Rules and regulations
Disability arrangements
If you have an arrangement with DSS for extra time on exams, check with your instructor at the beginning of the class. In this class, it's better to get extensions of time on site rather than at the DSS whenever possible. This lets you ask the instructor questions and get information about occasional corrections or clarifications that are made during the exam period.
Religious holidays and other excused absences:
We are happy to accommodate religious holidays, but observing a religious holiday doesn't mean that you don't have to do the task for that day! Since you know about your religious holidays beforehand, be sure to contact your instructor in plenty of time to make an arrangement for how you can get the work done. After the fact it may not be possible to arrange to makeup the missed work, even for absences that are legitimately excused!
If you have another valid excuse for missing an exam, quiz, or homework, send an email to your instructor to arrange what to do about it, beforehand if at all possible. Specify the date and day you will be (or were) absent and the reasons. After the fact excuses will require validation and may not be acceptable. After the fact it may not be possible to arrange to makeup the missed work, even for absences that are legitimately excused! (Wanting to leave early before a holiday is NOT a valid excuse for missing work.) You must contact your lead instructor. Your TA does not have the authority to excuse you from any required class activity.
See the University
Course-Related Policies for more information.
Cheating and the Honor Code:
We take cheating in this class very seriously, in part, because many of the activities of this class are set up to help you learn how to do things. When you cheat on a homework, quiz, or exam, you are giving up on yourself and stealing from yourself the opportunity to learn how to do something that might be useful to you later. This is particularly true of homework and quizzes since these are designed as lead-ins to learning to get you thinking about the issues and helping you figure out what you know and what you don't know. If you give up on these and cheat, you are likely to pay a severe penalty when an exam comes around and expects you to have figured them out.
You are expected to work with others on
homework, but you are expected to have mastered and understood what your
group has worked out to be able to sit by yourself afterwards and recreate
the solution in your own words and in your own way.
If two or more solutions are too close to each other, both solutions will be given 0. You will also get a 0 if your homework is too close to a solution that can be found (illegally, by our copyrights) online. The first time that you are judged as having shared or copied a solution you will receive a 0 for the problem. The second time you will receive a 0 for the entire assignment and previous homeworks will be examined for plagiarism. The third time, your copied or shared assignment will be sent to the Honor Council and you may get an XF on your transcript.
University Policies and Resources
As a student you have the responsibility to be familiar with and uphold the Code of Academic Integrity and the Code of Conduct, as well as for notifying your course instructors in a timely fashion regarding academic accommodations related to absences and accessibility as indicated below. You also have the right to know the expectations set by University Policy. The University of Maryland values the diversity of its student body and is committed to providing a classroom atmosphere that encourages the equitable participation of all students. University Policies outlined at this link are particularly relevant to your experience in academic courses: http://ugst.umd.edu/courserelatedpolicies.html. Topics that are addressed in these policies include academic integrity, student and instructor conduct, accessibility and accommodations, attendance and excused absences, grades and appeals, copyright and intellectual property.
We look forward to working
with you and hope that you will both enjoy and learn a lot from the class.