Syllabus Addendum for Mr. Tommy Battles's Courses

Jefferson State Community College • Shelby-Hoover Campus • Spring 2019

Communication Check the course website in Blackboard frequently to ensure that you receive important course-related information in a timely manner. Your instructor is not responsible for miscommunication caused by your failure to consult Blackboard on a regular basis.

Your instructor has organized the content on the course website by unit and / or chapter: the activities (assignments, quizzes) are located within the folder for that unit or chapter on the Content page rather than on a separate page (e.g., Assessments, Assignments, Quizzes, etc.). If you cannot locate an item that your instructor has stated is available, please let him know as soon as possible.

Failure to resolve issues with tuition payment or financial aid may cause you to be dropped from the course. You will not have access to the course website again until such issues are resolved; you will receive a grade of zero for any work that was not completed during the lapse in course access unless you present sufficient evidence that the lapse was an institutional error.

Make sure that the contact information Jefferson State has on record is up to date. Instructors and staff may attempt to contact you with urgent information that you may not receive if your contact information is outdated. You can view and update your contact information by logging into myJSCC and clicking the "Online Services (SSB)" link.

Attendance Attending class will be one of the key factors in determining your success in this course. Although the textbook and lecture notes will provide most of the information you need to perform well on assignments and examinations, your instructor will hold you responsible for additional information provided in class. Attendance will be taken promptly at the beginning of each class; students who come in late should approach the instructor after class to ensure that they are marked present for the current course meeting. Frequent absences or tardiness without good reason may impact the willingness of your instructor to assist you outside of class time.

Official Policy: Students are expected to attend all classes for which they are registered. Students who are unable to attend class regularly, regardless of the reason or circumstance, should withdraw from that class before poor attendance interferes with the student's ability to achieve the objectives required in the course. Withdrawal from class can affect eligibility for federal financial aid.

Absences In general, you are not required to bring an excuse for missing a course meeting during which no graded activities took place. However, you are advised to contact your instructor at your earliest convenience to notify him of the nature of your absence (without any graphic details) and to inquire about any missed material. Students with excessive consecutive absences who fail to communicate with the instructor will be assumed to have abandoned the course and may not be afforded the opportunity to make up missed assignments or examinations. If you are unable to contact your instructor yourself, have a relative or friend contact him or the college in general.

Missed Examinations The syllabus for each course will state whether your instructor allows you to make up an examination or to drop an examination grade. In a course with make-up examinations, you must have documentation of significant grounds for missing an examination (illness, family emergency, an automobile accident that occurs on the way to class, etc.) to be allowed to make up the examination, and you must complete the examination within one week of the exam date; if logistics prevent this from occurring, your instructor may substitute your final exam grade for the missed examination. Contact your instructor within twenty-four hours of a missed examination when possible; do not wait until the next class meeting. If you fail to contact the instructor within one week of missing an examination, you will not be allowed to make up the examination. If you schedule a make-up examination and fail to appear at the appointed time, you will receive a zero for the examination. You are limited to one make-up examination per course.

If you know in advance that you are going to miss the date of an examination (for a school-sponsored activity, a religious function, etc.), you must contact your instructor at least one week prior to the date of the examination. Your instructor may require you to take the examination before or after the scheduled date, depending on what fits best in his and your schedules.

Course Withdrawal A student who wishes to withdraw from a course after the official Schedule Adjustment period and prior to the official start of final exams may do so by completing a "Withdrawal from Course" form. Students who withdraw before the beginning of the twelfth (12th) week of the fall or spring semester or seventh (7th) week of the summer term will receive a grade of "W" for any course withdrawn. After this time, the student will receive a grade of "WP" if doing satisfactory work at the time of withdrawal or "WF" if doing unsatisfactory work at the time of withdrawal.

There are no automatic withdrawals for non-attendance; students who stop attending a class without completing a withdrawal form will be subject to whatever final grades they have earned. Your instructor cannot withdraw you from the course; you must complete the withdrawal form yourself. Once you have submitted this form, check your schedule and / or transcript within the following seven days to ensure that the withdrawal process is complete. It is also your responsibility to keep your copy of the withdrawal form after you sign it in case the withdrawal does not appear on your transcript.

The deadline for withdrawal with an automatic "W" for regular term classes during the Spring Semester 2019 is Monday, April 1. After the deadline, your instructor will assign a "WP" only if your performance through the date of withdrawal was satisfactory or if extreme unforeseen circumstances hampered your ability to perform satisfactorily. Students with excessive absences, especially those who miss exams or assignment deadlines, will not be assigned a WP and should withdraw before the automatic "W" deadline. Do not wait until the week of final examinations to request a grade of WP or WF; your request should be made as soon as you determine that you cannot complete the course. Once you take the final examination, you have completed the course and will not be allowed to withdraw.

Incomplete An instructor has the option of assigning a grade of Incomplete and allowing a student to finish the coursework by the withdrawal deadline of the next semester. However, this is reserved for students who have a catastrophic event occur late in the semester after completing most of the semester's work; no student will be given a grade of Incomplete prior to the automatic "W" deadline. Your instructor reserves the right to enforce individual deadlines earlier in the succeeding semester and to restrict his availability for assistance with material missed during the original semester. Incomplete grades may affect your ability to register for classes the next semester.

Fairness The requirements for this course as described in the syllabus and policies apply uniformly to the entire class. Each student is expected to complete all assignments and examinations by their deadlines regardless of other obligations unless excusable conditions apply. You are responsible for ensuring that your schedule allows enough time to satisfy the course requirements. Work scheduling is not considered sufficient grounds for failing to submit assignments on time or being absent during an examination. Examinations are due promptly at the end of the designated time regardless of arrival time.

Reading Comprehension Your instructor uses college-level English for lecture materials and instructions. Students who struggle with reading English at a college level may be unsuccessful in any college course. If your placement test score indicates that you need to take the Developmental Reading course, it is in your best interest to complete that course successfully before attempting any other courses. The college also offers English as a Second Language (ESL) classes for international students to improve their English skills. All students must comply with the academic honesty guidelines listed in the syllabus regardless of their ability to comprehend the materials.

Americans with Disabilities Jefferson State Community College is compliant with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 as amended in 2008. Students having known disabilities requiring academic accommodations should contact the ADA Accommodations Office for an appointment (ada (at mark) @jeffersonstate.edu) or 205-856-6077.

Please note that requests for accommodations must be placed with the ADA Office on campus. Additionally, accommodations should be brought up with the instructor on a case-by-case basis (that is, in advance of each assignment or examination requiring accommodations during the semester). A student who begins an examination without requesting accommodations will not be allowed to receive those accommodations for that examination, nor will a student who is approved for accommodations late in the semester be allowed to apply such accommodations retroactively to prior graded activities. Receiving ADA accommodations does not relieve a student of the responsibility to attend class on a regular basis and to meet deadlines given by the instructor.

From the ADA Student Handbook: An instructor is not obliged to provide accommodations to a student with a disability until he/she receives the ADA Office accommodation letter from the student. In addition, it is the student's responsibility to discuss scheduling and details of the requested accommodations with his/her instructor(s). If a student delivers an accommodation letter to an instructor within a few days of an assignment or exam, the instructor may not be able to provide the optimal accommodation requested.

Assistance Your instructor is available in his office at set times for student assistance and can be reached promptly during these office hours. Additionally, you may send an e-mail message should you have any questions. Do not use the e-mail tool in Blackboard to contact your instructor; send any messages to the address shown in the syllabus from your myJSCC, ISP, or other e-mail account. Include the course and a brief summary of your message in the Subject line; messages without a specific Subject line are considered potential junk mail and may experience a delayed response. You will receive a better response if you seek assistance as soon as you experience trouble with an assignment. Your instructor does not guarantee an expedient response to e-mail messages outside of office hours. Your instructor prefers e-mail instead of telephone conversations for course-related questions; only use the telephone to contact your instructor in extreme emergency situations. You are discouraged from seeking assistance from or giving notice to your instructor between classes -- it is much better to do so when your instructor can focus on you without distraction. Do not expect your instructor to recall conversations with implications on your grade; if what you are saying is important, you should communicate it in writing or via e-mail.

Your instructor is happy to assist you during his office hours, but he must divide his time fairly between students seeking assistance, class preparation, and grading. Students are expected to read provided materials and instructions carefully. Your instructor will not devote extensive time during or outside of class time assisting students who have not read and followed the instructions they were given to the best of their abilities. The limited availability of the instructor is not a license to violate the Academic Honesty Code.

Final Grade Determination Letter grades are based on a combination of the percentage earned on examinations and the percentage earned on other activities as follows:

Exam PercentageOther PercentageFinal Grade
90% or above85% or aboveA
60% to 84.9%B
Below 60%C
80% to 89.9%95% or aboveA
70% to 94.9%B
40% to 69.9%C
Below 40%D
70% to 79.9%85% or aboveB
60% to 84.9%C
30% to 59.9%D
Below 30%F
60% to 69.9%75% or aboveC
45% to 74.9%D
Below 45%F
40% to 59.9%60% or aboveD
Below 60%F
Below 40%AnyF

Examinations, assignments, and other graded activities may have specific point values associated with them, but the percentage you earn of the points on all graded activities combined has no bearing on your final letter grade; examinations and other graded activities factor into your final letter grade separately according to the above table.

Grading Guidelines Grades will be entered on Blackboard; however, student access to Blackboard will end at some point during finals week, so any grades entered after this point will no longer be visible to students. A description of the deductions taken will accompany each grade. Grade disputes must be submitted via e-mail within one week of a grade's release; you will not be permitted to contest grade issues from the beginning of the semester once your final grade has been determined. Your instructor will not respond to general inquiries about grades -- you must consult the instructor's comments (either on Blackboard or on the paper returned to you, if applicable) and ask specific questions about the point deductions. Please let your instructor know if you have difficulties accessing grades via Blackboard -- it is very easy for him to overlook a setting required for you to be able to see your grades.

Assignment submissions are not viewed or graded until after the assignment deadline; please do not send urgent messages in the comments with your assignments. Your instructor cannot guarantee a specific turnaround for grades, as other demands (course preparation, student assistance, and other faculty duties) take precedence over grading and may prevent the use of office hours for expedient grading; asking your instructor for a timetable for grade availability will not accelerate the release of grades. He grades all submissions for a given assignment or examination at the same time; he will not expedite grades for individual students. He will endeavor to release grades in a timely manner and to provide sufficient feedback to improve your understanding of concepts whenever possible. Your instructor usually grades items in chronological order, although examinations may receive higher priority.

Grades are based on an understanding of the material as presented during the lectures; students may lose points if they submit solutions that incorporate approaches beyond the lecture material without instructor permission, even if they are functionally equivalent. This applies to all graded activities (including examinations). All student work is graded according to the same criteria; no allowances are made for student-specific circumstances (e.g., dual enrollment, ADA accommodations, illness).

Bonus Points Each course has a predetermined number of bonus opportunities related to graded activities, whether in the form of dedicated bonus activities or extra points available on regular activities. Additionally, students have the following bonus opportunities based on class participation, with the purpose of each opportunity being to strengthen a sense of community and shared responsibility:

Points from these bonus opportunities will be added to the non-examination total. There are no additional opportunities for points after the final examination has been administered and the final grade has been determined.

Submitting Assignments You will use Blackboard to submit assignments. Deadlines are determined by the clock on the Blackboard server, which may be slower or faster than your computer's clock. Submissions will not be accepted via any means (e.g., e-mail, attachments for other assignments, links to cloud storage) other than the assignment tool for the specific assignment you are submitting. You are responsible for sending the correct work in the format specified in the instructions; you will not have the opportunity to resubmit an assignment after it has been graded. You are also responsible for ensuring that the submission process succeeds (you should receive a confirmation message after a successful submission).

If you make a mistake in your first submission, you may create a new submission prior to the deadline. You are limited to three submissions per assignment. Only your last submission will be graded, so be sure that all work that you want graded is attached to your final submission.

Blackboard allows you to save a draft of an assignment that you have not completed, but your instructor cannot access any files attached to a draft. Make sure that you click the Submit button if you want your submission to be graded.

Although assignments are available via Blackboard and can be submitted from any computer, your instructor cannot guarantee the ability to complete and / or submit assignments on any computer other than those on campus. You should ensure that the computer from which you plan to work has the software you need to complete the assignments. If your computer lacks the software or functionality to complete a given assignment, you are expected to complete it in a campus computer lab (either on the first floor of the General Studies Building or in room 451 of the Health Sciences Building). Deadlines will not be extended for computer malfunction unless the problem is related to a campus computer (Blackboard / campus network outage, lab computer issues, etc.).

If allowed in the course syllabus, late assignment submissions may be accepted for half credit up to the time when your instructor begins grading that assignment or a week after the deadline, whichever comes first; no late assignment submissions will be accepted after this time.

Printing Students are permitted to print up to 500 pages each semester from the on-campus computer laboratories; after you click the Print button in the program from which you are printing, you will need to enter your myJSCC username and password. You should check the printer before you attempt to print to ensure that it is in proper working order and has paper and toner. If you would like assistance in reducing the number of pages required to print a document (especially PowerPoint slides), please let an instructor or lab assistant know.

The Lab Environment In the classroom, you must use the generic computer login (the room number followed by a two-digit number) unless directed by your instructor to log in differently. Using another login may inhibit your ability to access programs and services you need for your classes. Students who attempt to use another login may be subject to academic penalties.

When using a lab computer, guard your information thoroughly. Log out of any personal accounts (e-mail, myJSCC, Blackboard) before you leave a lab computer. If you are unable to save your assignment-related files to your flash drive, delete them from any location where you saved them (e.g., the Desktop, the Documents folder, the Downloads folder) and the Recycle Bin. If another student obtains and submits your file as his / her own, you may be subject to penalties for violating the Academic Honesty Code.

Students are expected to maintain a clean classroom environment. Do not enter the classroom with excessively dirty footwear that leaves the floor dirty as well. The classroom is not an appropriate place for you to trim your fingernails or toenails. Place any trash (papers, bottles, wrappers, etc.) in the trash can before you leave the classroom (but do not disrupt the lecture to throw something away). Make sure you take all personal belongings (textbooks, keys, cell phones, flash drives) with you when you leave.

Students are not allowed to install software on lab computers. If you need a program not already installed on a lab computer, or if the installed version of the program is out of date, notify your instructor or the lab assistant.

Do not move or unplug any equipment in a lab unless you have the instructor's permission. You must restore any moved or unplugged equipment to its normal condition prior to leaving the lab.

Jefferson State policy prohibits the use of tobacco products and e-cigarettes on campus except in personal vehicles. The use of products with a similar action (e.g., spitting sunflower seeds) is also prohibited in the classroom to prevent distractions.

To protect classroom equipment from vandalism and theft, all classrooms will be locked when not in use. If you need to use a computer beyond class time, please use the open computer lab (HSB 451).

Disturbances Be respectful of your classmates and your instructor when in the classroom.

Causing a disturbance shall be considered disrespectful behavior and will be treated as such.

Respect Be respectful in any communication with either your instructor or your classmates. Harassing, threatening, or otherwise disrespectful behavior will not be tolerated. Students who engage in such behavior may be subject to penalties at the course and / or college level(s). We all have different perspectives on what is "in good fun" and what "crosses the line" (especially with regard to profanity, politics, religion, sports, etc.), so keep in mind the diverse makeup of the class as you interact with your classmates.

Statement on Discrimination / Harassment: The college and the Alabama State Board of Education are committed to provide both employment and educational environments free of harassment or discrimination related to an individual's race, color, gender, religion, national origin, age, or disability. Such harassment is a violation of State Board of Education policy. Any practice or behavior that constitutes harassment or discrimination will not be tolerated.

Advising Jefferson State offers two major types of degrees: those designed for transferring to a four-year institution, Associate in Arts (AA) and Associate in Science (AS); and those focused on immediate employment, Associate in Applied Science (AAS). The requirements for these two degree types can vary widely, and completing the requirements for the wrong degree could affect your ability to continue to your desired goal after graduation. Students purusing an AA or AS should also complete the STARS guide for the institutions to which they plan to transfer. Please see an advisor in your academic area to ensure that your declared major is correct and that the courses you are taking count toward that major. If you are taking individual classes and do not plan to pursue a complete degree, please declare yourself as a non-degree seeker so that you are not factored into the graduation rate. The courses for an AAS degree may also count toward one or more certificates; contact Enrollment Services to see if you can pursue the degree and the certificate(s) at the same time.

For Computer Information Systems majors on the Shelby-Hoover Campus, the three advisors are Mr. Battles (primarily for Computer Programming), Mr. Tony Blevins (any option), and Mrs. Linda Dobyns (Networking).

Schedule A tentative schedule is available with the syllabus and course policy documents. Changes to this schedule will also be communicated on Blackboard. Reasons for schedule changes may include, but are not limited to, instructor illness, inclement weather, or classroom unavailability. Students are responsible for following the schedule and any posted changes regardless of prior class meeting attendance.

Overall, my advice to you is to do your best! If something unforeseen comes up during the semester, I'm much more likely to work with you if you've proven to be a trustworthy student. Don't hesitate to ask questions on any topic relevant to the course.