Your enrollment in this course is an agreement to follow these course policies. They are designed to craft an effective and safe learning community and environment for our class. You are responsible for knowing them at the beginning of the term. If you have any questions or concerns please talk to me.

Academic Integrity & Plagiarism

The Academic Integrity pledge is an expression of the University’s commitment to fostering an understanding of — and commitment to — a culture of integrity at Santa Clara University. The Academic Integrity pledge, which applies to all students, states:

“I am committed to being a person of integrity. I pledge, as a member of the Santa Clara University community, to abide by and uphold the standards of academic integrity contained in the Student Conduct Code.”

“The goals of the Student Conduct Code are to:

  1. Promote a safe living and learning environment that is consistent with the mission of Santa Clara University, and
  2. Promote the personal growth of those who commit a violation by focusing on accountability, awareness, concern, commitment, and contrition.

The Student Conduct System is designed to engage students in reflection about their behavior and its impact on self, others, and the community as a whole, thereby challenging students to ask themselves how their choices are consistent with being the person they want to be now and in the future.”

Students are expected to uphold the principles of this pledge for all work in this class. For more information about Santa Clara University’s academic integrity pledge and resources about ensuring academic integrity in your work, see https://www.scu.edu/academic-integrity/students/.

Plagiarism occurs when one person uses another person’s work—from basic ideas to exact wording—and presents it as his/her/their own. It is your responsibility to know what plagiarism is. It is also your job to know or to learn how to avoid it if you don’t already know. We will go over this together. Our very own HUB Writing Center has a guide called “Using Sources: When to Cite?”.  Resources can also be found on our library website here. Last, Indiana University has a web tutorial “How to Recognize Plagiarism” that tests your understanding. It takes about an hour. If you pass the tutorial, you will earn a certificate you can put on your CV!  

Attendance and Timeliness

Plan to attend every class and arrive early or on time for each class. I take attendance every day at the start of class.

  • Absences: As your number of absences and/or latenesses increases, it lowers your class participation grade. Contact me immediately if you are seriously ill or have an emergency that will require you to miss class and we will work together to come up with a plan.
  • 2 freebie days off: Each student is allotted 2 free days off from class, for any reason, with no penalty to your grade. After your 2nd absence, each additional absence lowers your final course grade by 2%. For example: if you have a 95% in the class, your 2nd absence makes that a 93%. Save your freebie days for sickness, interviews, travel, and other class conflicts. Talk to me if you have a medical emergency that requires you to miss more than your 2 allotted freebie days. Religious holidays are always excused and if you have disability accommodations that permit missing class, those absences will not affect your grade.
  • Your presence in class is crucial to our ability to create a class learning community. Just by being in the classroom, you’ll learn and will have a better chance of earning an A in the course. So even if you’re not caught up on the reading or writing, come to class.
  • If you miss class: you are responsible for getting the notes that you missed and your homework assignment from a classmate. If you ask me for that information, I will remind you to ask a classmate. I’d be happy to answer questions during office hours about the notes you receive.
  • Lateness and leaving early: 2 lates = 1 full absence that counts toward the absence policy described above. I will mark you late if you arrive in class once we have begun to address the day’s course material or lesson. Also, please don’t pack up your things until class is really actually over – it is distracting to the rest of us. Thanks!

Books 

You are required to purchase or rent a copy of our official edition of the required texts for this course. They are listed in the syllabus. All other readings that are due for a particular class will be provided for you online in Camino Files or linked in the syllabus. I recommend printing your reading when possible to enable annotation. You may use electronic version of articles only if you can annotate them online in your chosen reader – I will verify that you can do this. These might include free annotation apps like Adobe Acrobat, Skim, Preview (Mac), PDFescape (web version is free), PDF-Xchange (Windows).

Disabilities Resources 

If you have a disability for which accommodations may be required in this class, please contact Disabilities Resources, Benson 216, http://www.scu.edu/disabilities as soon as possible to discuss your needs and register for accommodations with the University. If you have already arranged accommodations through Disabilities Resources, please discuss them with me during my office hours.

While I am happy to assist you, I am unable to provide accommodations until I have received verification from Disabilities Resources. The Disabilities Resources office will work with students and faculty to arrange proctored exams for students whose accommodations include double time for exams and/or assisted technology. (Students with approved accommodations of time-and-a-half should talk with me as soon as possible). Disabilities Resources must be contacted in advance to schedule proctored examinations or to arrange other accommodations. The Disabilities Resources office would be grateful for advance notice of at least two weeks. For more information, contact Disabilities Resources at 408-554-4109.

If your accommodations needs change during the term, please notify me right away over email or in person so that I can support your needs in any way I can.

Discrimination, Harassment, and Sexual Misconduct (Title IX) 

Santa Clara University upholds a zero-tolerance policy for discrimination, harassment and sexual misconduct. If you (or someone you know) have experienced discrimination or harassment, including sexual assault, domestic/dating violence, or stalking, I encourage you to (1) get to a safe space, and (2) tell someone promptly. If you disclose to me, I will assist you in finding the resources and help you desire. You have options, including:

  • Cowell Center: confidential health and counseling center (408-554-4501, 8:30am-5pm)
  • After hours, SCU Emergency Medical Services: 5pm-8am (when Cowell will be closed) (Emergency Phone Number: 408-554-4444, Non-Emergency Phone Number: 408-554-4441)
  • Report an incident online (SCU)
  • Report to your Title IX Coordinator Belinda Guthrie (FAQs for this – not always confidential): (408) 551-3043 or bguthrie@scu.edu, 900 Lafayette Street, Suite 100, Santa Clara 95050
  • Sexual Assault Response Team (SART) at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center 751 S Bascom Ave, San Jose, CA 95128, Tel : (408) 885-5000
  • Call 911 if it’s an emergency and you want the Santa Clara police to respond.

For more information, please consult the University’s Gender-Based Discrimination and Sexual Misconduct Policy at http://bit.ly/2ce1hBb or contact the University’s EEO and Title IX Coordinator, Belinda Guthrie, at 408-554-3043, bguthrie@scu.edu. Reports may be submitted online through https://www.scu.edu/osl/report/ or anonymously through Ethicspoint https://www.scu.edu/hr/quick-links/ethicspoint/

Grades 

The grades that I assign are non-negotiable unless I make an obvious calculation error.

Office Hours

I will be delighted to meet with you during office hours or by appointment to discuss academic topics or go over drafts of your work. I will not look over drafts that you email to me since it limits our capacity for dialogue about your work. One-on-one feedback works best. Let’s work together. 

Pregnancy and Parenting Accommodations 

In alignment with Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, and with the California Education Code, Section 66281.7, Santa Clara University provides reasonable accommodations to students who are pregnant, have recently experienced childbirth, and/or have medical needs related to childbirth. Pregnant and parenting students can often arrange accommodations by working directly with their instructors, supervisors, or departments. Alternatively, a pregnant or parenting student experiencing related medical conditions may request accommodations through Disability Resources. 

Religious holidays

If you celebrate a religious holiday that conflicts with class, please let me know with as much lead time as possible and we will arrange for you to be excused. It will not impact your attendance record. 

Technology

I encourage you to use laptops and tablets on a daily basis in class for taking notes, collaboration, and researching in ways that relate to our course material and the specific topic under discussion. I consider phones far too small to be effective reading and writing devices for daily coursework; they are not permitted to be in use during class unless I approve them on an individual basis.

  • Non-academic use of technology during class-time, including but not limited to texting, Facebook, email, doing other homework, gaming, or messaging will result in your being excused from class immediately. You will be marked late for the day (1/2 absence or ½ freebie day). I enforce this rule starting on day 1.
  • Texting: Do not text on your phone or a table/laptop during class. You will be immediately excused from class and counted absent. If you have an urgent family emergency, you may request my permission before class to leave your phone on for the duration of our class time. If you must take an emergency call or send an emergency message, please step outside of the classroom so that you will not disrupt your classmates or your teacher. Thank you.
  • Why so serious about no texting (etc.) during class? Because we are trying to learn how to listen sensitively and talk to one another about really difficult topics. We have less than 3 hours per week together, face-to-face. Let’s maximize it and be present for one another in this journey. Last, we are a large class that has the potential to be easily distracted because of our size. Turn of messaging and hide your phone for our class period and do your best to stay focused as an active listener and positive class community member. Thank you so very much!

Turning in Work

  • Turn in your work on time, as directed on your assignment directions. Failure to do so can result in points deducted. You can request an extension for a particular assignment up to 48 hours before an assignment is due by emailing me, telling me why you request an extension, and if I agree, I will allow you to set your own extended due date (within reason).
  • Late work: For late work with no extension granted, I will deduct one-half of a letter grade for each day that the work is late. If you turn the assignment in after the due date/time, that counts as a day.
  • If you are sick and miss a quiz, you have up to 1 week to make it up. You can take the quiz during the next class period or during an office hours meeting. Email Dr. Leuner to reschedule.
  • Rewriting: Any writing assignment can be rewritten for a higher grade if you follow these steps. (1) Seek my approval via email by explaining what you would like to resubmit/redo and why. (2) Meet with me to set goals and brush up on skills for the resubmission, and during the meeting we will set a due date, which I will hold you to. (3) Submit your work on time with an accompanying 2-page letter to me that explains what revisions you made, why, and what you learned from revising.

Websites

We have two websites: (1) a syllabus website and (2) Camino.

Camino will be used for:

  • accessing readings that are scanned and not linked directly to our website
    • turning in certain assignments
    • receiving certain assignments I have graded and return to you
    • access to your grades
    • communication and updates from me regarding the course.
    • Discussions (online) among our class – I use this feature a lot.
    • Accessing lessons I post online for our class only, in the form of video, audio, or other digital content.

Syllabus website (where you are right now)this is public-facing and will not contain student work unless students want it to.

  • an electronic version of the full syllabus
    • course policies
    • course calendar, will be updated regularly throughout the term
    • assignments explained in detail and linked to the course calendar
    • additional useful resource links
    • anything else we as a class want to add

P.S. Wellness – a reminder, not a policy

Eat well, try for 8 hours of sleep every night, wash your hands a lot and use hand sanitizer in the library and other busy campus facilities, exercise in your way, and take care of yourself when you’re under the weather. I recognize that “wellness” has a different meaning for everyone. Being unwell makes learning (and everything else!) more difficult and far less enjoyable. Stay in touch with me via email when you are ill – we all fall under the weather occasionally. Here’s the Health and Wellness section of the Bronco Prep Guide to find wellness resources on campus, including links to websites for Student Health Services, Office of Student Life, the Wellness Center, Counseling and Psychological Services, Emergency Medical Services, and Fitness. If you have questions, come see me or email me.