Jefferson County Community College

Watertown, NY

Summer 2015

Course Title: Biology 131 Principles of Biology I Lecture

Instructor Information:

Richard Thomas

rthomas@mvcc.edu

Office hours will be held immediately after lecture upon need

Attendance policy:

Summer courses are extremely condensed and fast paced. Each day is essentially a week of material. Your presence and attention will be needed for successful completion of this course. I do not use attendance as a basis for grading, but lack of attendance usually results in failure. If you must miss a class due to circumstances beyond your control, you should meet with me at your earliest possible convenience to determine what important things you missed.

Lecture materials:

Grading:

Lecture counts as 75% of your final course grade and your grade will be based on three hourly exams. The three hourly exams will be worth 100 points each. Although the material discussed in class will be emphasized in testing, you will be held responsible for and tested on any and all assigned reading. Please realize that the schedule handed out on the first day of class is tentative and may change as the summer progresses.

Please see the summer schedule for the dates of the exams.

Anyone seen cheating or copying from another person during an exam or a quiz will earn a zero for that evaluation. The penalty will be more severe for a second occurrence.

Absence from an exam or quiz:

There are no lecture exam make-ups given. If you have to miss an exam for a good reason, contact me at rthomas@mvcc.edu before the exam is administered. Please be sure to leave a phone number. If the reason for the absence is valid in my judgment, some alternative arrangement will be made. Documentation of your absence may be required. The opportunity for a make-up exam is not guaranteed. If you do not follow the above policy, a grade of zero will be assigned.

Classroom use of electronic media including cell phones:

The use of technologies not relevant to the classroom setting is prohibited. I do not want to hear ring tones or vibrations as this is disruptive in class. I also do not want to see anyone “texting” during lecture. Technology that is a component of the student’s learning environment is perfectly acceptable.