Grading System and Course Policies
Grading System
Revisable Submissions
Revisable submissions will be evaluated on each rubric criterion as High Pass, Pass, or Not Yet Passing to yield an overall outcome for that submission of
High Pass (100%),
Pass (80%), or
Not Yet Passing (0%).
If you revise a revisable submission effectively and follow the revision policies, you will earn a higher grade that replaces the lower one.
Non-Revisable Submissions
Non-revisable submissions will be evaluated on the rubric criteria and yield a single, final outcome of
High Pass (100%),
Pass (80%), or
Not Passing (0%).
Final Course Grades
I opted out of the university's plus-minus grading system. I assign whole grades, e.g., A, B, etc.
I grade on a slightly lowered percentage scale, so de facto "extra credit" or "wiggle room" is already built into the course.
I will assign final grades by using this percentage breakdown:
88% or more of available points earned: A
78% - 87% of available points earned: B
68% - 77% of available points earned: C
58% - 67% of available points earned: D
57% or less of available points earned: F
If you are enrolled in WRIT 2302, please remember that the course requires a grade of C or better to pass.
Note: Regardless of other performance in any course, a student who commits a serious act of academic dishonesty as defined by the applicable Bulletin, Student Handbook, or other university policy might be assigned a final grade of F for that course.
Course Policies
Revising Eligible Submissions
Q: What is revisable?
A: only work labelled (Revision Eligible)
Q: Who can revise?
A: anyone scoring below High Pass on a revisable submission
Q: How many times?
A: up to two revisions per revisable assignment
Q: What will be the final grade for the submission?
A: the highest grade earned across the original submission, Revision 1, and Revision 2
Q: Can revision opportunities be “banked” and used for more than two revisions of later assignments?
A: no
Submission and Revision Workflows
Original Submission
You Will
write submission where specified (most often: Rumi) and submit it in the appropriate Canvas dropbox
if the submission is a major project, ask me to comment on something specific
I Will
read, evaluate, and respond to the submission
major projects: substantial comments + answers to your specific question
other submissions: concise rubric-focused feedback
Revision 1
You Will
substantially revise
encouraged: meet with me before submission
submit a 350 ± 50 word Revision Memo (see below) that shows how you are now meeting or exceeding Pass on all of the assignment’s specifications
I Will
reread and re-evaluate
provide brief feedback
If the grade for Revision 1 is higher than the grade for the original submission, Revision 1's grade becomes the new assignment grade. If that's High Pass, congratulations: stop here. If that's Pass, you can choose to keep going—or not. If that's still Not Yet Passing, you should try again.
Revision 2 (meeting required)
You Will
meet with me before the Revision 2 deadline
submit, in the appropriate Canvas dropbox, a recap of our meeting to unlock the Canvas dropbox for Revision 2
submit a second substantial revision in the appropriate dropbox in Canvas
submit an updated Revision Memo that shows how you are now meeting or exceeding Pass on all of the assignment’s specifications
I Will
reread and re-evaluate
record a final grade for the submission with minimal or no comments
Deadlines
Separate due dates for the original submission, Revision 1, and Revision 2 will appear in Canvas.
Major projects will longer deadlines for submission and revisions; process assignments will have shorter deadlines.
Please stay on top of deadlines.
What “Substantial Revision” Means
Substantial revision is not just proofreading.
Substantial revision involves reworking the text for argument, organization, coherence and cohesion, synthesis, attribution, voice and style, mechanics, and other matters. If you just change a comma here and there, that is not substantial revision. If you rework, enhance, and reorganize much of the text, you are more likely to be doing substantial revision.
Required Revision Memo
Type the memo beneath your revised submission (in the same document) and use the header Revision Memo. Address:
What you changed
How you changed it (specific moves)
Why each change improves the submission (use “because,” “thus,” etc.)
How you responded to my original comments
Examples
“You indicated my evidence for X was weak and did not meet the "STAR" criteria. After rereading the assigned material and consulting a librarian, I added two peer‑reviewed studies (p. 3, ¶ 2) and one industry white paper (p. 4, table 1). These sources strengthen credibility because....”
“I mapped each paragraph’s claim to its supporting data. The map exposed two unsupported assertions, so I merged them and rewrote the transition for coherence. For example, ...
"You said that I did not do all of what the assignment required in the introduction because I omitted my personal connection to the subject. I added four sentences starting in the second paragraph to better explain this."
"You pointed out that I had not synthesized the conversation about X because I used only one source. I added Smith's argument and developed the rest of the paragraph structure when I wrote...."
Bullet points are fine if they are specific and substantive. If you have multiple instances of the same type of change, use your common sense and brainpower to address them without wading into every instance, e.g., You noted that I had four dropped quotes. I met with you and integrated the quoted material better. For example,....
Note: The revision memo is major evidence of learning and essential to all courses I teach. If you don’t submit the memo at all—or the memo is perfunctory, showing little effort to address the requirements—your revision won’t count and the previous grade will stand.
Meeting with Me Outside of Class
Posted Visiting Hours
Simply set an appointment with me by following my Calendly link. Choose a Zoom meeting or a face-to-face meeting in my office (Sorin 102).
At the appointed time, click the Zoom link in the Calendly confirmation email or come to my office (Sorin 102).
Other Hours
If you can't make it to my posted visiting hours, send me an email with a clear subject line asking for an appointment, describing in one sentence what you want the subject of the appointment to be, and proposing three days, dates, and times that you are available.
Right: Thursday, January 27 at 1:00 (includes the day of the week, date, and time)
Wrong: 1/27 at 1:00 (omits day of week)
Wrong: Thursday at 1:00 (omits date)
Wrong: Thursday (omits date and time)
Don't waste our time sending an email that asks if I have any time to meet with you, because all I can reply is something like "Maybe. Can you please follow the suggestions I give on setting up an appointment by proposing days, dates, and times when are you available?" Instead, do what I instruct above.
Please specify if you want a face-to-face or Zoom meeting. I may not be able to accommodate face-to-face meeting requests outside of my posted visiting hours.
If we set up a Zoom meeting, the link and passcode will be in the confirmation email.
Cancellations and No-Shows
If you need to cancel a meeting with me, even at the last minute, please go back to your Google calendar and cancel the appointment. That will free up the slot for potential last-minute use by another student, sort of like a last-minute deal you might get on a concert ticket or hotel room.
If you no-show an appointment without cancelling in advance, I may limit your ability to schedule future appointments.
Emailing me: Do Not Use the Fake Email in Canvas
Please do not use the Canvas message feature that looks like email.
Just use your regular St. Edward’s email and email me at drewml@stedwards.edu.
I will strive to respond to your emails within 24 hours M-F, during reasonable working hours. I am usually well within that target.
Feel free to email me after 5 pm or on a weekend so it gets off your mind and into my queue, but please note that I am unlikely to read your email after 5 pm or on a weekend.
The Peer Review Process
Read, and ask questions about, the peer-review specifications. You have two roles to play, with two graded components: writer and reviewer.
As a writer, aim to develop a “good-faith full draft” as defined by the specifications. Your total grade for peer review will be better if you have a good-faith full draft as opposed to a rough draft. You must have at least a rough draft to participate at all, albeit for fewer possible points.
As a reviewer, aim to provide specific, useful feedback to your partner.
Peer review cannot be made up if you miss it.
Late Work
I try to give you plenty of time to do your best work and to benefit from an invention—>drafting—>peer review—>submission—>feedback—>reflection—>revision cycle that supports your growth as a writer.
Submissions often have 11:59 pm deadlines to give you maximum flexibility. I strongly discourage turning in work late, except in two cases:
Freebie-one free late major project per semester.
Submit the project no later than 48 hours after the posted deadline.
You may use this free extension as a matter of right-no questions asked, no explanation needed.
Emergencies where you contact me, ideally before the deadline passes.
Sometimes, “life happens.” Unforeseeable, disruptive events that are out of your control happen to all of us–including me. I have kids, elderly parents, a dog that sometimes eats things that he shouldn’t, etc.
It’s best to handle emergencies on a case-by-case basis rather than to lay down some all-purpose rule.
If you think that you have a genuine emergency, contact me right away and explain what the situation is, so we can figure out how to proceed.
You can’t turn in a semester’s worth of late work during the waning weeks of the semester. Such an expectation short-circuits the invention—>drafting—>peer review—>submission—>feedback—>reflection—>revision cycle and is contrary to essential course purposes.
Grade Discussions
I use grades in part to signal to you how you are doing within the expectations of the course and the assignments. They are signals about performance at that time on that task, not referenda on your worth or your intellect. My main goal is to be honest in communicating with adults interested in learning.
During the Semester
If I make a mathematical or clerical error, speak up! If I overlook something you submitted on time or by agreement to submit it late, please let me know.
If after you reread my comments and your submission, you believe that my substantive evaluation (not just a math or data-entry item) is off-base, please set up an appointment to meet me. Because email is an asynchronous medium, it is not well-suited for a discussion of evaluation; let’s meet instead. Our meeting will focus on the notes you have taken based on my feedback, the assignment’s criteria and expectations, and evidence of performance identifiable in the submission.
After the Semester
After the term is over, if you believe that your final grade is “in error or academically indefensible” (to use the official wording), you must follow the grade appeal process and deadlines in the university bulletin (myHilltop>Academic Bulletins).
Attendance and Promptness
Come to class consistently. Prompt, consistent attendance is essential to your success. As the Undergraduate Bulletin explains, “St. Edward’s University considers regular attendance in all classes one of the important obligations of the student.”
If you are not prepared for class, and cannot participate meaningfully, I may deem that lack of preparation an absence. Please keep up with the readings and other work.
If you miss five class meetings, I will likely drop you from the course with a grade of “WA.” If you remain on the roster after the drop deadline and become a “ghost,” you will earn a grade of F.
Come to class on time and attend the whole meeting.
Everyone, including me, might be delayed from time to time for reasons that they can’t control. But you are an adult who signed up for a university course that starts at a particular time. Consistently arrriving late, especially more than a few minutes late, is unreasonable and distracting.
I have observed a high correlation between the set of students who consistently arrive late and the set of students who struggle, probably because they miss important announcements, information, or questions and answers. Everyone’s “default setting,” so to speak, should be to arrive on time.
If you have not marked yourself present on the sign-in sheet by the time I begin the class meeting by saying “Good morning” or “Good afternoon” or some such to the class as a whole, you are late. Late arrival or leaving early without excuse counts for half an absence. Of course, if you have some genuine reason to be late or leave early on occasion, please tell me and I’ll be reasonable.
That thing where students sometimes start packing up to leave five minutes early is out of bounds. I don’t hold you over late, but sometimes we work right up to the last minute (and sometimes we don’t).
Some activities take place only in class: “must be present to win.” Often, student questions or in-class activities generate explanations or clarifications on the spot that you should be present for.
If you are on a university NCAA athletic team, please see me to discuss any absences for games or matches. The athletics staff can assist you with providing the evidence that I’ll need.
If you miss a class meeting due to illness, don’t email me your private medical records. You still need to prepare for the next class meeting (if you recover in time) and to turn in your work on time (if able).
Don’t come back yet if you are contagious, though.
If your illness extends more than a day or a few days, then please do let me know when you are returning so I know that you are not “ghosting” the class.
You may also make an appointment with me for help getting caught up, but please understand that I can’t reteach entire class meetings to you. You will have to have done your best to come to the meeting prepared and with specific questions. I suggest making friends with a reliable fellow student who can help you catch up.
Participation, Keeping Class Productive
Bring your charged, university-standards-compliant laptop to class every meeting.
Be ready to participate and remember that you are in a face-to-face learning environment (so be mindful of those around you). If you are unprepared or a distraction, I may mark you absent.
Unless you are expecting a crucial call, put your phone on silent (not just vibrate). If you are expecting a crucial call and might have to step out of class briefly, that’s fine. Sometimes I am in the same boat–I have kids who have to check in with me or who get sick, I have aging parents, etc. When you are on your own, you probably use your devices to combine work and play and to toggle back and forth between various activities. I often do the same. In the classroom context, though, please use devices for relevant work.
During workshop and conference days, fulfill the expectations.
The Writing Center and Other Academic Support
Use the Writing Center. It’s a great resource for improving your writing on any writing task at any stage of completion.
Academic support services are available to all students.
See https://www.stedwards.edu/student-success/academic-support-services for details.
Academic Honesty
You may or may not be permitted to use generative AI technologies to help you do a particular assignment. See my Policy for Ethical Use of Generative AI Technologies. Note: the policy may be revised as new technologies emerge.
Nobody’s born knowing how to integrate source material into their own work. I will help you, but you have to ask questions. Be careful to keep the boundaries between your words and ideas and others’ words and ideas clear when the assignment calls for that. The Harvard Guide to Using Sources is required reading in most of my courses.
The work you turn in for this course must be your own. You must acknowledge your intellectual debts.
Please read the current university bulletin (myHilltop>Academic Bulletins) for the university’s policies and procedures on academic dishonesty.
Here is what the university suggests, but does not require, that I do about different kinds of academic dishonesty. I retain discretion.
Most student plagiarism is the result of ignorance rather than fraud, but I won’t get involved in mind-reading. It’s always best to avoid the problem in the first place. Ask for help. Use the Writing Center. Come to visiting hours.
Don’t turn in work that you prepared for another class without my approval first.
I don’t want to stop you from pursuing lines of research across your work, but you’ll have to revisit previous topics in a new, substantially different way to earn credit for continuing to work on them. You also have to respond to the assignment in this class, not an assignment in another class. The rule? See me first.
“504” Accommodations
Student Disability Services coordinates reasonable accommodations for students with documented disabilities (medical, learning, or psychological).
I encourage any student who believes that they may need accommodation for a disability, even temporarily, to follow the university’s procedures.
Contact Student Disability Services (512-448-8561, Moody Hall 155, or through the SDS website.)
I need the official “504 letter.” Share it with me in Box as soon as possible (ideally, in the first week of the semester) and also email me telling me to go look at the letter in Box. Box’s notification system is unreliable, so just sharing it in Box without also emailing me is likely to cause delays.
We will also need to discuss the letter in a brief conference, so I can understand how best to accommodate you. If we have worked together before, we won’t need a meeting unless something is different in the current semester.
Health and Counseling Center
The Health and Counseling Center is committed to ensuring that students receive the services that they need in order to be successful on the Hilltop. Its holistic approach emphasizes the importance of wellness for both body and mind.
The Health and Counseling Center is in Lady Bird Johnson Hall, Rm. 100. Its main number is (512) 448-8538; call during business hours. Please visit the HCC website for the latest offerings.
Sex or Gender Harassment, Discrimination, and Misconduct
St. Edward’s University is committed to fostering a safe, inclusive, and productive learning environment. Title IX, state laws, and university policy prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex and gender identity. Thus, sexual misconduct —including harassment, relationship violence, sexual assault, and stalking —is also prohibited at St. Edward’s.
The university encourages anyone impacted by or experiencing sexual misconduct to talk to someone about what happened, so they can get the support they need and the university can respond appropriately. But you should know that only some university employees can offer you confidentiality. I cannot. Please know that you can seek confidential resources at the Health & Counseling Center in Johnson Hall, 512-448-8538 or with one of our 24/7 off-campus partners: Hilltopper Helpline at 833-434-1217 or SAFE Alliance at 512-267-7233.
As a faculty member, I am a “mandatory reporter” required to report incidents of sexual misconduct that I “witness” or “receive information regarding the occurrence of” and thus cannot offer confidentiality—even if you ask me to. I must provide our Title IX coordinator with relevant details including the names of those involved in the incident or I will be terminated from employment and possibly prosecuted.
To make a formal report, you can contact the Dean of Students Office in Main Building, G 16, 512-448-8408, or go to the university’s Title IX webpage. Anonymous reporting is an option through the website.
To make a police report, you can contact the University Police Department at 512-448-8444.
The university will investigate reports of sexual misconduct and may need to override a request for confidentiality and pursue an alleged perpetrator in order to provide a safe campus for everyone.
If you have questions about university policies and procedures regarding sexual misconduct, please contact the Title IX Coordinator, Dr. Lisa Kirkpatrick, Vice President for Student Affairs, Main Building, G 16, 512-448-8425.
Campus Carry? No.
The student handbook specifies:
The carrying or possession of any type of weapon or firearm is strictly prohibited (a) on all university premises, including university parking lots and (b) at campus related activities, and (c) while conducting university business. This policy excludes law enforcement personnel and others who are storing such firearms in a locked vehicle in full compliance with Section 411.2032 of the Texas Government Code.
Please contact the campus police if you have questions or concerns and for updated information.
Complaints
The university maintains a comprehensive webpage regarding the complaint processes for various types of concerns. The required process for complaints about faculty (about halfway down the page) describes the university’s process.
That process requires you to meet with the faculty member first. But if you cannot work out your concern at that level, you can escalate the matter through the levels of administration.