Comp 527: Grading Policies

Project(s): 30% (divided evenly)
Final project: 60%
In-class discussion: 10%

There will be two or three projects assigned at the beginning of the course. You should choose a partner and the two of you will be graded together. We will permit at most one group of three students.

For the final project, you may choose yet another partner. The details are below.

Late Policy

Due to the tight scheduling of this class, there is truly no room for slack. When one project is due, the next one is around the corner and is dependent on the previous one. As such, late work is simply not accepted. Period.

Of course, disasters occur and can be worked around. We are willing to make custom arrangements if you talk to us in advance of a deadline. If you see a looming time conflict, you must notify us in advance and we'll see what we can do.

Final Project Grading

The final project is pretty big. It includes a proposal at the beginning, a mid-term status report, a final oral presentation, a final paper, and (oh by the way) you also have to do the work. Rather than give you a precise grading breakdown, suffice to say we will show more sympathy if you've been working diligently all along.

The Flaking Partner Policy

We often receive complaints that somebody cannot find their partner, or that their partner continues to promise things that are never delivered. To address this concern, the policy is you flake, you fail. Simply put, if you disappear or are generally not pulling your own weight at any time during the semester, you get an F in the course right then. End of story.

If you don't completely flake, but are underresponsive, we reserve the right to design an appropriate (but still fair) way of redistributing points.

Of course, disasters happen that may pull you away from campus. You are responsible for notifying your partner(s) and the course staff if a major time conflict arises in your life. In the real world, you don't just disappear from your job for a week. You tell people you have to go. The same thing applies here. Likewise, if you feel you're going to need to drop this class, then do it between projects, not in the middle of one. Dropping the course in the middle of a project may be allowed by the university, but it's extremely rude to your partner. Be polite.

Dan Wallach, CS Department, Rice University
Last modified: Sun 17-Aug-2003 14:41