The instructor and students as colleagues share responsibility for learning in this course. Students' class attendance, participation in exercises, meaningful discussion of relevant personal experiences and of the readings will contribute to their own and others' learning. Therefore, consistent class attendance and active participation are essential to our work together and will be reflected in the course grade.

Students are encouraged to read widely. Without a broad and critical examination of the professional literature, it will be impossible to comprehend the course content and to complete the assignments. Both the list of required readings (organized by class session) as well as a Core Reading List, are provided. This list may be further supplemented as the semesters progress. Although no one is expected to have read all the books and articles by the semester’s end, all students’ thorough familiarity with the literature should be reflected in class discussions and written assignments.

Grading Criteria for the School as a whole are spelled out in the Student Handbook. These are specific expectations for successful completion of HBSE courses. In general, students' grasp of the course content will be reflected through their attendance, demonstrated use of the readings, meaningful involvement in class discussions, timely participation online in the Blackboard discussions, and satisfactory completion of oral and written assignments.

Attendance: Students are expected to attend all classes and notify the instructor (via voice mail or email) if they will be absent. Absences should be no greater in number than the credit value of the course.

Timeliness: After the instructor has taken attendance, students who are missing are considered absent. Instructors are not to make exceptions to this requirement.

Participation: Classes include discussion and lecture. Relevant student contributions to class discussions reflecting required readings and assignments are expected.

Professional conduct: As a professional school, standards of appropriate ethical conduct are expected of students at all times, including in the classroom. Students should refrain from answering or making cell phone calls in class, and from reading or writing text messages on any portable electronic devices.

Completion of Assignments: Assignment deadlines are scheduled to make it possible for faculty to give ample attention to all assignments. Therefore, deadlines for turning in of assignments are required. Late work will be accepted only with prior faculty approval, and lateness will be weighed in grading.

Writing level for graduate students: Students graduating the MSW program enter the professional practice arena and are expected to communicate orally and in writing at a professional level. This includes care in preparation of written materials, responsiveness to guidelines, as well as appropriate skill in language usage. Unedited, misspelled, grammatically incorrect, or carelessly organized work is not appropriate or creditable. The Writing Centers at 68th and 79th Streets are available to all students, and should be contacted promptly by any student whose self-evaluation or faculty evaluation reveals a need to improve skills. Referencing style for all written work is by APA format throughout this curriculum. Instructional materials on this system of referencing are available in the library. Full referencing is expected in all written work.

Grading: The expected grade for this graduate course is Credit. Students wanting letter grades must give the instructor a request in writing by the third week of the semester. Once agreed upon, letter grading cannot be rescinded. Grades of Honors are reserved for students who demonstrate exceptional levels of work. Honors is equivalent to an A+ letter grade, and will be given for superior performance in all three of the following: 1) style and content of written work, 2) creative use of assigned and outside readings in papers and class discussions, and 3) quality of contributions to class discussions. Grades of No Credit are assigned due to a combination of poor quality of work on assignments; lack of class participation; and too many absences or lateness. Grades of Incomplete are tendered at the discretion of the instructor. Instructor and student must agree to a date for completion of the work. Failure to meet the agreed upon date will result in an automatic No Credit. Students who do not achieve Credit level work at the end of a course may not receive an incomplete grade.

Academic Integrity
“Hunter College regards acts of academic dishonesty (e.g., plagiarism, cheating on examinations, obtaining unfair advantage, and falsification of records and official documents) as serious offenses against the values of intellectual honesty. The College is committed to enforcing the CUNY Policy on Academic Integrity and will pursue cases of academic dishonesty according to the Hunter College Academic Integrity Procedure.”