General Policies for Dr. Bryan Burnham’s Classes
(Current as of January 2008)
The following policies and guidelines are relevant to students in all my classes. These issues rarely arise during a semester, which is why I do not include them in my syllabi. If there are any questions about these policies please see me for clarification.
Requesting an Incomplete (I) Grade:
The granting of an incomplete grade is solely my discretion. Incomplete grades will not be given for upper-level topics courses (PSYC 300+). Students requesting an incomplete grade must have sufficient justification for my granting the request. ‘Sufficient justification’ includes, but is in no way limited too: (1) Medical emergency and/or long-term hospitalization including mental health (2) Emergencies involving immediate family members including death (3) Birth, pregnancy or abortion; this applies to male and female students (4) Active military duty. A student must provide me with proof in order to justify the request. If proof cannot be obtained, an incomplete grade will not be granted. Students being deployed on active military duty will be granted unlimited time to make up an incomplete grade.
If an incomplete grade is not granted the student must complete the course. The student is free to seek my assistance if it is the student’s desire. If a student is not given an incomplete grade and s/he opts to not complete the course, then the student will be graded based on the syllabus requirements.
If an incomplete grade is granted, then the student has one semester to complete the required work (except for active duty military students, see above). Because I modify my requirements occasionally, any student granted an incomplete grade must complete the course requirements relevant to the semester in which they were enrolled in my class. Students granted an incomplete grade may sit in on my class during the semester subsequent to that in which they were granted an incomplete. If the course requirements are not completed by the end of the semester following that in which the incomplete was granted, the student’s grade will be entered as an F. I will never grant extensions for any student that was granted an incomplete.
Requesting a Withdrawal from Class:
After the last day to withdraw from a class without penalty (generally the 6th to 7th week of each semester), I will not grant any student withdrawal from any course. This includes students who are not doing well in the course. It is my advice that any student that feels that s/he is struggling with the course material and is thinking about withdrawing to see me outside of class. If you are not doing well, then get help from me or someone else; don’t just give up:
“If there is no struggle there is no progress.” Frederick Douglas (1857)
Writing your own Essay Question:
It’s true: If you are really stumped on an essay question you can write your own question and answer it for partial credit. A student may do this once per test! If a student uses this option more than once on a test I will accept the first question and response; any student-written questions subsequent to the first one will assigned a grade of zero. (This is so I do not have too many different questions to answer.) It is unlikely that full credit will be assigned for a student-written question, because the essay question that I put on a test are asked for a reason; that is, it is what I believe will show your mastery of the material.
Arguing for more Points:
If you think that your answer to a test question should be correct, or at least receive partial credit, you are free to pursue your argument and challenge me. Generally, I only grant partial credit or more points if you had written something on your test when you first took it. Indeed, if you write a justification for your answer it is likely that partial credit may be assigned when I grade your test.
Requesting a Letter of Recommendation:
I will write a letter of recommendation for any student, but if you plan to ask me for one, be sure that you make a good impression on me. Students who rarely contribute to class and/or do not make an attempt to see me and impress me will not likely be written a letter. Indeed, I may deny your request if I do not have much to say about you, or if I have noting nice to say about you. (Don’t feel bad if I deny your request, you’ll find a sucker out there to write one for you!) Indeed, the best letters that I have written (and those that probably had the biggest impact on review committees) have been those written for my former TAs and research assistants, with whom I became much acquainted.
If I agree to write a letter of recommendation for you, please do the following ASAP:
(1) Send me an email with the subject heading: Letter of Recommendation for Your_Name
(2) In the email, list the contacts information, due dates and the specific programs for each institution that you need a letter sent.
(3) To the email attach (in doc or pdf) your most recent curriculum vita or résumé, a statement of academic and general interests, your post-graduation plans and/or goals, and why you want to apply to those programs. Also, list any extra-curricular activities that you were involved in.
(4) Get any required evaluation forms from the institutions to which you are applying to me. Be sure to include addressed envelops to the programs.
A tip: Always waive your right to review my letter before I send it; this shows confidence.
I always provide you with a sealed copy of your letter of recommendation. It is up to you to open this and look it over. Doing so has no bearing on a review committees’ decision to enroll you in their program; and even though you likely waived your right to review the letter, this does not mean that you cannot review the letter. You do still have that right.
Final Grades:
Like it says in my syllabi, final grades will not be increased based on student requests. I may, occasionally, alter a grade slightly (e.g., B+ to A-) for a student that showed extraordinary initiative, and contributed to class. In such cases, the obtained grade will generally be “teetering” on those two grades (e.g., 89.999%). However, requests for more extra-credit, test retakes and anything else to increase a final grade will not be honored. Best advice: Ask questions and see me for guidance, which is what I am here for, before something potentially becomes a problem.
My Discretion of Final Grades:
This has only come up once or maybe twice, where a student in one of my classes demonstrated no initiative, no discipline, no respect for me or the other students, no interest in learning, and no desire to succeed. In my opinion, those students did not even belong in middle school and it amazed me that they had made it out of grade school. So, when it came time for final grades, I did what I thought was best (no I didn’t fail them), I dropped their grades one full letter (e.g., B+ to C+). It was, and always has been, my belief that ability to master a course is part of a college course. I’m not saying that you have to be super-enthusiastic all of the time, and I am not saying that you have to like a topic or an entire course! But, what I am saying is that if you demonstrate to me that you have not mastered being a human being, then I don’t see why you deserve the grade that you have on paper. If I and a class had to suffer through a “bad student”, then s/he should have to suffer with a bad grade. I’m not trying to be a jerk, but just trying to be fair. I put a lot of time into making sure that the information that students receive is the best, accurate and fun to learn. It’s not fair to me at all when I have to suffer like that. (It’s what high school is for.)
Anyway, this is not to say that there is some hidden component to your grade that you can never know about. Your grade is based on the performance that you show on your tests, assignments, or whatever. But, if you are disruptive, show no initiative, are disrespectful to me or to the other students, don’t cooperate with your classmates, are self-serving, or whatever; your grade will suffer. If you are one of those students I will let you know in writing, state my case and let you know exactly what I am doing (honestly through, out of the several hundred students that I have taught this has come up once that I can recall and another time I vaguely recall). You may be surprised that the 1-2 times that this happened the student agreed. Calling someone out on their behavior helps to put things in perspective for them.
So in closing, be on my good side, not on my bad, and we’ll be just fine!
Use of Course Materials after Completion of a Course:
After completing my course, you may want to use some of my course materials in the future for studying or maybe even preparing your own course. If such a need for my materials arises, go ahead and use them! You don’t need my permission! Use the webpage though and link to my stuff if you want. If cannot find something that you used in my course, feel free to ask me for a copy; I may have archived it somewhere or modified the version that you had used.