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CMC 325: Incarceration and Inequality Fall 2015 Thursdays, 4-6:30 PM, Bush 212 Course Professor: Dr. Lisa Tillmann (Dr. T. is fine) Office: CSS 145 Office Phone Number: 407-646-1586 Office Hours: T 3:30-5:30; R 11-12:15; other days/times by appointment E-mail: Ltillmann@rollins.edu Course Description: As of 2013, U.S. jails and prisons held 2.2 million people; the same number work for Wal-Mart, the world’s largest private employer, worldwide. The U.S. incarcerates more people than any other country. Class, race, nationality, and sex profoundly affect a person’s interactions with official “justice” systems, influencing, e.g., who gets stopped, patted down, searched, arrested, and/or charged; who receives what kind of legal representation (if any); who is prosecuted, pressured to plead guilty, and/or convicted; who does time and how much. This course examines ways privilege and inequality manifest in, e.g., the War on Drugs; the militarization of policing; prison privatization; solitary confinement; the death penalty; and extrajudicial imprisonment, torture, and killing. I predict you will find material here sobering, shocking, and infuriating. If such feelings arise and you find your consciousness raised, those will be important first steps. But we will not stop there. We will look deeply and learn to see more clearly in order to understand better what to do. Then we will practice actually doing it. Course Goals:

1. To better understand how structural inequalities such as racism and classism are reflected and reinforced through official justice systems and extrajudicial practices

2. To better understand the lived experience of social inequalities 3. To improve our ability to understand ethical issues and conflicts (per the “Values”

general education requirement) 4. To become more self-reflective about our own ethics as they pertain to official

justice systems and extrajudicial practices (per the “V” gen ed requirement) 5. To put our ethics to work, engaging in social advocacy around a course-congruent

topic (related to the “V” gen ed requirement) 6. To improve our ability to locate, understand, evaluate, and use research materials

related to official justice systems and/or extrajudicial practices 7. To sharpen our ability to compose effective, evidence-based arguments tailored to

particular audiences 8. To improve public presentation and facilitation skills

What You’ll Need: The books The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness (2012—not the 2010 edition) by Michelle Alexander (ISBN: 978-1595586438; list price: $19.95, $12.80 on Amazon); and The Divide: American Injustice in

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the Age of the Wealth Gap by Matt Taibbi (ISBN: 978-0812993424; list price: $27.00, $13.23 on Amazon)1 What your grade is based on:

Assignment Individual

or group % of final grade

Reading accountability/social advocacy2 preparation exercises Individual 40 Social advocacy preliminary bibliography Individual 5 Social advocacy reading Individual 5 Social advocacy fact sheet Individual 10 Social advocacy presentations & supporting documents Group3 20 Social advocacy reflection report Individual 20 Assignment descriptions: Reading accountability/social advocacy preparation exercises: Thirteen weeks this semester, we have reading due. The purpose of the reading is to provide each of us with background on a number of relevant topics and to foster deep, rich dialogue. There are multiple ways to promote accountability: quizzes, in-class or take-home exams, reflection papers, etc. In CMC 325, we tailor reading accountability exercises to the advocacy work central to this class. Here are the types:

1. Fact Sheets (at least 3 before semester’s end): imagine you are meeting with someone in a position of influence (e.g., SGA officer, HR official at Rollins, admissions official at Rollins, Winter Park police chief, city/county/state/federal representative. Select a topic raised by the week’s readings. At the top, put the statement: “On my honor, I have read/viewed all assigned material in its entirety,” and sign your name. Next, name the type of official who would be the audience for your fact sheet. Then state the purpose of your meeting. Finally, in 1-2 single-spaced pages, summarize key ideas from the reading (and, if you wish, from outside readings as well), those most likely to help you achieve the meeting’s purpose.

2. PowerPoint Presentations (at least 2 before semester’s end): Select a topic raised by the week’s readings. On slide 1, put the statement: “On my honor, I have read/viewed all assigned material in its entirety,” and sign your name. On slide 2, name the type of official who would be the audience for your presentation, and state the purpose of your presentation. Finally, in no more than 8 additional slides, summarize key ideas from the reading (and, if you wish, from outside readings as well), those most likely to help you achieve the meeting’s purpose.

1 I prefer that you purchase new (or unmarked used) copies (as opposed to electronic copies) that you annotate and bring to class. 2 By social advocacy, I mean one or more activities aimed to influence decisions or policy. 3 Turkey clause: if it comes to my attention that a group member is not contributing meaningfully, that group member may be asked (at my discretion) to engage in an individual project.

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3. Op-eds (at least 1 before semester’s end): Select a topic raised by the week’s reading. At the top, put the statement: “On my honor, I have read/viewed all assigned material in its entirety,” and sign your name. In 650-750 words, offer an evidence-based perspective on your topic. Where appropriate, hyperlink to the week’s readings (and, if you wish, to other sources as well).

Reading accountability exercises will be assessed on: clarity of focus, information richness, logic and persuasiveness, composition, and conformity to assignment instructions. Up to three times this semester (you choose when), you may take a “bye” week. You still must complete the reading by class time, but you only will be required to submit the signed statement: “On my honor, I have read/viewed all assigned material in its entirety.” Due to reading accountability exercises’ role in class dialogue, they are due at the top of class. 10% will be deducted for submission up to 10 minutes late, 20% up to 20 minutes late, and so on. In cases of documented emergencies, exercises—even if late—will receive full credit. In cases of non-emergency absences (e.g., a religious holiday, varsity athletics), exercises will receive full credit if submitted by the date/time of class. Social advocacy preliminary bibliography: you will work with 1-2 others on a relevant topic; see the end of the syllabus for ideas. Pick something you feel strongly about or come to feel strongly about via the course from a social justice standpoint—something you find inequitable and unjust and that you would like to participate in changing. Your preliminary bibliography will list per the Chicago manual of style at least 10 sources totaling at least the equivalent of 300 journal article/book pages4 of outside reading. Although each of you will receive an individual grade, work together to ensure that your sources are topic congruent and do not overlap. You need not have read any of your sources by the preliminary bibliography due date. The list will offer the “top candidates” for your immersion in your group’s topic. Social advocacy reading: Each group member then will read the equivalent of 300 journal article/book pages of non-overlapping, topic-congruent outside reading. Social advocacy fact sheet: At the top, put the statement: “On my honor, I have read the equivalent of [state how many] pages of course- and topic-congruent outside reading,” and sign your name. Name the type of official who would be the audience for your fact sheet. Then state the purpose of your meeting. Finally, in 1-2 single-spaced pages, summarize key ideas from your outside reading (and, if you wish, from class readings as well), those most likely to help you achieve the meeting’s purpose. Social advocacy presentations & supporting documents: your group will engage in one or more advocacy efforts and make your case to the class and, ideally, to one or more officials. PowerPoint slides and a collaborative fact sheet are required; other supporting documents are welcome.

4 For online sources (e.g., newspaper articles), we will count 350 words as 1 page.

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Social advocacy reflection report: each of us will summarize our social advocacy journey in an end-of-semester report. You will:

1. report the number of hours (non-inclusive of bibliography and reading) you devoted to your group’s project (so keep track!),

2. assess the effectiveness of your group advocacy project and of your individual contributions,

3. offer a sense of the most significant insights you gleaned from the course and from your advocacy, and

4. indicate how your values/ethics (per the “V” component of the course) were deepened and/or altered by the course and by your advocacy.

As you approach each day of class:

1. Carefully review your notes, PowerPoint outlines, and/or other handouts from the previous class.

2. Do one or more close reading/s of assigned material. Think about: a. where you read: a place where you can focus v. one filled with distraction b. when you read: when alert v. exhausted c. how you read: with v. without interruption; passively v. actively: are you

highlighting? Making notes in the margins? Looking up unfamiliar words and historical references and writing information about them in the margins?

3. Come to class: every time, on time. Remember: reading accountability exercises are due at the top of class.

4. Listen/participate actively. 5. Take careful notes—even during class discussion—and save them. You may find

them useful in future coursework and/or advocacy. Tentative and Revisable Schedule: Week: Date: What we’re up to: What we read: Due: 1 8/27 Course introduction,

making connections

2 9/3 Incarceration disparities, slavery, Jim Crow, disenfranchisement, racial caste, War on Drugs, mass incarceration, civil rights, backlash; who goes to jail and who doesn’t; spotlight: violence

Alexander, The New Jim Crow: Forward (ix-xi), Preface (xiii), Introduction (1-19), Ch. 1: “The Rebirth of Caste” (20-58), Endnotes Taibbi, The Divide: “Introduction” (xv-xxiii) Fox: 5 “More Police Are Killed in States with More Guns, Study Finds,” NBCnews.com Cave and Oliver, “The Police Videos That Are Putting Race and

Reading accountability exercise: fact sheet

5 Links to supplemental readings (everything but the Alexander and Taibbi books) may be found in an alphabetized list on Blackboard under the Course Documents link, Course Information Resources folder.

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Policing into Sharp Relief,” New York Times Lewis: “A Tale of Two Killings: What Happened When Idaho Police Shot a Dog and a Pregnant Woman in One Day,” Guardian UK

3 9/10 The 4th amendment, “consent” searches, Operation Pipeline, incentivizing the drug war, pressure to plead guilty, “loading up” charges, legal discrimination; racial disparities in stop and frisk, HSBC money laundering, UBS Libor manipulation, volume arrests; spotlight: political economy of criminal “justice”

Alexander: Ch. 2: “The Lockdown” (59-96), Ch. 3: “The Color of Justice” (97-139), Endnotes Taibbi: Ch. 2: “Frisk and Stop” (53-82) Hitt: “Police Shootings Won’t Stop Unless We Also Stop Shaking Down Black People,” Mother Jones Ingraham, “Why We Spend Billions to Keep Half a Million Unconvicted People Behind Bars,” The Washington Post Shapiro: “Measures Aimed at Keeping People Out of Jail Punish the Poor,” National Public Radio Cantu: “America on Lockdown: Why the Private Prison Industry Is Exploding,” AlterNet Gold: “5 Links Between Higher Education and the Prison Industry,” Rolling Stone

Reading accountability exercise: PowerPoint

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9/17

Ban the Box, poverty penalties; sub-misdemeanor policing, broken windows, CompStat, nuisance bail, justice by attrition, “lawful” orders; spotlight: sentences and sentence reform

Alexander: Ch. 4: “The Cruel Hand” (140-177), Endnotes Taibbi: Ch. 3: “The Man Who Couldn’t Stand Up” (85-139) Oliver: “Mandatory Minimums,” Last Week Tonight Jones: “The Nation's Shame: The Injustice of Mandatory Minimums,” Rolling Stone Mann: “Life Sentence Reform for Juveniles May Pass by St. Louis Robber Serving 241 Years,” St. Louis Post Dispatch

Reading accountability exercise: op-ed

5 9/24 Structural racism, police discretion, prison towns, drunk driving v. illegal drug use, deindustrialization, Jena 6, racial stereotypes, racial justice; spotlight: civil asset forfeiture

Alexander: Ch. 5: “The New Jim Crow” (178-220), Ch. 6: “The Fire This Time” (221-261), Endnotes Oliver: “Civil Forfeiture,” Last Week Tonight Stillman: “Taken,” The New Yorker

Reading accountability exercise

6 10/1 Spotlight: treatment of Taibbi: Ch. 5: “Border Trouble: Reading

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immigrants, the undocumented

Part I” (199-242) Urbina: “Using Jailed Migrants as a Pool of Cheap Labor,” New York Times Lee: “Undocumented Man Warned He Could Be Killed if He Was Deported. Then He Was,” ThinkProgress Lo: “For Migrants in Arizona Who Call 911, It's Border Patrol on the Line,” Al Jazeera

accountability exercise

7 10/8 Abacus Federal, selective prosecution, deferred prosecution agreement, Justice Department under President Obama, Eric Holder, Covington & Burling, Holder memo, Glass-Steagall, lowering capital reserves, Arthur Anderson, Enron, KPMG, Countrywide, Standard & Poor, MERS, Timothy Geithner, paying fines v. doing time; Lehman Brothers, Barclays, and the economic crash

Taibbi: Ch. 1: “Unintended Consequences” (3-51), Ch. 4: “The Greatest Bank Robbery You Never Heard Of” (141-196) Frontline: “Money, Power, and Wall Street: Episode 1”

Reading accountability exercise Topics for group social advocacy due

8 10/15 Targeting people in need, collapse of Washington Mutual, mass perjury, debt purchasing

Taibbi: Ch. 7: “Little Frauds” (313-352), Ch. 8: “Big Frauds” (355-384), Ch. 9: “Collateral Consequences” (387-412)

Reading accountability exercise

8 Friday 10/16 11:59 PM

Social advocacy preliminary bibliography due

9 10/22 Hearing voices of those impacted by “justice” systems

Blow: “Library Visit, Then Held at Gunpoint,” New York Times Coates: “Letter to My Son,” The Atlantic Coyne: “The Long Goodbye: Mother’s Day in Federal Prison,” Harper’s Magazine Hartman: “Christmas in Prison,” Harper’s Magazine6 al Hasan Moqbel: “Gitmo Is Killing Me,” New York Times

Reading accountability exercise

10 10/29 Conditions, Complicity, Winerip and Schwirtz: “Rikers: Reading

6 May require Interlibrary Loan request.

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Consequences

Where Mental Illness Meets Brutality in Jail,” New York Times Weiser and Schwirtz: “U.S. Inquiry Finds a ‘Culture of Violence’ Against Teenage Inmates at Rikers Island,” New York Times Schwartzapfel: “Sentenced Young: The Story of Life Without Parole for Juvenile Offenders,” Al Jazeera America Brown: “Behind Bars, A Brutal and Unexplained Death,” Miami Herald Erdely: “The Transgender Crucible,” Rolling Stone

accountability exercise Advocacy reading: 100 pages (know exact page count)

11 11/5 Conditions, Complicity, Consequences

VanNatta: “Conceptualizing and Stopping State Sexual Violence Against Incarcerated Women,” Social Justice Bruenig: “Why Americans Don’t Care About Prison Rape,” The Nation Sontag: “Transgender Woman Cites Attacks and Abuse in Men’s Prison,” New York Times Moore, “While We Focus on Shootings, We Ignore Victims of Police Sexual Assault,” Mic.com Flatow: “SC Prosecutors: Stand Your Ground Doesn't Apply to Victims of Domestic Violence,” ThinkProgress

Reading accountability exercise Advocacy reading: 200 pages (know exact page count)

12 11/12 Solitary confinement, rendition, torture, and the death penalty (sanctioned, non-sanctioned, and de facto)

McClintock: “Paranoid Empire: Specters from Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib,” Small Axe: A Caribbean Journal of Criticism Tietz: “Slow Motion Torture,” Rolling Stone Gutteridge: “Is There Freedom After Torture?” The Nation Cole: “Torture’s Global Taint,” The Nation Thompson: “Katrina’s Hidden Race War,” The Nation Poveda: “American Exceptionalism and the Death Penalty,” Social Justice Parvaz, “The Death Penalty: How We Kill,” Al Jazeera America

Reading accountability exercise Advocacy reading: 300 pages (know exact page count)

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13 11/19 Media and the Police-Prosecution-Prison Industrial Complex

Kelly: “Neocolonialism and the Global Prison in National Geographic’s Locked Up Abroad,” Critical Studies in Media Communication Yousman: “Inside Oz: Hyperviolence, Race and Class Nightmares, and the Engrossing Spectacle of Terror,” Communication and Critical/Cultural Studies Kim: “Pop Torture,” The Nation Bayoumi: “Disco Inferno: Enlisting Music in ‘Torture Lite,’” The Nation

Reading accountability exercise

14 Monday11/23, 11:59 PM

Individual social advocacy fact sheets due

14 11/26 No Class Thanksgiving Break 15 12/3

Group social

advocacy presentations

16 12/10 Group social advocacy presentations

16 Friday 12/11 11:59 PM

Individual social advocacy reflection reports due

Among the Topics/People We’ll Be Exploring: Abuse/brutality/torture of citizens, suspects, and prisoners Activism Bail Sandra Bland Michael Brown Civil asset seizure from suspects and their families Classism Conditions of jails/prisons Death penalty Drug decriminalization and legalization Employment prospects for returning citizens Extrajudicial capture, rendition, incarceration, and killing Families of the incarcerated Eric Garner Guantanamo Hunger strikes Immigrant detention and exploitation

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International imprisonment Juvenile “justice” Labor in prisons Lived experience of incarceration “Loading up” of charges Mandatory minimum sentences Trayvon Martin Mass incarceration Media representations of policing, prosecuting, and incarcerating Mental illness in jails/prisons Militarization of policing Overcrowding Political economy of criminal “justice” Police, prison violence Politics of mass incarceration Poverty penalties Pressure to plead guilty Privatization of probation, jails, prisons, and parole Racism Tamir Rice Sexual exploitation, abuse, assault Solitary confinement Stand Your Ground Torture Voter disenfranchisement War on Drugs

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Pledges, Expectations, Policies Critical Media and Cultural Studies (CMC) 325 Dr. Lisa Tillmann Students often pose questions already answered by course documents, on Blackboard, or via email. When you have a course-related question “check, ask three, then ask me”:

1) Check Blackboard, your email, the syllabus, this Pledges, Expectations, Policies document, and other relevant handouts and/or electronic materials;

2) Ask no fewer than three students enrolled in the class; then 3) Ask me via email, during office hours, or after class.

Pledges: you can rely on your CMC faculty to:

1) uphold the Rollins College Honor Code; 2) operate consistently and fairly according to Rollins and CMC policies; 3) treat you, your experiences, your views, and your work with respect; 4) arrive on time or early; 5) come to class prepared and excited about our time together; 6) encourage multiple viewpoints and dialogue; 7) make course concepts relevant to your academic and personal lives; 8) offer clear expectations; 9) give timely and meaningful feedback;

10) be available to you outside of class for course and/or personal assistance. Expectations: participation in this class requires that you:

1) uphold the Rollins College Honor Code; 2) stay connected, checking Blackboard and your Rollins email regularly; 3) complete readings and assignments before the start of each class; 4) let your professor know in advance if circumstances bar you from completing work on the assigned date; 5) attend every class meeting; 6) arrive on time or early; 7) treat your professor, each other, and our experiences, views, and work with respect; 8) participate with your whole being: intellect, body, and spirit; 9) refrain from engaging in unauthorized communication during class (e.g., no texts, Tweets, Facebook, or email). During class, computers (if allowed at all) only may be used for note taking and professor-initiated activity. 10) self-manage frustration, anxiety, and stress while in the sacred space of our classroom. Seek out your professor for assistance, but please wait until after class. 11) keep your office hour appointments, or let us know in advance when you cannot. 12) keep an open mind and support one another as we confront challenging topics .

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Academic Honesty and Dishonesty: Membership in the student body of Rollins College carries with it an obligation, and requires a commitment, to act with honor in all things. Because academic integrity is fundamental to the pursuit of knowledge and truth and is the heart of the academic life of Rollins College, it is the responsibility of all members of the College community to practice it and to report apparent violations. The following pledge is a binding commitment by the students of Rollins College: The development of the virtues of Honor and Integrity are integral to a Rollins College education and to membership in the Rollins College community. Therefore, I, a student of Rollins College, pledge to show my commitment to these virtues by abstaining from any lying, cheating, or plagiarism in my academic endeavors and by behaving responsibly, respectfully and honorably in my social life and in my relationships with others. This pledge is reinforced every time a student submits work for academic credit as his/her own. Students shall add to all papers, quizzes, tests, lab reports, etc., the following handwritten abbreviated pledge followed by their signature: “On my honor, I have not given, nor received, nor witnessed any unauthorized assistance on this work.” Material submitted electronically should contain the pledge; submission implies signing the pledge. Relevant examples include but are not limited to:

1) submitting work with non-attributed material (e.g., text, images, video). This is the most common form of academic dishonesty and usually involves cutting and pasting electronic material. Be diligent about this. A single sentence or photo may cross the line into plagiarism. You have two related obligations. One: if an idea you're putting forward (either as a quote or a paraphrase) is drawn from a source (article, book, film, website, etc.), you MUST cite that source. Second, your work must NOT include in-text and/or bibliographic citations for sources YOU have not read cover to cover. To help you ensure that your work contains only your original material and material cited correctly, we may use Turnitin.com. This resource will match your work against millions of other documents and allow you to see, before the deadline, whether your work properly cites all material. 2) delivering a presentation containing non-attributed source material. Cite sources as diligently as you do in written work. 3) self plagiarism: submitting the same work or portions of the same work for different assignments without prior consent of the professor/s. 4) submitting reading accountability exercises when you have not completed the readings in their entirety.

The following forms of collaboration are authorized and DO NOT violate the honor code:

1) approved/assigned group work 2) CMC 325 peer editing 3) use of CMC tutors 4) visits to the campus writing center

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Other forms of assistance (e.g., writing assistance from those outside our class) must be authorized in advance. This includes help from roommates, friends, parents, and other professors. Grading Scale: 94-100%=A 90-93.99=A- 87-89.99=B+ 84-86.99=B 80-83.99=B- 77-79.99=C+ 74-76.99=C 70-73.99=C- 67-69.99=D+ 64-66.99=D 60-63.99=D- <60 =F How Work Will Be Assessed: 0: no credit

1) violates the honor code F work: unacceptable

1) is turned in too late to receive credit, and/or 2) does not meet the assignment’s basic expectations/requirements.

D-, D, D+ work: below average

1) only marginally meets the assignment’s expectations/requirements, and/or 2) fails to include a major portion or portions of an assignment, and/or 3) has poor composition.

C-, C, C+ work: acceptable

1) meets the assignment’s expectations/requirements, and 2) includes all portions of an assignment, and 3) has acceptable composition.

B-, B, B+ work: good/solid

1) exceeds the assignment’s expectations/requirements, and 2) includes all portions of an assignment, and 3) demonstrates good composition, and 4) demonstrates solid analysis, and 5) demonstrates an emerging creativity and style.

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A-, A work: excellent 1) includes all portions of an assignment, and 2) truly exceeds the basic expectations/requirements of an assignment, and 3) has nearly flawless composition, and 4) demonstrates sophisticated analysis, and 5) is fresh, original, creative (i.e., is truly exceptional).

Expectations for Backing Up Work: Save all files in at least two places, preferably stored in different physical locations (e.g., hard drive of your computer, cloud folder). Late and Make-up Work Policy: Late/make-up work will be accepted in cases of documented emergencies. Unless prior arrangements were made (or were impossible to make due to an emergency), assignments are due at the top of class. Ten percent will be deducted from assignments submitted up to 10 minutes after the start of class, 20% up to 20 minutes, 30% up to 30 minutes, and so on. Because particular blocks of time are set aside for evaluation, late assignments may receive few comments. Please do not violate the sacred space of our classroom with reports like: “I ran out of toner,” “My printer malfunctioned,” “My computer crashed.” In fact, do not undermine the beginning-of-class state with any bad news short of, “The building is on fire!” If “life happened” since we last saw each other, please save it until AFTER class. Grades Queries Policy: With the exception of mathematical errors, all grade queries must be made via email at least 24 hours after an evaluation is handed back but no more than 7 calendar days. If you would like the professor to reassess your work, make an argument grounded in expectations for that assignment. CMC professors will provide guidance and feedback in advance of an assignment being due and will make ourselves available to discuss strategies for improved future work. Additional resources include your CMC 325 peers, the campus writing center, CMC tutors, and the Chicago Style handbook. Rollins Disability Policy: Rollins College is committed to equal access and does not discriminate unlawfully against persons with disabilities in its policies, procedures, programs or employment processes. The College recognizes its obligations under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 to provide an environment that does not discriminate against persons with disabilities. If you are a person with a disability on this campus and anticipate needing any type of academic accommodations in order to participate in your classes, please make timely arrangements by disclosing this disability in writing to the Disability Services Office at 1000 Holt Ave. Box 2764, Winter Park, FL,

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37289 or call 407-646-2345 for an appointment. The Director of Disability Services is Grace Moskola: 407-975-6463, gmoskola@rollins.edu. Credit Hour Statement: This course is a four-credit-hour course that meets three hours per week. The value of four credit hours results from work expected of enrolled students both inside and outside the classroom. Rollins faculty require that students average at least three hours of outside work for every hour of scheduled class time. In this course, the additional outside-of-class expectations are:

course and outside reading

reading accountability activities (e.g., fact sheets)

social advocacy research, document preparation, presentation, and report Course and Instructor Evaluation: At the end of each semester, students are asked to evaluate the course and instructor. These evaluations are extremely valuable in the teaching and learning process on our campus. Student evaluations help assess student perceptions of classroom learning and often lead to improved teaching. Your feedback is important and Rollins students are encouraged to be honest, fair, and reflective in the evaluation process. The online evaluative survey is anonymous. Students are never identified as the respondent. Instead, each student’s comments are assigned a random number. You will be asked to rate your course and instructor on a numerical scale and through narrative comments. The online Course and Instructor Evaluation (CIE) process opens at 8:00 a.m. on the first scheduled date. It remains open for a period of 14 days (2 weeks) until 12:00 a.m. (midnight) on the final scheduled date. The evaluation period ends prior to the start of final examinations and faculty cannot access completed evaluations until 10 days after the end of final exams. Students will receive one email at the start of the CIE period, one after the 15th day, and a final reminder the day before the CIE period ends. Students who complete evaluations for all classes will be able to view grades ten-days before students who do not complete an evaluation form. Conduct Policy: We will maintain a commitment to dialogue in this class. Divergent viewpoints and emotional expression are welcome and encouraged. However, degrading comments and passive or directly aggressive behavior will not be tolerated and are grounds for dismissal from the course. Attendance Policy: This is a discussion-based, collaborative learning class. While your professors understand that there are legitimate reasons for being absent, please keep in mind that, just like in many other life situations (e.g., employment, internship, a wedding or funeral), not being here is not equivalent to being here—no matter how valid the reason.

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Each of us is allowed to miss the equivalent of one week of class for no documented reason. Beyond that:

Class meets: Deduction from final overall grade for each absence beyond equivalent of one week of class:

3 times a week for 50 minutes 2%

2 times a week for 75 minutes 4%

1 time a week for 150 minutes1 6%

There are certain catastrophic situations in which the best course of action may be to drop the class. That said, in CMC we do our best to balance accountability and compassion. Exceptions to the attendance policy may be made at the professor’s discretion. An exception is most likely to be granted when no “grace” absence has been used frivolously.

1 As does CMC 325.