Office Hours: Our office hours will generally be held in person, on campus, or virtually over Zoom. It is up to the TAs whether they will support socially-distanced in-person meetings this semester. My (Alex) office hours will be held once a week, for two hours during which you can visit or call in using Zoom. Of course, you can also make an appointment with me to meet if you cannot make it to a regular office hours.
In-class Announcements: You are responsible for using your official DUKE e-mail account to receive information and communicate with the instructor and TAs. Be sure to check your Duke e-mail at least once a day for possible announcements in ECS 103. Announcement e-mails will come through Canvas and will be archived under the Announcement tab on the Canvas course page. Unfortunately, Canvas does not automatically set your e-mail handling. You should set Canvas to send you course announcement e-mails IMMEDIATELY, as opposed to “once a day”, or “once a week”. See HERE on how to set this up. If you are unsure about due dates, what’s coming up, etc. please check Canvas first to see if your question has already been answered. Also, DO READ, our announcement e-mails when they arrive! We will NOT send e-mails to outside accounts (gmail, etc.), and we are not responsible for challenges or circumstances that might arise due to duke.edu e-mails failing to forward to a third-party e-mail provider.
Attendance and Missing Class: It is ESSENTIAL that you attend every lecture. First, my lecture slides are text-poor, which means that without hearing what I say about each slide, you will NOT be able to reconstruct this information purely from the slide. Second, the optional review quizzes are not comprehensive reviews of what will be on my exams, despite what you might have heard.
If you find yourself falling behind two or more consecutive lectures due to illness or family emergency PLEASE contact the instructor immediately. Duke University has established procedures to deal with short-term and long-term absences due to illness, as well as family emergencies. Information can be found HERE.
The Covid pandemic might be “over” but the virus remains. The society we live in has changed, and “feeling ill” comes with new responsibilities (many other countries already recognized this social responsibility before Covid, but it is arguably new in the US). The days when “a little cold or cough” did NOT stop you from going to class are OVER. That “little cold or cough” could mean a death sentence or long-term debilitation for immunocompromised and other at-risk people around you. SO PLEASE, be a responsible member of your community and STAY HOME when you feel ill, regardless of whether it is Covid, the flu, or “just the cold”. It is no longer OK or laudable to “power through the sniffles”. Protect those around you. STAY HOME.
If you are sneezing or coughing extensively in class, you might be asked to leave. If you are at the end stage of a cold or flu, we strongly recommend that you please wear a mask in class until symptoms have fully subsided.
IF and WHEN you miss class due to illness, fill out an Incapacitation Form. You are now eligible to request access to a recording of the missed lecture IF AVAILABLE (due to logistical limitations we cannot guarantee availability), from the Teaching Assistant. This recording is for YOU only. Sharing it with others in the class or posting it online is a breach of academic honesty and integrity and may result in disciplinary action. It is also a violation of copyright. Also be sure to get the notes from someone who was able to attend that day in class.
Academic Integrity: Duke University holds its students to the highest standards of academic integrity and honesty. Academic dishonesty of any kind is not tolerated and might result in failure of the assignment, and/or course, and/or expulsion from the university. Plagiarism on written assignments will result in a zero for the assignment and might result in further disciplinary action through the university. As a Duke student you pledge to uphold the Duke Community Standard:
I will not lie, cheat, or steal in my academic endeavors;
I will conduct myself honorably in all my endeavors; and
I will act if the Standard is compromised.
