Common Elements of a Syllabus

Solutions at Sage

Solutions is a place to get any question answered. Located on the first floor of each Library, Solutions staff help with Advising, Academic Support, Career Planning, Accessibility Services, and literally anything else. (www.sage.edu/solutions)

Russell Sage College Diversity Statement

Russell Sage College embraces diversity, equity, and inclusion as essential components of a rich intellectual and cultural environment in which all members are given the opportunity to reach their full potential as active participants in our local and global society.

We realize that the work of diversity, equity, and inclusion is an evolution that moves us towards our aspirations of a culturally inclusive community. The understanding we gain, as we continually assess our institution, will create informed and intentional transformation.

Russell Sage College is committed to developing policies and programs to create a campus that supports an optimal learning and working environment for all students, alumni, faculty, administrators, and staff.

The Spirit Of Learning: Statement on Appropriate Conduct on Campus

All members of the Russell Sage College community are expected to conduct themselves in a way which respects the learning environment. Thus, Sage has the right to remove any student from a classroom, other academic area, or program at any time if the student’s behavior is contrary to the spirit of learning or hinders the operation of the program in any way. Violent, disruptive, harassing or intimidating behavior is not tolerated in the classroom or any other place on campus. Any student whose conduct disrupts a class or other learning environment may be required to leave the premises immediately and subjected to disciplinary and/or legal action.

Americans with Disabilities Act

Russell Sage College is committed to providing equal access and responding to the needs of students with disabilities, as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act. A student seeking academic adjustments under the Americans with Disabilities Act must register and provide documentation to the Director of Accessibility Services. Any student in need of classroom assistance or modification under the Americans with Disabilities Act must inform the instructor of the needed adjustment by first obtaining the necessary accommodation letters from the Director of Accessibility Services in order for reasonable accommodations to be provided. It is recommended that students do so at the onset of classes as reasonable prior notice needs to be given. The Director of Accessibility Services can be contacted in Troy at 65 First Street Troy NY 12180 (518) 244-6874 or in Albany at 140 New Scotland Avenue, Albany NY 12208 (518) 292-8624, or via email at [email protected]

Policy on Academic Honesty

Academic dishonesty in any of its forms, including cheating, plagiarism, misuse of SageNet, and failure to comply with guidelines for the conduct of human research, will not be tolerated at Russell Sage College. A full statement of the policy on Academic Honesty can be found as an appendix to the Student Conduct Code on the Russell Sage College website. A hard copy can be requested from the Dean of Students in Albany Kahl Campus Center 145 (518) 292-1753 or in Troy McKinstry Student Center (518) 244-2207.

For guidance in proper referencing of sources, as well as how to avoid plagiarism, consult the most recent editions of the following works, which are available in the reference section of the libraries on the Troy and Albany campus.

● Joseph Gibaldi, MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, New York, Modern Language Association.

● Kate L. Turabian, A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, Chicago, University of Chicago Press. https://researchguides.library.wisc.edu/c.php?g=177820&p=1167371

● American Psychological Association. Publication Manual for the American Psychological Association, Washington, D.C., American Psychological Association. http://apastyle.apa.org/

Religious Observance

Russell Sage College recognizes the value of participation in and observance of religious obligations and practices by individual students. No student will be penalized because a religious observance prevents participation in any course requirement. An opportunity will be provided for each student to make any requirement missed for an absence due to religious observance. A student who intends to be absent from classes for a religious observance must notify each instructor in advance and make arrangements to cover missed course materials and to complete the course requirement(s) missed. The College reserves the right to confirm the existence of the observance through an interfaith calendar.

E-Mail Policy for Russell Sage College

Sage considers Sage Gmail ([email protected]) the exclusive vehicle for official college e-mail communication. As such, [email protected] will be considered the official email address for writing and forwarding electronic correspondence. All users are expected to regularly check their Sage email account (on Gmail) and to acknowledge messages in a timely manner. In addition to general College notices, faculty members frequently use the College's email system to notify and correspond with members of their classes. It is recommended that students frequently access their College assigned email account for information. Any electronic business conducted with the College must be done via a sage.edu account.

Credit Hour Policy at Sage

All courses offered at Russell Sage College - graduate, undergraduate, and professional - comply with the definition of the credit hour and the policies established by the New York State Commissioner of Education and the US Department of Education regardless of delivery modality. A contact hour is described as the interaction between faculty and students via lecture, discussion, research, project/problem, debate, etc. For lecture class formats, one credit requires a minimum of 12.5 faculty contact hours (750 minutes) and a minimum of 30 hours of out-of-class student work over the course of a 15 week semester. For example, a three-credit course is thus equal to a minimum of 37.5 faculty contact hours (2,250 minutes) with the expectation of a minimum of 90 hours of student out-of-class work time.

[Updated May 2022]