Course Policies
This document outlines the Department of Communication's course policies. These policies are based in part on the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee's Faculty Document 1895.
This document is displayed on the bulletin board outside the administrative offices of the Department of Communication and in the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee library and student services office.
ACADEMIC MISCONDUCT
The University of Wisconsin Milwaukee has a responsibility to promote academic honesty and integrity. Academic misconduct is carefully monitored in all communication courses. Cheating on examinations or lab activities, turning in speech notes or papers which are not your own, or using someone else's print and/or non-print material without proper citation, collaborating on speech notes, papers, etc., all constitute academic misconduct. Such behaviors may result in the immediate failure of the course in which the misconduct occurs. Academic misconduct will be reported to the Investigating Officer of the College of Letters and Science and additional sanctions may be recommended.
ACCOMMODATION FOR RELIGIOUS OBSERVANCES
Students will be allowed to complete examinations or other course requirements at an alternative date and time if their participation in a religious observation prevents them from completing the assignment on the scheduled date. The student is responsible for contacting his/her professor, instructor, or teaching assistant during the first two weeks of the semester regarding the need to reschedule the assignment dates.
ATTENDANCE
Students who do not attend during the first week of this class may be dropped from the Communication course(s). The Department of Communication does not have a department-wide attendance policy beyond this first week period. Rather each Department of Communication professor, instructor, or teaching assistant sets a specific attendance requirement for each course he or she teaches. Please refer to the course syllabus for specific information regarding attendance requirements for each Communication course in which you enroll.
CHANGE OF GRADES
Professors and instructors may not change a course grade after the grade sheet has been submitted to the Registrar except for an inadvertent error in determining or recording the grade or in the case where the original grade was an incomplete. Any change in a student's grade or record, including retroactive change to drop, withdrawal, or incomplete, must receive the approval of the Dean of the School or College in which the student was enrolled at the time the course was taken.
CLOSED SECTION ENROLLMENT REQUEST
These forms should be forwarded to the instructor of the course. The instructor can use them to position students on a wait list. Exactly how this wait list is used is up to each individual instructor.
DROP POLICY
If you do not attend your Communication class during the first week of this class you may be dropped. You may drop the course with written approval of your Lab Assistant through the date specified in the schedule of classes. After this date, drops will be permitted only for reasons of extraordinary circumstances not related to academic performance in the course. To drop a Communication course after this date, you must obtain written permission from your communication professor or instructor and must also file a written appeal with your school/college advising office. Only if your Communication professor or instructor and your school/college approve will such drops be permitted.
EQUAL TREATMENT
The principle of equal treatment of all students is a fundamental guide in responding to requests for special consideration. No student shall be given an opportunity to improve a grade that is not made available to all members of the class. This policy is not intended to exclude reasonable accommodation of verified student disability or the completion of work missed as the result of religious observance, verified illness, or justified absence due to circumstances beyond a student's control.
FINANCIAL OBLIGATION
A student's submission of a registration form and his/her subsequent assignment to a class obligates the student to pay the fee-tuition on time for those classes or to withdraw his/hers registration in writing prior to the date specified in the Schedule of Classes.
GRADE APPEAL AND COMPLAINT PROCEDURES
The Department of Communication has established a policy and procedures to provide avenues for appealing a professor's, instructor's or teaching assistant's evaluation of a student's course performance or for voicing a complaint regarding a professor, instructor, or teaching assistant's behaviors which are considered adverse to the student. Appeals should be made following the procedures outlined in the Department of Communication's Student Grievance Procedure booklet. This booklet is available in the Department's main administrative offices located in 144 Merrill Hall. Grievances may be initiated only by actual parties to the situation which precipitated the need to grieve and must be initiated within 30 working days from the date of the action that provoked the grievance, except those occurring in the last three weeks of the semester or during a summer session. Grievances initiated in the last three weeks of the semester or during a summer session will be acted on in the first 30 workings days of the succeeding semester. Grievances concerning grades must be initiated within 30 working days after grade reports are issued.
Students should direct complaints to the Chair of the Department of Communication or to the Department's Grievance Officer.
INCOMPLETES
An incomplete may be given in lieu of a final grade only if the student has completed the course successfully until near the end of the semester/session but, because of an illness or other unusual and substantiated cause beyond his/her control, can not complete a final project/paper or examination. The student must be able to provide his/her Communication professor or instructor with written, verifiable and acceptable proof of a medical or family emergency. This proof must clearly indicate that the emergency prevented the student from completing the assignment(s).
PARTICIPATION BY STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES
Students who need accommodations to meet the requirements in any Communication course should contact the professor, instructor, or teaching assistant of the course no later then two weeks after the beginning of the course.
RECORD-KEEPING
For a period of one calendar year following the semester in which a course grade is given, Professors and Instructors are responsible for maintaining records that are sufficient to: (1) determine if an error was made in assigning or recording a class grade; (2) show that the grading conforms to the Professor's or Instructor's announced grading policy; (3) determine the grade for the student removing an incomplete; and (4) report the performance of students who attended for part of the semester. Faculty and instructors should preserve examinations and written assignments not returned to students as well as grade books. In the event a professor or instructor will not be available during this one year period, these records must be kept in the Department of Communication archive files.
REPEATING COMMUNICATION COURSES
Students are permitted to repeat a Communication course only once. If you would like an exception to this rule, you must contact the Chair of the Undergraduate Program Committee.
RESPONSIBILITY FOR EVALUATING ACADEMIC PROGRESS
The evaluation of a student's performance in a course and a decision on the appropriate grade is the sole responsibility of the designated instructor or instructors.
SEXUAL HARASSMENT
Sexual harassment will not be tolerated by the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Such acts subvert the mission of the University and threatens the careers, educational experiences, and well being of students, faculty and staff. If you believe you have been sexually harassed by a member of the instructional or administrative staff of the Department of Communication, you should contact the Chair of the Department of Communication, the Associate Dean of Communication and Humanities, or the Dean of the College of Letters and Science. If after meeting with one or more of these individuals you are still not satisfied that the complaint has been handled promptly or fairly, you should contact the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's Office of Equal Opportunity Programs.
Approved by the Faculty of the Department of Communication 03/29/95
Approved & revised by the Faculty of the Department of Communication, 09/17/97
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