Default Class Policy

Dr. Krothapalli explains the default class policy.

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The following default policy applies to all undergraduate classes in Mechanical Engineering unless the course syllabus states otherwise:

General

• Students are bound by the rules and regulations in their University bulletin. Read your academic bulletin. Violations of the rules and regulations in your bulletin may result in reduced grades and/or other actions.
• Students are bound by the honor code of their university. It requires you to uphold academic integrity and combat academic dishonesty. Read your student handbook. Violations of your honor code may result in reduced grades and/or other actions.
• Students are bound by the rules and regulations in the course syllabus and those announced by the instructor during the first class. Violations may result in reduced grades and/or other actions.
• In case your syllabus specifies rules that disagree with those in this document, your syllabus applies for those rules only. The other rules in this document continue to apply.

Working Together

• Pertinent sections of your bulletin and student handbook require you to stand tall for academic integrity, both personal and around you.
• Copying of homework, assignments, or tests is never allowed and will result in a failing or zero grade for the copied work. It will also result in a failing or zero grade for the person whose work is being copied if that person could reasonably have prevented the copying.
• Working together is typically allowed and encouraged for most homeworks, (and sometimes for other take-home assignments,) as long as you present the final results in your own words, using your own line of reasoning. Since close similarities between solutions will reduce credit, it is better not to formally put down anything until you have figured out the problem, and then let each person write their own solution.
• If it is unclear whether working together is allowed on any assignment, check with the instructor beforehand.

Attendance

• Attendance is essential and required. Conscientious attendance is needed for a confident determination of your mastery of the subject matter to be made. In other words, no class can be taken like a D.I.S. unless a faculty member will allow you to do so under formal D.I.S. rules with appropriately modified grading and testing standards. Being able to pass the tests about the material, make the homeworks, etcetera, does not satisfy the requirements.
• A student is considered to be nonattending if he comes in after attendance has been taken, leaves early, or misses class activities.
• If the instructor is late, the students must wait for him/her at least 10 minutes past the scheduled starting time of the class as indicated by an accepted atomic clock standard.
• In a three-credit-hour class, four unexcused absences result in an F grade regardless of numerical performance. For any class, an F is assigned as soon as the number of unexcused absences exceeds the credit hours of the class.
• Exams missed, even when rescheduled from the original date and surprise tests, or homework not handed in on time due to unexcused absence or lateness will result in a zero grade for that exam and/or homework.
• Failure to properly complete homework, tests, assignments, etcetera due to changes in date, assignment, etcetera, that you did not know about due to unexcused absence, lateness, or inattentiveness will not be excused and cannot be made up. A zero grade will be assigned.
• The total grade is further reduced due to unexcused absences or lateness as the syllabus specifies, or the instructor announces during the first class. Even a few absences may make it impossible to pass the class.
• If you will be absent because of a recognized religious holiday at a time when classes are normally scheduled, inform the instructor during the first week of classes of the conflict.
• The College of Engineering has a restrictive interpretation of what is considered a valid excuse for an absence. If an absence is to be excused, make sure you get official confirmation that it will be granted beforehand. Contact Student Services at the College of Engineering for details.
• The instructor will make sure that make-up tests are no simpler than the original, but will try to make them similarly difficult. However, the instructor cannot make allowances for increased difficulty due to the small sample size.
• The student may not use excused absence as a plea for extension of time to complete assignments or for permission to take make-up examinations or quizes. It is expected that the student starts his homework, projects, etcetera as soon as feasible, not just before it is due or the exam is to be held. It is also expected that the student ordinarily can continue to perform his class work while absent.

Drop/Add

• Due to differences between the Universities, the College of Engineering has a more restrictive drop-add policy than you might think based on your bulletin. Check Student Services at the College of Engineering to determine whether a drop-add will be allowed.

Disabled Students

• Some rules may not apply if you fall under the Americans with Disabilities Act. FAMU students with disabilities needing academic accommodations should contact Student Health Services for confirmation of permanent physical disability, FSU students should register with and provide documentation to the Student Disability Resource Center. Next bring a letter to the instructor from the Services or Center indicating you need academic accommodations. This should be done during the first week of classes.

Exceptions

• The instructor might wave some regulation on a case-by-case basis depending on his subjective determination of fairness and appropriateness. This will occur only under exceptional circumstances and should not be assumed. Especially, never assume that a seemingly minor regulation will be waved because the instructor has waved it in the past. A second appeal to wave a minor regulation will probably indicate to the instructor that the regulation is not being taken seriously and most likely refused. Any appeal to the instructor will further be refused a priori unless it is done at the earliest possible moment by phone and/or by E-mail. Do not wait until you are back in town, say.