CLASS ATTENDANCE & PARTICIPATION

Attendance has its privileges. Class attendance is an important part of succeeding in this class and is expected of all students. Class time provides an opportunity for you to ask questions, clarify issues, and deepen your understanding of the concepts covered in the text. If you are absent, you are responsible for getting any notes, assignments, and schedule changes made on that day. If you come in late, you are responsible for seeing that the attendance record is correct.

Above and beyond the expected class attendance, students are required to complete the readings as assigned (see course schedule) prior to the beginning of the class period. Demonstrated mastery of the assigned readings through class discussion is necessary to earn full participation points.

REQUIREMENTS FOR ISSUE PRESENTATION

Each student will select an article or video segment from a credible news source such as a major metropolitan newspaper or television news show. The student’s selection must deal specifically with a contemporary issue of local government. The student will then prepare a 3-5 page written summary and analysis of the contents. These article/video reviews should also include 2-3 questions to be posed to the rest of the class in order to stimulate class discussion. The article review will be presented to the rest of the class according to the schedule outlined in the syllabus and as arranged with the instructor. Students will be allowed up to fifteen minutes for their presentation and subsequent class discussion. In-class time for presentation may be compressed or re-arranged by instructor if circumstances warrant. Issue presentations will be graded on topic selection, presentation, summary, analysis, and discussion.

REQUIREMENTS FOR RESEARCH PAPER

Each student will write a 12-15 page, double-spaced research paper for this course. You will choose as your topic some issue that directly relates to contemporary issues facing local governments. While you must cite sufficient references to make your paper convincing, this assignment requires a minimum of ten references from outside sources. Students should follow an accepted style convention such as outlined in the recommended textbook by Scott and Garrison, The Political Science Student Writers Manual. The research paper is due at the beginning of class, Friday, December 10. Papers will be graded on topic selection, format, grammar, writing style, research documentation, research quality, content delivery, and analysis. Please refer to the discussion of plagiarism in the Academic Integrity Statement attached to the syllabus as well as page 148 in The Political Science Student Writers Manual.

EXAMINATIONS

There will be two exams during the semester. The first exam will be comprised of essay, short answer, listing, completion, or multiple choice questions. Make up examinations will not be offered except for documented emergencies. Even then, an alternate form of the examination will likely be substituted.

In case of school cancellation due to weather or other reasons during the scheduled time for the final exam, university policy will be followed in the assigning of grades, which in the past has included the professor’s best judgment to what the student has earned up until that point. Therefore, your best interest is to not depend upon the final exam to make up for previously poor grades. The final exam is comprehensive and will be comprised of essay, short answer, listing, completion, or multiple choice questions.

EXTRA CREDIT

Extra credit assignments, if offered, will be announced in class and offered to all students. A maximum amount of 5 percentage points of the total grade will be allowed for extra credit if offered.

ACADEMIC HONESTY

Cheating = Failure (please refer to the Academic Integrity Statement below and the attached Student Information Sheet and Syllabus Attachment). Cheating is unacceptable conduct and will result in an automatic grade of “F” for the course, and be reported to Academic Affairs. Students are required to do all of the work for this class on their own. Copying answers to exercises or examinations from anyone constitutes cheating. Allowing another student to copy one’s answers will be treated as cheating. Consulting with the instructor about any assignment does not constitute cheating and is encouraged.

The Political Science Department of the University of Central Oklahoma is asking all students taking political science courses to read the following Academic Integrity Statement. Our purpose in doing so is to ensure that all our students are aware of what is improper academic behavior.

Academic Integrity Statement

As members of the academic community, students are expected to recognize and uphold standards of intellectual and academic integrity. The Political Science Department expects that its students will conduct themselves honestly. This means, above all, that students submit for credit work that is the product of their own efforts. Principles of academic integrity require that all dishonest work be rejected as a basis for academic credit, and that students refrain from any and all forms of dishonorable conduct in the course of their academic work.

The examples and definitions given below are intended to clarify the standards by which academic honesty and integrity is judged. The list is merely illustrative of some of the more common infractions. It is not intended to be exhaustive. Any question a student has about what constitutes inappropriate behavior should be directed towards their instructor. The rule of thumb to follow is: If in doubt, ASK!

Definitions and Examples

Plagiarism - Plagiarism is presenting another person’s work as one’s own. Plagiarism includes not only the exact use of another’s words, word for word, but also the paraphrasing or summarizing of the works of another person without acknowledgment, including the submitting of another student’s work as one’s own. The student is responsible for understanding the legitimate use of sources, the appropriate ways of acknowledging academic, scholarly, or creative indebtedness, and the consequences of violating this responsibility. In case of doubt, give a citation of the author you are using. Failure to indicate the extent and nature of one's reliance on other sources is plagiarism. A plagiarized paper will result in a failing grade on the work in question, and perhaps, for the entire course.

Cheating on Examinations - Cheating on examinations involves giving or receiving unauthorized help before, during, or after an examination. Examples of unauthorized help include the use of notes, texts, or “crib sheets” during an examination (unless receiving instructor approval), or sharing information with another student either during or after an examination.

Falsification - It is a violation of academic honesty to misrepresent material or to fabricate information in an academic exercise or assignment (e.g. false or misleading citation of sources, the falsification of the results of experiments or of computer data).

Multiple Submissions - It is a violation of academic honesty to submit substantial portions of the same work for credit more than once without the explicit consent of the instructor to whom the material is being submitted the second time.

Turnitin.com Plagiarism Syllabus Statement: UCO subscribes to the Turnitin.com plagiarism prevention service. Students agree that by taking this course, all required assignments may be subject to submission for textual similarity review to Turnitin.com for the detection of plagiarism. All submitted assignments will be included as source documents in the Turnitin.com restricted access reference database for the purpose of detecting plagiarism of such assignments. Use of the Turnitin.com service is subject to the Terms and Conditions of Use posted on the Turnitin.com website. Turnitin.com is just one of various plagiarism prevention tools and methods which may be used by your faculty instructor during the terms of the semesters. In the UCO Student Handbook, there is a process for contesting any plagiarism allegations against you.

Issue Presentation Schedule