Students are expected to follow all rules and regulations found in the student handbook and published online.

 

Scholastic dishonesty shall include, but is not limited to cheating, plagiarism, academic falsification, intellectual property dishonesty, academic dishonesty facilitation and collusion.  Faculty members may document and bring charges against a student who is engaged in or is suspected to be engaged in academic dishonesty.  See Student Handbook, “Student Rights & Responsibilities: Student Conduct ([FLB(LOCAL)]”. 

 

Regular and punctual attendance is expected of all students in all classes for which they have registered.  On-line students are expected to log-in on a regular basis to get their work done.  It is the student’s responsibility to get assignments done by the deadline.  If a deadline is missed, it is the student responsibility to provide documentation as to the emergency for approval and judgement by the faculty member.  Approved college sponsored activities are the only absences for which a student should not be held liable and only when provided by a college official ahead of the absence.  Valid reasons for absence, however, do not relieve the student of the responsibility for making up required work.  Students will not be allowed to make up an examination missed due to absence unless they have reasons acceptable to the instructor.  A student who is compelled to be absent when a test is given should petition the instructor, in advance if possible, for permission to postpone the exam.  Students will be dropped from a class by the Registrar upon recommendation of the instructor who feels the student has been justifiably absent, or tardy, a sufficient number of times to preclude meeting the course’s objectives.    Persistent, unjustified absences from classes or laboratories will be considered sufficient cause for College officials to drop a student from the rolls of the College. From Board Policy FC (LOCAL)

Absence does not relieve the student of the responsibility for making up required work.  Dropping a course is the student's responsibility, but you MAY be dropped for excessive absence.  See Attendance Regulations in the North Central Texas College Catalog.

 

Last day to withdraw from this course with a “W” is November 8, 2018.

 

Learn Smart is due by the Due Date and no late work is accepted, since it is hosted off site.

Discussion responses will NOT be accepted late. Participation Assignments can be accepted one time, but ONLY until 11:59pm on the day AFTER it is due.

Research papers can be accepted late through e-mail, but there will be a loss of 10 pts per day.

Since Exams are open for 2 ½ days, there will be no make-ups, except for some sort of technical malfunction.

E-mail your instructor IMMEDIATELY if there are any problems with anything. DO NOT send e-mails asking to turn in your work, attach it to your e-mail and send it ASAP. The longer you wait, the more I take off.

Grades will post within 3 days of assignment closing, except for research papers and surveys, which can take up to 7 days, assuming there is no intervening factor that occurs.

The Office for Students with Disabilities (OSD) provides support services for students with disabilities, students enrolled in technical areas of study, and students who are classified as special populations (i.e. single parents).

Support services for students with disabilities might include appropriate and reasonable accommodations, or they may be in the form of personal counseling, academic counseling, career counseling, etc.  Furthermore, OSD Counselors work with students to encourage self-advocacy and promote empowerment. The Counselors also provides resource information, disability-related information, and adaptive technology for students who qualify.

For support, please contact the counselors at (940) 498-6207 or (940) 668-4321.  Alternatively, students may stop by Room 170 in Corinth or Room 110 in Gainesville.

STUDENT SUPPORT SERVICES

Counseling and Testing staff offer a variety of services to current and prospective students, such as College 101, placement testing, academic advising and course registration, transfer assistance, and College Success seminars (Time Management, Study Skills, Test Anxiety, Choosing a Major, Learning Style Strategies, Career Exploration), and much more. http://www.nctc.edu/StudentServices/CounselingTesting.aspx

 

Completion Center offers academic coaching, tutoring, including a Writing Center, a Math Lab and assist new students acclimate to college by providing computer lab services for prospective students.   First generation students can also participate in TRIO which offers specialized support services.

http://www.nctc.edu/StudentServices/SupportServices.aspx

QUESTIONS, CONCERNS, or COMPLAINTS

Name of Chair/Coordinator:	Crystal R.M. Wright
Office Location:	Gainesville Campus, Room 824
Telephone Number:	940-668-7731, ext. 4320
E-mail Address:	cwright@nctc.edu
Name of Instructional Dean:	Dr. Bruce King
Office Location:	Gainesville Campus
Telephone Number:	940-498-6464
E-mail Address:	bking@nctc.edu

Rumsfeld’s Unknown Speech

"As we know, there are known knowns. These are things we know. These are things we know we know… We also know there are known unknowns. That is to say, we know there are some things we do not know… But there are also unknown unknowns, the ones we don't know, we don't know." – Donald Rumsfeld

 

Discussions:

 

Every student is expected to participate in the weekly Discussions. We will only have 10 Discussions in between exams, but NOT the week of an exam. Dates are set to allow you some time to study without assignments before your exams.  Discussions will be on the Discussion Board, but will NOT show up on the Assignment Board, because if it is an Assignment, it will NTO allow you to respond to other students posting.  I want you to respond.  Due dates will show in the title of each discussion and should be listed in chronological order.

 

Your original response will be made and be at least 300 words long. It can be more if you wish. Make sure to reference your source material in some fashion, as you need facts to form opinions. Everyone should have at least 2 sources for their original response. Your original response is worth 10 pts. An additional 5 pts will be added for your response to another poster. Your response should be at least 100 words and be something more than agreement or disagreement. In other words, WHY do you agree, or disagree, with the person’s post?

 

Although there is no real wrong answer to these questions, you will NOT get points for fluff, opinions without facts, or extremely biased “just because” pieces. I will take off points for derogatory language, answers that are too short, poorly worded, or use little to no research.

 

Remember EVERYONE is entitled to their opinions, so there is no need to get nasty about them.  We can always agree to disagree, but the best opinions are those you can defend.

 

GOVT 2305 – Research Paper / Survey Project – Fall, 2018

 

Research Papers will consist of three 1000 to 1200 word essays from the assigned topics listed below.  Please choose your words carefully and make sure your paper is no longer than 1400 words with your citations.  Put your name at the top, skip a line and then start writing.  Be sure to focus on relevant information and not extraneous personal information like exact birth dates, siblings, pets, mother’s/father’s occupation, etc.  Make sure your discussion is significant to the topic at hand and researches/discusses both sides of each issue.  In your conclusion, discuss your own opinions on the subject; for or against, etc. and justify that conclusion! 

 

Make sure to cite ALL your quotes, and use APA or MLA format for citations/sources.  Failure to cite your quotes is plagiarism, and you will be counted off for that.  Also, do not cite more than 10%, or 100 words, of your paper.  Using encyclopedias and encyclopedic websites (wikipedia.com or about.com), or grade school websites, will count against you!  Do NOT quote your instructor or textbook.  This is supposed to be OUTSIDE research, so make good use of the books, magazines, journals, reports, and government/education websites.

 

Each paper or project is worth 25 points towards your final grade, and paper points are assigned as follows:

3 points – Is the length correct? 

6 points – Covered subject matter w/o grammatical, spelling, or sentence errors?

4 points – Is there a conclusion?  Was it a high quality conclusion?

4 points – 4 or more “good” sources?  (You will lose points for using wikipedia.com, about.com, or any encyclopedic site, as a source.  You also lose points for using your textbook or instructor as a source.)

8 points – Quality of your paper.  (Answers the questions, sticks to subject, no excessive              quoting, no awkward spots, and has good flow?)

 

Papers will be submitted through Canvas by 11:59pm on the day it is due.  If you miss the deadline, you can e-mail it to me, but I will deduct 5 points for EVERY day that it is late.  It is YOUR responsibility to make sure YOUR paper is submitted by the deadline.

 

Paper #1 Due October 8^th – The US Constitution gives everyone the right to Due Process.  What does that mean and where does it stop?  Some people want us to prohibit gun sales to those on the “No Fly” list, but there is currently no due process for those who are put on the list.  What Due Process should they get?  The Dallas Shooter recently was killed by a bomb carrying robot, and received no Due Process.  Several Americans have been killed by drones in foreign countries without Due Process.  Why did they not get Due Process?  What kind of society would we be without Due Process?  Discuss the Philippines, where you can kill a drug dealer without Due Process.  Conclude with your opinion of how much, or little, Due Process an American should receive, and where we should draw the line as to when you do, and do NOT, get Due Process.

 

Although your conclusion is your opinion be careful NOT to use “I” or “we.”  Personal pronouns are not to be used in a formal research paper, which this is, even though it is a bit short.  Just say it like you mean it, and it is a fact.

 

Two Options for 2^nd part of Research Grade – Due October 29th:

Write and Submit a Second Paper – What is your opinion of the two US Senatorial candidates from Texas, Ted Cruz and Beto O’Rourke?  What do they stand for, who do you think will win, and who will you support?  Sources for this assignment should be Cruz Campaign website, O’Rourke Campaign website and at least one news article about Cruz and one article about O’Rourke.

 

Although your conclusion is your opinion be careful NOT to use “I” or “we.”  Personal pronouns are not to be used in a formal research paper, which this is, even though it is a bit short.  Just say it like you mean it, and it is a fact.

 

Or Conduct 50 or more surveys with Eligible Texas Voters.  Surveys will be provided by your instructor, but you have to get 50 or more individuals to complete them before the deadline.  These will be non-partisan surveys about people’s political habits.  Any one is eligible to complete the survey as long as they are a US Citizen 18 years of age or older, living in Texas.  It is vital that they complete the entire survey and NOT leave out any information.  There are no wrong answers and we are NOT here to judge, but just to collect data.  Incomplete surveys will NOT be counted.  If a participant is NOT eligible to vote, or not of age, or is NOT willing to complete the entire survey, then thank them and move on.  (NONE of the information will be used for advertising purposes of any sort and will not be sold or given away.  It is all strictly confidential.)  I will provide a copy of the survey in an announcement, which you can use to make copies, or you can put on a survey monkey to collect the data, or I will make the cards and send them to you.  (Let me know if you want me to send you the cards, and provide me an address.)  If you send back hard copies, they need to be postmarked by the due date and sent to my attention listed at the address at the bottom of the syllabus. 

 

(This is NOT for everyone, and you can change your mind at any point.  Do NOT choose this option if you are going to just make stuff up.  If I find out you intentionally fabricated cards, I will give you a zero for the entire assignment, throw out all your cards, report you to the Dean for cheating and withdraw you from this class.)

 

Two Options for 3^rd part of Research Grade – Due December 3rd:

Write and Submit a Third Paper – What is your opinion of President Donald Trump so far?  Although he has only been in office for a bit over a year and a half, what has he accomplished?  Does he seem to be making progress on his promises to Make America Great Again?  Are his Cabinet picks working out okay?  What major legislation has been passed?  How are Foreign Relations working out?  Has the economy improved substantially?  What successes/problems do you see so far?  How has he been doing compared to other Presidents?  What do you think he will, or won’t, do in the rest of his term?  Conclude with your judgment/opinion of what you think/hope he will/will not do by the end of his first term.

 

Although your conclusion is your opinion be careful NOT to use “I” or “we.”  Personal pronouns are not to be used in a formal research paper, which this is, even though it is a bit short.  Just say it like you mean it, and it is a fact.

 

Input Your 50 or so Surveys into the Excel Spreadsheet provided.  For those of you who gathered your information electronically you can now put the information into an Excel spreadsheet for inclusion in the database.  For those who completed hard copies, I can either mail them back to you, or you can do the third research paper.  Look at the example of how to quantify the information for all 50+ surveys in the Announcement Section.  For example, a “Yes” answer will be a 1 in the spreadsheet, and a “No” is a 2, etc… (see example in the Announcement section).  It should be as simple as getting the info to transfer to an Excel Spreadsheet, then re-arranging the columns, then changing some of the answers from Yes or No to 1 or 2.  Open-ended questions will stay that way.  Once finished, send the completed spreadsheet to me through a normal email account.  Do NOT email them through CANVAS.  Once I am able to download the completed info into the database a grade will be awarded.  Grades will NOT be awarded until the survey info is secure, and the information has been successfully downloaded into the database.

 

If you have any questions, please ask!

 

 

Grading Scale: 900 total points possible

A = 801+ pts     B = 800 – 712 pts     C = 711 – 622 pts    D = 621 – 532 pts    F = 531 or less

 

Helpful Phone #’s for Flower Mound:

 

Admissions: 972-899-8430

Business Office: 972-899-8403

Counseling/Testing: 972-899-8412

Financial Aid: 972-899-8400

FM Director: 972-899-8402

Library: 972-899-8413

 

Kevin Davis: 972-899-8410

Email: kdavis@nctc.edu

 

Address:

NCTC – Flower Mound
Attn: Kevin Davis

1200 Parker Square
Flower Mound, Texas 75028