Attendance Policy: FSU’s Composition Program maintains

a strict attendance policy to which this course adheres: an

excess of  absences—that’s more than four absences is

grounds for failure. You are required to be an active member

of the ENC 2135 classroom community, and if you do not

attend class regularly, you cannot fulfill  that requirement.

You should always inform your instructor, ahead of time

when possible, about why you miss class. Save your absences

for when you get sick or for family emergencies. Not showing

up for a conference counts as two absences as a  conference

replaces two days of class. Four tardies will have the same

effect as one absence.

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If you have an excellent reason for going over the allowed number of absences, you should call Undergraduate Studies (850 644 2451) and make an appointment to discuss your situation with them. If you can provide proper documentation of extreme circumstances (for example, a medical situation or some other crisis that resulted in you having to miss more than the allowed number of classes), Undergraduate Studies will consider the possibility of allowing you to drop the course and take it the following semester.

 

Important Note: FSU’s Composition Program Attendance Policy does not violate the University Attendance Policy that appears in the “University Policies” section later in this syllabus. The Composition Program Attendance Policy simply specifies the number of allowed absences, whereas the University Attendance Policy does not.

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Late Work Policy: Students are expected to submit drafts and final versions of papers on time. Drafts that are late are not guaranteed to receive timely, detailed feedback from peers or the instructor. The drafting is integral to revision and the writing process as a whole; therefore, late                                                                          drafts will not receive credit. Blog posts that are completed up                                                                        to 24 hours after the due date can receive partial (half) credit.                                                                          Otherwise, late posts will not be recognized for credit. At the                                                                            instructor’s discretion, students who turn in final versions late                                                                      can be docked five points per day on their overall course grade.

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                                                                   Civility (Jerk) Clause: This class will tolerate neither disruptive                                                                    language nor disruptive behavior. Disruptive language                                                                                   includes,  but is not limited to, violent and/or belligerent and/or                                                                    insulting remarks, including sexist, racist, homophobic or anti-                                                                    ethnic slurs, bigotry, and disparaging commentary, either spoken or written (offensive slang is included in this category). While each of you have a right to your own opinions, inflammatory language founded in ignorance or hate is unacceptable and will be dealt with immediately. Disruptive behavior includes the use of cell phones, pagers or any other form of electronic communication during the class session (email, web-browsing). Disruptive behavior also includes whispering or talking when another member of the class is speaking or engaged in relevant conversation (remember that I am a member of this class as well). This classroom functions on the premise of respect, and you will be asked to leave the classroom if you violate any part of this statement on civility. In other words, do not act like a jerk, and we will get along fine. Remember that you will send me an email that indicates you have read and understand this policy.

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Plagiarism: Plagiarism is grounds for suspension from the

university as well as for failure in this course. It will not be

tolerated. Any instance of plagiarism must be reported to

the Director of College Composition and the Director of

Undergraduate Studies. Plagiarism is a counterproductive,

non-writing behavior that is unacceptable in a course

intended to aid the growth of individual writers. Plagiarism

is included among the violations defined in the Academic

Honor Code, section b), paragraph 2, as follows: “Regarding

academic assignments, violations of the Academic Honor

Code shall include representing another’s work or any part

thereof, be it published or unpublished, as one’s own.”

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A plagiarism education assignment that further explains this issue will be administered in all ENC 2135 courses during the second week of class. Each student will be responsible for completing the assignment and asking questions regarding any parts they do not fully understand.

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Other Grading Components:

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Twitter: Twitter will be used in the class as an informal space for class-wide communications. Students will be required to create an academic Twitter handle (if they have one from a previous class, that is fine, but they should not be using their personal Twitter account) and tweet 10 times a week using the course hashtag, #FSU2135 – Tweets are due by end of day Sunday each week. In addition, students will each “live tweet” a class to provide support for absent (or absent-minded) students. Besides supporting classroom-based conversation, using Twitter will give us a genre with which to discuss distribution and circulation practices as well as a way to form a discourse community. Tweets that occur during class activities will count towards the student’s weekly requirement. Because Twitter similarly acts as an alternate pathway for classroom communication, it is expected that students check their Twitter accounts daily. You should also check your email daily.

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Blogs: Students will complete blogs over the course of the class. Students must complete the blog activity AND tweet a response to two of their peers’ posts to be eligible for full credit. Blogs will be given half credit if they are no more than 24 hours late contingent on the student notifying the teacher that their late blog has been posted. Blogs will support a conversation about the writing process as well as help students develop (over time) a personal theory of composing.

Short Assignments: Short assignments include proposals, annotated bibliographies, project maps, and interview transcripts. These assignments are meant to support students in developing a thoughtful final product and are an integral part of the writing process. The instructor has no obligation to recognize or give feedback on late short assignments. 

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Participation: Participation in the course will be recognized through students’ interacting with one another during peer reviews, submitting drafts on time, participating in class activities that help students understand major course concepts, and in their ability to offer information on course readings in the form of class discussion or quizzes. Students who are absent the days of these activities will not earn participation points for these assignments. While students have the ability to miss 4 classes before they are at risk of failing, students who miss class miss out on important information.

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Readings: The readings we complete in the class are important in understanding the concepts. Unlike English courses you might have taken in the past, all of our readings are from Composition scholars, educators, and students. You cannot grasp a full understanding of composing without them. For that reason, I have the right to add reading quizzes to the gradebook if I have a concern that you are not engaging with the texts as assigned.

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