Hello everyone:

While students across the nation go back to school at various times, our students in Maryland are starting back tomorrow. Here are some tips to help smooth your transition.

Stay in touch with the instructor. If you have a question, please ask. But, when you ask, make sure that you communicate with the professor the way he or she prefers. One of the colleges where I teach has  a means of communication that goes right through the class page. It is horrid. Every term, I ask students to use my email address and every term only half of them listen to me asking them to never send anything through the class web page. Since I teach multiple sections or multiple classes, and because the system works so poorly, if I get your message at all, it will be difficult for me to figure out which class you are taking.

If you are taking more than one class with an instructor in the same term, do not think that it’s okay to submit the same work twice. That is self-plagiarism and will get you in big trouble. Yes, we will notice. I had that very thing happen just this afternoon. When they self-plagiarize, some students don’t even bother to change the course name on the cover page. Bad idea. One time, a student handed in a paper that was marked up. It was also graded by a colleague of mine. Come on! Was the kid really so lazy he didn’t think I’d notice? I noticed and so did the honor board.

Have a great semester. Let me know if you have any questions.

Best,

Dr. Sheri