University Learning [Click for Advising Comments]
A good university is supposed to be an institution of the highest learning. It should provide enriched and challenging experience to its students for ultimate intellectual development, including curiosity, creativity, rigorous observation, tolerant understanding, and informed judgment.

Our University mission (for complete statement, see Undergraduate Catalog) among others, states:

"Recognizing that students will need to learn throughout their lives, the university provides them with the opportunity to become more competent in analytical thought, informed judgment, and effective communication and to develop an appreciation for the life of the mind. ...."

Academic Integrity and Professional Ethics
Academic integrity, honesty and professional ethics are very important aspects of learning in colleges and universities:

"Good academic work must be based on honesty. The attempt of any student to present as his or her own work that which he or she has not produced is regarded by the faculty and administration as a serious offense. Students are considered to have cheated if they copy the work of another during an examination or turn in a paper or an assignment (including homework) written, in whole or in part, by someone else. Students are guilty of plagiarism, intentional or not, if they copy material from books, magazines, or other sources without identifying and acknowledging those sources or if they paraphrase ideas from such sources without acknowledging them. Students guilty of, or assisting others in, either cheating or plagiarism on an assignment, quiz, or examination may receive a grade of F for the course involved and may be suspended or dismissed from the university."

For the complete policy statement on Academic Integrity, see Page 45 of the 1997-98 Undergraduate Catalog.

Students, Instructors and Administrators' Conduct of Duties and Responsibilities
Everybody's and especially students' feedback and honest and constructive criticism is invited and welcomed, and may be very useful for improvement of teaching and learning environment, and future development of our curriculum. However, we have to separate constructive praise and/or feedback and criticism from ridiculous and self-serving complaints or self-serving praise by anyone. If an instructor does not violate any university and/or other law, and does not compromise program's curriculum, it is the most effective to express your concerns and complains to your instructor directly, since s/he is in full charge and control of her/his classroom and all teaching activities. It is also against the university rules, for anyone (including any administrator) to forcibly influence an instructor how to teach and/or grade. You have right to express (respectfully) your opinions to anyone and to formally complain/appeal if you believe that your right is violated. However, mutual respect and tolerant understanding of intellectual, ideological and cultural diversity will result in more effective communication, collaboration and  learning. That may be the most important for your intellectual and professional growth with the final goal to achieve fulfilling and challenging life with happiness. Only one thing is absolute, and it is: "that everything is relative," since everything is our perception (skewed observation of reality due to aliasing). There is no truth, only search for truth and our belief! Nothing is as important as we think it is, because nothing is what we think it is (aliasing again!). It is important to keep our mind open.

Class/Homework/Lab and other Course Policies:
(see also Academic Integrity and Professional Ethics above and Important TA Role)

• Any verbal change/info announced in class supercedes any Web posted and any other handout Info!
• Every electronic correspondence (email etc.) must have subject line with the course number and semester-year-and-your-initial abbreviation (without spacing) and a relevant heading in it (key words are fine, e.g., 390sp02mk lab safety, for MEE390 Spring 2002 and Milivoje Kostic, related to lab safety). Your email must finish with your full name "signature," since many of you use an alias for your email address. Otherwise your email may be discarded.
• Every problem started or completed in class is automatically assigned to be completed or reworked (checked-out), as an additional homework problem, to be submitted at the next lecture meeting (like assigned examples) and will be graded.

1. Students have to attend all lectures and lab sessions. Any justifiable excuse has to be reported and approved in advance.
2. For any scheduled absence or late assignment submission, a written (email is OK), signed and dated excuse with explanation must be submitted.
3. Handouts will be distributed on Internet, College Network, or in class. Absent students have to copy handouts if any on their-own from their classmates.
4. No late homework (HW) or assignment is accepted and zero grade will be assigned. Two lowest graded HWs (or not submitted HWs) will not be counted towards the total HW credit.
5. Every HW page has to have your name, date, and page number. In addition the first HW page has to have heading with the Course & WH number (390HW#2b, for example).
6. Reading and Example assignments are due for next class meeting, and assigned HW problems during a week (for Summer Session, please see the next item) are due on the second lecture meeting the following week if not otherwise specified. Example-type HW (ex) should be submitted separately from problem-type HW, and to be distinguished with a suffix (ex), (390HW#4ex, for example).
7. During a Summer Session, the term "Week" is to be substituted and to be meant as the corresponding "Three-hour Lecture/Class Period."
8. In addition, a computer/software related homework should be submitted as an attachment file via e-mail before a deadline. E-mail subject heading and attached file name should have the Course and HW numbers (390HW#12a, for example).
9. The Lab reports has to be typed (you may hand sketch and hand-write equations) and submitted separately from HW. 
10. Submitted homework for grading has to be your own work. You have to show all work or give related references. If you do homework with someone else, you have to understand and stand behind the submitted work on your own. You may be chosen randomly to explain your homework within two weeks of its submission. If it is determined that you are not familiar with the homework you may be responsible for plagiarism and cheating (see above), loose all credit for that HW and in repeated situations loose all HW credits for that semester and/or be submitted for other disciplinary actions according to the University rules.
11. If the HW is graded, the TA is instructed not to solve the HW for you, nor to check accuracy of your HW. Otherwise the grading will be meaningless and you'll loose the benefits of trying to solve the HW yourself; after all, there will be no one to solve exam problems for you. However, the TA and I will help you with any other problem, example or question, and with any specific and partial problem related to the HW after you try to solve it, and in entirety after the HW is graded.
12. Students should always submit a copy of their original work for any assignment and be able to produce another copy in rare case of loss of submitted one. It is a student responsibility to keep all returned graded work (if a review is requested) until after he/she is satisfied with the final grade.
13. Students must claim all copies of their submitted assignments in any form and take them back no later than 30 days after the corresponding final exam. After that period all assignments will be discarded.
14. In Lab, students must obey all Safety and other rules and are reliable for damages to equipment and instrumentation if any.
    The following link is Integral part of the Syllabus and to be reviewed, printed and filed with the Syllabus:
    http://www.kostic.niu.edu/LabSafetyRules.html

Midterm/Exam Policy:
(see also Academic Integrity and Professional Ethics above) *** NIU Exam Link

1. Exam is closed book and notes if not otherwise specified. If a textbook is allowed it may not have written-in solved problems. In such a case only a textbook with small explanatory notes will be permitted.
2. During a Midterm/Exam the Instructor will make sitting arrangements and you have to have your University ID card.
3. Put your zipped bags and other things away of your reach.
4. If not obvious or defined, the notation is as in Textbook.
5. There may be more or less given data than necessary.
6. Make reasonable assumptions only if necessary.
7. Show all your work or give specific reference.
8. Write distinctly, be very specific/quantitative and use units throughout.
9. If possible always support your answer with a sketch, and be straightforward and concise.
10. NO COMMUNICATIONS WITH OTHER STUDENTS FOR ANY REASON.
11. KEEP YOUR DONE WORK STRICTLY IN FRONT OF YOU, do not spread it around you..
12. BOX ALL REQUESTED FINAL RESULTS WITH UNITS (should be written in a square box with a ball pan).
13. Your concern about grading will be considered only if you examine your graded work and report any concern immediately after you receive it. Grade can not be reconsidered after the graded work is taken home.

PER YOUR REQUEST, REVIEW OF YOUR FINAL EXAM AND GRADE (may be regraded for better or worse!) ONLY BY APPOINTMENT AND DURING THE FIRST TWO WEEKS OF LECTURES THE FOLLOWING SEMESTER.

NOTE about project proposal:
IMPORTANT:

1. You have to type your project proposal before you see me for its approval (before the deadline).
2. I will keep a copy for my record of our meeting and if you want you may bring another copy for you.
3. After we review your proposal in my Office, I may give suggestions for modification if appropriate.
4. Then the same proposal (modified if necessary) must be emailed to me before the deadline, after which I will officially approve it via email.
5. You may attach a Word or other file to you email, but you must cut-and-paste or type project title and description in the body of your email, even if you are attaching formatted Word file for example (so that I do not have to do it for every student).
6. Your email must have the following subject line:
   390sp02xx-PROPOSAL-project short title (if you are in MEE 390 for example, where xx are your initials).
7. If proposal is for more than one student, than put initials of all students, like 390sp02xxyy-, for student xx and yy, for example. Every email sent to me should have the first formatted part of the email subject as already explained.

I am repeating this because not all students follow the rule.

IMPORTANT NOTE:
See additional useful instructions at: http://www.kostic.niu.edu/390-Individual_Project_Poster.htm

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NOTE:
Assignment abbreviations: HW = Home Work; Chs. = Chapters; p.= pages; Exs. = Examples; Prs. = Problems; CW = Class Work