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What ICaP and University Policies Should I Know?

The following policies come from either University Regulations or from the ICaP Program Policy Statements. In addition to the policies written here, your instructor will have policies that are specific to your composition class. Please read your course syllabus and refer to it regularly for your class objectives, requirements and expectations.

Registration: Drop/Add Procedures

During the first week of the semester, you may add or drop any class that has space available using the mypurdue online registration. Composition courses have strict course limits, so ICaP instructors will not sign you into their classes during the first week.

ICaP instructors will not sign you into their classes after the first week of the semester either; it is against ICaP policy for them to do so, so please don’t ask. Composition courses begin reading and writing assignments the first week, and the pace of the course is fast. Ideally, you will be writing and applying rhetorical thought to your work the very first day. The foundation instructors set the first week is important, so you shouldn’t miss it.

If students were to add the course after the first week, they would be at a disadvantage, one that’s too much to overcome while they are trying to get used to a new environment and keep up on their other coursework. Your instructor has a lot of material to cover. Students always think they can catch up, but they just don’t.

For a 16-week course, the following timeline applies:

Course Additions

  • Week 1: You may do web registrations with no approval needed; you are strongly encouraged to consult with your academic advisor before adding a class.
  • Weeks 2­-4: You may not add an ICaP class after the first week. If you have been cancelled from your classes by the university (from non­-payment of fees), take a copy of your original schedule and a Form 23 to the assistant director of ICaP for approval to add. (For non­-ICaP classes, you must have approval from your academic advisor and instructor before adding a class.)
  • Weeks 5­-9: Adding an ICaP class at this time is unlikely for any reason. The only way you can add any class is if you have extenuating circumstances and only with approval of an academic advisor, the instructor, and the head of the department in which the course is listed.
  • Weeks 10­-16: Course additions are not permitted.

Course Drops

  • Weeks 1­-2: You may drop courses with no approval from anyone. You are strongly encouraged to consult with your academic advisor before dropping a class.
  • Weeks 3-­4: You may drop with approval from your academic advisor. The drop will be recorded with a grade of W (withdraw).
  • Weeks 5-­9: You may drop with the approval from your academic advisor. Instructors must indicate with their signature (on a Form 23) whether you are passing or failing, and a grade of W, WF, WN, or WU will be recorded. If you have a semester classification of 0 and fewer than 31 hours of college credit, OR you have a semester classification of 01 or 02, you need not have the instructor’s signature. Your grade will be recorded as W.
  • Weeks 10­-16: Course assignments cannot be cancelled during this period.

Composition Credit Policies

There is no test­-out for First­-Year Composition. If you took the English Language and Composition Advanced Placement (AP) Exam and received a score of 4 or 5, you may already have credit for English 10600. Please see your academic advisor right away. If you took the English Literature and Composition AP Exam, you do not get credit for English 10600.

Honors: Composition courses may not be taken for honors credit. Honors courses are taught only by faculty members, and composition courses are largely taught by graduate instructors who are not members of the faculty.

Attendance

You are expected to be present every day your class is scheduled, and you can expect your instructor to be present for every class meeting that is listed on your course schedule. If your instructor must cancel class, they will contact you through email or will post a message on the course website. 

Your instructor should be in the classroom when class begins. If your instructor does not show up 10 minutes after class is scheduled to start, one student should call the ICaP office (765-494­-3730) and ask if the instructor has cancelled class.

Attendance in Conferences

If you are in English 10600, your class schedule indicates that you will meet in either HEAV 223 or 225 for conferences every week. In reality, you may meet every week or every other week for conferences, and you may have group meetings or individual conferences. Your instructor will give you a detailed conference schedule, but you should be in conferences at least once every other week, so reserve this time on your personal schedule. You should always meet for your scheduled conference in either Heavilon Hall Room 223 or 225, not in the Union or in your instructor’s office.

Attendance in the Classroom

Unless your instructor has scheduled a supplementary computer lab time or a library trip, you should meet in the classroom or lab that’s listed on your schedule. If you are meeting somewhere else, you should be notified through email and the new venue will be listed on your course website.

Purdue University’s Attendance Policy: The resources of Purdue University are provided for the intellectual development of its students. Courses with defined schedules are provided to facilitate an orderly and predictable environment for learning, as well as to provide assurance of a registered student’s right to access the course. Scheduled courses allow students to avoid conflicts and reflect the University’s expectation that students should be present for every meeting of a class/laboratory for which they are registered. Faculty are responsible for organizing and delivering a course of instruction and for certifying student accomplishment on the basis of performance.

If you have a Purdue sponsored event at the same time as your English class, such as participating in an athletic or academic event, let your instructor know as soon as possible and provide a note from the coach, director, or leader of your team. However, it is still up to your instructor whether or not to excuse you from class, and it is your responsibility to request or submit make-up work as deemed appropriate by your instructor. 

In times of bereavement, you may request that the Office of the Dean of Students notify your instructors of your leave. Once notified through the ODOS, instructors will excuse you from attending class and allow you to make up assignments or activities that were missed during your absence. You are also welcome to communicate directly with your instructor, who will work with you to ensure your continued success in the course.

The link to the complete attendance policy and implications, including information on Military Active Duty, Absences for Religious Observances, and the Grief Absence Policy (truncated below) can be found here.

Office of the Dean of Students
Schleman Hall of Student Services, Room 207
475 Stadium Mall Drive
Email: odos@purdue.edu
Phone: (765) 494-1747 

Use of Technology

Laptops and smartphones are welcome in the classroom, but only as appropriately used educational tools. Your instructor needs to maintain a classroom environment without disruptions, so while you are in your composition class, keep your attention on the activities and tasks going on in the classroom. Your instructor may ask you to keep your cell phone in your backpack or pocket to avoid distractions.

Appropriate use of laptops and smartphones in the classroom may include:

  • Reading online texts or textbooks
  • Researching articles or websites
  • Taking notes
  • Completing class activities as directed
  • Completing peer reviews
  • Drafting for a course project
  • Receiving emergency text messages

The university communicates emergency information to students, faculty, and staff who have signed up with the Emergency Warning Notification System: Purdue ALERT. In cases of threatening weather or other dangers to the campus community, the university will send text messages. 

Academic Honesty

Your instructor will have a definition of plagiarism on your course syllabus, and you can expect to be instructed on how to avoid plagiarism and to properly cite sources which you have summarized, paraphrased, quoted, or otherwise integrated into your work. Penalties for plagiarism vary from failure of the plagiarized assignment to expulsion from the university, and may include failure for the course and notification of the Dean of Students’ Office. 

As you are learning how to take careful notes and to attribute your sources, you may make errors based on a misunderstanding of what plagiarism is or how to cite sources. Your instructor will address your errors of misunderstanding or carelessness as correctable and teachable moments, though grade penalties may still apply. However, there is no doubt that handing in someone else’s written work as your own is dishonest and wrong. Therefore, if you commit egregious acts of plagiarism, even in the first nine weeks of the semester, your instructor may file a report with the Office of the Dean of Students. 

Egregious acts of plagiarism include:

  • Purchasing or “borrowing” essays or parts of essays from a Paper Mill, friend or family member, previous student, or organization 
  • Using outside sources without documentation and acknowledgement, intentionally passing off this work as your own 
  • Translating a foreign language article and submitting as your own work
  • Faking citations, sources, or quotes

If, after you have discussed academic honesty and citation practices in class, you commit acts of plagiarism, your instructor may fail your paper or project and file a report with the Dean of Students. Depending on the policies your instructor has on the class syllabus, egregious acts of plagiarism may earn you a failing grade for the course.

For more tips on avoiding plagiarism and citing sources, see “Is it Plagiarism Yet?” and other resources available on the Purdue OWL. 

Purdue University’s Regulation on Academic Dishonesty

From the Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities: 

Purdue prohibits “dishonesty in connection with any University activity. Cheating, plagiarism, or knowingly furnishing false information to the University are examples of dishonesty” (Part 5, Section III-B-2-a, Student Regulations). Furthermore, the University Senate has stipulated that “the commitment of acts of cheating, lying, and deceit in any of their diverse forms (such as the use of substitutes for taking examinations, the use of illegal cribs, plagiarism, and copying during examinations) is dishonest and must not be tolerated. Moreover, knowingly to aid and abet, directly or indirectly, other parties in committing dishonest acts is in itself dishonest” (University Senate Document 72-18, December 15, 1972). 

The following websites further explain Purdue’s regulations on student conduct.

The notes you take in class are considered to be “derivative works” of your instructor’s lectures or class materials and therefore may subject to copyright laws. You are allowed to take notes in class and to use those notes for any non­-commercial use, but you are not allowed to sell or barter your class notes without permission from your instructor. Take notes, please! And feel free to use your class notes to study either individually or in groups, but remember ­­you may not receive payment or material goods in return for your notes.

Permission to Use Student Work

In the first two weeks of the semester, your instructor may ask you to hand in a “Permission to Use Student Work” form. If you sign this form, you allow your instructor to use your writing as an example in teaching and research. You are under no obligation to allow your instructor to use your work, and your decision will have no influence on your grade in the class. The form gives you options and conditions under which you would allow your work to be used.

Purdue University’s Nondiscrimination Policy

Purdue University is committed to maintaining a community which recognizes and values the inherent worth and dignity of every person; fosters tolerance, sensitivity, understanding, and mutual respect among its members; and encourages each individual to strive to reach his or her own potential. In pursuit of its goal of academic excellence, the University seeks to develop and nurture diversity. The University believes that diversity among its many members strengthens the institution, stimulates creativity, promotes the exchange of ideas, and enriches campus life.

Purdue University views, evaluates, and treats all persons in any University related activity or circumstance in which they may be involved, solely as individuals on the basis of their own personal abilities, qualifications, and other relevant characteristics.

Purdue University prohibits discrimination against any member of the University community on the basis of race, religion, color, sex, age, national origin or ancestry, genetic information, marital status, parental status, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, disability, or status as a veteran. The University will conduct its programs, services and activities consistent with applicable federal, state and local laws, regulations and orders and in conformance with the procedures and limitations as set forth in Purdue’s Equal Opportunity, Equal Access and Affirmative Action policy which provides specific contractual rights and remedies. Additionally, the University promotes the full realization of equal employment opportunity for women, minorities, persons with disabilities and veterans through its affirmative action program.

Disability Resource Center Accommodations

Purdue University strives to make learning experiences accessible to all participants. If you anticipate or experience physical or academic barriers based on disability, you are welcome to let your instructor know so that you can discuss how you can best succeed in the course. You are also encouraged to contact the Disability Resource Center at: drc@purdue.edu or by phone: 765-494-1247.

DRC Website: https://www.purdue.edu/drc/

Conflicts and Complaints

If you are having a problem in your composition class, you should first try to talk with your instructor. But if you are having a conflict with your instructor, you have a complaint about your class or your instructor, or if you have any question or concern about your composition class, please contact Linda Haynes, the Assistant Director of Composition for Student Concerns (lhaynes@purdue.edu).

ICaP Student Decorum Policy: Your Rights as a Student in Your Composition Course

All students at Purdue are expected to abide by the university’s Code of Conduct. The Introductory Composition at Purdue (ICaP) Student Decorum Policy further explains how Purdue’s Code of Conduct applies to the specific classroom situations and environments that students in all ICaP courses share.

Who Should Read this Policy?

Students, to understand the etiquette of college classroom behavior and to be aware of the consequences of inappropriate actions. Instructors, to enforce program­-specific and university policies consistently. Administrators, to support instructors and students when behavioral issues arise.

What is Decorum in the ICaP Classroom?

While we do want our classrooms to be spaces of open discussion and dialogue, students must be aware that their speech and compositions act as part of the larger classroom discourse, and thus have effects and repercussions beyond their own personal experience in the class, and even beyond the teacher-­student relationship within the class.

We want to foster an environment where everyone (regardless of nationality, sex, sexual orientation, etc.) is free to express their views without fear of intimidation, unless that expression impinges on others’ ability to do so. This requires that we provide others in the classroom with the ability to express their views in a safe environment, and recognize one’s own responsibility to contribute to the safety of that environment. The environment of the classroom includes not only larger class discussion, but also working in groups, composing course projects, participating in course activities, and engaging in online spaces (forums, online discussions, blogs).

What is Inappropriate Behavior in the English 106 Classroom?

The following are examples of inappropriate behavior which will not be tolerated in any ICaP classroom:

  • Causing or threatening to cause bodily harm to other students or to the instructor
  • Hate speech, including producing written work or images that promote or support hate crimes
  • Gratuitously sexual or violent texts
  • Sexually harassing other students or the instructor
  • Attempts to intimidate other students or the instructor, i.e. harassment, bullying
  • Classroom disruptions, or behaviors that interfere with the educational environment for other students

What are Classroom Disruptions?

Disruptive classroom behavior can target either students or the instructor and can include conduct during class projects, in­-class activities, and within online environments. In these cases, while harassment can be a single, egregious instance, disruption might better be defined by its accumulation, ­­that is, continuous and deliberately done. Examples include:

  • Language or behavior that would prevent other students from feeling safe to express themselves in the classroom
  • Continual and heedless “hijacking” of discussions through interruption and distraction
  • Inappropriate use of computers, laptops, cell phones, or other technological devices

What Happens when Students Act Inappropriately in the Classroom?

ICaP instructors expect their students to be curious learners, to ask questions, and to offer their ideas and thoughts, often in open classroom discussions. And while instructors expect students to have different opinions, they also expect students to express those opinions respectfully and without disrupting the learning process of others. In accordance with that goal, instructors will resolve classroom behavior problems according to the following:

Student Behavior: Mildly inappropriate, disruptive, unprofessional. Disrupts the learning of others.

  • Step 1: The instructor may address the disruptive behavior. The instructor will issue a verbal warning to the student.
  • Step 2: Repeated inappropriate behavior: the instructor may ask the student to leave the classroom and take an absence for the day. The instructor will remind the student that this is a repeated offense. The instructor will document the incident and may contact an administrator in the ICaP or file a Student of Concern Report with the ODOS.
  • Step 3: The instructor will inform the student that this is a repeated documented offense. The instructor will contact an administrator in the ICaP office and file a Student of Concern Report with the ODOS.

Student Behavior: Egregiously inappropriate or disruptive, potentially harmful to self and/or others.

  • Step 1: The student may be asked to leave the classroom and the instructor will immediately talk with an administrator in the ICaP office. The instructor will file a Student of Concern Report. If the instructor feels threatened and is concerned for his or her own safety, the safety of the students, or the safety of the disruptive student, the instructor should call the Purdue Police.
  • Step 2: The Behavior Intervention Team with the Office of the Dean of Students will follow their procedures to address the incident in keeping with their mission to promote the safety and well-being of the Purdue University community.

The entire text of Purdue University’s Student Code of Conduct is available online.

Related Definitions

These definitions are excerpted from Purdue University’s Policies on Ethics which include, Harassment, Racial Harassment, and Sexual Harassment are located here.

Purdue defines Harassment as: Conduct towards another person or identifiable group of persons that has the purpose or effect of:

  • Creating an intimidating or hostile educational environment, work environment or environment for participation in a University program or activity;
  • Unreasonably interfering with a person’s educational environment, work environment or environment for participation in a University program or activity; or
  • Unreasonably affecting a person’s educational or work opportunities or participation in a University program or activity.

Purdue defines Racial Harassment as: Conduct that demonstrates hostility towards another person (or identifiable group of persons) on the basis of race, color, national origin or ancestry and that has the purpose or effect of:

  • Creating an intimidating or hostile educational environment, work environment or environment for participation in a University program or activity;
  • Unreasonably interfering with a person’s educational environment, work environment or environment for participation in a University program or activity; or
  • Unreasonably affecting a person’s educational or work opportunities or participation in a University program or activity.

Purdue defines Relationship Violence as: Any physical, sexual and/or psychological harm against an individual by a current or former intimate or romantic partner. Intimate or romantic partners may be dating, cohabitating, married, separated or divorced, and may be of the same or opposite sex.

Purdue defines Retaliation as: Any overt or covert act of reprisal, interference, restraint, penalty, discrimination, intimidation or Harassment against any person or group for reporting or complaining of discrimination and/or Harassment, assisting or participating in the investigation of a complaint of discrimination and/or Harassment, or enforcing University policies with respect to discrimination and/or Harassment.

Purdue defines Sexual Exploitation as: An act that exploits someone sexually. Examples of Sexual Exploitation include, but are not limited to:

  • Exposing one’s own or another person’s intimate parts without Consent.
  • Recording video or audio, photographing, disseminating, or transmitting intimate or sexual utterances, sounds or images without Consent of all parties involved.
  • Allowing others to view sexual acts (whether in person, through electronic means, or via a video camera or other recording device) without the Consent of all parties involved.
  • Engaging in any form of voyeurism.

Purdue defines Sexual Harassment as: Any act of Sexual Violence. Any act of Sexual Exploitation. Any unwelcome sexual advance, request for sexual favors or other written, verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature when:

  • Submission to such conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of an individual’s employment, education or participation in a University program or activity;
  • Submission to, or rejection of, such conduct by an individual is used as the basis for, or a factor in, decisions affecting that individual’s employment, education or participation in a University program or activity; or
  • Such conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual’s employment or academic performance or creating an intimidating, offensive or hostile environment for that individual’s employment, education or participation in a University program or activity.

Purdue defines Sexual Violence as: Any non-Consensual sexual act, including but not limited to rape, sexual assault, sexual battery and sexual coercion. Sexual Violence also includes Relationship Violence. Examples of Sexual Violence include, but are not limited to:

  • Non-Consensual sexual contact: touching, with any body part or object, another person’s intimate parts (e.g., genitalia, groin, breast, buttocks), whether clothed or unclothed.
  • Non-Consensual sexual intercourse: oral, anal and/or vaginal penetration, to any degree and with any body part or object.
  • Compelling a person to touch his or her own or another person’s intimate parts without Consent.

The following policy and definition are excerpted from Purdue University’s Violent Behavior Policy.

Purdue University is committed to providing a safe and secure campus environment for members of the university community. Purdue strives to create an educational environment for students and a work environment for employees that promote educational and career goals. Violent Behavior impedes such goals and is prohibited in or on any University Facility or while participating in any University activity.

Purdue defines Violent Behavior as: A broad range of behaviors that generate reasonable concerns for personal safety, result in physical injury or result in damage to University Facilities. Violent behavior includes, but is not limited to, aggressive or frightening acts, Intimidation, Threats, Physical Attacks or Property Damage.

For further definitions of the terms used in this policy, please refer to the Violent Behavior policy linked above. 

Campus Emergencies

Being prepared for any emergency is your personal responsibility, but in emergency situations there can be chaos and uncertainty. True emergencies are rare at Purdue, but if you hear the sirens, you need to know what to do to keep yourself and others safe. If you are in a classroom, listen to your instructor for guidance, but you still need to know what to do to keep yourself and others safe. Your instructors should go over Emergency Preparedness during the first week of classes, including specific information about where to go or shelter in case of an emergency notification.

For any emergency, call 911. Whether you call from a campus phone or your cell phone, your 911 call goes directly to campus police when you are on campus.

Indoor Fire Alarm: Immediately evacuate the building. Do not use the elevator. Move away from the building until emergency response personnel tell you it is safe to return.

All Hazards Outdoor Emergency Warning Siren:

  • Shelter in Place – Tornado: You will hear an outdoor emergency warning siren. Shelter in the lowest level of the building you are in, away from windows or doors.
  • Shelter in Place – Hazardous Materials: Shelter in your classroom and shut all windows and doors.
  • Shelter in Place – Civil Disturbance (Shooting): Shelter in a room that is securable if possible. Stay away from windows and remain hidden.

See the Emergency Preparedness and Planning Office for more information.

Emergency Notification

The Purdue ALERT system uses several methods to communicate imminent danger to students. In case of threatening weather, civil disturbance, or release of hazardous materials, you may hear the “All Hazards Emergency Warning Sirens” (the outdoor sirens) which mean you should seek shelter in a safe location within a building. It is a good idea to sign up with Purdue ALERT so you can receive emergency notifications through text messages or to follow them on Twitter @purdueemergency

According to Purdue ALERT, “When you hear either emergency warning notification system you should immediately evacuate or go inside a building to a safe location (as applicable) and use all communication means available to find out more details about the emergency. You should remain in place until police, fire, or other emergency response personnel provide additional guidance or tell you it is safe to leave.”

For any emergency, call 911. Whether you call from a campus phone or your cell phone, your 911 call goes directly to campus police when you are on campus.

Number of Purdue Police: (765)­ 494-­8221 for non­-emergencies
Email for Purdue Police: police@purdue.edu (not monitored 24 hours/day)
Number for Purdue Fire: (765) 494-6919

In the event of a major campus emergency, course requirements, deadlines and grading percentages are subject to changes that may be necessitated by a revised semester calendar or other circumstances beyond the instructor’s control. Relevant changes to your course will be posted onto the course website or can be obtained by contacting your instructor via email. You are expected to read your @purdue.edu email on a frequent basis.

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