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PART II: The Many Gritty, Downright Nasty, and Absolutely Necessary Particulars—with explanations—for Surviving, Enjoying, Growing and Passing COMPOSITION 250: Academic Inquiry and Writing
1) Registration Specifics: You alone are responsible for knowing the course information and your schedule. In the space below, please make note of the relevant information for this course.
o Catalogue Number:
o CRN:
o Section Number:
o Room Assignment:
o Days / Time:
o Final Exam Day and Time:
2) Communication: At the outset of this syllabus, at the top of page one, you are given several means for contacting me. My office location is noted, my cell number and my office phone number are also listed. You have my email address and you have the URL for my online scheduling service which will guide you in making an appointment with me. So, you know how to reach me. No excuses!
For my part, I will only use your official Fort Lewis College email address to reach you. By using your Fort Lewis College email address we will keep our communication (safely) within our college system. So, please check your email daily. Also, it is your responsibility to learn the school’s course management system, Moodle. Learn to use it and check it frequently—for this and other classes.
3) Required and Recommended Books: The required books are listed below. These are available in the FLC Bookstore. Please bring your books to class. If you do not have your books (and materials) with you in class, you will not be permitted to participate. This will inhibit your academic progress, influencing your final grade. As computers are not allowed in class, digital versions of these books are not permitted. You must have hard copies of these texts in order to participate in this course.
a) Required Books--
a. Good Reasons with Contemporary Arguments, 5th edition, Lester Faigley and Jack Selzer (Longman/Pearson, 2012) ISBN-13: 978-0-205-00093-7
b. Authoring Your Life: Developing an Internal Voice to Navigate Life’s Challenges, Marcia B. Baxter Magolda (Stylus Publishing, 2009) ISBN-13: 978-1-579-22271-0
c. On Caring, Milton Mayeroff (William Morrow Paperbacks, reissue, n.d.) ISBN-13: 978-0-060-92024-1
b) Recommended Books–
a. The Essential Guide to Rhetoric, Keith and Lundberg (Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2008) ISBN 13: 978-0-312-47239-9
b. Easy Writer: A Pocket Reference 5th edition, Andrea A Lunsford (Bedford/St Martin’s, 2014) ISBN 13: 978-1-4576-4046-9
4) Supplies: The following supplies are required for this course. These supplies are available either in the FLC bookstore or elsewhere (Wal-Mart, Office Depot, Amazon, etc.).
a. A 2.0 inch / three-ring binder embossed with the Fort Lewis College logo on front: COMP 125/126 (WHITE); COMP 150 (PINK); COMP 250 (GREEN). These are clearly marked in the bookstore.
b. A set of five colored plastic tab dividers. I will show you how to label and order these.
c. Highlighters (pink, blue, yellow, and green) and several pens (red, blue, green, and black)
d. Tools: stapler / three-hole punch / ruler
5) Two-Column Note-Taking Paper: My students are frequently required to take class notes, reading notes, and dialogue notes in a two-column format. Each student will receive five (5) two-column note-taking sheets in the third week of class. Each student should keep one blank sheet for making additional copies for their own use throughout the semester. A master template will also be posted on the course blog, under “Course Materials.” After this initial distribution, students are responsible for providing their own two-column note-taking paper. Ordinarily ruled or lined note paper—either loose-leaf or torn from a spiral binder—is not permitted. There are specific learning outcomes attached to the scholarly discipline of taking two-column notes. The “why” and “how” of this approach will be discussed throughout the course.
6) Rough Drafts: Reading and writing is a recursive process. I am interested in your presentation product but I am more interested in the many versions demonstrating your embrace of invention, drafting, revision, and editing. So, save your drafts for sharing in class, organizing your work—all of it—in your course binder. Again, please be careful with your working drafts. Your notes, early attempts, revisions, and corrections—these should go into your notebook (portfolio) for future review.
7) Papers Submitted in Composition 250 must conform to the following:
o Papers must be printed on one side only and must be three-hole punched (see supplies).
o Papers must be properly headed. And, please note the word-count at document’s end: (words: 827).
o Papers—except drafts, outlines, and notes—should bear no pencil or ink markings on the final typescript; the backside should be clean. That is, non-recycled is required for your presentation copy.
o Papers must be stapled together. I do not accept loose papers, crumpled papers, dirty or stained papers. I will not accept half-sheets. Nor will I accept papers bound with paperclips, safety-pins, stuck together with gum, glued, folded down at the corners and torn, bobby-penned, rolled and rubber banded . . . no! Please purchase a stapler, use it for your papers, and rent it to your friends!
o Papers must be submitted at the beginning of the specified class period. After this, they are late. Emailed papers are not accepted. Again, there are specific learning outcomes at work here.
8) Required Style Sheet: Adherence to the MLA style sheet is required for all assignments, through the whole of the course, starting now. You will most likely learn to use CSE, Chicago, or APA elsewhere during your time at FLC—but not in this course. In Composition 250 all typed papers—whether submitted for a grade or placed in your binder for later review—must be MLA formatted.
9) Learning MLA: Below are three sources—one online and two print resources—for guiding students as they learn to format their scholarship, humbly cite sources, and present their best academic work.
o http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/
o Easy Writer: A Pocket Reference. 5th ed. (This book is on the recommended list.)
o MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 7th Edition
10) Calendar of Readings, Assignments and Special Events: A calendar of anticipated readings, ungraded homework, and graded assignments is to be found Part III of this syllabus. This will also include special events and days. Calendar information for this course is also to be found on course blog.
11) Instructor’s Prerogative: Notwithstanding the announced calendar, the instructor reserves the right to make changes to the printed schedule, the nature and weight of graded assignment, and the course goals. When such changes are made, they will be announced in class and accompanied by a printed assignment sheet. Changes to the schedule will also be posted on course blog within 24 hours.
12) Attendance: Regular attendance and participation is expected of you. The Writing Program attendance policy will be followed. In short, much more than merely showing up is required. Regardless of the quality of your submitted work, you will fail the course if you do not participate.
o Unexcused absences equaling one full week of school—two class meetings for some courses and three for other courses—are permitted without penalty. You will receive one warning via campus email if and when you reach the number of absences from class equaling one full week of the term.
o A one-third grade reduction will be taken for each additional absence—up to a second week.
o If your absences exceed two full weeks of class, you will be dropped. Regardless of the quality and quantity of your submitted work and the strength of your classroom engagement, you will be dropped from this course with a grade of “F.” If you withdraw, you will still receive an “F.”
o FLC Student-Athletes must present an official letter (or form) from the FLC athletic department requesting course accommodation for the student (by name) before the student travels with a campus team. If an official letter (or form) is not provided prior to traveling, the student will be marked for an unexcused absence and course accommodations will be denied.
o Excused absences are granted if a student is hospitalized in an emergency or if there is a death in their immediate family. Excused absences are not granted for a student’s early departure from campus on Spring Break, attending music festivals, weather related transport difficulties, taking roommates to the airport, changes in work schedule, school fatigue, self-diagnosed illness, field trips with other college classes, oversleeping, sleeplessness, not-enough-Adderall, trouble completing assignments, visits from the Easter Bunny, new powder, birthday celebrations, weddings, religious holidays, printer malfunction, crashed computer . . . you get the picture.
o Habitual tardiness will be addressed promptly and may result in a student being dropped.
o As per the Registrar’s Office, students who miss a single class during the first week of school may be dis-enrolled by the instructor in order to make room for wait-listed students.
13) Extra Credit: There is no extra credit available for this course.
14) Graded Assignments: Beyond the graded assignments and percentages listed below, this course requires numerous written but not graded exercises. These exercises must be included in your binder.
o 15% Course Binder (This includes reading annotations, two-column classroom notes, in-class writing exercises, ungraded assignments, reading logs, chapter summations, rough drafts, and interactive notes on assigned textbook readings—all properly ordered and neatly presented at the end of term.)
o 40% Five “self-assessment” papers at weeks 3, 6, 9, 12, and 15. Written feedback will be given on each self-assessment paper with the expectation that students will improve between self-assessments.
o 20% Four “argument” papers
o 25% Major Research Project—worked through multiple iterations, showing collaborative development, evidencing original thought. This section also includes blogging on your project.
14) Grading Standards: The business of assessing student work and assigning grades for a student’s academic performance is considered by many to be intrusive into the delicate teacher-student relationship. Some folks argue students need more nurturing from their professors and much less judging. Many more folks denigrate the grading of students by professors according to rigid standards, viewing this practice as inimical to the teacher’s role in providing transformative college experiences.
Yet, there is no field or life endeavor we shall enter that is not subject to regular scrutiny and ongoing assessment by others. We learn and grow as much by our openness to rigorous evaluation by others as by our own continual efforts. “Effort” and “assessment” are partners in promoting human flourishing, not enemies. True, grades are not the final measure of a person’s worth. You are now and will always be much more than a single grade. However, each graded evaluation is a measurement-in-time of a student’s range of acquired skills, academic disciplines, language and problem-solving competencies, and attentiveness as demonstrated in that course. In this class you should expect the following grading standards to be fairly and evenly employed for all students.
You must submit five self-assessments, four argument papers, develop a research-related blog, present a major project based on Authoring Your Life, and submit a full course binder in order to pass this class.
C / An average grade in the “C family” is generally recorded for students who are regularly in class on-time, ready with their homework, attentive to the moment and demands of the class, take careful notes daily, thoughtfully reflect in their writing on classroom conversations, read all course assignments closely, engage in classroom dialogue, master the MLA format, submit all their work on time, and pay sharp attention to order and detail in preparing their papers and their Course Binder.
B / Please do be aware that “B” is not the new “C” in this class. We do not inflate grades in the Writing Program. You will not earn a “B” simply by showing up and submitting your work. Rather, those students who do all of the above and demonstrate analytical, creative insight into the issues and problems of language, writing, reading, and critical thinking – these students will earn a “B.”
A / Students who fulfill the course requirements (grade C), are creative and insightful (grade B), and write at an extremely high level—demonstrating careful word choice, deploy multiple voices and styles with ease and as may be appropriate to the situation, give evidence of a deepening rhetorical understanding, and learn to write/speak with conciseness and precision—these will receive an “A”.
You must have a “C-” to pass this class, so we needn’t discuss you earning a lower grade. Also, I do not discuss grades via the phone, text, or email. If you have a question about your grade—for legal, moral, and developmental reasons—you must meet me in private. If you wish me to discuss your grade with other persons, you must sign a waiver from the Registrar’s Office giving me permission.
15) Dropping: You may drop this course without a recorded grade thru Tuesday, January 28, 2014.
a) After Census Date, 28 January 2014, you may only drop this course with a recorded grade.
b) If you ask to drop this course after 28 January 2014 and your current grade in the class is below the C- minimum as required by the Writing Program, you will be withdrawn with an “F.”
c) Non-attendance is not considered an official withdrawal.
16) An Open Letter from the Director of the Writing Program at Fort Lewis College
Date: Winter 2011
To: FLC Students
From: Erik Juergensmeyer, Writing Program Director
SUBJECT: GRADING POLICY
This letter is to help explain an important part of the Writing Program’s policy on grading. Your instructor will have written about this policy in his/her syllabus and will be able to answer any questions you may have.
In order to be successful in any course you take, it is obviously important for you to be present in that class, not only in body, but in mind. We are dedicated to making our courses in the Writing Program as stimulating and productive for you as we possibly can. We have found that just one student who is disengaged or consistently absent can diminish the learning and the enthusiasm of an entire class. We are determined not to let this happen to those of you who are eager and ready to participate and engage in the scholarly process.