Policies and Services

This document highlights Strayers Student Policies and Services. Additional information is provided on iCampus and within the Student Handbook. Online Participation Policy To earn full credit in an online threaded discussion, students must have a total of 3 posts per discussion thread. Additionally, the posts must be made on two different days during the week. Please note that this change affects participation points only, and does not change Strayer Universitys Attendance Policy. Attendance Policy (For online courses) In order to be marked present, online students will now demonstrate weekly attendance and participation by completing at least one of the following actions as directed by the instructor: (1) submit an academic assignment; (2) take a quiz or an exam; (3) participate in a posted online academic discussion. Logging into the online class without active participation (as described above) will not constitute official weekly attendance. Participation activities will be tracked automatically in Blackboard. Attendance Policy (For on-ground courses) Students are expected to attend all regularly scheduled classes. Should absences be necessary, students are responsible for the material covered during the absences. Faculty cannot grant requests for excessive amounts of make-up material, and they may request written documentation detailing the reason for the absences. Excessive absences make it almost impossible for a student to meet the academic objectives of a course; they frequently cause a student to receive a lower grade, even though, the absences were unavoidable. Strayer University requires all faculty members to take attendance during each class period and to record it accurately on their permanent roster. This data is available for verification of attendance by the appropriate governmental agencies and educational accrediting organizations. A student who is absent from four consecutive class meetings, excluding holidays and emergency cancellation of classes, will be withdrawn automatically from that course. A student will be withdrawn automatically from a mini-session course when he/she misses two consecutively scheduled class meetings. Honor Pledge All work submitted for this course is subject to the Universitys Academic Integrity Policy available in the Student Handbook and the Universitys Honor Pledge, printed below: I have read and understand Strayer Universitys Academic Integrity Policy. I promise to conduct myself with integrity in the submission of all academic work to the University and will not give or receive unauthorized assistance for the

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completion of assignments, research papers, examinations or other work. I understand that violations of the Academic Integrity Policy will lead to disciplinary action against me, up to and including suspension or expulsion from the University. I understand that all students play a role in preserving the academic integrity of the University and have an obligation to report violations of the Academic Integrity Policy committed by other students. Academic Integrity Strayer University holds its students to high standards of academic integrity and will not tolerate acts of falsification, misrepresentation or deception. Such acts of intellectual dishonesty include, but are not limited to, cheating, plagiarism, fabricating data or citations, stealing examinations, using instructor editions of textbooks without authorization, taking an exam for another, tampering with the academic work of another student, facilitating other students acts of academic dishonesty, and resubmitting work completed in another course (with the exception of compiling previous coursework, if approved, into a Directed Research Project). Plagiarism Plagiarism means the act of passing off the work or ideas of another person as ones own. Plagiarism can be either intentional (for example, downloading a research paper from the Internet and submitting it as ones original work), or unintentional (for example, the single improper citation of another persons statement). Both forms of plagiarism are unacceptable at Strayer University, but the penalties may vary with the type and seriousness of the infraction. Turnitin Due to Strayer Universitys firm belief in upholding academic integrity and honesty, a contract has been signed with Turnitin, which is essentially software to detect and avoid plagiarism. Courses including essays, research papers, or any writing assignments as assessment items serve to evaluate not only the effectiveness of a students writing skills, but also a students research skills (including proper citations and references), critical-thinking skills, and ability to provide strong argument to support and defend their point-of-view. In order to effectively and fairly measure these attributes in a student, it is important to know that the student has submitted original work. This is where the Turnitin feature is utilized. Students are allowed to run their writing assignment through this software to detect any instance of plagiarism and then perform the necessary changes before making the final submission to their Instructor for grading. This opportunity allows the students to make corrections in their paper and submit original work. The Instructor reserves the right to run the students work through this utility again and, in the event of finding any level of plagiarism, may use his/her discretion to grade the students work. APA Style Strayer University uses the APA (American Psychological Association) Writing Style in all its courses which require a formal writing assignment. Instructors provide information on some useful resources in the course.

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Course Participation Guidelines for Students The University encourages open discussion within its courses and often asks students to draw from personal experience in their responses to course assignments. Though such information should be used only for educational purposes, the University cannot guarantee that such information will remain confidential. Students are responsible for knowing the applicable polices of their employers and others with regard to the sharing of confidential information and using appropriate discretion. Additional care should be used when posting to online discussion boards where written comments are preserved. The University is not legally responsible for any inappropriate postings through its online discussion boards (i.e. those that violate University policy, defame another person, etc.). In order to preserve an open discussion within the classroom environment, students may choose to not specifically identify their current or previous employers by name or withhold other similar identifying information. Questions or concerns regarding this policy should be directed to the course instructor or the applicable Campus Dean, Strayer University Online Dean of Students or the Dean of Student Affairs.

Grade Dispute Policy Disputes regarding grades may be raised only on FINAL grades. The student must dispute a final grade within thirty (30) calendar days after the end of the course for which the grade was awarded or the date the grade was awarded, whichever is later. After this time, the University will not evaluate grade disputes from the student. Grade disputes are subject to a 3-level review process. The student must first submit the grade dispute in writing to the instructor of the course for which the grade was received. The dispute must include copies of any documentation that supports the students request for a change of grade. Within ten (10) working days of receiving the students dispute, the instructor will respond to the student to explain the grade awarded and/or will provide a detailed written explanation that includes the final grade calculation as specified by the syllabus or course guide grading criteria. If the instructor is unavailable or does not respond within ten (10) working days, or if the student feels there is additional information that needs to be reviewed in response to the faculty members decision, he or she should refer to the Student Handbook at https://icampus.strayer.edu/publications/student_handbook for information on how to proceed. Inclement Weather Policy In the event of inclement weather, consult the Strayer University student website at https://icampus.strayer.edu/ for information on University closings and delays. Netiquette Since most communication in the online learning interface takes place in written form, it is

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extremely critical to understand netiquette (net etiquette) that covers a wide variety of conventions, all of which relate to maintaining a certain code of conduct in online communications. Strayer University strongly upholds its students, staff, and faculty to highest standards of conduct and expects all to demonstrate these acceptable courteous behaviors and practices in online communications as well. This is to ensure that the students, staff, and faculty experience a professional and pleasant virtual environment. There are several resources available over the Internet that discuss the definition and core principles of netiquette but, briefly, being respectful, thoughtful, meaningful, and ethical are all fundamental rules of netiquette. To review some detailed guidelines on Netiquette, refer to the website by the Responsible Use of the Network Group of the IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force) at http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc1855.txt?number=1855 or the book titled Netiquette by Virginia Shea (1994). There are several other resources and literature available on this topic both online and on print and can be searched via the Internet.

UNIVERSITY SERVICES Learning Resources/Library A variety of learning resources designed to help students succeed academically is available through the Strayer University Library and Learning Resources Center (LRC). Each campus LRC offers resources, books, and periodicals for research. Circulating books located at any LRC may be requested for use through the LRC Manager. Library resources are also available online, and can be accessed from any computer connected to Internet. The Librarys online databases and other research resources can be accessed after login through the Universitys website at https://icampus.strayer.edu/lrc/home. Tutoring Services Tutoring is offered for undergraduate level courses in subject areas such as English, writing skills development, mathematics, accounting and computer information systems. All students have access to these free tutoring services-whether they are taking classes at a brick-and-mortar campus or via Strayer Online. Tutoring services are provided by either a full-time or part-time faculty member with a strong background in the subject area in which he or she is tutoring. Campus based tutoring schedules vary slightly, but typically tutoring services are available Monday through Friday in the late afternoon and Saturday mornings in order to accommodate the needs of our student body. Students should check with their Academics Office for a tutoring schedule and information on how to schedule an appointment. Notice to Students with Disabilities Strayer University welcomes students with disabilities and provides reasonable accommodations, auxiliary aids and services in accordance with applicable Federal and State laws. A student with a disability is not required to disclose his/her disability to the University unless he or she wishes

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the University to provide a reasonable accommodation. If you desire accommodations for a disability in this course and have not already contacted the Director of Disability Services with your request, please do so immediately. Requests may be submitted to: Director, Disability Services, PO Box 710927, Herndon, VA 20171, Telephone: (703) 561-2057, Fax: (703) 5636223 or Email: adacoordinator@strayer.edu.

Security on Campus Any person in immediate danger due to crime or emergency while on University property should contact local police immediately by dialing 911. When the emergency has subsided, the victim should also report the incident as soon as possible to the Campus Director of the location where the incident occurred. The Universitys Campus Security Report is available on the Strayer University student website at https://icampus.strayer.edu/.

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