Policies

Grading

Class participation includes conscientious participation in and preparation for class as well as completion of homework. Class time will be spent mastering the inflectional patterns of the Latin language and the structures of its sentences; written exercises both in class and assigned as homework will reinforce these patterns and aid in implanting them in the mind. Students will have regular practice reading Latin and translating into English. Recitation will establish proper pronunciation. Quizzes will come frequently, announced or un-. Tests as a matter of necessity will be comprehensive, including recent material mixed with reinforcement of earlier material. Since it is impossible to proceed in this or any language without carrying along what has already been learned, everything learned must be retained. The attempt to skip, neglect, or cram-and-forget sections of the course will be hazardous to your (grade's) health. The final will be comprehensive. It is meant to squeeze out every bit of Latin you know.

Attendance

Learning any foreign language requires constant practice. A language class constantly builds on itself, so if you miss a class, you will end up working that much harder to catch up. Everything learned must be retained. There is no way to continue in the language until you have mastered everything to that point, because each new topic or skill will require that previous knowledge to some extent. If you fall too far behind, you will never be able to catch up. A student who is repeatedly absent, then, will be punished automatically by poor quiz and test scores.

In addition, since the goal of the class is competency in the language, and since absenteeism is such a hindrance, unexcused absences (absences without the documentation of an illness, death in the family, or religious observance, etc.) cannot be allowed. No work can be made up for any unexcused absence. Three unexcused absences can lower your class participation grade enough to drop your final grade by a letter grade.

Academic honesty

Cheating is unacceptable. Every student who enrolls at the university commits him/herself to the honor code—and knows better anyway. If cheating becomes a problem, it will be a big one.

Student honor code: On all work submitted for credit by students at the university, the following pledge is either required or implied: "On my honor, I have neither given nor received unauthorized aid in doing this assignment."

Consequences of cheating: Anyone found cheating in this course will be reported to the honor council. Cheating in any form is a fundamental violation of education, and it will be requested that the honor council apply the maximum penalty for the offense. To be clear, cheating includes, but is not limited to: representing as one's own any work that was actually the work of someone else, providing work for which someone else will receive credit, copying someone else's answers on a test or quiz, or downloading homework or any other assignment from the internet and representing it as your own work. To read further, see UF's site on academic honesty.