Calendar

With only five people in the class, it seems overkill for me to maintain this course page with the same amount of detail I put into my other course web pages. I'll continue to send out specific details by e-mail.

Here is the general plan of the semester.

23-Jan Intro
30-Jan Ex 1: Podcasting Intro
06-Feb Ex 2: Editing Practice
13-Feb Ex 3: Recording & Editing Practice
20-Feb PF 1: Include your term project ideas.
27-Feb Ex 4: Practice Podcast & Peer Editing
06-Mar Break
13-Mar Ex 5: Podcast 1
20-Mar No Class
27-Mar PF 2: Include term project progess report.
03-Apr Workshop
10-Apr PF 3: Include a rough draft of your term project.
17-Apr Ex 6: Podcast 2
24-Apr Ex 7: Podcast 3
01-May Ex 8: Podcast 4
07-May (Monday) PF 4: Include a near-complete draft of your term project.
11-May Final Submit revised, polished term project.

1. Where and When

Tue 1:00 PM - 1:50 PM A405

See daily course outline.

2. Instructor

Dennis G. Jerz (jerz.setonhill.edu)
403 St. Joseph, Box 461
jerz @ you-know-where . edu
Phone: 724-830-1909 (but I'd prefer that you e-mail)

Office Visits: I usually leave my door open. If you should happen to drop by when my door is closed, please come back later or send me an e-mail.

Office Hours: 1pm Tue, 1pm Wed, 10am Th, and by appointment. St. Joseph 403.

Occasionally I step out of my office briefly to run errands during my scheduled office hours. When I do, I usually leave a note on my door. If my light is still on, then I'm probably not far away.

3. Course Description

From the Catalog:

Course through which students may earn credit on The Setonian (student newspaper) and its online counterpart. Meets for one hour per week, with an additional production lab for each issue (4 or 5 times per semester). Repeatable for credit.

You are responsible for scheduling your own "production labs," in keeping with the needs of producing either the print or online issues of the Setonian. Your production lab may involve selling advertisements, editing articles, laying out pages, or doing almost anything related to getting the paper produced, with the exception of writing articles or taking photos.

Writers and photographers get their names attached to their work, and thus already get credit for their work; the production lab is designed so that more people share the very important -- but far less glamorous -- work that goes into producing a paper.

Please be assertive about finding out when you are most needed. Remember that your peers are just as busy as you are, and they will appreciate your responsibility and trustworthiness. Please notify your supervisor if you cannot make a scheduled shift.

To schedule your production lab, contact the editor-in-chief, Valerie Masciarelli, or the online editor, Evan Reynolds.

4. Course Objectives

The course is designed to give those students who are interested in working on The Setonian additional skills and leadership training.

This term, the course content will focus on podcasting (the production and distribution of audio files).

5. Course Requirements

Contribute substantially to each printed issue of the paper, and/or participate in group efforts to ensure that the online edition updated regularly with fresh material (a good target would be once a week).

Students will share the work on two class projects designed to benefit the paper's long-term interests, and produce a portfolio that shows your engagement with the course material.

Because a small core of dedicated students can burn out if others in the organization do not share the load, the course asks you to demonstraste your willingness and ability to participate in the group effort to publish the voice of the student body, and in so doing to serve the entire Seton Hill community.

Students holding positions of responsibility on the Setonian (or the Setonian Online) may be eligible for work-study funding. If the work you get paid to do also helps meet your EL 200 requirements, that's fine with me.

I will often send out bulk e-mails to the address on file for you in the J-Web system. If you check a different address more regularly, please use SHU's e-mail forwarding service so that you don't miss important updates.

Unless the homework assignment specifically mentions a printout, you should assume that I don't want a hard copy.

5.1 Attendance

Students are expected to attend every class. (See Seton Hill University Catalog, p. 28-29, “Class Attendance” and “Excused Absences”.)

A student’s final grade is lowered by the proportion of unexcused absences. Thus, a student with a final grade of B (75) with a record of 10% unexcused absences would get a C+ (90% of 70 = 67.5).

I am happy to excuse students who have legitimate reasons, but students who miss a class period for any reason are still responsible for the material covered during the absence. An excused absence does not automatically grant an extension for any work collected or assigned that day.

Because there are so few class meetings, even a few absences can leave you far behind.

If you are absent from class without a legitimate excuse on a day when a major assignment is due -- perhaps because you stayed up all night working on a project and are too tired to attend class -- the assignment will be counted an extra day late. (You might as well go to bed without finishing the project, come to class so you don't fall farther behind, and then turn in the paper the next morning.)

5.1.1. Emergency Absences

Those who miss class due to an unplanned emergency should submit an “Absence Form,” with proper documentation, as soon as possible.
For each class that you miss, download the word processor version of my “Absence Form” (available at http://jerz.setonhill.edu/teaching/AbsenceForm.doc). After you initiate this contact, we will start working out whether or what kind of assignments would be appropriate. (I ask that you resist the impulse to ask me to e-mail you a summary of what you missed. I welcome the chance to help you get caught up, but please consult the syllabus and a classmate's notes first, and then bring any specific questions to me.) For some classroom activities, such as listening to peer oral presentations, there may be no appropriate make-up assignment. (See 5.2 Participation.)

5.1.2. Scheduled Absences

Those who miss class due to a scheduled activity must plan to complete all make-up assignments before the missed class. This means that you must submit an acceptable “Absence Form” (see above) at least 3 class periods before the missed class.

If there is insufficient time for us to agree upon an acceptable suggestion for making up missed work, or if an approved make-up assignment is late or unsatisfactory, then I may record the absence as unexcused.

5.2 Participation

Students are expected to contribute actively to a positive classroom environment, both in person and online. Students who dislike public speaking may wish to invest more effort in their online writing, and vice-versa.

Common sense and common courtesy dictates that absences, late arrivals and early departures, use of telephones or headphones, lack of preparation, inattentiveness or disruptive behavior will impact your participation grade.

Those who participate above and beyond the call of duty will receive a bonus.

If a student's final grade falls near an edge, I consider classroom participation in order to decide whether to bump a grade up, leave it where it is, or bump it down.

5.3 Late Penalties

Just as students in generations past learned to carry spare quills, a pen knife, an extra inkhorn, and spare lamp wicks, being a student in a 21st century university requires certain common-sense strategies that are an inseparable part of the course material.

Remember to save often and leave backups on more than one machine (use a USB drive or your student network space); plan your time so you can get your online work done when you are near an internet connection.

Note: If you ever feel you want more rapid or more detailed feedback on an assignment, make an appointment with me during my office hours, and I will go over the work with you in detail, regardless of whether it was late or on time.

Getting Credit for Late Work
Most assignments will be submitted electronically -- by e-mail, on your blog, or via turnitin.com. If your assignment is not in the proper place by the deadline (usually a half hour before class starts), I will record a zero for that assignment.

In order to remove that zero, and get partial credit for your late work, follow this two-step process.

1. Submit an online copy of your assignment (or, if the assignment asked you to post it online, submit a brief note with the URL). Give your work a meaningful title, including your name and the assignment title ("Smith Ex 7a" or "Smith Term Paper Draft").
2. Send me an e-mail that tells me I should look for your work in the appropriate slot. That e-mail should include a subject line with your last name, the course name, the assignment name, and the word "Late". Example:
   

   "Smith EL150 Ex 1-2 Late"

(There's no need to make an extra trip to slip a printout under my office door.)

All Late Work

For all late work, contact me to tell me what I should find in the online drop box -- otherwise I may never see it, and won't know that I should change the recorded zero. If you are asking that I waive the late penalty, send me a copy of your completed Absence Form, with a file name that follows this pattern: "Smith EL150 Ex 1-2 Absence Form".

Unless I grant you an extension in advance, all other assignments are penalized one letter grade for each day they are late (including Saturdays, but not counting Sundays or holidays when the university does not offer classes).

Special Cases

If your work is completed before midnight on the day it was due, it will only lose a third of a letter grade.

RRRR Items: These time-sensitive assignments (see the RRRR section of the FAQ page) earn no credit if they are late. (You should still complete any items you missed in order to get full credit for your class portfolio.)

Class Participation: The way to get credit for a missed in-class activity is to contribute substantially to the online discussion. Towards the end of the semester, when there will be fewer readings and more workshops, it will be harder for me to come up with alternate assignments. Still, you may demonstrate your desire to re-engage by posting thoughtful comments on the course website, your peers' websites, and/or your own blog. (To make sure that I see and record credit for this alternative work, please call it to my attention by collecting all the relevant URLs and submitting them along with your request.)

5.4 Texts

In addition to the required texts listed below, readings also include online articles.

Required

(I will accept slightly older editions of the AP Stylebook.)

5.5. Important Statements

Disability Statement
If you have a disability that requires instructor consideration please contact the Director of Disability Services at 724-838-4295. It is recommended that this be accomplished by the second week of class.

If you need accommodations for successful participation in class activities prior to your appointment at the Disability Services Office, you should offer information in writing that includes suggestions for assistance in participating in and completing class assignments. It is not necessary to disclose the nature of your disability.

Academic Honesty and Ethical Conduct

Seton Hill University expects that all its students will practice academic honesty and ethical conduct.

The University regards plagiarism, cheating on examinations, falsification of papers, non-sanctioned collaboration, and misuse of library material, computer material, or any other material, published or unpublished, as violations of academic honesty. Violators of the code may expect disciplinary sanctions, which are discussed in the Seton Hill University Catalog, page 30, Code of Academic Conduct.

Many of your college assignments will involve quoting from or responding to other people's words and ideas. However, using those words or ideas without properly citing them, or resubmitting your own work for a different class, constitutes plagiarism.

Paraphrasing the thoughts or written work of another without reference -- even with permission from the source -- is also plagiarism.

Helpful information is available at What It Is and How to Recognize and Avoid It.

Any plagiarism or other form of academic dishonesty will result in a zero for that assignment. Any plagiarism or other form of academic dishonesty on a draft will result in a zero for the final grade on that assignment. All academic dishonesty will be reported to the dean's office.

6. Assignments

The whole course is based on 400 points.

If a particular exercise is worth 40 points, and you get 30 on it, you got 75%, or a B.

• Exercises (200 pts) -- Homework assignments, due about once a month.
• Portfolios (100 pts) -- A lab report, richly-linked blog entry, and "action item" (showing your contributions to the class projects). Due normally on the Tuesday after each issue of the paper appears, except that I won't be in town on the Tuesday after issue 6, and classes end a few days after issue 8 comes out. Accordingly, the four portfolio due dates are scheduled for
  • Feb 20
  • Mar 27
  • Apr 10
  • May 7 (Monday, the last day of classes)
• Term Project (100 pts) -- Ongoing projects include a high school journalism contest and content for the new media journalism website.

There is no final exam; however, the an informal oral report and the final term project submissions are due during the final exam time slot.