Course Policies for Online Students

Course Policies for Online Students

Acceptable File Formats for Assignments

All written assignments for submission to MU Learn must be in Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx). Any presentations must be in Microsoft PowerPoint (.ppt or .pptx).  If you are using Open Office or Pages, choose “Save As” from the File menu and select the appropriate file format.

Style and Format

Use the style guide (e.g., APA, MLA, The Chicago Manual of Style, etc.) that is appropriate for the academic discipline of the course. If the preferred style is not identified in the syllabus, check with your instructor.

Assignment Due Dates

Weekly assignments are due by Sunday at 11:59 p.m. (PST) except initial discussion forum posts that are due by Thursday at 11:59 p.m. (PST).

Late Work

In order to promote time management skills, it is standard policy not to accept late work. In the case of a significant life-disrupting event, you may request in advance, an extension on assignment(s) from your instructor. In such cases, assignments submitted late are docked 5% for each calendar day through the sixth day. No assignments are accepted after the sixth calendar day late. No assignments will be accepted after the course ends.

Netiquette

Without visual cues, online communication can pose unique challenges not present in face-to-face communication. Multnomah University encourages you to remember a few guidelines as your online community engages in communication with one another to include, but not limited to, MU Learn, e-mail, messaging or other means of digital communication. Remember that we are all members of a learning community, each possessing innate dignity as an image bearer of God. Accordingly, our conduct and communication online should respect that image. Be professional in your communication. Be slow to anger. Back up your arguments with evidence. Speak always about the subject under discussion – refraining from judgments about the speaker. Respect disagreement. When disagreement arises, seek primarily to understand over being understood. Finally, if conflict arises that breaches these terms, do not hesitate to alert your instructor.

Rubrics

Many of your assignments including discussion forums utilize a grading rubric to provide a detailed description of the assignment expectations. The rubrics are also used for grading the assignment.  For this reason, review the rubric before you begin the assignment. To view the rubric for an assignment, click on the assignment in MU Learn and it will appear at the bottom of the page.  To view the rubric for a discussion forum, click on the discussion forum in MU Learn and then click on the gear icon at the top right corner of the page.

Web Conferencing Class Sessions

Multnomah University utilizes web conferencing software to engage you in multiple modalities of learning. Accordingly, your instructor may include in the course live, interactive, opportunities to engage you as a learning community via a web conferencing platform.  All live sessions are recorded for viewing later, without penalty, if you view the recording within 48 hours and submit the make-up assignment as described in the syllabus.  Your instructor will inform as to the day and time of these sessions.

Academic Honesty

Plagiarism is the use of another’s thoughts, words, or ideas without providing appropriate and complete documentation of your sources.  More specifically, plagiarism includes the following:

1. Copying all or part of an exam, paper, report, speech or other work from another person without giving credit to the original author or properly citing;
2. Submitting as your own, work that was actually done by another;
3. Allowing another person to revise and correct your work so significantly that you will appear to your instructor as more accurate or more skilled in your work than you actually are;
4. Incorporating passages in papers from a source book without using quotation marks and footnotes to indicate clearly what you have borrowed;
5. Using in reports or book reviews the opinions of another person as though they were your own original thoughts;
6. Unauthorized copying of workbook answers of any sort; and
7. Submitting an assignment that your previously submitted in another course without the knowledge of your instructor.

Any discovered breach of the above policy on plagiarism will be taken seriously and will result in the student obtaining a score of zero (0) for the assignment. Egregious or repeated violations of the policy may result in discipline, including failing the course, or dismissal from the University.

Extra Credit

The secret to success in a course is to do your assignments properly and to turn them in on time. Extra credit is something wherein a student tries to make up in quantity what was lacking in quality. For this reason, extra credit assignments are not offered or accepted.

Academic Appeals

Faculty members are individually responsible for evaluating the quality of student work and assigning grades. If a student believes that a grade for an assignment or course was undeserved, the student should contact the instructor within 14 days to discuss their concerns.

If the student’s concerns remain unresolved after discussing it with the faculty member, the student can bring the issue to the faculty member’s department chair or program director to seek resolution.

If after discussing the matter with the faculty member and chair/director, the student has the right to file a formal appeal to the faculty member’s dean. The following will apply:

1. An appeal must be made within 30 days of the grade being awarded.
2. An appeal will only be allowed after the student has attempted to resolve the issue with the faculty member and the chair/director. The student may be asked to provide evidence of previous attempts to resolve the grade issue with the instructor and chair/director.
3. The appeal must be in writing and clearly state the reason why the student believes that the grade is undeserved.
4. The dean of the school’s decision is final. If the dean of the school is the instructor involved, then the appeal would be given to another academic dean and that dean’s decision is final.

A successful appeal will depend on the student’s evidence that the instructor:

1. Was bias in their grading,
2. Failed to follow policy,
3. Provided inaccurate, confusing or misleading instructions, or
4. Made a mathematical error in grading.