COURSE POLICIES
AND
THINGS YOU SHOULD
BE THINKING ABOUT WHEN ENROLLED IN
A KASCH COMMUNICATION COURSE
1. At times we will employ the Socratic method
of instruction which means that: a) you must come to class
have learned something prior to class and be prepared to
share with us what you have learned (e.g." fill the room with your intelligence"); b) your will be required not merely read
the material before you come to class, but rather make a
serious effort to learn the material. I would prepare for a class
discussion as thought you were preparing for a quiz.
2. fourOne7 is a core course in the Department of Communication. You must
earn a grade of "C" in order to
complete degree requirements. If you do not earn a "C" in fourOne7 you will unable to meet degree requirements and for
those of you in your final semester at Bradley you would
be unable to meet requirements for graduation.
3. This is a course where you may not be able to memorize the night before
an exam and hope you can get by on the exams through
recognition, recall or intelligent guessing. Obviously,
intelligent guessing can be a useful, necessary, and efficient study strategy for some courses, but
it may not be your best bet in fourOne7. The
reading is difficult, hence the exams are difficult. Limiting your exam
preparation to a couple of hours the night before the exam is unlikely to
success.
4. In order to succeed in fourOne7 you may need to change the way you think.
Thinking you can do well on a fourOne7 exam by
eliminating two multiple choice answers as obviously wrong, than pick the right answer by
guessing at the one that "sounds best" may be
risky business. Multiple choice questions can be written at three general
levels- recognition, recall, and understanding. In
fourOne7 it would be a risky proposition to assume that
you could skim the reading the night before an exam and than be able "to
recognize" correct answers on the exam.
fourOne7 often demands more than recognition, it requires understanding. If you
have not read the material carefully, it is quite
likely that all your multiple choices will SOUND GOOD. That is, the wrong answers (the "detractors") may sound just as good
as the best answer. Your job is to select the best
answer, not the best sounding answer.
5. "It just business, it's not personal." It would be unfortunate if you
were not able to graduate this semester because
you did not earn a "C" or better in fourOne7.
Hopefully, no one will put me in this position.
Many of you will assume management positions and
will one day have to fire someone that you personally like, ii will make you
very uncomfortable, but the situation will leave
you no alternative. This is the same position I am
in when a student does not earn an grade of C or better in a core course.
Come To My Office To Read "The Legend Of Thomas
Wells. Maintaining the "fairness ethic" is "not
personal, it's just business." As Jim Bavarra, a former student
once remarked, "Kasch is the kind of guy you can
go out and have a beer with, than you earn a "D" in
his class, and yaw can still be friends. go figure."
6. There may be a semester group project during your fourOne7 experience. If
you don't carry your weight in your study group,
the group has the right to determine whether each
individual member will receive the same number of points on the final group presentation and paper, and also the small group
communication "goon squad" will pay you a visit
(Not A Pretty Thought). Seriously, a fourOne7 small group project team can
vote by unanimous decision to terminate one of its
team members if a particular team member does not
pull his or her weight. This person would be given the option of doing the same project fourOne7 teams are doing,
only doing the project as an individual, or dropping the course.
7. This course will be reading-oriented rather than project-oriented. In
order to do well in the class it is suggested that
one not read the required readings like one watches television. In other
words, read for understanding.
We will be dealing with words and ideas, not
images. This course is less about how to make a living and more about how to make a life.
8. Class time will be spent in 4 ways: 1) me telling you what I think;
2) you telling me what you know and understand
(and what you don't know and don't understand); 3) watching
mediated instruction which supplements and
complements course content; 4) using class time to
work on your individual and group presentations..
9. If you have an emergency that prevents you from taking an exam at the
scheduled time, I should be notified as soon as
possible. Emergencies in this 417 will be rather narrowly defined to include only acts of God which prohibit
one from being in one's seat on exam day.
Oversleeping, having to leave campus early because of an anticipated flight attendants strike, the brakes going out on my car,
pulling a groin muscle helping my girlfriend move
furniture, having to be the emergency room all night to comfort afriend and so forth will be considered events
under human control and will NOT be acceptable
justification for missing an exam, individual public presentation, or a small group project team presentation.
10. Should you decide that you are unable to take an exam for "health
reasons" YOU MUST SECURE EVIDENCE FROM A
PHYSICIAN OR FROM AN APPROPRIATE UNIVERSITY
OFFICIAL that documents your unhealthy state. No
make-up exam can be granted unless such
documentation is presented. This is the only way
the "ethic of fairness" can be maintained. "It's not personal, it's just
business." If the severity of your illness
requires you to miss a fourOne7 exam or presentation than you are obviously in need of medical attention.
11. A final deadline for written work is just that--a final deadline. In the
real world you will no doubt encounter
personal stressors (relationship crises, health problems, divorce, problems with your children, death of loved ones,
competing demands on your time (e.g. leisure;
volunteer work) and so forth) which will conflict with your responsibilities at
work. School is a good time to begin to learn how
to balance these competing demands, rather than
making excuses for failure to meet one's responsibilities. I prefer not to be put in the position of having to evaluate your
excuses. My job is to evaluate your work, not your excuses. When you leave town to see
a concert with a group of people the night
before an exam or paper deadline, ask yourself, "What might happen if everyone
except me wants to stay over, sleep in, "blow off"
their morning classes, and come back in the
afternoon??? COMPETENT COMMUNICATORS ANTICIPATE.
12. Be Careful. Do not make the mistake which one student did when she
brought in written reports of her laboratory
results as documentation of her illness. Evidently it did not occur to her that, after having been
kept alive on dialysis for 13 years, I am relatively proficient at reading blood
chemistry profiles. Her claim that she had mononucleosis was not substantiated by the
evidence she brought which showed that her
hemoglobin, hematocrit, and white blood cell count were all within normal
ranges.
13. Attendance will count. I strongly suggest that you attend all
discussions. You are responsible for all
lecture material, handouts, announcements, .(in short--for everything) that happens during class
periods. It is probably possible to attend
infrequently and still pass this course, but
as a sign on the graduate student offices at
the University of Illinois used to say "hope
for luck, but don't count on it." As the T-shirt I sent to my
friend Katie who was having her first child at the age 38 said "actions have
consequences"
14. Be sure to print lots of hard copies of your working drafts and to back
up your files often. I can not accept
"my computer/printer/disk" broke down as valid excuses for late work. In the event that I was to lose
your paper or sinister forces were to cause it harm while it was in my possession, you
will be required to produce another copy of
your work. This should not be an unreasonable
requirement.
15. Part of my philosophy of education is that students and instructors can
learn from each other. Although at times
painful, education need not take place in straight rows. However, an informal classroom atmosphere
should not be confused with a lowering of
standards. In any partnership parties have
both rights and responsibilities. One of your responsibilities is to meet my standards,
rather then expecting me to lower my standards. Of course one of my
responsibilities is to try and set reasonable expectations and fair standards.
16. You may be required to participate in a study group and complete a
number of projects which require meeting
outside of class to fulfill the demands of the assignment. One wayward soul claimed that he didn't think it
was fair that groups were required to meet
outside of class since the course catalog
did not specify this would be a requirement of
the course. Well, I haven't got the
University Catalog changed but I have added this
section to the course policies.
17. Your grade in Communication fourOne7 may, in part, be determined by your
work in a project team, both the quality of your
semester project or presentation, as well as by how your team members evaluate
your contribution to the project over the course of the semester. Your
contribution to your study group may be evaluated at several points during the course of the semester.
18. In creating and administering course policies my primary ethic is
fairness. In order to maintain this ethic I
will tend to see any special requests as a threat to the
"fairness" standard and will be unable to grant
them. Please do not request extra credit
opportunities, extra points on exams, an alternative exam schedule, or any other
special treatment or "special dispensations"
that I am unable to give to you without also
giving to EVERY CLASS MEMBER. For example, one semester a
Communication fourOne7 project team came to
me two days before their semester project
was due claiming that they needed another week to complete the project. If
I had given them extra time other fourOne7
studentswho met their responsibilities might perceive this as a violation of the
"fairness ethic." TIn the interest of
fairness, every one gets ONE lifeline. A lifeline may be used to submit an
assignment late, to retake a quiz or an exam if there was at least some
reasonable justification for missing the exam. Once the "lifeline: has
been used, there will be no consideration given. In other words the only
situations which will receive consideration are those accompanies by written
medical justification.. Lifelines can not be used for missing in-class
small group presentations. Please do not ask for any consideration after
using your lifeline.
Department and
University Policies
19.
POLICY REGARDING
E-MAIL COMMUNICATION ABOUT GRADES:
As a matter of Department of Communication policy to protect student privacy
and in accordance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, questions
and concerns regarding grades must be presented in person or in a written
letter. Instructors will not respond to questions and concerns communicated
through e-mail or telephone calls regarding grades.
20. POLICY REGARDING
STUDENT ABSENCE DUE TO AN ILLNES\S
-
When missing classes and related assignments due to an illness it is the
student's responsibility to provide a document issued by a medical authority
to verify the student's absence due to illness.
Your instructor can email the Health
Center for information on a student illness ONLY
if the student has signed a release permission form.
-
In case of emergency or illness resulting in extended absence from class,
you should contact the Center for Student Support Services at (309)
677-3658. Do not leave campus
without notifying the Center. They
will email all of your professors to let them know of your emergency
situation. Official
documentation from the Center for Student Support Services is required for
an excused absence from class. Notes
from family members will not be accepted.
