Course Policies

Late Work

All Deliverables (Assignments, Projects, and Looking Outwards reports) must be handed in on time, unless you are given instructions otherwise. Generally, unless otherwise indicated, Deliverables will be due at 11:59pm on Fridays.

Deliverables are due at a specified date and time. If you miss the deadline (by even one minute, according to Autolab’s clock), deliverables may be submitted up to 24 hours late with a 25% penalty. No deliverables will be accepted after the 24-hour late period, except in the case of medical or family emergencies or other pre-arranged university-approved absences.

Autolab Grace Days: As an exception to the previous rule, students will be provided with 6 “grace days,” which are basically free extensions to be used at your discretion for submissions using Autolab. Students may use up to 6 total grace days over the semester, though no more than 1 grace day on any particular deliverable. Note that you may not combine grace days with late days so, even with grace days, no deliverables will be accepted after the 24-hour late period. Thus: deliverables submitted more than 24 hours late will receive a grade of 0. Since Assignments and Projects are submitted separately, it will cost you two (2) grace days to submit both of these deliverables late on any particular week.

Looking Outwards Grace Days: You can submit Looking Outwards reports up to 24 hours late up to 3 times. To claim a grace day for a Looking Outwards report, you must write at the beginning of the report “I am using 1 of my grace days for this late submission.” You are on your honor to keep track and do this no more than three (3) times. Unlike Autolab, WordPress does not check dates or count grace days, but we expect you to.

In rare cases, students legitimately need more time. In these cases, you will almost certainly need to make up work in multiple courses. You should ask your advisor to contact your professors and help you devise a reasonable plan to catch up. We will be very cooperative with you and your advisor, and you might be surprised how much support you will get. –it happens. On the other hand, if all your other courses are fine and you just happened to blow off deadlines in 15-104, and your advisor is not supporting you, we will not be pleased.

Examinations

There are 3 exams scheduled for the course, which will take place on computers in the Tuesday labs. See the course Calendar for examination dates, and the Rubric and Grading policies document to understand the percentages by which Exams are reckoned into your grade.

Extended-Time Policy:
We gladly accommodate students with university-approved extended time (as approved by the Office of Disability Resources). For examinations, the extended time will be provided immediately in the same lab period whenever possible. Please be sure to discuss this with the course instructor, ideally 1 week before the exam.

Late Policy:
No late / make-up examinations will be administered, except in the case of medical or family emergencies or other university-approved absences. For qualifying missed examinations, students should obtain instructor approval before missing the examination.

Attendance

In the famous words of Woody Allen: 80% of success is just showing up. Your physical presence and civic participation in the class are extremely important.

You are expected to come to all classes and all labs. “Showing up” mentally and physically is worth 10% of the course grade. If you’re ill, or if you know you will have a planned/professional absence, please send a note to staff on Piazza as soon as possible: we can be very understanding and accommodating about planned and necessary absences, family circumstances and/or medical issues when you inform us beforehand in a professional manner.

You are responsible for understanding the course content whether you’re present or not. Organize with your classmates to get class information and material that you may have missed.

Absences may be excused or unexcused. The difference between them generally boils down to your prompt and honest communication. Here are two examples of excused absences:

  • Unexpectedly, a student feels unwell the morning of class. She posts a note to staff on Piazza (or feels really bad and phones Prof. Dannenberg’s office at 412-268-3827), ideally before the start of class, but absolutely within 24 hours, to say why she can’t/couldn’t attend.
  • A student is planning to attend a conference next month. She contacts the professor to let them know which dates she’ll miss, and to make arrangements for any missed exams.

Tardiness and Sleeping in Class

Continual tardiness and/or falling asleep in class will be noted and count as partial absences.

Be Present

Please be present and engaged. You can exist for a few hours without tweeting, facebooking, chatting, texting or emailing.

Kindly close your laptop during lectures, unless you are taking notes or working in-class exercises. During recitations and lab periods you will be allowed to network and/or use headphones as long as your behavior is not disruptive.

Be Prepared

Bring the supplies you need to be productive. This includes your laptop, sketchbook, drawing media, and portable hard drives.

Data Loss

Students are responsible for the digital security of their work. Loss, theft, damage or corruption of laptops and/or external hard drives containing required work for the course is not an excuse for incomplete or missing work. Students are responsible for backing up and securely storing copies of their work throughout the semester. We recommend you keep important data in more than one location.

Food, Drink, and Drugs

Food is prohibited in computer clusters.

Vaping in class is strictly forbidden. This may seem obvious, but you’d be surprised. Needless to say, so is smoking. Step outside if you must.

Disability Accommodations

If you have a disability for which you seek an accommodation, please contact CMU’s Office of Disability Resources (ODR). Staff there will review your disability documentation and work with you to determine appropriate accommodations. The ODR will then provide you with a letter outlining approved accommodations. This letter must be presented to your faculty before any accommodations will be implemented. You should contact the ODR as early in the semester as possible.