Online Course Policies & Procedures

1. Net – Etiquette Guidelines

MCNY has specified the following guidelines for participation in the threaded discussion/forum area and chat rooms.  Remember that in the absence of face-to-face communication it's easy to misunderstand what is being said. 

• Carefully review and read materials that you receive electronically to ensure that you fully understand the message;
• Be sure to carefully re-read and understand what you will be sending in order to ensure that you are not misunderstood by anyone;
• Avoid cluttering your messages with excessive emphasis (stars, arrows, exclamations);
  If you are responding to a message, either include the relevant part of the original message in your message, or make sure refer to the original's contents so as to avoid confusion;
• Be specific and clear, especially when asking questions;
• If your messages can be typed in UPPER and lower case, please use the two appropriately instead of all UPPERCASE characters.  This gives the appearance of shouting and makes the message less readable;
• Remember that not all readers have English as their native language, so make allowance for possible misunderstandings and unintended discourtesies;
• Do not abuse new users of computer networks for their lack of knowledge;
• Follow the same standards of politeness as you do in any other aspect of your life.

2. Standards of Academic Conduct and Student Integrity

The College expects academic honesty from students and instructors. Students have the obligation both to themselves and to the College to make the appropriate College representative aware of instances of academic deceit or dishonesty.  Generally, this entails making the situation known to the instructor, and if needed, to the Dean of the student’s school. Likewise, faculty members are responsible for enforcing the stated academic standards of the College. Instances of violating academic standards might include, but are not necessarily limited to, the situations outlined in the following subchapters. 

2.1. Cheating

Receiving or providing unapproved help in any academic task, test or treatise. Cheating includes the attempt to use or the actual use of any unauthorized information, educational material, or learning aid in a test or assignment. Cheating includes multiple submission of any academic exercise more than once for credit without prior authorization and approval of the instructor. 

2.2. Plagiarism

Presenting someone else’s work as though it is your own. In an academic community the use of words, ideas, or discoveries of another person without explicit, formal acknowledgement constitutes an act of theft or plagiarism. In order to avoid the charge of plagiarism, students must engage in standard academic practices such as putting quotation marks around words that are not their own, employing the appropriate documentation or citation, and including a formal  acknowledgement of the source in the proper format. Each school of MCNY follows a style manual prescribed in your Purpose Handbook. Students are responsible for following that style.

2.3. Fabrication, Obstruction, & Collusion

Fabrication – Inventing or falsifying any data, information, or records. 

Obstruction – Impeding the ability of another student to perform assigned work.

Collusion – Assisting any of the above situations or performing work that another student presents as his or her own.

3. Attendance Policy for the Online Course

Success in this course is dependent on your active participation and engagement throughout the course. As such, students are required to complete all assignments by the due date, and to actively participate in class discussions.

Additionally, students are expected to:

• Log on at least three times a week – on different days in order to completely weekly assignments, assessments, discussions and/or other weekly deliverables as directed by the instructor and outlined in the syllabus;
• Participate in the weekly threaded discussions,  this means that, in addition to posting a response to the thread topic presented, students are expected to respond to each other and comment and questions from the instructor and/or other students;

If you find that you cannot meet the class' minimum discussion requirements due to such a circumstance, please contact your instructor as soon as possible. 

Students will not be marked present for the course in a particular week if they have not posted on the discussion forum and/or submit assignment/essay or complete assessment if administered in that week. 

4. Academic Adjustment for Students with Disabilities

MCNY is committed to complying by making reasonable accommodations in its academic programs, thus insuring maximum participation by all students with disabilities. Reasonable accommodations and academic assistance are provided to MCNY students with disabilities registered with the Office of Student Services. Students with disabilities must complete a Request for Academic Adjustment Application Form available from the Student Services Office. 

Documentation of disability from a qualified medical or other licensed practitioner is required at this time. Specific guidelines for disability documentation are available from the Student Services Office.  Accommodations are individually determined according to documented need.

Some more typical accommodations include:

• Test accommodations: This may include lengthening the time required to take an exam or providing a private room for testing;
• Tutorial services: A specific plan is developed for each student;
• Referrals, where appropriate and possible.

5. Technical Requirements

The following subchapters outline the minimum requirements related to technology that you will need to succeed in your studies at MCNY.

5.1. Access to a laptop/desktop computer

You will need access to a laptop/desktop computer with reliable internet connection to complete the work assigned in this course. PCs are available on campus for student use.

For online and hybrid courses, you will be limited if you expect to complete all your work on a smart phone or tablet.  It will not be possible to submit files required for certain assignments. 

5.2. Access to a reliable internet connection

This will be necessary to access email, Self-Service, and Moodle. As well as to download resources, upload assignment files, watch videos, and more within your E-Learning courses. 

5.3. An up-to-date internet browser and related plugins

Supported browser versions include:

• Firefox 4+
• Internet Explorer 8+ (IE 10 required for drag and drop of files from outside the browser into Moodle)
• Safari 5+
• Google Chrome 11

It is recommended that you use Firefox as your browser when working in Moodle. You can download and install the Firefox web browser by going to the following link: http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/new/.

Google Chrome is another compatible browser that has the added benefit of a built-in spellcheck function. You can download and install the Chrome web browser by going to the following link: https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/95346?hl=en

Certain functionality in Moodle is dependent upon browser plug-ins. Be sure you have the following plugins/add-ons installed and that they are up to date:

• Java
• Adobe Flash Player
• Adobe Reader
• Apple Quicktime

5.4. Access to productivity software, such as Microsoft Office (Word, PowerPoint, Excel) or Open Office.

You will need access to word processing software such as Microsoft Word for submitting certain assignments and exams. Computers with Microsoft Office installed are available for your use on campus.

Various Microsoft Office software packages for students can be purchased here: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/university/

Open Office is a free option that is available for you to download and install on to your computer from the web. However, please note that instructors may only accept Microsoft Office files (such as Word ".docx" or PowerPoint ".pptx" file types). You can download it here: https://www.openoffice.org/download/index.html     

Alternatively, you can compose assignments using the Google Docs app available through Google Drive. This is a great free cloud-based alternative that allows you to access and compose your documents from most any device with an internet connection.

From Google docs you can easily export documents to a Word .doc or .docx file type. If you already have a Gmail or YouTube account, you can use it to access Google Docs. Learn more here: http://www.google.com/drive/about.html