Student concerns heading into fall exams
By Madeline MacIsaac, Robert Woodrich
Lance Writers
December 2, 2009
In the last few weeks, some additional academic concerns and questions aside from exam scheduling procedures and grade appeals have sprung up.
In this article, along with Reshma Kishnani, we’ll be addressing the most common of these issues.
Kishnani is an academic advocate with the UWSA, and she provides solutions for some potentially serious problems.
The university’s new policy regarding the H1N1 flu virus has left some students confused, and this can have an unwelcome outcome if misunderstood.
However, Kishnani makes clear that the policy is meant to help contain the spread of a pandemic, not to help us skip classes.
“The H1N1 policy was designed to accommodate students feeling ill and for general public safety,” explains Kishnani. “If a student feels sick is and going to apply the H1N1 policy to their symptoms then the policy deems that they stay home - which means not being present on campus.”
Kishnani goes further in revealing that students can be punished for coming to school on the day that they fill-out the online H1N1 form, although the policy can also be used in a student’s appeal if it is relevant and will be helpful to their case.
The form and all other official details can be found at: http://uwindsor.ca/h1n1/.
Questions surrounding the university’s policy on grades based upon participation have also been emerging.
We’ve heard rumours circulating that participation can account for anywhere from 5 per cent to 20 per cent of your final grade.
Kishnani points us to Senate Bylaw 51, section 1.4, which tells us that the latter number is correct:
“When class participation is included in the final grade, the proportion of the marks awarded for class participation must be reasonable in all circumstances, and in all but exceptional instances, shall not amount to more than 20% of the final grade.”
This means that as long as it was stated on the course syllabus within the first two weeks of class, sign-in sheets really can account for up to 20% of your grade.
Another hot issue is the use of plagiarism-checking website Turnitin.com.
In this case, Kishnani tells us that Senate Policy T1 outlines our rights regarding the use of Turnitin.com.
“Students should use this site to check their work for plagiarism if they are advised by their professors that it will be used, especially when it is clearly mentioned in their course syllabus,” says Kishnani. “This is outlined in the policy.”
As the policy states, your privacy and copyright are protected even if your name and student number are on the paper, because the site does not make papers available to outside third parties.
For more information, or to request details about a topic that we’ve covered in this section, please contact Woodrich, your Vice President University Affairs, at vpuauwsa@uwindsor.ca. |
