Taking an exam or turning in an assignment should be treated with the same seriousness that you will treat important business assignments or appointments. Developing a sense of responsibility towards such commitments, and developing the ability to manage your time so that you can meet them, is one of the purposes of a college education. If you have to miss an exam, you will be penalized unless you notify the instructor IN ADVANCE. If for some reason that fails, call the Physics and Astronomy Department Office (831-2661). Leave a message and note the time. Your boss will expect such advance notice and will expect you to miss commitments only rarely. Make-up exams may be ORAL EXAMS OR ESSAY EXAMS.
ACADEMIC DISHONESTY (=CHEATING): The University has a set of rules that define exactly what academic dishonesty is. You should obtain the statement on Student Rights and Responsibilities, printed in the a pamphlet available from the Dean of Students office, and read it (page 3). You should read about what happens to you if you are caught (page 14). In case you didn't know, "copying another student's test answers, taking an essay from a magazine and passing it off as your own work, and lifting a well-phrased sentence or two and including them without crediting the author, using quotation marks" is cheating (see Student Guide to Policies, page 3.) There are other examples. All 13 cases which I have brought before the Student Judicial System have resulted in convictions. I apologize for the need to include this statement here.
You'll have the opportunity and will be encouraged to consult with students, faculty members, and other experts within or outside the University when researching questions generated by problems. When you sit down to write any individual written assignments, however, you must work alone so that the assignments will represent your own efforts and be in your own words. Although you may talk to one another outside of class about any written assignments, completed written assignments shouldn't be shown to other students in the class before they're handed in for grading. You'll be expected to acknowledge (in writing at the end of the assignment) the names of any individuals you have consulted with prior to sitting down to write your assignment; this is what any scholar or scientist would do in this type of situation. These rules, of course, do not apply to group assignment. Your instructors will be quite clear about whether assignment are to be completed by individuals or groups.