Program Policies
See BlackBoard for college wide policies and procedures.
Attendance
Individual Observances
Please inform your instructor of any holidays or observances with which you will need to miss class time. This must be done during the first two weeks of classes.
You are permitted a specified number of free absences. No notes or excuses are needed. The absences are designed to cover your unexpected events, mental health days, or illnesses so use them wisely. You will fail the course if you exceed the set number of allowable absences without requesting special circumstance excused absences from your instructor. You are responsible for whatever you missed in class. For missed assignments, they must be submitted before the next class or right at the beginning of the next class, otherwise the assignment will be considered late.
Face to Face, Remote, or Hybrid 14 Week Courses
- 4 free absences for twice a week classes (fail on 5th absence)
- 3 free absences for once a week classes (fail on 4th absence)
Summer Class
- One Absence Allowed (fail on 2nd absence)
Deadline extensions and excused absences for prolonged illness, injury or bereavement must be arranged with the Student Affairs office at 609-570-3221.
Assignments / Deadlines
All photographs must be made specifically for this class by you alone. You will not be allowed to use older images for credit unless otherwise agreed upon in advance. When you turn in any assignment, all the requested materials should be present for the assignment to be considered complete. Any assignment submitted in an unfinished state will have points deducted. Work that is not shown during critique on its due date will be considered incomplete. Even if you are not pleased with work you have done, put it up for critique. You can learn a lot from discussing how your solutions could have been better.
Late assignments may be submitted by the next class meeting after the due date for a highest possible grade of B. Assignments or Presentations that are due during the last two weeks of class may not be handed in late at all. For assignments that have more than one due date, the earliest due date will start the clock for late assignment submissions.
Classroom (both online or in-person) Expression
This classroom is a forum for expression and the visual arts often involve very personal expression.
Positive and negative criticism of each other’s work is expected but we must do this in a respectful manner.
Sometimes we say things in which we think we are talking about a photograph but the photographer might think that we are being personally critical of their abilities or critical of the person or place in the photograph. We must be clear when we offer criticism that we are talking about the way a photograph is made and how it reads in terms of its meaning.
Avoid comments about personal appearances or home decor unless it is relevant to the meaning of the photograph.
Many of us come from different cultural, educational, generational, and home-life experiences. We must be patient with each other when we are in conversation about the work we are showing. If someone says something that is heard as possibly offensive or differing from our own values, we should share that discomfort and allow for broader dialogue.
Obvious discriminatory acts and hateful speech will be pointed out and corrections will be suggested or students may be asked to leave. The instructor will follow up with those students at a later time.
You may have your mobile devices on vibrate and you may use them to read on-line material, if you need to take an emergency call, you must step outside the classroom.
Borrowing Equipment / Using Lab
When you fill out the lab borrow / visit form you will be agreeing to be responsible for the equipment utilized during your equipment loan or lab visit. You are NOT responsible for basic wear and tear on equipment, but you ARE responsible for loss, negligent breakage, and misuse of equipment. Penalties are detailed on the lab form and may include financial penalties with grade holds and registration holds. Holds will be lifted upon resolution of the penalty.
Academic Integrity
AI (Artificial Intelligence)
Unless otherwise directed by your instructor, representing work created by AI (ChaptGPT, Bard, Adobe Generative tools, etc.) as your own is considered plagiarism and a violation of MCCC’s academic integrity policy. Upon suspicion, the assignment will be treated according to MCCC’s guidelines for Academic Integrity with potential implications for your final grade.
Cheating will not be tolerated and may result in a zero grade on an assignment, quiz, or for the course and/or your expulsion from the course. All submitted and presented work must be your original work made for the current course assignments and any material used as source must be properly attributed to the author or source. Refer to your student handbook for your responsibilities and information on Academic Integrity.
http://www.mccc.edu/academic_policies.shtml
General Rubric
There will be about 7 assignments/quizzes worth 60% of your grade – The other 40% will come from class-specific work and projects and your final presentation – This rubric does not apply to History of Photo
Technical Quality 60 points
May include some or all of the following: exposure, sharpness, contrast, color, scratches, dust, overall print quality, overall slide quality, matting, framing and any other technical aspects as required by the assignment.
Clarity of Results 20 points
How well you solved the assignment. How clear your point of view, message or goal was expressed to the class through visual elements of you work.
Critique Discussion 20 points
How clear your point of view, message or goal was expressed to the class through verbal communication or translated verbal communication. How well you participated in speaking about work other than your own.
Complete % of total points
All of the requirements of the assignment have been met on time. For example, if 5 photos were due and you only submitted 3 photos, you will get 3/5 of your total points earned from the other categories.
