Policies

ATTENDANCE

To receive full participation credit, students must attend all section meetings. Excused absences require outside verification (e.g. a note from a doctor, coach, or professor). If you cannot make it to a section meeting, please notify your section leader in advance to make arrangements. Credit for attendance will not necessarily be granted to students who attend another section unannounced.

TECHNOLOGY

This course is driven by lectures and discussion. The use of computers, tablets, smart pens, audio or video recording devices, mobile phones, or any other electronic device is not permitted in the auditorium. Please take notes by hand and on paper unless you have been granted a Cornerstone accommodation that permits you to use a laptop. Each instance of in-class technology use will result in one point off the final course grade. Please discuss any VISA technology accommodations with your section leader by the beginning of Week 2. Your section leader will advise you further regarding the use of technology in these unique cases.

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY

Effective learning, teaching and research all depend upon the ability of members of the academic community to trust one another and to trust the integrity of work that is submitted for academic credit or conducted in the wider arena of scholarly research.Such an atmosphere of mutual trust fosters the free exchange of ideas and enables all members of the community to achieve their highest potential.

In all academic work, the ideas and contributions of others must be appropriately acknowledged and work that is presented as original must be, in fact, original. Faculty, students and administrative staff all share the responsibility of ensuring the honesty and fairness of the intellectual environment at Washington University in St. Louis.

Violations of This Policy Include, But Are Not Limited To:

1. Plagiarism

Plagiarism consists of taking someone else’s ideas, words or other types of work product and presenting them as one’s own. To avoid plagiarism, students are expected to be attentive to proper methods of documentation and acknowledgement. To avoid even the suspicion of plagiarism, a student must always:

  • Enclose every quotation in quotation marks and acknowledge its source.
  • Cite the source of every summary, paraphrase, abstraction or adaptation of material originally prepared by another person and any factual data that is not considered common knowledge. Include the name of author, title of work, publication information and page reference.
  • Acknowledge material obtained from lectures, interviews or other oral communication by citing the source (name of the speaker, the occasion, the place and the date).

2. Cheating on an Examination

A student must not receive or provide any unauthorized assistance on an examination. During an examination a student may use only materials authorized by the faculty.

3. Copying or Collaborating on Assignments without Permission

When a student submits work with his/her name on it, this is a written statement that credit for the work belongs to that student alone. If the work was a product of collaboration, each student is expected to clearly acknowledge in writing all persons who contributed to its completion.

Unless the instructor explicitly states otherwise, it is dishonest to collaborate with others when completing any assignment or test, performing laboratory experiments, writing and/or documenting computer programs, writing papers or reports and completing problem sets.

If the instructor allows group work in some circumstances but not others, it is the student’s responsibility to understand the degree of acceptable collaboration for each assignment and to ask for clarification if necessary.

To avoid cheating or unauthorized collaboration, a student should never:

  • Use, copy or paraphrase the results of another person’s work and represent that work as his/her own, regardless of the circumstances.
  • Refer to, study from or copy archival files (e.g., old tests, homework, solutions manuals or backfiles) that were not approved by the instructor.
  • Copy another’s work or to permit another student to copy his/her work.
  • Submit work as a collaborative effort if he/she did not contribute a fair share of the effort.

4. Fabrication or Falsification of Data or Records

It is dishonest to fabricate or falsify data in laboratory experiments, research papers, reports or in any other circumstances; to fabricate source material in a bibliography or “works cited” list; or to provide false information on a résumé or other document in connection with academic efforts. It is also dishonest to take data developed by someone else and present them as one’s own.

Examples of falsification include:

  • Altering information on any exam, problem set or class assignment being submitted for a re-grade.
  • Altering, omitting or inventing laboratory data to submit as one’s own findings. This includes copying laboratory data from another student to present as one’s own; modifying data in a write-up; and providing data to another student to submit as his/her own.

5. Other Forms of Deceit, Dishonesty or Inappropriate Conduct

Under no circumstances is it acceptable for a student to:

  • Submit the same work, or essentially the same work, for more than one course without explicitly obtaining permission from all instructors. A student must disclose when a paper or project builds on work completed earlier in his/her academic career.
  • Request an academic benefit based on false information or deception. This includes requesting an extension of time, a better grade or a recommendation from an instructor.
  • Make any changes (including adding material or erasing material) on any test paper, problem set or class assignment being submitted for a re-grade.
  • Willfully damage the efforts or work of other students.
  • Steal, deface or damage academic facilities or materials.
  • Collaborate with other students planning or engaging in any form of academic misconduct.
  • Submit any academic work under someone else’s name other than his/her own. This includes but is not limited to sitting for another person’s exam; both parties will be held responsible.
  • Engage in any other form of academic misconduct not covered here.

This list is not intended to be exhaustive. To seek clarification, students should ask the professor or teaching assistant for guidance.

ACCESSIBILITY

Washington University is committed to providing accommodations and/or services to students with documented disabilities. Students who are seeking support for a disability or a suspected disability should contact Disability Resources at 935-4153. Disability Resources is responsible for approving all disability-related accommodations for WU students, and students are responsible for providing faculty members with formal documentation of their approved accommodations at least two weeks prior to using those accommodations. I will accept Disability Resources VISA forms by email and personal delivery. If you have already been approved for accommodations, I request that you provide me with a copy of your VISA within the first two weeks of the semester.

DISCRIMINATION AND HARASSMENT

Washington University is committed to having a positive learning and working environment for its students, faculty and staff. This Policy prohibits discrimination and harassment on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, veteran status, disability or genetic information. Such conduct may also violate federal, state or local law.