Grading and Policies
Graded Components
| Component | Percentage |
| Exam 1 | 20% |
| Exam 2 | 20% |
| Exam 3 | 20% |
| Project (team grade) | 20% |
| Assignments | 10% |
| Class/Team Contributions | 10% |
Grading Scale
| 94-100 | A | 73-76 | C |
| 90-93 | A- | 70-72 | C- |
| 87-89 | B+ | 67-69 | D+ |
| 83-86 | B | 63-66 | D |
| 80-82 | B- | 60-62 | D- |
| 77-79 | C+ | Below 60 | F |
Please note that it is against my policy to discuss grades on any exam, graded assignment or any other direct component of your final grade via e-Mail. If you would like to discuss how an exam or assignment was graded, please see me during office hours. If you are not available during office hours, please make an appointment with me for another time.
Please note that two weeks after a grade has been posted, the grade will be considered “final”. If you have an issue with a grade you are required to meet with me or make an appointment to meet with me during this two week period. After this two week period a grade will be considered “final” and is not up for discussion.
Exams
There will be three exams during the semester. The exams, including exam 3 which will be given the last day of class, will not be cumulative. Missed exams can only be made up in the case of documented and verifiable extreme emergency situations.
Please note that if we miss any classes for any reason (i.e. campus closed due to snow) and are unable to get back on schedule, we will be holding exam 3 during finals week in our regular classroom on the date and at the time assigned by the university. Please do not ask me when the exam will be held! Please check the exam schedule published by the university.
Please note that class discussions may not include everything that is covered by the textbooks or your web research. If a certain topic is not covered in class it does not mean that you are not responsible for it. You will be responsible for everything in the relevant chapters in the textbook and your web research unless I specify
Class/Team Contributions
10% of your final grade will be based on your contributions to class discussions and your team project. This component of your grade is completely subjective and assigned at the sole discretion of the instructor. Come to class prepared to discuss the required readings, videos and web research. The focus of the class will be discussing the material from the readings/research, not covering the material from the readings/research. I will assume that you have completed the required reading/research and can share a basic understanding of the material with the rest of the class. Attendance is not participation. Regular contributions to class discussions are required to earn a participation grade which will improve your final grade. If you fail to make regular contributions to class discussions, your participation grade will pull your final grade down. In addition, your contributions to the team project will be reviewed by your teammates in both 3535 and 3504. Their feedback on your contributions to the team project will be a major factor which influences this part of your grade.
Disability Resources and Services
Any student who has a need for accommodation based on the impact of a documented disability, including special accommodations for access to technology resources and electronic instructional materials required for the course, should contact me privately to discuss the specific situation by the end of the second week of classes or as soon as practical. If you have not done so already, please contact Disability Resources and Services (DRS) at 215-204-1280 in 100 Ritter Annex to learn more about the resources available to you. I will work with DRS to coordinate reasonable accommodations for all students with documented disabilities.
Class Repeat policy
A grade of a ‘C or better’ is required for all MIS courses in order to move onto the next course in sequence. MIS students are ONLY permitted to repeat a course one time. Any MIS student repeating a course should seek the guidance of the Senior Program Specialist or their Fox School UG advisor. MIS majors WILL NOT be permitted to register for a course a third time. Each time a student registers for a course and earns a grade, including a “W” when withdrawing from a course, will count towards this limit.
MS Project
This is NOT a class that teaches Microsoft Project. While one of our textbooks uses Microsoft Project and, as a byproduct of completing the required reading and completing some of the assignments, you will learn Microsoft project, this course is NOT about Microsoft Project. Microsoft Project is simply one of many project management tools that could be used to manage a project. During the project management portion of the course, we will focus on project management concepts, not Microsoft Project.
Attendance Policy
Regular class attendance is mandatory. Missing class may impact your final grade. I expect you to arrive on time to class. If you miss a class it is your responsibility to catch up. Talk to your fellow classmates, check the class blog, complete readings, etc. While every student is encouraged to visit with me during office hours to help them gain a better understanding of material which they didn’t fully understand when they were in class, office hours are NOT for helping students catch up on material they missed because they were absent.
Citation Guidelines
If you use text, figures, and data in reports that was created by others you must identify the source and clearly differentiate your work from the material that you are referencing. If you fail to do so you are plagiarizing. There are many different acceptable formats that you can use to cite the work of others. The format is not as important as the intent. You must clearly show the reader what is your work and what is a reference to someone else’s work.
Academic Honesty
Source: Temple University Undergraduate Bulletin, 2012-2013. Available online at: http://www.temple.edu/bulletin/responsibilities_rights/responsibilities/responsibilities.shtm
Temple University believes strongly in academic honesty and integrity. Plagiarism and academic cheating are, therefore, prohibited. Essential to intellectual growth is the development of independent thought and a respect for the thoughts of others. The prohibition against plagiarism and cheating is intended to foster this independence and respect.
Plagiarism is the unacknowledged use of another person’s labor, another person’s ideas, another person’s words, another person’s assistance. Normally, all work done for courses — papers, examinations, homework exercises, laboratory reports, oral presentations — is expected to be the individual effort of the student presenting the work. Any assistance must be reported to the instructor. If the work has entailed consulting other resources — journals, books, or other media — these resources must be cited in a manner appropriate to the course. It is the instructor’s responsibility to indicate the appropriate manner of citation. Everything used from other sources — suggestions for organization of ideas, ideas themselves, or actual language — must be cited. Failure to cite borrowed material constitutes plagiarism. Undocumented use of materials from the World Wide Web is plagiarism.
Academic cheating is, generally, the thwarting or breaking of the general rules of academic work or the specific rules of the individual courses. It includes falsifying data; submitting, without the instructor’s approval, work in one course which was done for another; helping others to plagiarize or cheat from one’s own or another’s work; or actually doing the work of another person.
The penalty for academic dishonesty can vary from receiving a reprimand and a failing grade for a particular assignment, to a failing grade in the course, to suspension or expulsion from the university. The penalty varies with the nature of the offense, the individual instructor, the department, and the school or college.
Students who believe that they have been unfairly accused may appeal through the school or college’s academic grievance procedure.
Academic dishonesty will not be tolerated in this class. In cases of cheating, both parties will be held equally responsible, i.e. both the student who shares the work and the student who copies the work. Penalties for such actions are given at my discretion, and can range from a failing grade for the individual assignment, to a failing grade for the entire course.