Syllabus Policies

Click to view Academic Integrity information

Arkansas State University upholds the academic integrity policy as found in the Student Handbook. Academic Misconduct is housed in the Office of the Provost and Academic Affairs and Research, providing consultation, conducting meetings, educating, and assisting faculty and students through the academic misconduct process.

Note Selling

“There are companies that will try to lure you into selling the notes you take in this class.  Don’t let these companies take advantage of you.  Selling my notes to any commercial service I will consider a violation of my intellectual property rights and/or copyright law as well as a violation of the A-State academic integrity policy. Continued enrollment in this class signifies intent to abide by the policy. Any violation will be reported to the Office of Academic Initiatives and Integrity.” – adopted from the University of Arkansas

Plagiarism

Plagiarism is the act of taking, using, and/or presenting the idea(s), work(s), and/or writing(s) of another person or entity (e.g., artificial intelligence) as one's own. Plagiarism includes, but is not limited to:

1. Submitting as one’s own any theme, paper, report, computer program, presentation, creative work, or scholarly work of any nature belonging to, or written or created by another, including artificial intelligence, without prior permission of the instructor and proper citations.
2. To avoid plagiarism, give written credit and acknowledgment to the source of thoughts, ideas, and/or words, whether you have used direct quotation, paraphrasing, or just a reference to a general
3. If you directly quote works written by another person(s) or entity (e.g., artificial intelligence), enclose the quotation with quotation marks and provide an appropriate citation (e.g., footnote, endnote, bibliographical reference).
4. Research for an assignment, as well as the complete assignment, must be the work of the person seeking academic credit for the course. Permission of the instructor to use prior work completed for another course or assignment must be obtained in advance.

Cheating/Unapproved Collaboration

1. Cheating is an act of dishonesty with the intent of obtaining and/or using information in a fraudulent or unauthorized manner. Examples of cheating include, but are not limited to:
2. Observing and/or copying from another student's assignment.
3. Giving or receiving assistance during an examination period. This includes providing specific answers to subsequent examinees and/or dispensing or receiving information that would allow the student to have an unfair advantage in the examination over students who did not possess such information.
4. Using class notes, outlines, and/or other unauthorized information during an examination.
5. Using, buying, selling, stealing, transporting, or soliciting, in part or in whole, the contents of an assignment when such action is not authorized by the instructor of the class.
6. Using for credit in a subsequent class an assignment written for credit in a previous class without the knowledge and permission of the instructor of the subsequent class. This includes when a student is repeating a course for credit.
7. Impersonating or attempting to impersonate another person, or permitting or requesting another person to impersonate you for the purpose of taking an examination or completing other assignments.
8. Unauthorized collaborating during an examination, lab, or any course requirement with any other person by giving or receiving information without specific permission of the instructor.
9. Altering grades or official records.
10. Falsifying or signing another person’s name on any academically‐related University form or document.
11. Sabotaging or interfering with the academic progress of others.
12. Submitting altered, fraudulent, or falsified data, course, degree program requirements, including but not limited to honor’s thesis; doctoral dissertation; qualifying exam; dissertation defense, and University records/forms.

Click to view Active Shooter Response information

An active shooter is an individual actively engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a confined and other populated area. In most cases, active shooters use firearms and there is no pattern or method to their selection of victims. Active shooter situations are unpredictable and evolve quickly.

The university has an obligation to its students, faculty, staff, and visitors to conduct its operations and maintain its facilities in a manner consistent with its mission as an institution of higher education. For this reason, young children should not be brought to the campus, and, of course, may not attend classes with their parent or guardian.

There may be occasions when brief visits by children of students may be necessary. Children may visit college offices and facilities, other than classrooms, for limited periods of time when their parent or guardian is conducting routine business at the college. Regular repeated visits by children are not permitted.

In no case are children permitted in labs, shops, construction/repair sites, or other areas where potential hazards exist.

Children brought on campus must be directly supervised at all times by their parent or guardian.

Click to view Class Attendance Policy

Students should attend every lecture, recitation and laboratory session of every course in which they are enrolled. Students who miss a class session should expect to make up missed work or receive a failing grade on missed work. It is the practice of Arkansas State University to allow students to participate in university sponsored academic or athletic events, even when those events cause them to be absent from class. Students participating in university sponsored academic or athletic events will not have those days counted against their available absences and will be given reasonable opportunities to make up missed assignments and exams.

Students enrolled in freshman or sophomore level courses numbered 1000 or 2000 may during the spring and fall semester miss no more than twice the number of lectures, recitations, laboratory sessions, or other regularly scheduled class activities that would normally be scheduled during a week. Students who miss more than the maximum number of freshman or sophomore level classes may be assigned a grade of “FN” for the course. Students who may be assigned a grade of “FN” in a course because of excessive absences may withdraw from the course without penalty before the deadline for dropping an individual course. In determining whether excessive absences should result in a failing grade, consideration shall be given to the maturity and class standing of the student, the quality of academic work being accomplished by the student, and extenuating circumstances related to such absences.

Students enrolled in junior or senior upper-level courses numbered 3000 or 4000 will not be assigned a grade of “FN” solely for failing to attend classes. However, instructors shall set forth in their syllabi at the beginning of the semester their attendance requirements and expectations with regard to make-up policy for work missed, class participation and other factors that may influence course grades. In determining whether excessive absences should adversely affect a grade in an upper-level course, consideration shall be given to the maturity and class standing of the student, the quality of academic work being accomplished by the student, and extenuating circumstances related to such absences.

Students must utilize their available absences for any cause which requires them to miss class including, but not being limited to, vacation, illness, emergency, or religious observances. Students who are aware that they will have absences during a term should ensure that they do not exceed the absences available.

Click to view Class Attendance Policy

Class attendance is a critical component of learning and students are expected to attend and participate fully in all scheduled class meetings and activities. Attendance policy is established by the faculty of record for a given class.

Students who do not attend traditional classes or participate in online courses during the first eleven class days of a fall or spring semester, or the first five class days of a five week term, will be assigned a grade of WN (withdrawal for non-attendance) and are administratively withdrawn from the class. The WN grade does not impact GPA calculation. Students who initially attend, but discontinue attendance or completion of assignments without officially dropping a class are assigned a grade of FN (failure for non-attendance.) The FN grade is equivalent to a grade of F for calculating GPA and aca­demic standing. Academic standing, not attendance, determines whether or not the student is eligible for continued enrollment. (See probation, suspension and readmission of suspended students.)

A-State takes great pride in fostering a diverse and inclusive environment for students, faculty, and staff.  Acts of discrimination and/or harassment on the basis of color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, race, age, national origin, religion, marital status, veteran status, genetic information or disability in any of its practices, policies or procedures are not tolerated. This includes, but is not limited to, employment, admissions, educational services, programs or activities which it operates or financial aid. It is the responsibility of all departments and all personnel, supervisory and non-supervisory, to see that this policy is implemented throughout the university.

When applicable, students are encouraged to follow the Student Rights Grievance Procedure outlined in the Student Handbook. Reports can also be submitted to institutionalequity@astate.edu. Incidents involving claims of disability-based discrimination should be reported to Access and Accommodations Services using their Disability Grievance Procedure.

Direct all inquiries regarding the nondiscrimination policy to the Office of Title IX and Institutional Equity, 870-680-4161 and the Administration Building, Room 104.

Inclement Weather Policy

During periods of inclement weather, the Office of the Provost at Arkansas State University asks the A-State community to be flexible and responsible regarding classes and assignments.

Inclement weather-related announcements and updates - Regarding inclement weather alerts, Arkansas State reminds all students that official announcements will be made only through official university communications. The official university homepage, AState.edu, is supplemented by the verified university social media accounts -- on Facebook (Facebook.com/ArkansasState) and Twitter (@ArkansasState). Email communication for emergency and weather alerts is provided to the official AState.edu issued faculty and staff or student accounts. Individuals who have signed up for text alerts will also receive notices of opening and closures.

Information and Technology Services Page

Student Email - All students are responsible for maintaining their current address, email address and phone number with the Office of Admissions, Records, and Registration. It is also the student’s responsibility to frequently monitor campus e-mail and the university website, as these electronic means of communication are the university’s most effective and efficient ways to disseminate important information to the campus community. Campus e-mail is the primary means of communication from the Office of Student Conduct; appearance notifications, hearing notifications and decision notifications will be sent to the student’s A-State email address. Furthermore, this is the only email address utilized for official

university correspondence.

Your email address will be your account name AND @smail.astate.edu

Your student email account will look similar to the following:

Jane.Smith@smail.astate.edu

ITS Help Desk - The Arkansas State University Information Technology Services Help Desk is here to help serve Student, Staff and Faculty 24 hours a day. We are here to help with all of your IT needs. Feel free to call or submit a work order for help. We also have a selection of self-help tools available for solutions to everyday problems. We are excited to be your first point of contact for problem solving and solution to your IT problems. We support many areas such as first-time account setup, password reset and Microsoft office installation help. Our staff is committed to providing the most up to date information to help guide you during your time here at A-State.

Service Eligibility - Help Desk services are available to all current A-State students, faculty, and staff. We cannot assist the general public with technical support issues. If you call the Help Desk, please be prepared to supply your full name and A-State ID number. If you visit us in person at  the Dean B. Ellis Library room 149, please be prepared to show us your A-State ID.

Click for Student Learning Outcomes

Variable by Course/Instructor

As an Arkansas State University faculty member, it is my responsibility and my privilege to contribute to the creation of a safe learning environment for all A-State students. Because of my position as a member of the A-State faculty, I am also a mandatory reporter for purposes of Title IX and the Arkansas Child Maltreatment Act. I want you to be able to share information related to your life experiences with me or in class during this course. However, I also want you to understand that: (1) under the ASU System Child Maltreatment Policy, I must immediately report known or suspected child maltreatment by contacting both the Child Abuse Hotline and the University Policy Department; and (2) under the A-State Title IX (Sexual Harassment Discrimination) Grievance Procedure and the A-State Other Sex-Based Discrimination Grievance Procedure, I must report to the A-State Title IX Coordinator incidences of sexual harassment or other sex-based discrimination that I observe or that are reported to me. For purposes of Title IX, sexual discrimination includes sexual harassment, sexual assault, stalking, domestic violence, and dating violence occurring within the Title IX jurisdiction. Reports of sexual assault, sexual violence, stalking, domestic violence, and dating violence may also be reported to law enforcement authorities. You may also report instances of sexual discrimination directly by contacting the A-State Office of Title IX and Institution Equity, including by email at title9@astate.edu.

As part of our initiative to improve student success and academic integrity, all online students are required to verify their student identity. Federal regulations require that all institutions must verify that the student who registers in an online learning course is the same student who participates in and completes the course.

As an online student, you will be asked to create a biometric password using a tool called Biometric Signature ID (BioSig-ID™). This password cannot be replicated by someone else.

You will be asked each week of the course to validate your identity. Look for the BioSig-ID™ image in your weekly learning content or when you are prompted automatically. Your lesson assignments will not be available to you until you have completed the verification in each module.

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All communication in the course will be conducted through A-State email, telephone, or the forum within the Canvas course shell. I will respond to emails within 24-48 hours.  If you have not received a reply within that time limit, please resend.

Students enter online evaluations of faculty and courses during the last three weeks of each full semester. The interface is turned off during finals week and then opened again until students view their grades. Faculty are able to review the student evaluations for their courses a few weeks after the end of each regular semester.

Circumstances may arise which will prevent us from fulfilling each and every component of this syllabus. Therefore, the syllabus is subject to change. However, you will be notified of any changes that occur prior to any due date for assignments.

Except in cases of serious extenuating circumstances, tardy work will not be accepted. The course professor will determine if the excuse for late work rises to the level of being a “serious extenuating circumstance.” Procrastination, vacations, pressure of work in other courses, or work not connected with the course are not considered emergency situations.  Personal computer and connection issues do not constitute an emergency. This is an online course, plan ahead and anticipate an alternative to primary computer and internet connection in the event of unexpected computer or internet problems.

In the case of an extenuating circumstances request being granted, there will be a full letter grade deduction in the tardy work assignment.

Arkansas State University enthusiastically promotes academic integrity and professional ethics among all members of the A-State academic community. Violations of this policy are viewed as serious misconduct and may result in severe penalties.

This class will be held in accordance with A-State’s commitment to social justice, academic honesty, and high standards of conduct. The policies and procedures of the Student Handbook apply throughout the course. It is the intent of the instructor to establish and maintain a positive learning environment based upon communication and mutual respect. Any suggestions with regard to furthering such an environment are welcome and will be given serious consideration.

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Under certain circumstances, Arkansas State University students have the right to grieve alleged violations of their academic rights. A grievance is a complaint alleging that one or more of the "academic rights of students" (as stated in the Student Handbook on page 15) have been violated.