CMPT 120: Policies

Late Penalties

• Assignments must be submitted before midnight on the due date. That is, before the next day starts--if an assignment was due on the 5th, and you handed it in at 11:50 p.m. on the 5th, it isn't late.
• Late assignments will not be accepted.
• There are no excuses for submitting an assignment late without penalty, except perhaps a doctor's note that says you were unable to complete the assignment any time between when it was assigned and due.

Academic Honesty

• Some examples of unacceptable behaviour:
  • Handing in assignments that are not 100% your own work (in design, implementation, wording, etc.), without proper citation.
  • Using any unpermitted resources during an exam.
  • Looking at, or attempting to look at, another student's paper during an exam.
  • Submitting work that has been submitted before, for any course at any institution.
• If you are unclear on what academic honesty is, see SFU's Policy T10-02.
• All instances of academic dishonesty will be dealt with very severely.
• Minimum requested penalties will be as follows:
  • For assignments: a mark of -100% on the assignment. So, academic dishonesty on an assignment worth 5% of your final mark will result in a zero on the assignment, and a penalty of 5% from your final grade.
  • For exams: an F in the course.

  Please note that these are minimum penalties. At the instructor's option, more severe penalties may be given/requested. All instances of academic dishonesty will be noted on your University record.

• The instructor may use, or require students to submit assignments to, an automated service that will check for plagiarism.

Exams and Tests

• Exams may be written in either pen or pencil. Calculators or other aids are not allowed.
• Final exams are not returned to students by University policy; they are kept by the instructor.
• If you miss a test or exam, you must present a note from a doctor to get a mark other than zero. Arrangements to make up the lost marks will be made on a case-by-case basis by the instructor. Make-up exams may be given as an oral examination.
• You must get a pass on the weighted average of the exams to pass the course.

Mark Appeals

Except for final grades, this is how you can go about getting your mark changed:

• If you believe there is a marking error, raise the issue with either the instructor or the TA.
• You should give a brief explanation of why you want your mark reevaluated.
• Be prepared to have the entire assignment/test remarked. This will be your mark, whether it is higher or lower than the original.
• Appeals may be made up to two weeks after the mark is returned or until the final exam date, whichever is first. After that deadline, you must make a formal mark appeal for any changes.
• For exams in particular, these are not reasons to get more marks:
  • I knew what I was saying here, but didn't write it.
  • This is the correct answer for some question other than the one asked, but I didn't get any marks for it.
  • I didn't understand the question.

Final Exam and Final Marks Appeals

If you're concerned about your mark at the end of the course, you can see the instructor. Here are some guidelines:

• You can come to the instructor's office at designated times to review your final exam.
• You can ask the instructor to reevaluate your final exam marking.
• The following are not good reasons to get a higher final mark:
  • I want it.
  • I think I deserve it.
  • I need it.
  • I'm close to the next grade cutoff.
• This is a good reason:
  • There's a marking irregularity on my final or some other piece of work.
• The marking scheme is fixed. If you did badly on a midterm, you can't weight the final more heavily.