“Liberty and Justice for All”

Program Covenant

Please read carefully. You must agree to abide by this covenant to participate in the program.

Preamble: Academic study is work we do both in solitude and together. As work we do in solitude, it requires consistent, sustained attention and effort. As work we do together, it requires making and keeping commitments to support each other’s best efforts, to listen carefully and speak sincerely to each other, and to offer and accept honest feedback in the spirit of helping each other learn and grow. This covenant is intended to guide us to do our academic work to the best of our abilities.

Both students and faculty will:

• treat all members of the learning community with respect;
• demonstrate commitment to and provide a supportive atmosphere for all members of the learning community;
• abide by the principles of the Social Contract [1] and the Sexual Harassment Policy [1];
• address conflicts and grievances promptly, first with the individual(s) directly involved, then by seeking assistance from appropriate others if issues remain unresolved;
• abide by the campus smoking and Indoor Air Quality policies — Evergreen is a non-smoking campus except in designated areas (see http://www.evergreen.edu/policies/g-air.htm).

Students will:

• attend all program activities, arrive on time, and be fully prepared to participate;
• dedicate an average of 12 hours per week outside of class time to program work;
• notify faculty as soon as possible if they are unable to attend due to illness or emergency;
• participate openly in the learning community to advance their own learning as well as contribute to the learning of others;
• take initiative in seeking help from faculty whenever significant difficulty exists with the pace or content of the program;
• use their “evergreen.edu” domain email addresses for program communication and check those accounts regularly;
• display academic integrity by submitting original work and giving appropriate credit for the contributions of others (please ask faculty and consult the Student Conduct Code and the Social Contract if you are unsure what is meant by academic integrity);
• submit all papers properly formatted, double spaced, proofread, and typed;
• maintain and submit a program portfolio containing all program work;
• abide by the Student Conduct Code.

Faculty will:

• foster a rich learning environment, including lectures, conceptual workshops, and seminar facilitation;
• address program problems promptly when brought to the faculty’s attention by students;
• be available for students by appointment;
• respond to students’ inquiries via email in a timely manner;
• respond in a timely manner to student work and complete a timely evaluation of student work at the end of the quarter.

Credit and evaluation policy

• Students receive credit for fulfilling minimum requirements. Plagiarism or academic dishonesty may lead to total loss of credit. Credit may be reduced due to unsatisfactory attendance (missing more than one class is unsatisfactory), missed or late papers, failure to submit a transcript self-evaluation during evaluation week, or unsatisfactory performance.
• The evaluation process is a central feature of education at Evergreen that allows students to learn by reflecting on their experiences. Students are required to submit transcript self-evaluations and faculty evaluations in order to receive credit for the program. Credit will be issued only after both these evaluations, as well as a full portfolio, has been turned in. Evaluations and portfolio are due on the last day of class. If not turned in by this date, a “no credit” will be issued to the student. The student may petition to have the “no credit” changed if the portfolio is turned in within one week following the last class date.
• Credit is not the same as positive evaluation. It is possible to receive credit yet receive a poor evaluation.