Classroom Policies
Expectations
(1) Students are expected to attend class regularly, even when attendance is not an explicit part of the course's grade. If you are not responsible enough to come to class regularly, or if you feel that you have higher priorities in life than attending a lecture for which (or your parents) are paying good money, then do not be surprised if the instructor starts to show you the same amount of respect that you have shown for him or her.
(2) Students are expected to be present at the beginning of the class period. Students who interrupt class by showing up in the middle of a lecture are being rude and inconsiderate to both the instructor and their fellow classmates. For this reason, if attendance is taken or if a quiz is given it will probably be done at the start of class, and any student who is not present at that time will be considered absent or will receive a failing grade for the quiz.
(2a) Students who attend class are expected to remain in class until the end of the class period, rather than disturbing the other students and interrupting class by leaving in the middle of lecture. The instructor reserves the right to mark absent a student who leaves during the middle of class, unless the student has explained the situation to the instructor before the beginning of class.
(3) Students are expected to have read the assigned material before coming to class. Each student in class will benefit from having read the material before hearing my lecture, because the lecture will be reinforcing prior knowledge instead of introducing new topics. The entire class also benefits when students are prepared -- the quality of discussion will be higher, students can ask better questions, and the class period will not be burdened by a focus on basic issues that should have been answered by the readings.
(4) Inside the classroom, students are expected to devote their full attention to the course. This means that distractions like newspapers, magazines, beepers, and cellular phones will not be tolerated. If you insist on reading the newspaper or being accessible by beeper or cell phone during the class period, please do so at home (or somewhere else outside of the classroom); such activities only serve to disrupt the course and to distract people who really want to be there. This also means that talking with your neighbors or passing notes during class will not be tolerated. If you absolutely must talk about last night's party or your plans for the weekend, please do so outside of the classroom, so that you do not disturb students who actually attend class in order to learn the material.
General Course Rules
(1) Make-up examinations are given only with prior instructor approval and require convincing documentation. When explicitly approved by the instructor, make-up exams will take place during final exam week.
(2) All students must complete all course requirements in order to receive a non-failing grade for the course. Thus, failure to take any exam or to turn in any writing assignment by the beginning of the final exam will result in a failing grade for the entire course. (In other words, it is to your advantage to turn in every paper -- even if a particular assignment is so late that you get an F on that assignment, failure to turn it in at all will earn a zero for the entire course) Any late assignments must be turned in by the beginning of the final exam, because grades must be turned in shortly thereafter, and it is unreasonable to expect the entire course's grades to be held up waiting for one student's late work.
(3) Any exceptions to these rules are given at the instructor's discretion, only with prior approval, and only under extraordinarily pressing and well-documented circumstances. Appropriate documentation must be supplied by the student in any event.
(4) Students are required to keep backup copies of all assignments until the graded copy has been returned by the instructor. Students are also required to keep graded, returned copies of all exams, quizzes, and writing assignments until two weeks after the final exam. Any questions about grades can only be addressed if you have saved all of your assignments; you can't dispute a grade that I recorded if you don't have the original copy of the assignment in question that I graded and returned to you.
Americans with Disabilities Act
Students with disabilities needing academic accommodations should:
- (1) register with and provide documentation to the Student Disability Resource Center (SDRC)
- (2) bring a letter to the instructor from SDRC indicating that you need academic accommodations.
This should be done within the first week of class.
Academic Honor Code
"The academic honor system of The Florida State University is based on the premise that each student has the responsibility:
- (1) To uphold the highest standards of academic integrity in the student's own work,
- (2) To refuse to tolerate violations of academic integrity in the University community, and
- (3) To foster a high sense of integrity and social responsibility on the part of the University community."
Students are expected to bring possible violations of this honor code to the attention of the instructor as soon as possible, so that the violations -- if any -- may be stopped quickly. Violations include (but are not limited to) the use of unauthorized information during examinations, representing another's work or any part thereof (published or unpublished) as one's own, assisting another student in such an offense, and attempting to commit such an offense. The FSU Student Handbook provides a more complete listing of violations.
Violation of this honor code will be dealt with in an appropriate manner, consistent with FSU guidelines. Academic penalties may include (but shall not be limited to) a requirement of additional work to provide evidence of the student's academic performance and/or evidence that the student knows and understands the course material; a failing grade on the assignment or examination in question; and a failing grade for the course. The University may also enforce further disciplinary penalties, such as a formal reprimand, probation, or suspension or dismissal from the University.
Policy on Letters of Recommendation
I am always willing to write letters of recommendation for students who have taken my classes. Before asking me to write you a letter, though, I should warn you that my letters are always honest and will reflect your actual performance in my course(s) -- including written work, comprehension of the material, and participation in class discussion. In other words, an "A" student who attended class regularly, participated actively in class discussion, read and understood all of the course material, and demonstrated this understanding in his or her written work and class discussion will receive a letter that reflects these accomplishments. Conversely, students who skipped class regularly, did not participate in class discussion, rarely read the material, or wrote poorly will receive letters that reflect these shortcomings. (I should also emphasize that I will cover each of these topics in writing your letter. Before you ask me to overlook one of these areas, you should realize that -- even if I agreed to your request, which I won't -- most grad schools or law schools will notice the omission, and will very likely interpret it as indicating poor performance in that area.)
If you are still interested in receiving a letter of recommendation for me after reading the above paragraph, I will need several items before I can write a good letter.
- 1. A personal statement about your goals or purposes (this should be part of your application; this will help me to tie in your accomplishments in my course with your career goals or your purposes in grad school)
- 2. A copy of your written work from my course, with my original comments (this will allow me to use specific examples from your work in making my points, rather than simply saying "his/her written work was good")
- 3. A list of the schools or businesses to which you plan to apply (because a letter that will be helpful for certain types of graduate schools may not help you much in other types of schools or in the business world; if I know where you are applying I can write a letter that focuses on the skills or experiences that are most relevant for your chosen career path)
- 4. A current copy of your resume or curriculum vitae (not required, but this will help me to place your work from my course in the context of your other experiences and interests)
- 5. A recent transcript (not required, but this will help me to place your work from my course in the context of your other college-level work)
These items allow me to write a more detailed letter with specific examples, which will be much more useful to a potential grad school or law school admissions office than an impersonal form letter. Similarly, I can write a more accurate and more detailed letter if you sit down and talk with me about what you plan to do (e.g., why you are planning to go to law school, which grad schools interest you and why, or what part of your background gives you a special edge for this career path).
Policy on Directed Independent Study (DIS) Courses
Due to large demand by students for directed independent studies courses, I have finally recorded my DIS policies explicitly on this web site. I have a number of requirements that must be met before I will agree to direct a DIS course for any undergraduate:
- 1. Any student asking me to direct a DIS must have already taken one of my courses, preferably an upper-division course. My DIS courses are much more personalized and intensive than traditional undergraduate courses, and while I am sure many students I have never met are up to the challenge, I generally find that it works much better to limit DIS courses to students who have already encountered my teaching and working style. Also, upper-division courses work much better than introductory courses for introducing students to serious research in political science and for demonstrating students' ability to do serious work.
- 2. Any student asking about a DIS must have done very well in the earlier course with me, which means receiving an A or A- grade (B+ students may be accepted under extraordinary circumstances, but only rarely). The reason for this is that a DIS is much more personalized and much more intensive than even a typical upper-division undergraduate course, and a student who did not perform well in one of my traditional courses will face an even harder time succeeding in a directed independent study with me.
- 3. Any student asking about a DIS must be interested in working on a topic that interests me (and that I am generally familiar with). If the student wishes to work on a topic that I know (or care) nothing about, then I will be unable to direct a reasonable research project, and the student would be much better off finding one of our many other faculty members who is more familiar with and more interested in the proposed topic of study.
- 4. Following up on requirement #3, the student must have a proposed outline of the course, with a proposed reading list (which may refer to types of books or articles in general terms, rather than listing all of the specific books or readings that will be read). Writing a meaningful course syllabus takes a great deal of time, and my standard teaching and other obligations at FSU do not generally leave me with enough time to come up with a full syllabus or reading list for every student who wishes to do a DIS with me. I do reserve the right to modify the proposed syllabus and/or reading list, though, in order to ensure that it covers the appropriate content adequately and that its workload is the equivalent of a standard 3-credit course (contrary to what some students perceive, a DIS should never involve less work or "easier" work than a standard undergraduate course -- and in fact, a good DIS may involve more work than many other courses; I generally require at least a 30-page original research paper for a DIS).
- 5. Any DIS that I direct will require regular meetings between the director (me) and the student. These meetings may be weekly, biweekly, or something roughly equivalent, but they are a vital part of any DIS. The meetings allow the student to ask questions about problems that may arise, allow the director to measure the student's progress, and generally ensure that the entire DIS experience will be a good one. Past situations where these meetings did not occur regularly have almost invariably ended in a disaster, with the student not doing much research until the last minute and then wondering why he or she received a B- or C grade (or worse) for the DIS. As a result, these regular meetings will constitute an important part of the final grade for the course, along with the final research paper.
Although these requirements may appear to be restrictive, they do a very good job of ensuring that the DIS experience will be a good one. Similar policies helped me to undertake two very successful DIS-type courses while I was an undergraduate, and -- when these policies have been followed -- have helped produce several very successful DIS courses for students of mine at FSU. It is also worth noting that every single bad DIS experience that I have seen at FSU (whether involving me or one of my colleagues) could have been avoided by enforcing these rules more rigorously.
http://garnet.acns.fsu.edu/~phensel/policies.html
Last updated: 1 October 2003
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Paul R. Hensel. All rights reserved.