ATTENDANCE AND KEEPING UP ARE VITAL. You are responsible for what goes on in class, and missing hurts. In almost every section there are students who take attendance or daily study too casually, and find out too late that there's too much to catch up on. Missing, then catching up may work in other subjects, but it does not work in mathematics or computing courses. If you expect to miss a class, arrange for a classmate to let you use notes and pick up handouts for you. If something is going to be interfering with your attendance, let the instructor know.

It is your responsibility to know what you don't understand and get help with it.

If you think you may miss a quiz or exam, let the instructor know and it may be possible to take it ahead of time. Permission to take an exam later is harder to get and may require some kind of formal excuse, and/or a grade penalty. "Not being ready for the exam" is no excuse, nor is "my ride leaves (left) early."

It is Mathematics Department policy that full classes will be held on periods just before vacations. Permission for a makeup of a quiz or exam given on the period before vacation may not be granted, or may require some kind of formal excuse and/or a grade penalty. "Faculty members will announce to their classes that attendance by students is expected. Furthermore, instructional activities will be held that will encourage attendance by students." The math department does not allow final exams to be taken early except in real emergencies. These exceptions must be approved by the department chair.

GRADES will be based primarily on graded assignments, hour exams (usually four to six, depending on the course), and a final exam. Your current grade will usually be available to you within a day or two after each exam is graded. Students taking an undergraduate course (300 level or less) for graduate credit may be required to do extra work or be graded more strictly than undergraduates.

Check grading arithmetic. Save all graded work. Then if something gets recorded incorrectly in the grade book, you have the evidence and it is easily corrected.

WITHDRAWALS. Within about the first ten days (four days for an 8-week summer course), it is possible to withdraw without any mark on your transcript and without it counting as having tried to take the course. Later withdrawals will leave a withdrawal grade on your transcript and will count as one of the two times you are allowed to try to take a course. After a certain date early in the semester (about the fourth week), no withdrawals are possible.

INCOMPLETES are given only within the last three weeks of class (one week in summer), and only to students who are doing passing work up to that point and have an emergency reason, such as illness or accident. Incompletes must be made up within a year, or the grade reverts to a default grade decided by the instructor at the time the incomplete form is filled out.

DISHONESTY will be penalized. This includes copying on exams or quizzes, whether in-class or take-home, and making copies of proprietary software lent you for use in the course. On many take-home assignments working with others is encouraged, but you must be careful that you learn from it and don't just copy the work of others; you will be expected on exams to be able to do anything that was in an assignment. If there is any question whether working together on a particular assignment is allowed, ask the instructor.