Tuesday, May 10, 2011

English 220 | Spring 2011 | Logistics, Final Grades, etc...

Greetings

This is probably one of the last official communications you will receive regarding your work this semester in Robotic, Erotic, Electric--thanks to you and your hard work (not to mention the work of your dedicated GTAs, Rebecca Howat, Tara Stillions, Ryan Forsythe, and Zach Cavanaugh), we succeeded in having one of the more lively, experimental, and memorable "introduction to literature" courses on the West Coast (Stanford, Berkeley, UC Irvine, and USC, eat your hearts out).

So. On to your grades and finals...

Your final exam is scheduled by SDSU for Wednesday, May 18nth from 10:30 to 12:30pm--as we have already finished that task, I will station myself in the classroom at that time, probably screening THE STEPFORD WIVES if you need a break/relaxation, if you want to pick up your finals.

Your final grades will be posted to your web portal by 2pm, Wednesday May 18, 2011, or as soon as I can after I scurry over to my office from our PG 153 home away from home.

If your experience of the class was miserable and the last thing you want to do is see me or the GTAs again, or just me again, then shove a self-addressed stamped envelope under my door, Arts and Letters 273 by THIS FRIDAY @ 12noon.  Be sure to put enough stamps--2 should do it--so that the exam gets to you.

So let's say the horrible happens and you think your grade is in error!   Here's what you do....

1. Assemble all your graded work into a portfolio--make sure you arrange all of your returned, graded assignments in chronological order.
2. Next, review this ensemble carefully and head to this page to make sure you have taken into account how your grade was determined.
3. Cool. Next, wait until Monday, July 3, 2011. On that date send me a formal email requesting an appointment for review of your final grade.
4. I will respond within a week and we will schedule a meeting.

Remember, it is your right as a student to challenge your grade if you feel we are in error--with 220 students in the class, it is entirely possible (somewhat, as we are super-careful) that we might have made an error.

I hope this class did something for you--taught you something, gave you a new way to see literature and film. I am a very lucky professor to have worked with such a first-rate group of GTAS and undergraduates and I thank those of you who made the class a key part of your semester--your hard work is what made the majority of the students SEE the value of fiction in a new light.  Without you knowing, you were an aesthetic ambassador of sorts.

That's it.

If you want to keep in touch and follow all the crazy arts projects I am a part of locally, be sure to visit the program I run from time to time: MALAS or follow my blog. If you liked Tex[t]-Mex and want to follow readings/exhibits locally and beyond, be sure to 'like' its page here on Facebook.

Lastly, let other students know if the class rocked or sucked if you have the time--I get my best students by word of mouth and your views of the class are really important to me.

yours,

Bill Nericcio

ps: the university makes you evaluate the class before you see your grades, or better put, it gives you the option to do so; know this: I READ each evaluation and everything you have to share will make me a better professor for students in the future.  Speaking of the future, here's my Fall 2011 Engl 220 class draft. I hope it will be special, but it will never be Robotic, Erotic, Electric...

No comments:

Post a Comment