Cheating will not be tolerated. If
academic dishonesty is suspected, it will be reported to the judicial
coordinator and to the All University Judicial Board, where appropriate.
See the University
Policy on Academic Honesty.
Grading scale:
All papers, examinations and other work for
credit will be graded on the basis of a raw score equal to the percentage
of the total number of possible points (100). The final letter grade will
be determined by the total raw score. Thus, two people with the same raw
scores will receive the same letter grade. The scale of determination,
however, is made only at the end of the course, once all the grades are
in. Estimates may be offered earlier.
Class attendance:
Students are expected to attend classes.
In the unlikely event that a class needs to be canceled (e.g., because of
weather), I will try to leave a message on my voice mail (575-5826).
Late papers:
Late papers will be accepted, but the
instructor reserves the right to deduct up to one point for each day a
paper is late.
Spelling and Grammar:
Mistakes in spelling and grammar are
not appreciated. While (with one exception) no points will be taken off
any paper or examination solely for mistakes in spelling or grammar,
clarity is important in philosophy and errors in spelling or,
particularly, grammar can make writing more difficult to understand. The
same applies to illegibility. A paper with such errors may therefore
receive a lower grade than it otherwise would, because it may therefore be
less clear than it could be. One point will be taken off for each
misspelling of "lose" or its cognates. Furthermore, the instructor may
disregard any claim made in an ungrammatical sentence.
Make-up tests:
Make-up tests will be given where a
reasonable (to the instructor) and verifiable excuse for inability to take
the test at the scheduled time is offered. Any make-up tests, however,
will be offered without options. For example, if on the normal test
students were asked to answer three out of five questions, the student
taking the make-up test will have no choice about which three questions to
answer (and the questions may be different from those offered in the
original examination).
Reevaluation:
Any student may request that any paper,
examination, or other course work be reevaluated if she or he feels that
it has been unfairly or carelessly graded. No penalty will be imposed for
taking advantage of this option, of course, but neither is there any
guarantee that the grade will not decrease if the work looks inferior on
the second reading.
Incompletes:
Failure to complete the assigned work on time
is not a sufficient reason to be granted a grade of "incomplete" in the
course. Giving birth to a child the morning of the final examination is,
if a good faith effort has been made up to that point to keep up with the
work.