The standard ACC attendance policy will be followed (see the ACC Student Handbook for details.)  The ACC attendance policy allows absences up to 20% of the course or approximately three weeks.  In a 3-hour class, the maximum amount of absence is nine hours.  In a 5-hour class, the maximum is fifteen hours.  These absences may be used for illness, death in the family, court appearances, etc. Students will be dropped if they exceed the number of absences in the policy.   Students are discouraged from missing the maximum number of absences since this can significantly impact students’ grades.  

If an instructor is unable to meet the class, someone should come to meet with the class and give instructions.  If this does not happen, the class should wait ten (10) minutes for day classes and thirty (30) minutes for night classes, then sign a roll and designate someone to take it to the English Department Office (B206).  Decisions affecting the status of classes because of inclement weather are announced on the college web site and telephone system and various TV channels and radio stations.

The Student Code of Conduct section of the Student Handbook reads as follows.

 “Students are expected not to give or receive help during tests, projects, or homework assignments unless authorized by the instructor. Plagiarism is prohibited.  Plagiarism is defined as intentionally or unintentionally stealing words or ideas from another person, website, article, book, or any other source (published or unpublished), and passing them off as one’s own in a paper, speech, oral report, exam, quiz, project, or other assignment.  All borrowed phrases, sentences, and ideas must be attributed to any source(s) consulted.  The instructor directly concerned can address academic dishonesty and plagiarism in his/her course and/or file charges under the Code.  All plagiarism cases should be reported to the Dean of Student Development with a recommendation of ‘charges’ or ‘no charges.’  Sanctions which can be imposed by instructors at their discretion, based on the type of assignment and the content of the instructor’s syllabus, may include having the student repeat the assignment, assigning a lower grade on the assignment, assigning a “zero” on the assignment, assigning an “F” in the course.  Other sanctions as described in Part IV may be assigned as outcomes of the student conduct/grievance process.”

For a student to put his/her name a paper, a speech, or a homework assignment in an English course at ACC, is to claim ownership of that communication. The student is saying, "The words and ideas are my own, except where I have credited my source through proper MLA documentation."

There are three types of plagiarism to avoid:

• Global Plagiarism involves copying an entire paper from another source, perhaps by borrowing a paper someone else wrote or downloading one from an Internet site.  Cut and Paste Plagiarism, also called Patchwork Plagiarism occurs when the writer cuts and pastes words, paragraphs, and even pages from different sources to create a paper. The student may have written an introduction, conclusion, or even a few transitions, but copied most of the paper from sources.
  
• Incremental Plagiarism occurs when the writer composes most of the words, but does not properly cite or credit the sources or does not paraphrase correctly. Simply rearranging the words in the passages is not enough.  A paraphrase should be completely in the writer's own words.
  
• Students are responsible for understanding how to use MLA Documentation, which is covered in class, course textbooks, handbooks, and the laminated guide (included with the handbook). Students are allowed to submit rough drafts in many courses.  The department also uses an online plagiarism detection service to teach students to avoid plagiarism.  English tutors in the Academic Skills Lab are also available to help students learn to avoid plagiarism. Ultimately students are responsible for the integrity of their work.

Policies about class conduct follow guidelines listed in the Student Handbook.  Eating and drinking are prohibited in classrooms with computers.  Students are asked to listen attentively when other students or the instructor is talking.  If a student’s behavior is interfering with classroom procedure, he/she will be asked to leave and will be counted absent from the class.  An Arts & Sciences Disturbance Warning Form will be completed and if the disruptive behavior continues, the student will be dropped from the class.  Everyone deserves to be treated with kindness and respect in the classroom at all times.