BSCI 1511L Statistics Manual: Syllabus III. Course Policies

1. Policy on excused absences

Attendance in lab is mandatory.  Teaching assistants will monitor attendance and record absences.  There is no special attendance policy for this course; the policies established in the Academic Regulations section of the A&S Undergraduate Catalog are enforced.  If you are not already familiar with them, you should read them at:

http://www.vanderbilt.edu/catalogs/undergrad/artscience.html

Excused absences with the possibility of make-up work will be granted by Dr. Baskauf according to the established college guidelines.  

  Except in the case of true emergencies, a possible excused absence should be discussed with Dr. Baskauf as far in advance as possible - you should not assume that an excused absence will automatically be granted.  This discussion should occur via email.  If you also discuss your situation verbally, please send a summary of the discussion via email to Dr. Baskauf.  An unexcused absence will result in a zero for any graded work that should have been performed for or during the missed lab.  

2. Late work

                Problem sets must be turned in to your TA at the beginning of the lab period on the day in which they are due.  Any assignment that is not turned in by the end of the quiz (or 5 minutes after the start of class on days with no quiz) is considered late.  Late assignments will not be accepted and you will receive a zero for the missing work.  Work that is late due to emergencies must meet the same college guidelines as excused absences and should be discussed with Dr. Baskauf.

3. Procedures associated with rescheduled or missed labs

If you do not attend your usual lab section because of an excused absence, please follow this procedure:

1. Print out the absence form linked below and fill it out.  If you are making up the missed lab on another day, separate the bottom part of the form.  If you are not making up the lab, indicate this on the bottom part of the form and leave it attached.
2. To the top section, attach a copy of the email from Dr. Baskauf excusing your absence from the lab, and the assignments that should have been turned in on the day that you missed lab.  Give these papers to your bay TA.  It is your responsibility to make sure that your TA actually gets these papers.  It is best to give the papers to the TA personally.  Do not put the papers in a mailbox, under a lab or office door, etc. unless you have made arrangements with the grader to do so. 

If you make up the lab during another section, give the bottom section of the form to the TA on the bench where you make up the lab so that they know who you are and why you are there.

Regrade requests for an assignment should be made using the form linked below and addressed to the grading TA (or to Dr. Baskauf in the case of a test). Regrade requests must be made within two weeks of the date on which the work was returned to you.  At the end of the semester, regrade requests must be made as soon as possible to allow time for grade changes to be included in calculation of the final grade. 

1. Who graded my paper?

Your bay TA grades all project components.  See the grade rotation schedule on the TA information page of this guide to find the grader of problem sets.  The grader's initials should also be at the top of your paper when it is returned.

2. Can I appeal this regrade?

Regrade appeals to Dr. Baskauf should be made only after a regrade request to the grading TA.

1. Hazards.

Most materials used during this course are not hazardous.  Hazards associated with particular experiments will be noted in the section for that experiment. Saftey goggles are not required for any expeiments this semester.

2. Eating in the lab

Do not bring food into the lab.  Please do not drink beverages (including bottled water) into the lab. 

1. Email use

All students are expected to check their email regularly and to ensure that they are able to receive email (i.e. that they are not over quota and that their default email address in the university system is valid). Occasionally important information (protocol changes, announcements, etc.) will be sent to all students in a section.  This will be done using the OAK email facility.  If you have opted to not provide your email address to the campus system, please send it to Dr. Baskauf so that you can be added to the mailing list manually. 

2. Lab notebook

Each student should keep a laboratory notebook.  The lab notebook should be used to record notes on each experiment; the data from the experiment and any deviations from the protocols in the lab manual, whether they were done on purpose or by mistake. These notebooks will not be used in the determination of your course grade.  Your lab notebook is important for you to answer the questions/problems posed in problem sets.  Many students prefer to use a looseleaf notebook so that they can keep their assignments there as well.