Class policies for AY2024

The below class policies are specific to the following courses taught/maintained by Associate Professor Paul Haimes in the College of Global Liberal Arts:

DESN1001—Introduction to Communication Design
DESN2001—Human Factors in Interaction Design
CIS2002—Computational Musicology
LAST2010—Special Lecture—Computational Methods for Social Sciences (Taught by Prof Rasit for AY2024)
Research Seminar (Design)

Students should thoroughly check the policies of all courses that they are enrolled in, as they can vary from course to course. Please read the following carefully.

Class format

Generally, all courses listed above will be on campus at Ritsumeikan's OIC campus. However, classes may be held online via Zoom (and/or other on-demand content) in rare cases, such as where your instructor is unwell (and doing a class online is more feasible than cancelling the class), or unable to come to campus due to interruptions in transportation networks. Students will be notified immediately, via Manaba, of any changes to the class format.

Courses DESN1001 and LAST2010 will have two weeks of asynchronous online content due to the shorter semester for certain courses in Spring. More will be explained in class.

Contacting your instructor

Email is the best method of contacting your instructor. Please do not use Manaba for contacting your instructor outside of class hours.

Some important points about emailing:

On weekdays, email inquiries will be responded to within 24 hours as a general rule.
Generally, emails sent after 6pm on weekdays, on weekends, or on public holidays, will be responded to on the following work day.
If it is the first time for you to email your instructor, make it clear which course you are writing about.
Please use your instructor's title and surname correctly in all email correspondence.
If your email is about the course structure, content, or assignments, it is recommended that you carefully check the course syllabus, course content, or assignment descriptions, prior to emailing your instructor.
Recognise that emails within a university setting to your instructors or university administration staff are formal, professional correspondence, so you should treat them as such ( See a list of professional email etiquette tips here ). Emails that don’t adhere to professional email etiquette will not be responded to.

What to expect from your instructor

The job of your instructor is to assist you in developing your understanding of the topics, and to help you develop your academic skills more broadly. Your instructor will also grade your assessments, which will include detailed feedback where appropriate. This feedback, which may seem quite critical at times, is intended to help you improve the standard of your work. If you need help, your first port of call should be contacting your instructor — it is their job to help your learning and do all that is feasibly possible to assist you.

What is expected of you

By taking this course, you are committing yourself to the following:

reading all of the course materials
contributing to class discussions
completing the course assessment items

You should plan to spend about four hours on two-credit courses each week, or about eight hours on four credit courses each week, outside of class. You will find that most of that time should be spent reading and thinking about the course material, and working on the assessment items. It is expected that you come to class having done any necessary preparation in advance.

Regarding electronic devices

As a general rule, you should not use electronic devices in class, with the exception of using laptops for the portion of the classes where we are doing course-related tasks. When taking notes in class, paper is best, though tablet devices are OK if you are taking notes with a stylus pen. Phones are immensely distracting to you, those around you, and your instructor(s), and it is recommended that you leave them in your bag during the class period.

Further advice to assist you in your learning

GLA is a small but strong learning community—support your peers and participate positively.
The course instructor will be there to facilitate your learning. Visit him/her during Office Hours which are listed on Manaba+R (and also here ).
You are strongly encouraged to visit the Academic Advising Center (AAC). The AAC supports students in planning their program of study at GLA. For more detail of the AAC, see “Academic Advising Syllabus” at http://en.ritsumei.ac.jp/gla2-e/file/academics/courses/forms/fall_2021_academic_advising_syllabus.pdf .

Attendance

Attendance in all courses is a crucial part of students’ learning at GLA. Students are expected to attend all classes, workshops, and other course activities, and are responsible for knowing all information and meeting all deadlines in the case of any absence.

Makeup assessments will only be granted if the student contacts the instructor prior to the assessment being held, and evidence of illness, train delay, or other extenuating circumstances, will be mandatory.

Students should consult Academic Handbook (For All Undergraduate Students) on the GLA website: Section III for the University policy on ‘Taking Courses at Ritsumeikan University’, in particular 3.1 “Official Absence”, 3.2 “Special Considerations in Cases Other than Official Absence, and 3.3 “Handling of Students with Infectious Diseases”. Please also see https://www.ritsumei.ac.jp/pathways-future/eng/course/absence.html/.

Assignment submission

All assignments are to be submitted electronically and should be uploaded to manaba+R.

Due to the 20MB limit on Manaba, students may upload larger files to their Microsoft OneDrive account and share a link with their instructor. More will be explained in classes where this file size limit is relevant.

Students are not allowed to submit assignments for this course if they have been submitted in other courses.

Important notices regarding assignment work

All submitted work will be checked for plagiarism. Any suspected plagiarism will be investigated and may result in an F for the assignment and/or the course. Please read the section on academic misconduct thoroughly.
Using artificial intelligence sources (Such as ChatGPT, Google Bard/Gemini, or similar applications) to write part or all of assignment work is strictly prohibited, and will also be subject to an academic misconduct investigation. If you wish to utilise such AI applications in your studies, such as for planning or researching purposes, please speak to your instructor.
File management is your responsibility. Check that your submission is complete and in the correct format before the deadline. If any components are missing, or are unable to be read or executed in the necessary format, it may adversely affect your grade, and could result in a zero for the assessment. Save and back up your work regularly.

Late policy

Students are responsible for meeting all deadlines as set by the course instructor. If a student cannot meet the submission deadline as specified by the course instructor the assignment will be deducted 5% (per 100 marks) for each 24 hour period passed. Any submission within a 24 hour period counts as the entirety of that period. Assignments will not be accepted for evaluation if the assignment is submitted five or more days late unless specified otherwise by the course instructor. Late assignments may receive fewer comments as feedback.

Furthermore, students should realise that deadlines are not just for students, but for instructors to help manage their time. Late assignments are frankly an inconvenience, and instructors are doing you a favour when they accept work submitted late. It's expected that students provide a compelling reason why they are submitting work late.

In the case of request for a makeup assessment or extension due to extenuating circumstances, students must consult the instructor in charge of the course. In such cases, students should contact the instructor prior to the deadline or in-class assessments. See the Attendance policy for more on makeup assessments.

Academic misconduct

The College of Global Liberal Arts is committed to upholding the highest standards of academic integrity. All students are responsible for understanding what behavior upholds and violates these standards, and for avoiding and reporting any academic misconduct within the College. The GLA Policy on Academic Misconduct is available at http://en.ritsumei.ac.jp/gla/academics/policies/academic_misconduct/ .

Plagiarism is one of the forms of academic misconduct. To avoid unintentional plagiarism students are recommended to consult resources on academic writing: for example, Gordon Harvey, Writing with Sources: A Guide for Students (Hackett Publishing Company, 2017).

For specific information on the rules about final examinations and report examinations, see Academic Handbook (For All Undergraduate Students) on the GLA website, III. Taking Courses at Ritsumeikan University, 5.1 “Final Examinations”; 5.2 “Acts of Academic Dishonesty” and 5.3 “Report Examinations”.

Note that students who are caught plagiarising in the course forfeit their right to detailed feedback on any remaining assessments.

Course withdrawal

Students who are yet to be assessed for the academic hurdle requirement may withdraw from courses without academic penalty up until the withdrawal deadline as specified in the Academic Calendar. Students are warned that withdrawing from courses may affect their graduation requirements, financial aid or scholarship eligibility, and/or visa status. Students who have been assessed for the academic hurdle requirement cannot withdraw from courses. See the “Course Withdrawal” policy on the GLA website.

Grading

All assignments for this course will be graded in a manner consistent with the GLA Academic Rubric, available on the ‘College of GLA Student Page’: http://en.ritsumei.ac.jp/gla/file/academics/curriculum/gla_academic_rubric.pdf.

GLA Privacy Statement on the Conduct of Online Classes

The College of Global Liberal Arts is committed to respecting the privacy and confidentiality of all members of the College in the conduct of online classes. All online classes are to be conducted in accordance with the GLA Privacy Statement on the Conduct of Online Classes (hereafter referred to as “the Statement”), available at http://en.ritsumei.ac.jp/gla/academics/policies/privacy_statement .

Grade appeals

Students may appeal final grades received in courses in accordance with the GLA Grade Appeal Policy. Procedures and deadlines for appeals are available at http://en.ritsumei.ac.jp/gla/academics/policies/grade_appeal/.

Student support and accessibility

Students may receive guidance on their academic program and progress by consulting with the Academic Advising Center (AAC). Appointments may be made at http://en.ritsumei.ac.jp/gla/advising/academic_advising_records_for_students/ .

Students may receive other forms of support through the services offered by the Office of Student Affairs. See http://en.ritsumei.ac.jp/gla/academics/courses/my_gla/ for links to the Student Support Room (SSR), Student Success Program (SSP), and Disability Resource Center (DRC).