Academic Integrity

Sometimes “academic integrity” is used as a synonym for “plagiarism.” I think of “integrity” differently. To me, academic integrity is the sum total of behaviors, language, and rituals that allow us to show respect to our peers and our predecessors in this academic subculture. The policies below aim to reflect that. Please think of each as a potential way to express your integrity. 

Plagiarism

Part of academic integrity is the recognition of others’ ideas as theirs, and of yours as your own. Copying and using other people’s words and original ideas without acknowledgment or citation is called plagiarism. All of your writing for this course should be your own, and if academic dishonesty is detected, serious consequences ensue—you may fail the project or entire course, and worst-case scenarios can lead to academic probation or expulsion. If you have a question about whether or not something is plagiarism, please ask. Sometimes that kind of conversation is an important first step towards taking an idea that has inspired your thinking and making it your own—something that’s at the core of what we’re trying to do in this class. Please also familiarize yourself with CCNY’s Policy on Academic Integrity. 

Attendance and Participation 

I expect you to attend every class, and will take attendance at the start of each period. However, life being what it is, I recognize that people get late and things come up. Attendance and timeliness won’t be measured into your grade until after four absences or eight partially attended classes (that is, a person who arrives after attendance has been taken). In such cases, each full absence will result in the deduction of one point from the end of term grade. 

If there are extenuating circumstances, like illness, that bear a conversation, let me know and we can see what can be done. 

Participation involves regular, active attendance in our class sessions and in our digital tools, effective collaboration with others, demonstrations of resilience, a sense of humor when things get tough, engagement with feedback from your readers, and a genuine curiosity about the work we have in front of us. Places I look for this include but aren’t limited to: helpful peer editing, generous blog replies, prepared conference attendance, invigorated involvement with readings and research, and otherwise unbridled curiosity and enthusiasm for the work we’re so lucky to be doing in this class. 

One place I look for this in particular is in your engagement with our start-of-class freewriting sessions. I expect freewriting to be a time to move the pen and work with language. That means you’ll be ready to start when we all start; that you’ll keep writing no matter what; that you won’t get distracted by a device or another person; that you’ll work through confusion in a productive, independent way; and that you share your work, in part or in its entirety, regularly. This is not to add pressure to the freewrite, but rather to build a sense of sharing among us. 

Access Statement 

Another part of academic integrity is access. This class and its instructor operate under the assumption that all of us learn in varied ways. Part of our work together will be examining some ways of “positioning” the identities of our narrating selves while/by describing our own (current, malleable) tendencies, habits, and personal traits. Even if you do not have a formally diagnosed disability, in this technologically distanced environment I welcome dialogue about what makes you most engaged as a learner—and what sorts of approaches aren’t working as well as they could. If you do have a diagnosed disability and are registered with the AccessAbility office to receive accommodations, please communicate this as soon as possible. If you need to register with that office, contact them by email at disabilityservices@ccny.cuny.edu. The registration process can take some time—having been both a student and an instructor who has required accommodations myself, I can attest to this firsthand. 

Diversity Statement 

Building on the above statement, and seeing diversity as a strength of our class, I should emphasize just how much we’ll learn from the different perspectives and experiences we each bring to the table. I’ll expect comments to respect CCNY’s written code of community standards. This is especially important if your class is interested in a social media space where I am not present, such as a WhatsApp channel. If you elect to form and participate in such a forum, I’ll ask a student to moderate that channel, letting me know of any possible situations that may not be aligned with those standards. This helps me facilitate our City College class and our virtual campus as “a place where all people are welcome, protected, and celebrated…a place where your experiences, perspectives and identity will be respected.” You can read the entire “We Are One CCNY” statement, from which that quote comes, here.

College Resources

One last way to think about academic integrity is this: students should have it, teachers should have it, but colleges themselves need to have it, too. One way colleges show integrity to their students is by offering support services. Certainly, COVID-19 has made college a different place. Below are a few college resources, directly or indirectly related to the pandemic and its impact on our overall success. I’m hopeful this information helps you navigate this semester more smoothly. For many of these transactions, you’ll need to know your EMPL / CUNY ID. You might also need to use your CCNY email address. 

• For online tutoring, contact the writing center here; in-person hours start 2/28:
• For virtual counseling services, email the Counseling Center or call them at (212) 650-8222. 
• For ways to use the CCNY library’s current services, check here. 
• For general information on COVID-related news at CUNY and CCNY, please check and read your CCNY email regularly. 
• For tech support, you can contact IT by emailing servicedesk@ccny.cuny.edu or calling 212-650-7878.  

→ I invite you to add to this list over the semester by emailing me resources that have helped you. 

Deadlines

Accountability is another form of integrity, and one way to show that is to meet deadlines. I strongly encourage you to meet deadlines. I set deadlines so that we can engage with each other’s work. Deadlines also help keep writing from being an overwhelming task. Deadlines are at the start of class, 2:00pm, on the dates listed unless otherwise noted. If you need more time with a formal assignment, let me know before the deadline arrives. With informal assignments, I just ask that you do your best. Missing one or two won’t impact your grading contract, but a pattern of missed assignments could. 

With formal assignments, I almost always grant brief extensions, usually 24-48 hours. Just be sure to contact me before the deadline. For shorter assignments, I will allow some time to get started at the end of most classes. I’ll also often suggest a time limit. If you don’t contact me before the deadline, you may still turn in the work, but I will mark it as late. For more on how this affects your grade, see the section of this syllabus on “Grading Contracts.” There you’ll find the definitions of “make-up” and “ignored” assignments. 

Basically: Keep me in the loop about where you’re at, and if we adjust an aspect of the assignment, be accountable for meeting your obligations. (For example, if you get an extension on a deadline, please meet it without reminding.) 

Conventions of Academic Work

We’ll do a lot of different kinds of writing in this class, but I wouldn’t be showing you integrity myself if I pretended that the main one we’re here to engage is academic writing, particularly the kind you’ll do in the social sciences. To do that, we’ll need to learn some conventions of that kind of reading and writing (literacy). Part of that is the exciting world of formatting and citation style.  

Other areas include conventions related to technology generally, to blogs, to email, to the letter, to grant writing, to public-facing work, to interviews, and more. Conventions, in all these instances, are not so much “rules” as “guides.” At all points, you’ll have opportunities to draw on your existing knowledge and ways of articulating, framing, addressing, and complicating problems. 

MLA is not just about how a paper looks. It’s about where the work falls in a bigger conversation—and part of that is the information you draw on to develop your ideas. These are your citations. Something we’ll talk and think about over time is citation practices—an idea that exists alongside citation formatting, in which the academic writer intentionally highlights certain voices.  

Formal writing assignments will have any additional formatting requirements in their instructions on the Assignment Sheet on our Commons site, such as options for completing the work in multi-modal ways or with translingual elements. If any formatting issues need to be addressed when you turn in the work, I will contact you at your City College email. Work that needs to be resubmitted for reasons of formatting should arrive within 48 hours or will be marked late.