CLASS POLICIES:

• Attendance: First and foremost, students must always plan to be in class on time.  Given the nature of the course, all students are urged to attend all classes. Attendance will be taken during each class session and appropriate actions will be taken when students have more than one unexcused absences during the semester. A student with a few or no class absences during the semester will receive favorable considerations during the grading process if s/he is close to receiving the next higher letter grade.   

• Student Behavior: As students in a technical program are preparing for a professional career, all students are expected to conduct themselves as professionals (in both manner and dress). 

  • Eating, drinking, or the consumption of any tobacco products is prohibited in the classroom situation (lecture hall, classroom, laboratory, or field). Doing so may result in the student's dismissal from that class period and will count as an unexcused absence.

  • Cell phones and pagers must be turned off during instruction time. Use during or disruption of class by these devices will result in the student's dismissal from that class period and an unexcused absence.

• Assignments: This course will include several laboratory assignments and five class projects involving the use of ArcGIS.  Class assignments and projects will account for 55% of the final grade.  Therefore, it is important that students complete their assignments accurately, neatly, and on time.  Assignments received past the due date will be devalued 5% for each day that the item is late.  No class assignment of any student will be graded (for credit) once the same assignment has been corrected and returned to the class. 

• Examinations: The class includes one comprehensive final examination to be scheduled during the finals week. The final examination will cover class material, laboratory assignments, class projects, and assigned readings.

• Honesty Policy and Discipline (Due Process): Honesty and integrity are major elements in professional behavior and are expected of each student. Any assignment (including those in electronic media) submitted by a student must be of the student's original authorship. Representation of another's work as the student’s own shall constitute plagiarism. Cheating, in any form, is an unacceptable behavior within all college courses. Students having academic problems should consult their academic advisor or a college counselor. Instances of cheating will be dealt with in accordance to Morrisville State College policy. Standards of academic honesty and due process procedures for Morrisville State College are located in the Rules, Regulations, and Expectations section of the Student Handbook.  

• Safety Guidelines: Certain class assignments may require the student to be absent from the professor's immediate supervision. Whether the student is under immediate supervision or not, safe conduct and safe use of equipment shall be the ultimate rule. Failure to comply with prudent safety practice and/or willful disregard for class participants and/or equipment may be cause for immediate dismissal from that particular class session by the professor. Subsequent unacceptable activity may be cause for dismissal from the course by the Dean.

GRADING/EVALUATION OF STUDENT:

Evaluation is a shared responsibility between the teacher and the student. The purpose of the evaluation is to demonstrate how well the professor has taught and the student has learned specific course materials, the principles, concepts, and terms relevant to the covered topics.  Evaluation is also intended to assess the student's ability to utlize the acquired knowledge in problem-solving.

The breakdown of grading in this course will be as follows:

• Class Work Ethic and Participation ==> 5% of the final grade
• Quizzes ==> 10% of final grade
• Laboratory Assignments ==> 10% of final grade
• Class Projects ==> 45% of final grade
• Final Exam ==> 30% of final grade

The distribution of grades in this course will be based on the A-F College grading scheme. The letter grades correspond to the following percentage scale: A (90-100%), A- (87-89.9%), B+ (83-86.9%), B (80-82.9%), B- (77-79.9%), C+ (73-76.9%), C (70-72.9%), C- (67-69.9%), D+ (63-66.9%), D (60-62.9%), and F (<60%).

STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES:

Any student who feels they may need an accommodation based on the impact of a disability should contact the Accessibilities Services (AS) Office immediately to register for services. You will meet privately to discuss your specific needs and prepare your accommodation sheets for you to distribute to your instructors. Although you may register for services at any time, please attempt to make arrangements within the first two weeks of the semester so all appropriate academic accommodations can be set.  For additional information, please contact the AS Office. 

ACADEMIC ASSISTANCE:

The Tutoring Center is a free-of-charge resource available to all students who would like assistance with their courses. Both peer and professional tutors are available Sundays through Fridays by appointment or on a drop-in basis. Help is provided for most subjects taught at the College. The Tutoring Center also provides online tutoring for about ten subjects through NightOWL, which occurs 7:00 PM to midnight Sundays through Thursdays. In addition to assisting students with course content, the tutors at the Tutoring Center can also assist students with general study skills such as note-taking, test-taking, time management, and critical thinking. In addition, the Tutoring Center also organizes Student Success Seminars, workshops exploring these and other topics that are useful regardless of one’s courses or major. The Tutoring Center is located in the back left corner on the first floor of Butcher Library. For additional information, please visit tutoring center. Questions can be emailed to TutoringCenter@morrisville.edu.

COUNSELING SUPPORT:

Successful academic performance is a mutual goal between students and the SUNY Morrisville community.  Many problems may arise during your time here that could interfere with your academic course work (things such as significant stress, mood swings, anxiety, and difficulties concentrating).  Problems with strained relationships, drugs/alcohol, family concerns, loss or crisis may also contribute to decreased academic performance.   Counseling services are available to assist you in addressing these and other concerns you may be experiencing.  Services are free and confidential for all enrolled students through the Student Health Center.  You can call 315-684-6078 to schedule an appointment or visit health center to find out more about counseling services.

ENGLISH LEARNERS:

Students who identify as English Language Learners can request additional time on exams, separate locations, bilingual dictionaries and/or glossaries. Students should work with the faculty member and the Chief Diversity Officer SUNY Morrisville's Chief Diversity Officer at 315-684-6981 to arrange extra time and separate location for exam. 

GRAMMARLY:

Need assistance with your writing? Grammarly is available for all current SUNY Morrisville students to help detect potential grammar, spelling, punctuation, plagiarism, and style mistakes.   To sign up, use your SUNY Morrisville email address as an identifier.

• Go to grammarly.com/edu/signup.
• Provide your SUNY Morrisville email address (@morrisville.edu - no other email will be recognized).
• Create your password.
• Check for an activation email from Grammarly.
• Check your inbox for the email (your spam folder, too) and click on the activation link.

After you sign up, you can login to Grammarly or access it through a plug-in to Word or a web browser.

STARFISH EARLY ALERT SYSTEM:

This course participates in the Starfish Early Alert System, an early intervention system designed to enable academic success, student persistence, and graduation. When an instructor observes student behaviors or concerns that may impede academic success, the instructor may raise an alert flag that notifies the student of the concern, requests an individual contact to discuss the issue, and (in most cases) refer the student to the academic advisor. If you receive an email notification of an early alert, it is your responsibility to contact the instructor as soon as possible to discuss the issue. The purpose of the contact is to determine the severity of the issue, accurately assess its potential impact on your academic success, and to plan actions to prevent negative consequences and enable academic success. For more information about the Early Alert system, contact your academic advisor.  

TITLE IX PROTECTIONS:

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. § 1681) is an all-encompassing federal law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in education programs and activities receiving federal financial assistance.  The law covers discrimination on the basis of gender, sexual harassment, and sexual assault. Questions or concerns regarding Title IX should be directed to the SUNY Morrisville's Chief Diversity Officer at 315-684-6981. Students should also familiarize themselves with the Student’s Bill of Rights located in the student handbook, which outlines students’ rights related to the reporting of incidents under Title IX. The official policy can be found online at the title IX page.

BIAS ACTS:

The Bias Acts Response Team oversees the responses to individuals and/or communities who have been affected by bias acts, including hate crimes. Responses may include investigation and adjudication, as appropriate, by New York State University Police at SUNY Morrisville (NYSUP), the Dean of Students Office, and/or the Affirmative Action Office. Other kinds of responses (e.g., passive or active programming about bias acts, facilitated meetings among those who have perpetrated bias acts, and those who have been targeted) are arranged on a case-by-case basis. Persons or communities who have been targeted will be contacted by a member of the team to discuss possible responses and options for investigation and adjudication. The online bias complaint system can be found at the bias incident report page. More information and options can be found at the bias response page. 

MILITARY LEAVE OF ABSENCE POLICY:

SUNY Morrisville recognizes the unique situations student veterans sometimes face which can affect their attendance. If a student veteran receives orders for unexpected short-term deployment or training, or for medical appointments, he/she must immediately work with their instructors on the best course of action. The campus Veterans Advocate is available to help all parties. Details of SUNY Morrisville's Military Leave of Absence Policy are available here.  

OUTLINE OF TOPICS: