studentassessments.htm

--In each MS course that serves any of our accredited programs, ALL students (not just matriculated students in Reading MS Programs) have to submit copies of assignments designated by the instructor in the course syllabus as required to be submitted. In some cases, all assignments have to be submitted; in most cases, only selected assignments have to be.

--These are copies of assignments submitted by students as part of the course, not additional ones. Also, they are the assignments students submitted, not the ones handed back to them by the instructor (i.e., they won't have grades or comments on them).

Your instructor will let you know which assignments are to be submitted, and which method(s) will be used to submit them. Once you know which method will be used for which assignments, follow the instructions below. Remember that it is YOUR responsibility to gather and submit these assignments, not your instructors'. The assignments are required as part of the Department's accreditation process, and we will be following up to ensure that they are all submitted. Failure to submit assignments may result in your not being able to register for upcoming courses.

Department policy on access to submitted assignments

The assignments will be stored in a secure database, and held there for 5 years. Access to copies of assignments will be restricted to the following people, under these conditions:

(a) the student may request copies (electronic only) of his/her own assignments at any time.

(b) an instructor may request copies of assignments (electronic only) from his/her own course.

(c) an auditor from an accreditation agency may view all assignments during an official site visit, provided that appropriate confidentiality guarantees have been made.

(d) the department may view any or all assignments relating to an allegation of academic dishonesty, provided that the student has received prior notification.

(e) the department may view any or all assignments for program planning purposes, providing that all identifiers have been removed from the viewed assignments, and that the purpose for such a review has been approved by the department.

Different methods for submitting assignments

Almost all assignments will be submitted electronically. Hard copies will only be permitted if the assignments are too large or in formats that cannot be digitized. Here are the different methods, with procedures for preparing and transmitting then:

ELECTRONIC

Preparing to transmit your assignments electronically requires several, easy steps that must be followed regardless of the method for transmitting them.

1. Make sure that each of assignments are in one or other of the following formats: Microsoft Word or Powerpoint (MAC or Windows), PDF (Adobe Portable Document Format), or RTF (Rich Text Format). If you use AppleWorks/ClarisWorks, or WordPerfect, save these files as Word, RTF, or PDF files--we cannot accept native Appleworks or Wordperfect documents, nor documents produced by word processors other than those listed above. It's OK for some assignments to be in one format, others in another. It's also OK to have graphics and text together in a single word-processed file, if the graphics can be embedded). If you have access to a scanner, you may scan assignments that include handwritten or graphics that cannot be included in any of the formats listed above. Scanned output must be in PDF format. Do NOT separate an assignment into more than one file (i.e., instead of creating a Word file for the text, and a PDF document for the graphics, scan the entire document and save as a PDF).

2. Assemble all the designated files into one folder on a hard drive. Clearly identify the folder with the course number, semester/year (e.g., 625_Sp05) and your name.

3. If the folder is too big to attach to an email, or can't fit onto a CD, then compress it, using STUFFIT for Mac, or STUFFIT for Windows.

Transmitting the assignments. What you do now depends on which method your instructor has told you to use. You may have been told to submit some assignments with one method, some with another.

PREFERRED APPROACH: Sending via email (this may not work if your folder is too big, or if your email provider restricts the size of email attachments--if you run into this, burn and submit a CD)

1. Assemble all the assignments into one folder, clearly label the folder.

2. Compress the folder.

3. Attach to an email. In the body of the email, be sure to include your name, the course name/instructor, and Sem/Yr.Send this email to: readingassignments@albany.edu

NEXT BEST APPROACH: Burning a CD

1. Assemble all the assignments into one folder, and then burn a CD. Label the outside of the CD with your name, the course name/instructor, and Sem/Yr.

2. Follow your instructor's instructions for submitting this CD (instructors may ask you to deliver/send it directly to Linda Papa, or hand them into the instructor, who will pass them on). One way or another, CDs need to reach Linda Papa (Reading Department ED336, University at Albany, 1400 Washington Ave, Albany, NY 12222). If mailing, be sure to use a CD mailer.

UNDER SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES : Hard Copy

In some cases, your instructor will instruct or allow you to submit hard copies of specific assignments to the Department. These will be scanned by the Deprtment and entered into the Department database electronically. The original may be picked up after it has been scanned (the Department will not retain original hard copies of assignments). Examples of assignments that will be handed in as hard copies include: final exams completed by hand in blue books, final projects that are too large to submit electronically.

Special Arrangements

Special arrangements will be made to accommodate students with disabilities.

Help

The Interactive Media Center in the Library will assist on campus students in burning CDs, and scanning. Online students will need to consult their computer/software help for assistance with compressing files and attaching them to emails--SLN will only provide technical assistance with the course software itself. Faculty may assist students but they are not required to. Students having difficulties that cannot be solved either by IMC or SLN or their computer/software support services should contact the Reading Office and we will either help them directly or refer them to someone who can. But before doing that, ask a younger member of your family!

Last Updated: September 22, 2005