ATTENDANCE AND PRESENCE
- Two unexcused absences lower your final grade by one letter (A⟶B).
- Over 20 minutes tardy = one absence. *1st incident will be noted but excused.
- Asleep in class = one absence. *1st incident will be noted but excused.
It has been said: 80% of success is just showing up. Your physical presence and civic participation in the class are of paramount importance. It is also important because certain of the projects are collaborative. You are responsible for what happens in class whether you're here or not. Organize with your classmates to get class information and material that you have missed.
Contact me in a timely way regarding your situation. Email is best (golan @ andrew), but text messages (Nine one seven, five two zero, seven four five six) or Twitter (@golan) are also excellent ways to reach me in a hurry. If you're ill, or if you know you will have a planned absence, please let me know before the beginning of that class session: I can be very understanding and accommodating about planned and necessary absences, family circumstances, and/or medical issues when you inform me in a timely and professional manner.
Mental presence and social media. Physical presence means nothing if you're "checked out"; your mental presence is paramount. During the professor's lectures or guest presentations, open laptops and social media are prohibited. You can exist for few hours without tweeting, facebooking, chatting, texting, emailing. Any laptop or device for mediated communication is banned during lectures, critiques and group discussion, unless specifically allowed/requested by the professor.
Sleeping in class. Sleeping in class happens to be a personal pet peeve of the Professor. If you sleep during a lecture, you will be poked, and asked to leave. If it happens more than once, you will be asked to leave, and also given an "absent" mark. You will incur holy wrath if you sleep in class during a guest lecture.
A WORD ABOUT UNEXCUSED ABSENCES IN CRITIQUES
Sometimes, students who haven't completed their projects skip class during critique sessions, because they are too embarrassed to come to class empty-handed. This type of absence is particularly self-destructive, and is one of the most objectionable and cowardly things you can do in this class. Have courage. Your participation on critique days is essential, even if your project is incomplete, because these sessions and conversations help you understand our class standards, expectations, and criteria for good work. Even if your own project is unfinished, you are still expected to contribute productively to the class discussion.
If you are absent from class during a critique, it would really be best if I do not accidentally encounter you later that day in the hallway, chatting away with your friends. I take your attendance very seriously, and your attendance during critiques most seriously of all.
LATENESS ON THE DAY OF THE FINAL EXHIBITION
Our class's end-of-semester exhibition is a special event in which we present our work to the public. It usually takes place in the STUDIO facility. With all of the competing requirements for space, tables, computers, and special adapters, it requires several hours of preparation. For this reason I require everyone to arrive to install their project at least 60 minutes before the final exhibition -- even if it only takes 5 minutes to set up. There is a special circle of hell for students who arrive five minutes before opening time, and then have the nerve to ask for space/equipment/cables/anything. Showing up late to set up on the final exhibition day, without a prior arrangement confirmed by email, will cost you one letter grade. "Late" means: less than 60 minutes before the official exhibition opening time.