For this course, the following policies are in place:
- Attendance & Lateness. You agree to strive to attend required classes and to be on time. If extenuating circumstances prevent you from attending class, contact Prof. Gandhi via email, during office hours, or before/after class to discuss your options. Please note that showing up late to class (10 or more minutes after start time) will affect your grade. Three tardies equals one absence.
- Participation & Collaboration. You agree to participate in ways that best fit you and that are most appropriate for each day’s goal (for example: by actively listening, taking notes, asking questions, offering comments, etc.). You agree to work cooperatively in groups, to share your writing, to listen supportively to the writing of others, and, when called for, to give full and thoughtful assessments that help your classmates consider ways to revise their work.
- Homework & Assignments. You agree to strive to turn in all assignments on time, completing them fully and meeting all assignment requirements. If you are absent, you are still responsible for submitting on time any work that’s due. If you need an extension on any assignment, reach out to Prof. Gandhi sooner rather than later.
You are obligated for all your class work to carefully listen to and consider your peers’ and professor’s feedback. Feedback is essential to improvement.
In this class, you won’t just correct errors or touch up pieces here and there. Each major assignment will be substantially reshaped, extended, or complicated based on the feedback you receive. You will also make efforts to improve your copy-editing skills. While you certainly do not have to submit error-free texts, you are asked to take an active role in developing your language uses. If too few revisions are made to your drafts over the course of the semester, Prof. Gandhi will contact you so that we can plan and/or determine how this will affect your final grade.
Finally, I want to emphasize that blog posts homework CANNOT be made up. All homework is due at 11:30am unless otherwise stated. If you need an extension, you must email me 24 hours in advance and let me know when you will submit an assignment.
You can ask for an extension on a Blog Post twice and a major assignment once. Drafts of major assignments (ex: first drafts CANNOT be made up).
Grade “bump-ups”:
You will have several opportunities to bump up your grade by doing some or all of the following:
- Extended assignments: Prof. Gandhi will provide information in individual assignment prompts for how you can earn additional credit towards your grade. This usually requires extra writing (for example, writing 7 pages instead of 5) and/or additional sourcing (for example, using 2 scholarly sources instead of 1).
- Visiting the Writing Center: Each time you utilize the Writing Center, Prof. Gandhi will offer you additional credit in our class that will bump up your grade (maximum of three bump ups, though you can visit the Writing Center as much as you’d like throughout the semester—and you are encouraged to!). When you visit the Writing Center, please tell them to send a session confirmation to Prof. Gandhi’s email.
The Writing Center is a FREE service for CCNY students that connects them with experienced writing consultants in person (use entrance on the 3rd floor of the Cohen Library or via Amsterdam and 137th Street.
+/- Grades:
+/- grades will be assigned at Prof. Gandhi discretion. They will be used in cases when:
1) your assignments and participation suggest you labored above and beyond the expectations
2) the quality and completeness of your major projects, smaller assignments, and participation is lacking in one way or another
Accommodations and Inclusivity:
The goal of this Grading Policy is to meet you where you are in your reading and writing experience and to support you in growing as a critical thinker, reader, writer, communicator, and collaborator. Additionally, the purpose is to ensure students are having the opportunity to work in a just environment that adapts to their needs and equally supports each student’s learning. Thus, when necessary, Prof. Gandhi will work with individuals on a case-by-case basis to determine how best to accommodate your needs as a learner and the course’s learning outcomes. Ultimately, the Grading Policy functions as a model for forming professional relationships and professional communication practices. Such relationships and practices include individualization and accommodation.
Extensions
You are more than welcome to contact me via email if you need an extension for an assignment. However, you must do so 24 hours before the assignment is due. You should also be prepared to provide an expected date of submission. If the assignment isn’t turned in after that deadline, it will be marked as “IGNORED” (No credit).
You may ask for an extension on a Blog Post twice. You may ask for an extension on a final draft of an assignment once. Drafts of major assignments cannot be submitted late.
University and Military Obligations
Any absence due to a university-sponsored group activity (e.g., sporting event, performance, band, etc.) will not count against you, as stipulated by university policy, as long as you FIRST provide written documentation within the first two weeks of the semester of all absences. This same policy applies if you have mandatory military-related absences (e.g., deployment, work, duty, etc.). This will allow us to determine ahead of time how you will meet assignments and our contract, despite being absent.
Final Overview of Grade Calculation
Blog Posts: 10%
Class Facilitations/Plenary Journal: 10%
Assignment 1: 20%
Assignment 2: 20%
Self Assessment Essay (20%) and Digital Portfolio (20%): 40%
Attendance will be calculated at the end of the semester. If you have up to 4 absences/latenesses, no points will be deducted from the final grade. If you have 5 absences/latenesses is 5% will be deducted frrom your ginal grade, 6 absences/latenesses will result in 10% being deducted from your final grade.
Ex: If your final grade is an A and if you have 5 absences/latenesses, your grade will be an A-, if your final grade is a A- and if you have 6 absences/latenesses, your final grade will be a B etc.
