taking, and/or dictation.
  You may take a short 5 minute break away from your computer every 45 minutes for texting while working independently. Texting, social media, and any other entertaining use of your mobile device or the internet is distracting during your focused work time and is discouraged. If your phone is an issue you will be asked to surrender it and only have access to it during your breaks. Mobile devices are psychological disruptors and need to be put away in order for you to think and work with focus.

Students are expected to:

• Want to learn, want to improve, want to study their major.
• Backup their work using at least 2 methods such as:  online/cloud & hard drive
• Stay for the full class.
• Actively participate in learning (taking notes, completing exercises and assignments, paying attention, researching topics, raise their bar, participating in CRITIQUES).
• Meet the standards for a college level student outlined by professor's syllabus.

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ACADEMIC INTEGRITY / PLAGIARISM POLICY
https://www.tompkinscortland.edu/academics/statement-academic-integrity-policy

I TAKE PLAGIARISM SERIOUSLY AND SO SHOULD YOU! 
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Here are a few reasons why:
-Do you want to work in an industry with no integrity? NO!
-Do you want to graduate with classmates who have no integrity? NO!
-Do you want your degree granting college to have a stellar reputation? YES!

Then stand up against plagiarism!

PENALTIES:
Students found plagiarizing during the planning and construction phase will be given a warning by the professor. Students handing in plagiarized work to be graded for an assignment will be evaluated on an individual basis to determine if the plagiarism was deliberate or in a gray area of confusion. If the plagiarism is found to be deliberate the student will fail the course on the first offense. The student will also be reported to the Provost for academic integrity. Repeat offenses on the student's record will be reported and could result in suspension or expulsion!

PLAGIARISM can be VISUAL or WRITTEN. See the school's policy for consequences. **NOTICE I actively look for plagiarism intentional and unintentional in all student work. You may be asked to supply materials to prove work you claim is yours actually is.

Plagiarism is putting your name on or implying that another person or company's work or idea is your own. Appropriation in fine art collage is a grey area, often with collage people do not assume the artist created all the imagery or text used in the collage, since they are obviously from multiple sources. 

The internet provides a lot of inspiration for us. It should not provide solutions to your creative challenges. Downloading other's work then redrawing it or changing it does not make it your own!!! Looking at a lot of inspirational works and then taking out your sketchbook to work on some original ideas is your work. 

Looking a several photos of a lion in order to draw your own lion is not plagiarism. Drawing someone else's photograph of a lion could be plagiarism! Source photographs must be documented, see Shepard Fairey Associative Press case.

Avoid plagiarism = make your own work!

Inspiration is not plagiarism as long as you make the ideas you gain from others YOUR OWN. Inspiration is like our digestive process. You take something in, process it, and it comes out as something completely different! If your work does not resemble that process, you have possibly plagiarized.

Plagiarism can be using another person's work or idea as your own by:

• Using it "as is"
• Manipulating it by changing color, cropping, Live Tracing, redrawing, manipulating with software, etc. (see Shepard Fairey Associative Press incident)
• Basing your idea or work around theirs, new content, color, words, etc. but the "outline" or "foundation" is someone else's.
• "Referencing" or "Appropriation" are a very fine line, you must acknowledge you are walking it and create a new dialog and purpose to bring the image or idea into a new light, therefore making it your own. This is not easily done. Read this article Glaser wrote about Fairey

Stock Images, Fonts, Mockups, etc.:

• May only be used if the assignment allows it, see professor instructions. Stock must be cited according to assignment requirements and within your portfolio.
• All stock must be from a reputable stock sites, that legally sell and license the work.
• Any stock used may only be used according to its individual license outlined by the company or creator.
• If stock is used it must be documented, student must clearly state via caption or description that the work is not theirs. Failure to cite stock work deceptively leads viewers to believe the student has created the work.

Templates: WEB ONLY

• Must be altered and customized so they no longer look like the template, imagery and other content items must be changed to fit your design.
• Web Templates should only be a coding foundation for web courses, 

See article by Jacob Cass of Just Creative

Example of Starbucks Logo Trademark Infringements & Rips Offs: Some are more similar than others, which ones seem to have stolen the design/concept and actually infringed on the company’s trademark?

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POLICY & GRADING CONTRACT