Policies

1.  Degree Program Policies on Student Academic Conduct

2.  Degree Program Policy on Reading Courses

3.  Degree Program Policy for Substituting an External Course for AHCL 3850Y (summer Archaeology course)

1.  Degree Program Policies on Student Academic Conduct

Method of Contact between Instructors and Students

E-Mail is the principal formal means of contact between instructors and students.  Instructors will send e-mail messages only to students’ Trent University e-mail address.  Students are expected conscientiously to check their Trent University e-mail account at regular intervals, and at least twice a week.
Students with an Internet Service Provider other than Trent are expected to arrange to have messages which have been sent to their Trent e-mail address forwarded to their non-Trent e-mail address.  (Whenever possible, however, students should use their Trent University e-mail account to contact their instructor, as spam-filters may otherwise block their message).  Follow the Information Technology unit’s instructions at their FAQ web page.
It is the student’s responsibility to ensure that sufficient disk space is available at the “@trentu.ca” address for the receipt of messages.  Look up the information at the FAQ web page.

Deadlines for the Submission of Assignments (including Essays)

Students who do not meet the specific deadline announced in the course syllabus for any assignment (essay, précis, seminar presentation, technical report, etc.) in a course during its regular duration must submit the outstanding assignment within seven days of the announced deadline (unless there are extenuating circumstances; cf. the Trent University Medical Certificate Policy).  This seven day grace period does not apply to deadlines which fall within exam periods.

Notes:

The seven-day period referred to includes weekends and holidays;
If the assignment is not ready to be submitted at the end of seven days, the student must submit for assessment whatever material she or he has completed at that time (even if only notes have been prepared) if any grade is to be assigned to the work;
During the seven day period between the formal deadline for submission and the final date for accepting work, a system of penalties (when outlined in each course syllabus and based on a per diem system, including weekends) will be applied, out of fairness to students who plan their work and submit their work on time, since it is a part of the learning process to develop good time-management skills;
If there are extenuating circumstances exceptions to the “seven-day rule” can be granted at the instructor’s discretion but only with appropriate supporting documentation; students who, because of circumstances beyond their control, cannot contact the instructor to ask for an exception to the “seven-day rule” directly should arrange for contact to be made with their Academic Advisor or Senior Tutor who will be the medium of contact with the instructor; in such cases the necessary documentation will be acceptable at a later date;
“Lack of available resources”, “computer-related problems”, “failure to manage time well”, etc. will not be acceptable reasons for the submission of work without penalty.

Attendance

Regular attendance at all scheduled periods of instruction (lecture, seminar, tutorial, etc.) is expected.

In all classes in which attendance and/or participation is counted toward the course grade, a student may make up for missed classes under the following conditions:

In order to avoid incurring any penalties for the missed class, the student is permitted to submit before the next meeting of the group, notes on the work covered at the missed meeting (e.g. summaries of prescribed readings, translations, etc.);
In a year-long course, a student may make up for the missed class under these conditions a maximum of three times; in a one-term course, this number is reduced to two times;
Non-submission of notes will result in a zero for the attendance and/or participation marks for the missed class.

 

Academic Integrity

Academic dishonesty, which includes plagiarism and cheating, is an extremely serious academic offence and carries penalties varying from a 0 grade on an assignment to expulsion from the University. Definitions, penalties, and procedures for dealing with plagiarism and cheating are set out in Trent University’s Academic Integrity Policy. You have a responsibility to educate yourself – unfamiliarity with the policy is not an excuse. You are strongly encouraged to visit Trent’s Academic Integrity website to learn more. 

Students are also strongly advised to make themselves familiar with materials on plagiarism and inappropriate practices published by the Academic Skills Centre.

 

2.  Degree Program Policy on Reading Courses

In any given year, members of the AGRS Degree Program endeavour to offer a sufficient range of courses to allow all students to obtain the requirements they need to proceed in the programs or to graduate, and to meet student interests.  However, the members of the program also recognize that circumstances may arise whereby a Reading Course may be necessary to fulfill degree requirements. Only if that necessity (not simply a desire) is clear will the possibility of a reading course be entertained.

Reading courses are normally one-on-one but may occasionally involve a second student.

There is a four-step process to getting a reading course approved:

1. Students wishing to pursue a Reading Course in AGRS during the regular year (September to April) should take the initiative to approach the Coordinator of the Degree Program in the spring of the previous year in order to request a reading course.

2. If advised by the Coordinator to proceed, then, in consultation with an appropriate member of the Program who would serve as the course instructor, the student prepares a course outline, including a description, readings, tentative meeting schedule, and grading breakdown. The student fills out an Application for Registration  and both the student and the proposed instructor sign it.

3. The student submits all of the above-noted paperwork to the Chair by April 30th for courses taking place during the Fall and Winter terms, or by January 15 for summer courses. The Coordinator will then consult with members of the program to determine the feasibility of the Reading Course and will notify the student of the decision within two weeks. In making a decision the Coordinator will be guided by the following criteria:

(i) There is a faculty member willing to take on the course (and it would not over-burden that instructor);

(ii) The student needs the course to fulfill degree requirements for a degree that is offered or co-offered by the AGRS Degree program  (i.e., GLLL, or Archaeology);

(iii) The student could not fulfill the degree requirement any other way (by waiting a year, for example).

4. If the Coordinator approves the proposal, the next step is for the student to apply to the Dean of Humanities for course approval, by submitting the same paperwork with the addition of the Coordinator's signature. The Dean will evaluate the application using similar criteria to those listed above. If the course is approved, the Dean's Office will send the form to the Office of the Registrar for processing.

 

3.  Degree Program Policy for Substituting an External Course for AHCL 3850Y (summer archaeology course)

AHCL 3850Y is an archaeological field course investigating a Classical or Near Eastern site in the Mediterranean region. In recent years, J. Moore has offered the course as AHCL 3301 in Tunisia and R. Fitzsimons has offered AHCL 3302 in Crete. While it would be ideal to have at least one section of AHCL 3850Y offered every year, there have been (and will be) summers in which it is not possible to do so. For instance, world events may cause the cancellation of a project, a study season may preclude normal field school activities (as will happen for both the Tunisian and the Cretan project in 2007), or there may be a hiatus between projects. In addition, space limitations may preclude some applicants from participating. For these reasons, AHCL 330 has been designed, since its inception, to allow students to gain the AHCL 3850Y credit by taking a course through another university. The substitution works in the same way as courses taken on a Letter of Permission. The following policy seeks to formalize the criteria for substituting a course from another university for AHCL 3850Y. 

Principles for counting a non-AH&C course toward the AHCL 3850Y field course credit:

  1. A student may only count an outside course towards the AHCL 3850Y credit if
    • the AGRS Degree Program is not offering AHCL 3850Y that summer, or
    • the student was not accepted onto a field school offered by a member of the AGRS Degree Program.
  2. Members of the AGRS degree program will endeavour to help the student identify an appropriate substitution field school and, where appropriate, will actively support the student’s application to that field school (for instance, by writing a letter of recommendation). 
  3. The proposed substitution field course must:
    • investigate an ancient site or region corresponding to occupation by one of the following cultures/areas: Aegean, Greek, Roman, Etruscan, Byzantine, or Near Eastern (including Egyptian). The course must study at least one chronological period from the range between the Neolithic and c. 700 A.D. (C.E.).
    • be offered through an accredited university, for credit; there must be an assessment system whereby the student will be graded.
    • last at least five weeks. iv. give students at least 14 days of excavation and/or survey experience.
    • teach students various types of record-keeping and mapping/plan-making at the excavation site.
    • teach students skills in studying the finds (i.e., artifact analysis).
    • in addition to the above, the following items are desirable, but their absence would not necessarily discount a field course from being eligible: opportunities to work with specialists, attendance of specialist lectures, field trips to sites and/or museums, exposure to other archaeological activities such as field survey, geo-physical survey, museum work, and so on.
    • meet with the approval of at least two archaeologists within the AGRS Degree Program. As of 2006-7, eligible archaeologists are H. Elton, R. Fitzsimons, and J. Moore; if a year arises in which two of those instructors are not available, a sessional or replacement archaeology instructor within the Program may be required to act as the second supporter of the substitution. 

Trent University respectfully acknowledges it is located on the treaty and traditional territory of the Mississauga Anishnaabeg. We offer our gratitude to First Peoples for their care for, and teachings about, our earth and our relations. May we honour those teachings.

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