Kareem Khalifa
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What are your expectations for writing a paper? What if I can't submit something on time? How do you grade participation? What should I do if I have to miss class to travel somewhere? What should I do if I require an ADA accommodation? Would you write me a letter of recommendation?
You can find them here. Also, please note that you don't have to send me an email asking if you can come to my office hours. Just come. Only send an email if you need to meet at some time other than my office hours.
What are your expectations for writing a paper? While specific paper assignments have further requirements, the following apply to all essay assignments:
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What if I can't submit something on time? All assignments should be submitted during the class on which they are due. Any assignment submitted late (i.e. after class) receives an automatic 10 percentage-point penalty. It will be penalized 3 percentage points for every subsequent day it is late. Hence, anyone submitting an assignment after class but on the same day in which it is due can earn no more than 90% of the total points; on the next day, 87%; on the next, 84%; etc. There are exceptions to certain deadlines (e.g., illness, family emergency); however they require a Dean’s Excuse. The Dean’s Excuse serves the following functions in my course:
A Dean’s Excuse does NOT serve the following functions in my course:
How do you grade participation? This is a general evaluation of the amount of effort and astuteness you have demonstrated to me in the course. Considerations that are relevant include promptness, attendance, quantity and quality of both contributions and questions in class sessions, responsiveness to other people’s comments in class, discussions outside of class, and appropriate class behavior. This grade reflects your performance in all of those areas of the course other than the graded, written assignments. If you simply attend all of the required courses, you will receive a 75 (C) on your participation grade. Here are some ways of improving that grade:
Participation also includes behaving like an adult. This includes exhibiting the virtues of civility, accountability, responsibility—particularly as these virtues apply to your education. For most of you, this is second nature. However, for the few of you who have not yet shed your adolescent tendencies, please note that failure to behave like an adult will be reflected in your participation grade. This includes taking the required initiative and responsibility of your workload in the event that you need a Dean’s Excuse. |
What are some emails that I can send if I want to tarnish your otherwise-sterling image of me? Different professors have different expectations about how they are addressed, and especially how they are addressed in email correspondences. I consider my norms to be “semiformal,” i.e. I expect some form of salutation with some acknowledgment that I’m a professor, but within those constraints, you can be fairly colloquial. For instance, the following are all perfectly good ways to start an email: “Dear Professor Khalifa,” “Hey Prof,” “Hi Dr. K,” “Howdy Most Esteemed Educator,” etc. What’s not acceptable is an email either lacking a salutation or failing to acknowledge the fact that I’m a professor. This reads as if I’m a waiter taking your order, which is not a good professor-student dynamic. Examples of bad email introductions include diving into your email without addressing me at all, “Hi,” “Hey,” “Hello,” “Hello Kareem,” “Khalifa,” “Hey Khalifa,” etc. Just so you know, I don’t reply to emails if they don’t follow these very basic rules of decorum. Similar rules apply in face-to-face interactions. Also, a general rule: most professors (including myself) don’t like to answer emails about logistical issues (how something will be graded, how to access a file, when something is due, etc.) in which the student could have read the syllabus, searched the internet, or asked a classmate in roughly the same amount of time it would take them to write and wait for a reply to an email. This is not a good use of your time (since you often could get the answer to your question more quickly with a little more effort) and it’s definitely not a good use of my time. If I do not reply to an email within 24 hours, assume that you’re guilty of this offense, and don’t expect a reply from me. All in all, I prefer face-to-face interactions, where we’re talking about the content of the course. So, wherever possible, you should try to meet under these conditions.
What if I have to miss class to travel somewhere? I realize that, in many cases, you can save a lot of money by leaving a few days earlier for the holidays. In these cases, if you give me at least two weeks notice, I will try my best to accommodate you; though the earlier you notify me of this, the better. Otherwise, it’s your problem, not mine.
What should I do if I require an ADA accommodation? Middlebury College seeks to provide reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with documented disabilities. If you need an accommodation because of a documented disability, please contact the Office of Student Accessibility Services. Please do so at the beginning of the semester.
Would you write me a letter of recommendation? I will only write you a letter of recommendation if you give me at least TWO weeks notice. |