Goal

This goal of this infor­ma­tion is to define the para­me­ters of course assessment.

Attendance Policy

• Each stu­dent is respon­si­ble for sign­ing the roll sheet at the begin­ning of class each day.
• Three (3) absences (with­out valid med­ical doc­u­men­ta­tion) are allowed.
• On the fourth (4) absence, a student’s final grade will be dropped one let­ter (from an “A” to a “B”).
• In order to excuse an absence, valid med­ical doc­u­men­ta­tion must be pre­sented to me on the next class period after an absence.
• No incom­pletes will be given except in excep­tional cir­cum­stances, com­plete with writ­ten documentation.
• Leav­ing pre­ma­turely from class will result in an absence mark being recorded.
• Uni­ver­sity drop pol­icy will be adopted.

Grades

• Stu­dents will have assign­ments test­ing your knowl­edge of and cre­ativ­ity with the var­i­ous aspects of typog­ra­phy and design. Stu­dents will also be tested on burn­ing CD-Rs or DVD-Rs, project pre­sen­ta­tion pack­ag­ing, var­i­ous appli­ca­tions, black/white and color print­ing, and FTP.
• An equal por­tion of your grade will also be based on class­room par­tic­i­pa­tion, which includes group dis­cus­sions, online and in-class assignments.
• Stu­dents will be assessed and graded at mid term, with a final grade being awarded at the end of the semes­ter based on a final port­fo­lio of all work com­pleted as part of the course. Stu­dents have the pos­si­bil­ity of improv­ing their grade, but resub­mit­ting work does not guar­an­tee a higher score.
• Quizzes will be graded on a 100 point scale, with all quizzes aver­aged to cre­ate a final quiz score.
• Approx­i­mate grades and gen­eral com­men­tary will be given at the end of each assign­ment. As part of the learn­ing process, it is up to the indi­vid­ual stu­dent to help me iden­tify and improve his/her work as necessary.
• Grades are cal­cu­lated based on atten­dance and the eval­u­a­tion of all work sub­mit­ted. The final score is cal­cu­lated based on the fol­low­ing ratio: Assign­ments = 70%; Exer­cises, Quizzes, and Atten­dance = 10% each.
• Work will be graded accord­ing to the fol­low­ing scale: A: 90–100, B: 80- 89, C: 70–79, D: 60–79, F: Less than 60.
• Work will be graded accord­ing to the fol­low­ing criteria:
• A: A good atten­dance record is manda­tory. All work is well crafted (straight, sharp, accu­rate, spelled cor­rectly). Con­cep­tu­ally, through the use of brain­storm­ing and sketches, work is appro­pri­ate, unique, inge­nious and dynamic.
• B: The main dif­fer­ence between and “A” and a “B” is usu­ally the con­cep­tual idea. Work has minor flaws (1−2 errors). Craft is con­sid­ered impec­ca­ble (straight, sharp, accu­rate, spelled cor­rectly). Good attendance.
• C: Work wor­thy of a C is usu­ally indica­tive of poor atten­dance. Work has major flaws (4+ errors). Craft prob­lems are obvi­ous due to lack of time and effort man­i­fest­ing in spelling errors and sloppy work. Con­cep­tual ideas may be weak.
• D: D work is also related to atten­dance. Work is incom­plete or did not fol­low direc­tions. If pos­si­ble, pri­vate con­sul­ta­tion will try to cor­rect the prob­lem. Final grades of “D” will be given under con­sul­ta­tion with the entire design fac­ulty. Stu­dents receiv­ing a Final Grade of “D” will have to retake the class.
• F: F grades are results of atten­dance or fail­ure to com­plete or sub­mit nec­es­sary assign­ments. Stu­dents receiv­ing a Final Grade of “F” must retake the entire class.

Late Work

• A missed cri­tique will result in being dropped one full let­ter grade per assignment.
• Stu­dents not present at the begin­ning of a cri­tique will be con­sid­ered absent and there­fore graded accordingly.
• If work is obvi­ously unfin­ished at a final cri­tique, this will also result in being dropped one full let­ter grade for that assignment.
• Stu­dents with late or incom­plete work will not be allowed to par­tic­i­pate in cri­tiques and will be asked to leave class for that day.
• Work is not sub­mit­ted for assess­ment will be awarded an F.
• Work not sub­mit­ted on time for Final Assess­ment will be given an F (zero points).
• Please make arrange­ment to turn work in early if you must be absent.