Policies for the course.

1. ENGL 102-07 1
College Writing and Rhetoric
Fall 2017, MWF 11:30-12:20, TLC 249
Instructor: Zachary Williamson
Email: zwilliamson@uidaho.edu
Office Hours: Brink 114, Monday & Wednesday 10:30-11:20, 1:30-2:30 *or by appointment
Deadlines
Administrative Deadlines
The university has certain deadlines of which you need to be aware if you want to drop the course at
some point during the term.
Monday, August 28th – Last day to add the course WITH a late fee.
Friday, September 1st– Last day to drop the course without a grade of W.
Friday, October 27th– Last day to drop the course with a grade of W.
Class Deadlines
As the term progresses, you will be given 3 major writing assignments along with your daily writing and
reading work. All of these assignments have a firm deadline. All late assignments will receive a point
deduction of 10% per day late. If you find yourself needing extra time to work on a major assignment
because of a legitimate circumstance, you may request a single extension during the semester for a
major assignment. The extension will be agreed upon by both the student and the instructor, but the
request MUST be placed with me 24 hours before the deadline of the assignment.
Attendance
Attendance in English 102 is mandatory. You can miss up to five class meetings unexcused in this course
without a penalty. However, upon your sixth unexcused absence, the highest grade you will be able to
receive will be a C. More than six unexcused absences for the semester is grounds for failing the course.
An excused absence is an official note specifying the days and reasons you were required to miss class.
Excused absences must be in writing from an official such as a doctor or a university instructor or
administrator (in the event of athletic events or field trips). You are responsible for making up all work
you miss due to absences.
Being in attendance means being physically present, awake, coherent, and fully prepared for class, with
the day’s assignments completed. If you do not meet all of these conditions, you will be marked absent
for the day.
Conferences
Throughout the semester, we will hold conferences in place of meeting in the classroom that week. If
you miss your conference time without rescheduling ahead of time, you will be marked absent for the
entire week, which will equal 3 absences. If the time you signed up for cannot work, please get in
contact with me before the meeting in order to reschedule.
Course Requirements
Major Writing Assignments
There will be three major writing assignments:
• Rhetorical Environments: Rhetorical and Narrative Research Project
• Critical Thought: Problem-Solution Research Project
• Identity Through Genre: Multi-Genre Project

2. ENGL 102-07 2
Daily Assignments/Homework
Free-writes: In this course, we will usually begin the day with a free-write in which you will choose a
topic to write about for 10 minutes. There will also be opportunities to create your own free-write
prompts, which will be put up on the board throughout the semester. Once every two weeks, you will
post one of your favorite free-writes on the discussion board on BBLearn, and others will be able to
comment on your writing in order to encourage a dialog between peers about writing. Free-writes will
be due on Fridays at midnight, and peer feedback will be due the following Wednesday.
For all major writing assignments, we will have smaller writing assignments that will help you generate
material for your major assignments in class. These assignments will be graded throughout the semester
as a part of your total grade. Throughout the semester, we will also hold conferences and check-ins to
keep updated on your progress.
Please note that the points that you lose for missing assignments add up quickly; i.e. you cannot pass
the course if you don’t do the homework assignments. These assignments are designed to help you
complete the major writing assignments and are in your best interests to develop better writing and
projects. Please be sure to take them seriously.
Revisions
In order to have as many opportunities for revisions as possible, you may revise one of your major
projects at your discretion. Revisions will be due one week after the graded project is returned to you.
To submit a revision, you must complete the following steps:
1. Review the grade sheet attached to the end of the Rhetorical Reflection for the project you
want to revise. Using the feedback from me, create a plan for revision. Meet with me in my
office during office hours to discuss your revision plan. You must consult with me about a
revision plan before submitting any revisions of a major writing project.
2. Revise your project.
3. Update your Rhetorical Reflection by explaining how the revisions you have made meet the
outcomes relevant to the unit, in addition to the criteria for assessing your growth and goals as a
writer.
4. Attach a copy of the original Rhetorical Reflection (with my comments on it) to the end of your
revised project.
5. Submit your revised project to the appropriate assignment drop box on BbLearn.
Please note that revision grades will replace the original score completely; the final project (Unit 3:
Identity through Genre) cannot be revised due to time constraints.
Grading
Because evaluating and assessing writing is incredibly problematic due to the subjective and unscientific
nature of assigning holistic scores to an individual’s writing, we will rely on outcome and growth based
self-assessment and negotiated contracts in place of traditional assessment.
In this course, grades will be assigned based on meeting the course objectives through completing each
major assignment, in addition to completing all of the required prep work (process points) in each unit.
70% of the points for each major assignment will be based on providing evidence through your work in
meeting all of the objectives for each assignment. The remaining 30% of points for your major
assignments will be based your personal growth and goals as a writer/“rhetor”. For these points, you
will need to provide evidence and justification to show the ways in which you have grown within
specified criteria beyond meeting the course outcomes. In this case, the goals in which you set for

3. ENGL 102-07 3
yourself will be individualized in order to fit the unique needs of each student. In each unit, we will work
as a class to define and specify the possible individual criteria you will use in assessing your personalized
growth and goals.
Throughout each unit, I will provide constructive feedback to you in order to guide you towards meeting
both the outcomes of the course and the individual goals you have set for yourself. At the end of each
unit, you will complete a Rhetorical Reflection in which you will justify and explain how your completed
work provides evidence that you have met the course outcomes and your personal goals within each
assignment.
You will receive scores on all three of your major assignments and on all your daily assignments. All of
these scores will be posted on Blackboard under the My Grades link (on the left side).
I will recommend a F in the course if you fail to submit any major assignments.
Rhetorical
Environments
Process Points – 50 Final Project - 100 Participation 1 – 50 Points Possible:
200
Critical Thought Process Points – 50 Final Project - 100 Participation 2 – 50 Points Possible:
200
Identity
Through Genre
Process Points – 50 Final Project - 100 Participation 3 – 50 Points Possible:
200
TOTAL POINTS: 600
If you withdraw from this course on or before Friday, September 1st, nothing will appear on your
transcript. If you stay registered for the course after that date, you will receive one of the following
grades. Only the first three are passing grades.
A
Represents achievement that is outstanding or superior relative to the level necessary to meet the
requirements of the course.
B
Represents achievement that is significantly above the level necessary to meet the requirements
of the course.
C
Represents achievement that meets the basic requirements in every respect. It signifies that the
work meets all of the outcomes for the course, but nothing more.
W
Stands for Withdrawal. This is the grade you will receive if you withdraw from the course after
Friday, September 1
st
but on or before Friday, October 27
th
. A W has no effect on your GPA, but
you can have only 20 W credits during your time as an undergraduate at UI (about six courses.
After Friday, October 27
th
, you can no longer withdraw from the course.
N
Stands for No Credit. A grade of N has no effect on your GPA, but it does mean that you need to
take the course again. You will earn a grade of N if you do not meet all of the required outcomes,
but you have done all the work for the course. You also must have made a good faith effort to
complete all the assignments. Handing in just any piece of writing just to avoid getting an F will not
work.

4. ENGL 102-07 4
F
Stands for Failure. A grade of F has a negative effect on your GPA. If you fail to hand in any major
writing assignment or do not make a good-faith effort to succeed at a major assignment, you will
automatically earn an F. If your average grade is an N but you did not complete one of the major
components of the course (one of the major papers of all of the homework assignments or drafts),
you will automatically earn an F in the course. There is no reason for receiving an F in this course,
unless you simply fail to submit the required work.
I
Stands for incomplete. Under very unusual circumstances you could be assigned an Incomplete in
the course if something happened to you within the last two weeks of the semester that made it
impossible to complete the course (a serious accident or illness that left you hospitalized and very
significant personal tragedy, etc.)
Course Etiquette
Classroom citizenship
The classroom is a learning community. Any behavior that disrupts this community will not be tolerated.
This includes speaking to other students while the instructor is talking, obvious sleeping, passing notes,
being rude or belligerent to the instructor or other students, etc. If you have a problem with anything in
the course, whether it is the course materials or the other members of the class, you may speak to me
about it privately after class or in my office hours.
Because of the personal nature of writing, I ask that you not only be respectful of other’s writing, but
that you contribute your voice in a positive and constructive manner to their work. Our goal as writers is
to grow, and each student has individualized needs as writers. We will be working frequently with
other’s work, so it is essential that you maintain a positive and constructive relationship with you peers
and their writing.
Technology
Since more often than not technological devices in college classrooms serve as distractions to you and
the people around you rather than as supplements to learning, we have a no-tolerance policy. All cell
phones should be turned COMPLETELY OFF and put away. Texting and taking calls is not permitted in
class. Unless you have been given explicit permission to use your laptop in class, all laptops should be
shut and stowed.
During class free-writes, any cell phone usage other than listening to music during the first 10 minutes of
class will result in an absence. There will be other times where cell phones, tablets, and laptops will be
allowed, but accessing devices during those times will be determined by the instructor.
Email etiquette
I certainly welcome your emails – if you have questions about the course, your work, meeting times,
etc., please don’t hesitate to contact me at the address listed on the Blackboard home page. However,
you should treat this as professional correspondence: that is, it should have a greeting, complete
sentences, and your name at the bottom. If not, I may choose not to respond.
University of Idaho Classroom Learning Civility Clause
In any environment in which people gather to learn, it is essential that all members feel as free and safe
as possible in their participation. To this end, it is expected that everyone in this course will be treated
with mutual respect and civility, with an understanding that all of us (students, instructors, professors,

5. ENGL 102-07 5
guests, and teaching assistants) will be respectful and civil to one another in discussion, in action, in
teaching, and in learning.
Should you feel our classroom interactions do not reflect an environment of civility and respect, you are
encouraged to meet with your instructor during office hours to discuss your concern. Additional
resources for expression of concern or requesting support include the Dean of Students office and staff
(208-885-6757), the UI Counseling & Testing Center’s confidential services (208-885-6716), or the UI
Office of Human Rights, Access, & Inclusion (208-885-4285).
Policy on Plagiarism
At the University of Idaho, we assume you will do your own work and that you will work with your
instructor on improving writing that is your own. Plagiarism—using someone else’s ideas or words as
yours own without proper attribution--is a serious matter. The Council of Writing Program
Administrators defines plagiarism in the following way: “In an instructional setting, plagiarism occurs
when a writer deliberately uses someone else’s language, ideas, or other original (not common-
knowledge) material without acknowledging its source. This definition applies to texts published in print
or on-line, to manuscripts, and to the work of other student writers.” (From “Defining and Avoiding
Plagiarism: The WPA Statement on Best Practices,” http://wpacouncil.org/node/9).
Self Plagiarism:
Turning in work you have previously completed for another course—either an entire paper or significant
portions of it—can also be considered an unethical use of your own work and can be considered a form
of plagiarism worthy of reporting as an instance of academic dishonesty. When you need to use words
or ideas from another person—whether an idea, a song, a video, a picture, a powerful statement, a set
of facts, or an explanation—cite your source!
Disability Support Services Reasonable Accommodations Statement
Reasonable accommodations are available for students who have documented temporary or
permanent disabilities. All accommodations must be approved through Disability Support Services
located in the Idaho Commons Building, Room 306 in order to notify your instructor(s) as soon as
possible regarding accommodation(s) needed for the course.
• 885-6307
• email at <dss@uidaho.edu>
• website at <www.access.uidaho.edu>