Commitment to Diversity
New Century College, an intentionally inclusive community, promotes and maintains an equitable and just work and learning environment. We welcome and value individuals and their differences including race, economic status, gender expression and identity, sex, sexual orientation, ethnicity, national origin, first language, religion or irreligion, age and disability.
We value our diverse student body and desire to increase the diversity of our faculty and staff.
We commit to supporting students, faculty and staff who have been the victims of bias and discrimination.
We promote continuous learning and improvement to create an environment that values diverse points of view and life experiences.
We believe that faculty, staff and students play a role in creating an environment that engages diverse points of view.
We believe that by fostering their willingness to hear and learn from a variety of sources and viewpoints, our students will gain competence in communication, critical thinking and global understanding, aware of their biases and how they affect their interactions with others and the world.
Assignments
Late policy for writing assignments: 5 points for each day late. Readings are due the day they are assigned. As faculty assign readings primarily to encourage seminar discussion, you are expected to arrive in seminar prepared for seminar.
Attendance policy
The University does not require students to attend class and you cannot be graded based specifically on attendance. However class participation is fundamental to a learning community and your active participation is essential both for your success and for the success of the seminar and ring.
Grading Scale
A+ = 975-1000; A=925-974; A-= 900-924
B+=875-899; B=825-874; B-= 800-824
C+=775-799; C =725-774; C- =700-724
D =6xx; F=below 599
Policy on Honor Code and Academic Integrity
The integrity of the University community is affected by the individual choices made by each of us. This is especially true in New Century College. GMU has an Honor Code with clear guidelines regarding academic integrity. Three fundamental and rather simple principles to follow at all times are that: (1) all work submitted be your own; (2) when using the work or ideas of others, including fellow students, give full credit through accurate citations; and (3) if you are uncertain about the ground rules on a particular assignment, ask for clarification. No grade is important enough to justify academic misconduct. If you feel unusual pressure or anxiety about your grade in this or any other course, please talk with us or to a trusted friend or counselor to get your situation in perspective. The University provides a range of service to help with test anxiety, writing skills, study skills, and other related concerns.
Some projects are designed to be undertaken individually. For these projects, you may discuss your ideas with others or ask for feedback; however, it is not appropriate to give your paper to someone else to revise. You are responsible for making certain that there is no question that the work you hand in is your own. If only your name appears on an assignment, your professor has the right to expect that you have done the work yourself, fully and independently.
As in most learning communities and in many other classes, your final integrated group project is designed to be completed collaboratively. With group work, the names of all the participants should appear on the work. While you may find it necessary for different group members to take the lead on various assignments leading up to the integrated final group project, faculty expect that all group members will contribute equally and that the pieces will be conceptually integrated in the final product.
Using someone else’s words or ideas without giving them credit is plagiarism, a very serious offense. It is important to understand how to prevent committing plagiarism when using material from a source. If you wish to quote verbatim, you must use the exact words (including punctuation) just as it appears in the original and you must use quotation marks and page number(s) in your citation. If you want to paraphrase ideas from a source, that is, convey the author’s ideas in your own words—you must still cite the source, using APA format.
The re-use of papers, presentations, etc., from one course in another course is not appropriate. In every NCC course, faculty expect that work that is submitted has been done only for that class. An exception is made for materials included within course and year-end portfolios.