Welcome to FTS Course Policies & Related Issues Page

In addition, you should plan to meet with me frequently in my office (CH 323). As your Academic Adviser and Instructor, I am available to offer advice, encouragement, etc. concerning your work in my course; to assist with academic challenges beyond our FTS, or counsel you in other matters--be they issues of life at Gustavus or of a more private nature. If I don't have the answer(s), I'll send you to the person that does. However, you should initiate all such conferences. Please, don't wait 'til I find it necessary to call you in; by that time you are likely to have inflicted on yourself much unnecessary anxiety. We can all live without that. You are bound to realize you need assistance long before I'll tumble to that fact.

All reading and writing assignments are due by class time on the day specified in special Assignment Sheets I'll distribute in due course in class or via e-mail attached files. All writing assignments must be submitted as traditional paper copies and as Macintosh files in Microsoft Word 98, format. If you produce a paper on a different platform and use a different word processing product, you'll have to "translate" the paper before submitting it: our Macs are set up to effect such conversions almost effortlessly. The electronic files should be submitted either on a disk (that has your name on it), or transmitted as an "Attachment" to an e-mail message sent to me, at >cpb@gac.edu, not to the class group address--obviously! For that strategy to work, you must (1) go through the authentication process available on all networked computers (any platform) and (2) have set the "Attachment Folder" in the Settings ( in Eudora Light, which is installed on the College's networked computers. In case you need assistance, consult the relevant pages in Becoming Macintosh Computent 3.5, where you are being guided through the procedures, or, if you continue to have problems, see me. If you have opted for the IMAP4 protocol for incoming mail, you'll have to employ Netscape's Messenger, instead of Eudora Light. Note, you can always run a check on your configuration efforts by sending something to yourself: if the message and its "attached file" arrive when next you check for new mail, you have succeeded.

You may revise up to four writing assignment in the course of the semester. I expect there will be a total of seven to eight such assignments. With the exception of the final essay, a summation paper at the end of the Seminar, you may select the essays you wish to revise. Revisions are always due by a week from the day a graded essay is being returned to the class.

Since a seminar is a participatory endeavor, students are expected to attend classes faithfully and come prepared to engage in a significant discussion based on sufficient understanding of the assigned material. Preparations time varies, mainly depending on a student's aptitude. I feel entitled to roughly one-fourth of you study time.

Prolonged and/or frequent absences and lack of preparation only hurt your performance and grade (participation is graded; see below), and may result in a failing course grade. No more than three unexcused absences from class will be allowed. I expect to be informed ahead of time, if you need to miss a session. Telling me that, however, does not absolve you from responsibility: it's a matter of courtesy.

All students are also required to spend a significant amount of time participating in E-Forum, as described on a separate, linked page.

Student success in my First Term Seminar depends greatly on self-discipline; it is by far easier to succeed in the course by being consistent and persistent, studying each day, than by cramming for threatened quizzes or announced examinations the night before.

Evaluation

Student work in my First Term Seminar will be evaluated based on
(a) significant participation in in-class discussions and E-Forum,
(b)the quality of the assigned required critical essays (; when I receive a revision, the grade for the assignment derives from splitting the difference between the original and the revised version) My expectations will rise as the semester progresses: what is considered good work in September will not be good enough in December. Your semester grade will heavily reflect the quality of work you demonstrate then. Hence, it is not at all unreasonable to expect being able to recover from early inadequacies.

Keeping in mind the above declaration, criteria for evaluation in my FTS are broken down as follows:

• Class participation (attendance, preparation, significant contributions) 30%
• E-Forum( which requires disciplined effort [time deadline], thought, and perseverance) 20%
• Critical Essays (length specified in Special Assignment Sheets) 50 %



Grading


Grades are figured as percentages of each student's achievement on a scale of 1 to 100. I do not believe in bell curves or other modifiers. In theory, each student in a class may end up earning an "A"!
The letter grade equivalents are based on the following scale:

95-100	A		74-76	C
90-94	A-		70-73	C-
87-89	B+		67-69	D+
84-86	B		64-66	D
80-83	B-		60-63	D-
77-79	C+		-below	F

Late papers will not be accepted automatically. I need to be persuaded that there is a bona fide excuse; there will normally be a penalty. "Incompletes" will not be given, unless I explicitly agree to such an arrangement in writing: the agreement will specify all conditions, including a deadline. Failure to complete all requirements will normally result in a failing semester grade.