1. The syllabus is only online. 

    The syllabus address is    http://www.kaschassociates.com/orgcom/292homefall2005.htm

There will be no paper copy of the course syllabus, calendar, policies, and so forth.  If you do not check the course web site often you will probably be confused.  If there is something you do not understand on the course web site feel free to ask questions.  However, we cannot spend class time answering questions which are clearly stated on the course web site.

2.  You will likely be tested over content which is never mentioned or discussed in class. That is why you are expected to study the textbook.

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 2nine2.  Sometimes  this class 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 not read class readings like you watch television e.g.. letting it wash over you.

4. In order to succeed in 2nine2 you may need to change the way you think. Thinking     you can do well on a 2nine2 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 2nine2 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.  2nine2 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. There will be a semester group project during your 2nine2 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. A  2nine2 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  2nine2 teams are doing, only doing the project as an individual, or  dropping the course.

6. 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.

WORDS OF WISDOM

"There is no expedient to which a person will not resort to avoid the real labor of  thinking." Some guy named Sir Joshua Reynolds

Charlie Brown:    "Here's Something To Think About. Life Is Like A Ten-Speed Bicycle. Most Of Us Have Gears We Never Use."
Snoppy:          "He's wrong, that isn't something to think about."

7. 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  292 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 a  friend" 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.  

8. 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 2nine2 exam or presentation than you are obviously in need of medical attention.   

9. 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  classes, and come back the next day or night??? COMPETENT COMMUNICATORS ANTICIPATE.

10. Be Careful. Do not make the mistake which one student did when she brought in  written reports of her medical  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 and having a kidney transplant, 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.

11. Attendance will count. I strongly suggest that you attend all discussions.  Standard policy is that for each session a student is not present five points is deducted from their semester total.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 Richard   Nixon once said "let us halt the denial of individual accountability for individual  action," and as the T-shirt I sent to my friend Katie who was having her first child at the age 38  said "actions have consequences" Or as Yoda once remarked:

"Beware of the dark side. Anger, fear, aggression. The dark side of the Force are they. Easily they flow, quick to  join you in a fight. If once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny, your grade point average; consume your chances of graduating it will."

12. 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. In the "age of the smart machine" this should not be an unreasonable requirement.

13. 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.

14.  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.

15. Your grade in Communication 2nine2 may, in part, be determined by your work in  a study group, 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 team will be evaluated at several points during the course of the semester.

16. 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 2nine2 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 2nine2 students who met their responsibilities might perceive this as a violation of the "fairness ethic." Thus, although I am not a "rules   person" by nature, I will be relentless (like Katherine Turner in the film  Body Heat) in adhering  to the "fairness ethic."

17.  Bradley students who because of their sincerely held religious beliefs are unable to attend classes, take examinations, participate in graded activities or submit graded assignments on particular days shall, without penalty, be excused from such classes are be given meaningful opportunity to make up such examinations and graded activities or assignments provided that advance written notice of their absence is given to the faculty member during the first two weeks of the semester.