Welcome to one of the many writing courses we offer in the English department.  The Writing Program has a wide variety of academic writing classes that can meet your needs and interests - research writing, argumentation, opportunities to practice writing in your discipline, and more.  And we have instructors who are among the most imaginative and student-friendly in the university.  We hope you'll enjoy this course and reach the goals you've set for yourself as a writer.  The program policies below should clarify any questions you may have about our "housekeeping rules."  And we hope you'll try some of the Online Writing Resources and get to know our Writing Center too.

General Rules

Attendance

Since so much time in our writing classes is spent on participatory activities, you simply must attend class regularly for it to function well.  Plan on attending every class meeting, be on time and prepared, and remain in class until the end of the class period.  You are allowed two absences in case of illness or emergency.  But with over one week's worth of absences, your grade may be lowered; with over two week's worth of absences, you may fail the course.  If you absolutely must miss class, try to contact your instructor ahead of time to rearrange deadlines and be aware that you are responsible for completing missed assignments.

Exception: Students on School-Sponsored Activities

Athletes, musicians, and other students may participate in school-sponsored events that will cause you to miss some classes. During the first week of class, plan on providing both evidence and dates of your activities that quarter. Keep in mind that you are still responsible for completing all assignments for days that you are absent. You must confer with both your instructor and any student colleagues to whom you are responsible. If  your projected  activities will cause you to miss more than 20% of the course or to miss key dates consistently (workshops, etc.), your instructor may tell you either to enroll in a different section or to enroll during another quarter in which your attendance will not be a problem.

Exception: Handicapped/Learning Disabled Students

If you have evidence from the Disability Services for Students that you have a disability that may cause you to be absent from class or to ask for special arrangements, be sure to talk with your instructor during the first week of the course, so that he or she can work with you to accommodate your needs.  You are responsible for completing any work for your instructor or student colleagues.

Exception: Students Participating in Religious Observances

Occasionally, you may need to miss class to participate in a religious observance.  Be sure to confer with your teacher ahead of time and rearrange deadlines.  You must still complete any work for your instructor or student colleagues.

Conduct

It is important for you to be respectful and cordial in how you behave with both your instructor and your student colleagues.  The Policy Statement on Rights, Freedoms, and Responsibilities of Students at PSU says:

A student who enrolls in a course has responsibility to observe the standards of academic performance defined by the instructor and the standards of conduct established by the instructor so as to ensure the freedom of the instructor to teach and the freedom of the other students to learn.

Contacting Your Instructor

You may contact your instructor by email, by leaving a message in his or her mailbox in the main English office, or by phoning the instructor's office.  The main English office cannot take phone messages for instructors.  Please do not call your instructor at home unless he or she has given the class permission to do so.

Complaints and Queries

Occasionally, you may find yourself disagreeing about a grade you've been given or another policy that an instructor has applied to you.  If you find yourself in that position, first try talking to your instructor calmly and diplomatically.  Explain how you see the problem, suggest a solution, and be prepared to compromise. Instructors were students themselves once, and most will give you a fair hearing.  Keep in mind that, in responding to your situation, he or she will probably be thinking in terms of what's fair to you and to other students in the class. Most of the time this approach will solve your problem.  If not, contact the Director of Writing (milleh@pdx.edu) who will help you work it out. 

Grades

Factors in Grading

Your instructor sets the requirements and grading criteria for specific assignments. The University's general grading system is as follows:

A - Excellent
B - Good
C - Satisfactory
D - Inferior
F - Failure

Keep in mind that your course grade will be based on more than your final portfolio.  Instructors take a variety of factors into account, including process work (invention work, informal writing, responses to readings, etc) and participation activities (having drafts ready on time, showing up for workshops, responding to the writing of other students, etc.).

The Writing Program's general grading system is as follows:

• B:  Final portfolio satisfactory quality; in participation, depth and thoroughness in your contribution to your workshop group and the class; keeping up with the class by not missing workshops and one-on-one conferences with you; doing all process work, including invention, preliminary drafts and final portfolio complete, developed, and turned in on time.

• A:  Everything you need for a B; final portfolio of excellent quality; evidence of working with rhetorical issues through different assignments.

• C:  A mix of satisfactory and unsatisfactory quality of the portfolio, participation, and process work; meeting the minimum requirements.

• D/F:  Portfolio, participation, process work of unsatisfactory quality; not meeting the minimum requirements.

For overall grades, C is the normal grade for the course, and indicates you have completed the requirements acceptably.  Grades below C man you have not met the minimum requirements.  The grades of A and B are honor grades.

Incompletes

Grades of I (Incomplete) will not be given except in the most extraordinary circumstances (for example, a medical emergency which a student can document).  You must have at least a C- or above and only a little of the course left to finish.  If your instructor grants you an Incomplete, the two of you will confer to develop a written plan and timetable for finishing your work.  Ordinarily, your work should be completed in a month.

Academic Honesty

Portland State University takes academic honesty very seriously in its Conduct Code:

What is Academic Dishonesty?
The student Conduct Code, which applies to all students, prohibits all forms of academic cheating, fraud, and dishonesty.  These acts include, but are not limited to, plagiarism, buying and selling of course assignments and research papers, performing academic assignments (including testing and examinations) for other persons, unauthorized disclosure and receipt of academic information, and other practices commonly understood to be academically dishonest.

What are the Penalties for Being Academically Dishonest?
Acts of academic dishonesty may result in one or more of the following sanctions: a failing grade on the exam or assignment for which the dishonesty occurred, disciplinary reprimand, disciplinary probation, loss of privileges, required community service, suspension from the University for a period of up to five years, and/or dismissal from the University.

What Does This Mean for You?
In particular, scholastic dishonesty includes plagiarism, which means misrepresenting as one's own work anything done by another person. In American universities, a person's ideas are his or her intellectual property. In other words, those ideas belong to that person, just the same as his or her house and car are that person's property.  You can no more take those words and pass them off as your own, than you would take their car or house and pass them off as your own. 

Always cite your sources.

If you are unsure how to document ideas in the secondary sources you use in your writing (books, articles, information you find on the Internet, etc.), ask your instructor and refer to the resources listed in the Helpful Resources section that follows.

Academic dishonesty is a very serious offense.  It is not worth the risk.

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