Grading and Attendance

Please review the grading and attendance policies below.

Grades

Faculty are required to submit final letter grades on WebSTAC in a timely manner, as you do your regular course grades. The urge to inflate grades is understandable but unfair to students. You should grade as you would on any Danforth campus course. Please consult with us if you have further questions.
Since students do not have access to the internet, we will provide a paper notification of their final grades.

Withdrawals

Withdrawals are issued at the discretion of the faculty. After the add/drop deadline, a student may withdraw from a course with the consent of the instructor. The withdrawal will appear on the student’s grade sheet as a “W.
On occasion, the faculty may initiate the withdrawal. If the student is ill or for other legitimate reasons misses more than two class sessions, the professor may decide to give the student a “W” for the course.
If a student is moved out of the facility in the middle of a semester, the student will typically receive a “W” for the course.

Incompletes

Faculty are strongly discouraged from giving “incomplete” grades. Please grade the student on the work that was completed or handed in. You may be able to change the grade later, if the student delivers additional work. Please coordinate with Jennifer about any students with extenuating circumstances.

Note:

Since students do not have access to the internet, they are unable to drop or withdraw from a course.
Please notify Rob Henke to have a student dropped or withdrawn from your class.

Plagiarism and Academic Dishonesty

Students in prison are held to the same standards as students on the Danforth campus. The student handbook, which the students receive when they enter the program, details the plagiarism policies implemented at Washington University.  It is also useful to include a statement about plagiarism and academic dishonesty on your syllabus. 
In general, students will receive an “F” for a course in which plagiarism or academic dishonesty occurs, although you have some discretion as the professor. Students may not submit the same work in whole or in part for two courses, without the written consent of the professor.

Attendance Policy

Each student in PEP is expected to attend all classes. Students should not miss class for work, for commissary pick-ups, for visiting hours, or other non-essential reasons.  There are, however, extenuating circumstances that may prevent a student from coming to class. When a student is issued a formal “call-out” to go to the hospital, for example, the student must honor the call-out.  Any other kind of absence will be subject to a strict two-absence policy.
In order to monitor the issue of absences, please take attendance. If a student has missed two classes, please notify us at prisonedproject@wustl.edu.
Even with a legitimate absence, the student is responsible for sending word to the instructor, receiving notes and assignments for the class, and completing all missed work promptly. Professors are encouraged to include the attendance and lateness policy on the syllabus.   Significant tardiness (one hour or more) should count towards a student’s absences.
For more serious behavioral infractions (e.g. fighting or talking back to a CO), students may be sent to Administrative Segregation (aka “the Hole” or “Ad Seg”).   Instructors usually hear  from other students when one of their classmates is in Ad. Seg.  For shorter stays (1-2 missed classes), you may allow students to make up missed assignments.  Students who are in Ad. Seg. for a longer period of time may not be able to complete the class or may be given partial credit. 
We will always attempt to send course materials to students in Ad. Seg., but we are usually not able to do so.  This means that deadlines must usually be extended if faculty and PEP Directors agree that a student should be allowed to finish the course.  These decisions must sometimes be made on a case-by-case basis, with course design and goals in mind.  Please consult with us if a difficult situation arises.  We can help to arrange make-up exams or relay course materials and late assignments.    
If a student misses enough classes to warrant a withdrawal, notify the student that he is being dropped from the class, and email us the name of the student so the Registrar can be notified.