First Days of Classes

First Business of the First Days
Late Registrations
Placement for Writing Courses
Adds
Course Description and Syllabus
First Day Writing Sample
Attendance
Plagiarism
Mid-Term Grades
Final Exams
Final Grades

The First Business of the First Days

When you go to class, check the names on the roster against the people sitting in front of you. It is not uncommon to have interlopers among the group or students who are in the right room but on the wrong day.

Late Registrations

After you call the roll, ask whose name you did not call. Students who registered late will come forward if they didn't speak to you earlier. These students registered too late to get on the latest roster. They should show you a Proof of Enrollment form. Check that the course and section number on the form are those of your class. Students frequently misread these forms. If students are in the right place, add them to your roster; they are legitimately in the class. If they don't have a form, send them to Enrollment Services to get one and add their names only after you've seen it or after their names appear on the next MyCCRI roster or the one after that. Rosters are updated every 24 hours.

Placement for Writing Courses 0250, 1050, 1010

Late registrants often have not taken the English placement test. If they cannot show you a card mailed to them indicating placement, send them to the Writing Center, Rm. 2236 in the Student Success Center to get a note from Sr. Mary Crepeau verifying placement in your class. Do not let them into the class until they produce such a note or the original placement notice.

Adds

These students want to take your class but have been refused registration by Enrollment Services because the class is full. They are given a Schedule Adjustment form, commonly called an Add/Drop slip. They will be registered if you sign to accept them into the class. Despite the hard luck stories you will hear, DO NOT ADD THESE STUDENTS. For one thing, No Shows have a way of showing up (the vacation was so great they decided to stay longer) and the disappearing ones reappear (the kids got sick). For another, withdrawals and registrations occur so fast during this period that only Enrollment Services can know the latest status of your class. Students should register there or online and not through you.

The Department adheres strictly to the maximum enrollment. Inform the Chair if you have more legitimately registered students than the maximum. (See course descriptions for these numbers.)

The Add/Drop period is the first full week of classes in the semester except in the summer, when it is the first two days.

An Appeals Form may be presented to you by a student wanting to add your class after the drop/add period. If your class is not filled, it is entirely up to you whether to add this student or not. However, experience has shown that having missed the first week of class (and maybe more), the student is at a serious disadvantage. If you sign the form, the student must then submit it to college authorities who make the final decision if the student’s circumstances warrant the late add.

Course Description and Syllabus

These crucial documents attest to your professionalism, provide the students with the course content and your principles and policies, and support you in case of conflicts with students. They should be distributed and discussed the first day of class.

Clearly presented in these documents should be such matters as:

your expectations of student involvement in the course
your requirement that students be responsible for material covered even when they are absent
the Department’s and your personal attendance policy
your policy about drafts
your policy on late or unsubmitted papers
your policy regarding plagiarism
your grading method
your office hours
how you can be reached

Some faculty also include statements about proper classroom behavior, cell phone use, the availability of special student services, and statements that the students sign regarding their acceptance of responsibility for the work of the course.

You have received the course description and sample syllabus for each course you will be teaching.

First Day Writing Sample (for writing classes only)

Despite our placement program, students sometimes get into a class they should not be in. To avoid problems later on, it is a good idea to give a writing sample if not on the first day, then the second. If you have any doubts about the results, bring the paper to Sr. Mary Crepeau, who runs the Writing Center (455-6008).

Attendance

Keep careful attendance records the entire semester and especially the first few weeks. The reasons are many:

Some weeks into the semester, for Financial Aid and other concerns, the College will ask you to list No Shows -- those who never appeared for the course.
You will need to indicate the No Shows on the grade rosters.
Various student services request attendance information.
The Athletic Department requests athletes’ attendance information.
A good record of absences presents support against student complaints.

In the absence of an explicit College-wide policy, the English Department has adopted its own attendance policy:

3 absences without penalty for a 3-day-a-week class; two late arrivals = 1 absence
1 ½ absences for a twice-a-week class; two late arrivals = 1 ½ absence
1 absence for late day and evening students

Be sure the absence policy is clearly presented in your syllabus or course description.

Plagiarism

We suggest that if you cannot cover the principles of plagiarism early in the course, at least direct the students to read the discussion of plagiarism. Your course package includes the College Policy on Academic Dishonesty (also online in the Student Handbook). The Policy provides you with clear guidelines for dealing with plagiarism in the classroom. Also, anti-plagiarism sources are listed on the Department website .

The Department recognizes that much of the plagiarism seen in the classroom is the result of inability to deal with the research task or misunderstanding about it. In fact, students educated outside of the United States may have no concept of plagiarism. Greater clarification will be needed for these students. As a result, we encourage close monitoring of the students as they research, draft, and revise in order that principles can be introduced gradually and be better understood.

If you have a case of plagiarism you want to send to the Dean of Students (Ron Schertz; 825-2221), be sure to send him the paper in question, your case for the accusation, and your course description or syllabus. Examples of the student’s other writing may also be included for comparison purposes. Keep a copy of all the material you send to the dean.

If you wish to know if a student has a history of plagiarism, consult Dean Schertz, who will give you that information and tell you whether or not disciplinary action was taken.

Also, inform the Chair and Campus Coordinator, since it is almost guaranteed they will have an unhappy student making an appointment to talk to them.

Midterm Grades

Midterm grades are mandatory, though the way you determine them and the weight they carry in the final course grade are yours to decide. The date that grades are due is published in the semester calendar. All grades are submitted through MyCCRI.

Final Exams

Everyone is expected to give a final exam or a final project. If you are teaching in the day, the final exam must be given in the exam period and not during the last day of class. Night class final exams, however, are given on the last class meeting. Final grade due dates are published in the semester calendar.

Should a student have a conflict, the exam of the course that meets earlier in the day has precedence and the teacher of the later course should provide a make-up time. If you have a question about the final exam schedule, contact Cathy Tessier at 825-2408 or Renee Benedetti at 333-7091in Enrollment Services.

Final Grades

Directions for how to submit Final Grades are posted on the MyCCRI Documentation page. Before submitting grades, please review the grading options. As of March 2005, once grades "are rolled," you will not be able to change them on MyCCRI. You will need to change them with Enrollment Services by using the change of grade form that can be downloaded from the MyCCRI Documentation page.