Grades

Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.   —Albert Einstein

GRADING STANDARDS
Critiquing writing and multimedia either professionally or for class is a subjective process. Assignments will be judged on the criteria below. Also taken into consideration will be hard work and improvement over the course of the semester.

A	451-500 points	Superior in all or nearly all areas. Work is thoughtful, engaging and accurate. Requires little or no further editing or polishing. Intensive research. In-class discussion shows thorough understanding of concepts and issues, and participation is superior in quality of comments and synthesis of ideas. Excels beyond minimum requirements of course. Never misses deadlines.
B	400-450 points	Above average in all or nearly all areas. Overall, sound work that is generally readable, logical, interesting and accurate. Requires some editing and/or polishing. Thorough research. In-class discussion stays on point, and participation is above average in quality of comments and synthesis of ideas. Goes beyond minimum requirements of course. Rarely or never misses deadlines.
C	350-399 points	Competent. Decent effort, but work still needs a good deal more editing and polishing. Some holes in research. Rarely participates in class discussions. Sometimes misses deadlines.
D	300-349 points	Substandard. Fair effort, but work fails to meet competency standards in most areas because of errors, thin research, poor content and/or lack of effort. Rarely or never participates in class discussions. Often misses deadlines.
E	300-359 points	Unacceptable. Fails to meet minimum expectations in most or all areas. Assignments not completed or deadlines missed. Never participates in class discussions.

Deadlines
Deadlines rule the world of journalism. The pace of this course is quick, and that means frequent deadline pressure. The presses roll whether you overslept, have a cold or didn’t back up your data. Professional journalists make contingency plans for late nights, illnesses and eaten disks. The only way to teach this is to require it of you.

Unless otherwise specified, assignments are due at the beginning of class. If you’re asked to email me an assignment, the time stamp on the email will be the final determinant of whether you made deadline. If you turn in an assignment late, you’ll receive an E. No late work. No make-ups. No penalty for turning assignments in early!

An incomplete will be given only for an extreme emergency, such as hospitalization or medical certification by a physician.

Work outside class
UA standards call for six hours of work a week outside class for a three-hour course. Expect to spend an hour or two a week reading and writing a thoughtful response. In addition, you’ll be researching, reporting and writing or producing your final project over the course of the semester. Just coming to class won’t be enough for you to succeed. You must be willing to apply yourself to your fullest potential.

Accuracy
Accuracy is a key rule to live by in this class. Never ever make assumptions about anything you can’t verify. If you run across something you don’t think is right or needs to be corrected but you can’t fact-check despite your best efforts (and you need to make the effort), make a note in brackets, with a footnote or with a highlighter.

If you misspell a name or make a factual error, you’ll get an automatic E on that assignment. (You must fact-check every assignment you do.) Getting an E on an assignment isn’t much fun, but if you do get one, understand why you got it and don’t let it happen again.