Faculty
On June 13, 2007, President Powers approved a section of the Educational Policy Committee Proposal to Improve Course Availability for Undergraduates (D 3835 -3837) requiring that faculty provide students a course syllabus by the first meeting day of all classes.
The syllabus must contain the following items:
* Course name and number
* Faculty member name
* Faculty member office location and office hours
* TA name, office location and office hours if course has a TA
* Overview of course, including course prerequisites, and the subject matter of each lecture or discussion
* Grading policy, including whether attendance is used in determining the class grade, and whether plus/minus grades will be assigned for the final grade
* A brief descriptive overview of all major course requirements and assignments, along with the dates of exams and assignments that count for 20 percent or more of the class grade
* Final exam date and time
* A list of required and recommended materials, such as textbooks, supplies, and packets
* Course web site, if applicable
* The statement: “The University of Austin provides upon request appropriate academic accommodations for qualified students with disabilities. For more information, contact the Office of the Dean of Students at 471-6259, 471-6441 TTY."
The RTF Department suggests that you also include the following statements about Scholastic Dishonesty, University Honor Code, University Mail Policy, Blackboard Use, Undergraduate Writing Center and Religious Holidays.
The core values of The University of Texas at Austin are learning, discovery, freedom, leadership, individual opportunity, and responsibility. Each member of the University is expected to uphold these values through integrity, honesty, trust, fairness, and respect toward peers and community.
The University defines academic dishonesty as cheating, plagiarism, unauthorized collaboration, falsifying academic records, and any act designed to avoid participating honestly in the learning process. Scholastic dishonesty also includes, but is not limited to, providing false or misleading information to receive a postponement or an extension on a test, quiz, or other assignment, and submission of essentially the same written assignment for two courses without the prior permission of the instructor. By accepting this syllabus, you have agreed to these guidelines and must adhere to them. Scholastic dishonest damages both the student’s learning experience and readiness for the future demands of a work-career. Students who violate University rules on scholastic dishonesty are subject to disciplinary penalties, including the possibility of failure in the course and/or dismissal from the University. For more information on scholastic dishonesty, please visit the Student Judicial services Web site at http://deanofstudents.utexas.edu/sjs
The Undergraduate Writing Center, located in the FAC 211, phone 471-6222, http://www.utexas.edu/cola/centers/uwc/ offers individualized assistance to students who want to improve their writing skills. There is no charge, and students may come in on a drop-in or appointment basis.
The University of Texas at Austin provides upon request appropriate academic accommodations for qualified students with disabilities. For more information, contact the Office of the Dean of Students at 471-6259, 471-4641 TTY.
Religious holy days sometimes conflict with class and examination schedules. If you miss a work assignment or other project due to the observance of a religious holy day you will be given an opportunity to complete the work missed within a reasonable time after the absence. It is the policy of the University of Texas at Austin that you must notify each of your instructors at least fourteen days prior to the classes scheduled on dates you will be absent to observe a religious holy day.
All students should become familiar with the University’s official e-mail student notification policy. It is the student’s responsibility to keep the University informed as to changes in his or her e-mail address. Students are expected to check e-mail on a frequent and regular basis in order to stay current with University-related communications, recognizing that certain communications may be time-critical. It is recommended that e-mail be checked daily, but at a minimum, twice per week. The complete text of this policy and instructions for updating your e-mail address are available at http://www.utexas.edu/its/policies/emailnotify.html. (Optional: In this course e-mail will be used as a means of communication with students. You will be responsible for checking your e-mail regularly for class work and announcements.)
This course uses Blackboard, a Web-based course management system in which a password-protected site is created for each course.
You may find the need to use copyrighted material this semester: music, photographs, movie clips, or any other expression. For many of your uses, you need to find the copyright holder and negotiate a license. You own the copyright to the work you produce in this class. As a copyright holder yourself, you understand the importance of copyright ownership. It is your responsibility to secure music and archival footage licenses as well as artwork, location and personal releases. You will find release templates on the RTF website.
For some uses, however, neither you nor anyone else needs to license copyrighted material. This is because copyright law exists to encourage and support creativity. Copyright law recognizes that creativity doesn’t arise in a vacuum. As creators, we all stand on the shoulders of giants. New works of art (such as films, books, poems, paintings) all make use of what has gone before. Thus, copyright law not only protects authors with a copyright that lets them decide who can use their works, but also offers exemptions from the author’s control. For filmmakers, the most important exemption is the doctrine of fair use. You can rely on fair use, where appropriate, in the film and media projects you undertake for this course. If you are making a documentary film, consult the influential Documentary Filmmakers Statement of Best Practices in Fair Use (http://www.centerforsocialmedia.org/files/pdf/fair_use_final.pdf), which was created by a group of national filmmaker organizations, has been endorsed by the University Film and Video Association, and is now relied on by film festivals, insurers, cablecasters, distributors and public broadcasters. Fair use also applies in the fiction film environment, but not necessarily to the same extent or in the same way.
As always, the central question is whether the new use is "transformative" -- i.e., whether it adds significant value by modifying or recontextualizing the original. For more understanding, including information on when you can use works for free (http://www.centerforsocialmedia.org/files/pdf/free_use.pdf) without even using fair use, why you (mostly) don’t need to worry about trademarks (http://www.centerforsocialmedia.org/files/pdf/free_use.pdf), what is in the public domain (http://www.centerforsocialmedia.org/rock/backgrounddocs/copyrightterm.pdf), how fair use lawsuits (http://www.centerforsocialmedia.org/videos/sets/fair_use_case_studies) have been settled, and on how fair use has been employed successfully (http://www.centerforsocialmedia.org/videos/sets/fair_use_case_studies) in documentary film, visit centerforsocialmedia.org/fairuse