Syllabi for Dr. Smith
Dr. Andrew Smith, Professor of English
Valencia College, Downtown Campus
ENC 1102
General Information
Contact Information
| Instructor | Dr. Andrew Smith |
| Course Meeting Times | T 5:00 - 7:45 PM DPAC 202 |
| Office | BLD 3 125 West Campus |
| Office Hours | W 1:00 - 2:00 |
| | asmith206@valenciacollege.edu |
| Skype or Zoom link | Links/Invites will be provided as needed. |
Office Hours
- As this is a once a week course, I am available via email mostly; Zoom or chat sessions can be arranged, depending on time and availability.
- Use Canvas Messaging OR either of these emails: asmith206@valenciacollege.edu asmith206@mail.valenciacollege.edu
- Please email a question only ONCE; I check all emails regularly.
- Do NOT email me assignments without prior consent. I will NOT accept them and they WILL NOT COUNT. All assignments are submitted on Canvas.
- I will respond M-F between 9am to 5pm. I may respond slower on weekends, or not at all.
Important Dates:
Important Fall 2021 Calendar Dates
- Classes begin: Monday, August 23, 2021
- Drop/Swap Deadline: Friday, August 27, 2021, 11:59 PM
- Add Deadline: Friday, August 27, 2021
- Withdrawal Deadline: Friday, October 29, 2021
- Classes End: Friday, Dec. 3, 2021
- Final Exam Period: Monday Dec. 6- Saturday Dec. 11, 2021
- Grades Available: Wednesday, Dec. 15, 2021
- Veterans Day (no class): Monday, Sept. 6, 2021
- Labor Day (no class): Thursday, Nov. 11, 2021
- Thanksgiving Break (no classes): Thursday, Nov. 25-Saturday, Nov. 27
- Final Exam Day (Our class does not meet for a Final, and instead final ePortfolios are due Dec. 10th at 11:59PM via Canvas).
*Please note that as an online class these holidays are mostly irrelevant for us, except Spring Break, during which I will not be available.
College Calendar (withdrawal deadlines, holidays, final exams)
Valencia College Calendar
http://valenciacollege.edu/calendar/
Students are responsible for knowing their own financial aid rules on withdrawal.
Attendance and Tardiness
- It is each STUDENT’S responsibility to know about assignments and due dates. Being absent does NOT change a due date. Some assignments/quizzes cannot be made up; others may incur late penalties. Online courses are scheduled "at your own pace," which also means that YOU are responsible for ensuring you know when things are due and keeping track of the Assignments Page, Calendar, as well as regularly checking your email.
- As we are an online class, we do not have a traditional "day" or time to meet, so there is no regular attendance to observe. Any Zoom or other video calls are optional and recordings will be provided.
Absences in an onsite class before withdrawal:
- 15-week semester: 4
- 12-week semester: 3
- 6- or 8-week semester: 2
No-shows, onsite classes
Any student not attending the first class(es) is a “no-show” and may be withdrawn.
Absences and no-shows in online courses
Not participating in the first online assignment classifies a student as a “no-show,” and the student will be withdrawn after the drop-refund deadline and during the no-show period. Simply logging in does NOT count as participation; reliable Internet connection is MANDATORY, and computer problems are NOT a valid excuse.
Tardiness
As we are an online class, we do not have a traditional start or end time for the day; therefore, there is no Tardiness policy.
Exceptions
The following MAY result in an exception to the absence policy, provided documentation is provided as proof:
- Jury Duty
- Deployment / Military duties
- Major medical situation
- Death in the family
Disabilities and Health
Office for Students with Disabilities (link)
- Students with special needs or accommodations should share the form from OSD with me, and we will make a plan to ensure a great learning experience.
Bay Care Student Assistance Services (link)
- Students may use the FREE services provided by Bay Care.
- Call (800) 878-5470 24 hours a day for assistance.
Helpful Valencia College Links
Academic Integrity
Plagiarism is the use of someone else’s words, ideas, pictures, designs, and/or intellectual property without the correct documentation and punctuation. Any student who plagiarizes, either accidentally or intentionally, is subject to penalty.
Note: Valencia uses Safe Assign, software designed to find matching texts. The matches SA finds should all be cited correctly. Sometimes, there is a coincidental match, and I do look at each person’s paper/report individually. Students will have access to their OWN SA reports, so if a paper has a “problem,” I expect students to contact me before I contact them.
Penalties for plagiarism depend on the severity of the crime:
- Minimum, first offense: A zero on the assignment is typical; some points may be given if the copied material is minimal/citing was attempted, but the student will still earn no higher than an F on the paper.
- Second offense: A meeting with the professor and/or dean will be required; the paper earns a zero.
- Three or more offenses: The student will fail the class and talk with the dean and/or dean of students.
Note: Submitting a paper you have already submitted in another class will earn you a zero on that assignment.
Valencia Core Competencies
Valencia has identified four competencies as goals within a learning-centered college. Below I describe how these goals fit in with our composition classes:
Think: Critical thinking is an essential skill in many disciplines. Students will gain practice in analysis (breaking a whole into smaller, meaningful parts) and synthesis (connecting old and new information in different ways to achieve new insight and demonstrate interrelatedness and significance) through speaking, listening, reading and writing.
Value: By opening our minds to the thoughts, opinions and beliefs of others, our scope of what seems valuable usually increases. Students will question the information available to them to allow for judgment and evaluation—or reevaluation—of personal opinions based on facts, inferences, emotions and experiences. In the process, students will have the opportunity to discover the meaning, significance and relevance of others’ ideas as they relate to their own lives.
Communicate: By definition, communication requires a two-way exchange. Just as listening and speaking work together for verbal communication, which we will utilize in class discussions, writing and reading must also work in tandem. Students will read both professional and student essays and respond to them in both verbal and written form. Similarly, students will write essays to be read and analyzed by small and large groups as well as the instructor. Feedback is a crucial tool of communication, and student writing will gain feedback from the instructor as well as peers, as students practice their roles of listener/reader and speaker/writer.
Act: Communication requires action. Participation is the key to gaining the most from the classroom experience. Students are expected to come to class prepared—with assignments complete—in order to contribute thoughts, questions, agreements, disagreements and opinions. Students will work both collaboratively and individually in all steps of the writing process, which will then lead to peer responses, rebuttals, revisions and rethinking.
Course Requirements & Grades
Please check the Pages section of our course for specific details on all assignments and due dates.
At the end of the semester, scores that are within a tenth of the next highest grade are at my discretion; attendance, attitude and class participation can give you an edge.
STUDENTS WITH A ZERO ON ANY ASSIGNMENT WILL RECEIVE EXACTLY THE GRADE EARNED!
(Ex: If you have earned a zero for any assignment, a 69.4 remains a D and you will not pass.)
Grading Scale
| Grading Scale |
|
| Percentage | Letter grade |
| 89.5-100% | A |
| 79.5-89.4% | B |
| 69.5-79.4% | C |
| 59.5-69.4% | D |
Late Penalties
Usually, essays may be turned in late (which is any time after I collect them), but they lose 10% each day, including weekends/holidays/days we do not meet. Unless otherwise posted in the class agenda, no other late work is accepted.
My late work policy differs based on the assignment type. I do not accept late work for minor assignments (such as: reading responses and peer reviews) under any circumstances outside of documented medical or other excused documented circumstances. For major assignments (such as: all of the major papers), I will accept late submissions for credit up to one week past the due date, but the assignment will receive a 10% grade reduction for each 24 hours a major assignment is submitted past the original due date. Once this timeframe has passed, the major assignment will receive a score of zero. Please note that my late assignment submission policy for major assignments DOES NOT apply to the final e-portfolio. I do not accept late submissions of final e-Portfolios.
Because this is a Gordon Rule class, all major assignments (including: Proposal and Literature Review, Primary Research Report, Annotated Bibliography and Final e-Portfolio) must be submitted by the final exam period to fulfill the Gordon Rule requirements of this course. Even if you missed the deadline for a graded assignment, you must still submit a draft of this assignment to pass this class. If you do not submit a final draft of each major assignment by the final exam period, you will automatically fail the course.
Computer issues, lost internet connections, or other electronic problems do not excuse you from missing assignments or late work unless that problem is related to Canvas and is college wide. You are responsible for turning in all your work, for maintaining an active internet connection, and maintaining your computer hardware.
Posted Grades
Grades will be posted in Canvas. Students are responsible for checking their own grades in a timely manner. If a grade is missing or incorrect, it is each student’s job to bring a problem to my attention and/or to bring me the graded paper in question so I can fix it.
Midterm Grades
I enter no midterm grades in Atlas since grades are available all semester through Webcourses.
Failing Grades
Any student who earns a D or F in a Gordon Rule course (ENC 1101 or ENC 1102) will need to repeat that course with a different professor.
Writers’ Resources: Labs and the Writing Center
The Writing Center is a place for students to get one-on-one help with writing skills. All consultants are instructors, who will be happy to read and discuss essays at any stage of the writing process. The instructors will not CORRECT papers or tell you what grade you will get; they will, instead, help you to become better at structure, grammar and mechanics, development and/or revision. Appointments are 30 minutes in length and may be made in advance; the exception is a research paper, and students may sign up for two 30-minute spots (60 min.—signed form is required). All walk-in appointments are first come, first serve, so be there on the hour and half hour.
Campus Computer Labs & Writing Centers
http://valenciacollege.edu/learning-support/browse-by-campus.cfm
ENC 1102: Freshman Composition II
Objectives
- Students will compose expository essays.*
- Students will write in standard American English
- Students will write a documented essay.*
- Students will demonstrate information literacy.
- Students will develop critical reading skills.*
*General Education Outcome Indicators
Materials and Resources Needed:
- An Internet connection and computer is necessary for this course.
- A computer. Yes, Canvas is available as an app, but you will need a computer or large tablet with keyboard to properly interact with this course.
- Microsoft Word. While Google Docs is free, Microsoft Word possesses the correct formatting tools and other things needed to ensure compliance with MLA guidelines. You can get a free copy of Office 365 via Atlas if you do not have MS Word. All files uploaded to this course will be in .doc, .docx, or .pdf format. I cannot read Apple file formats.
- The Valencia Reader https://libguides.valenciacollege.edu/valencia_reader is our Textbook.
- Any other readings, videos, or otherwise will be supplied by me or you may be asked to stream at home. I work to keep student costs down as much as possible, but please consider putting around 10 dollars aside for any potential streaming costs if items are no longer free or accessible from our library.
- The Little Seagull Handbook, 3rd edition or any other Valencia approved grammar and MLA style guidebook. If you choose not to buy this book, you still need an MLA guide, and not knowing MLA is not an excuse for doing it wrong.
Technology Requirements
In this course, you are expected to be familiar with, to educated in, the use of a computer. This course REQUIRES you to have regular access to a personal computer or laptop (a phone will NOT work for the requirements of this course), and regular, steady internet. This course will occasionally require you to use streaming video services, and a fast internet connection is required for these to work properly. Also, you will turn in ALL assignments via Canvas, meaning that a constant internet connection will be necessary to ensure your work is submitted on time.
Technological issues like viruses, lost connections, or faulty equipment are NOT excuses for turning in work late! You are expected to keep your equipment in running, stable condition, and to make arrangements for submitting your work and keeping track of the course.
At a minimum, this course requires you to have the following computer programs:
- Microsoft Word
- Google Docs
- Microsoft PowerPoint
- An internet browser, such as Safari, Chrome, or Firefox
Furthermore, all work will be submitted in Microsoft Office formats (.doc, .docx, etc); I do not use Apple products and cannot open Apple files. Similarly, relying only on Google Docs as a word processor will not be sufficient; it has many formatting issues when writing in MLA Style. Valencia gives students access to a free copy of MS Office 365, which you can find via Atlas.
Grade Distribution:
Process and Engagement: 40%
Major Tasks: 40%
ePortfolio:20%
Reading and writing skills are linked, so this class will use each one to improve the other. As a final note, ENC 1102 is a Literature based course. That means that reading and comprehending what you read are heavily required for this course; if you require help with reading or English is not your first language, please seek tutoring from the many available options. Secondly, there are times in which discussions of literature, media, and art may lead into “mature” conversational topics, or involve concepts of violence, sexual acts, and other potentially complex matters. Students are expected to comport themselves in a mature and “collegiate” manner, meaning that you will have to read things that may challenge your views. Second, if any media we will read, watch, or assign in class contains potentially upsetting or triggering materials, I will provide warnings beforehand to prepare readers. That said, I have attempted to create reading lists that contain value, rather than shock or objectionable material for the sake of being “offensive,” so these will be rare.
If you are unsure about anything:
Re-read the assignment sheets, pages, and other documents. Many student questions can be answered by slowly, carefully reading the assigned tasks carefully; make sure you didn't miss something vital!
- Zoom sessions: I will send replays out as soon as they are available to me; if there are any issues with passwords (which I do not set), I will upload the files to Canvas if possible.
- Turning in an essay: Essays MUST BE TYPED and in MLA format. Any assignment turned in after this time will lose points---10% each day, starting with the day it is due. As online classes allow you to work at your own pace, my general suggestion is make personal notes of due dates and consider having work done early so that you can avoid any sudden internet/computer issues.
- Students may not email me assignments.
All late work—if taken at all—is subject to losing a letter grade (10%) per day, starting on the due date and including weekends/holidays.