NewhouseSU COM 107 Communications and Society #NH1074Ward - Fall 2012 Syllabus

COM 107 - M004 (25802)
Communications & Society
Fall 2012
Monday & Wednesday 3:45 - 5:05 pm
Newhouse 1 101

Professor: Dr. William Ward I.A.: Porsche Nichols
email: dr4ward@syr.edu email: pnichols@syr.edu
office: NH 2, 339 office: NH 1, 111
phone: 315-443-9245 phone: 315-443-7081
office hours: Tues. 2-4:00 PM office hours: Mon. 1:30 – 3:30 PM
Wed. Noon – 2:00 PM or by appt Thurs. 1- 2:00 PM
Twitter Class Hashtag: #NH1074Ward
___________________________________________________________
You are taking this course, titled Communications and Society, at a crucial period in the history of the
media in the U.S. The invention of radio in the 1920s greatly influenced the future of the newspaper
industry. The broad acceptance of television in the 1950s had a serious impact on the newspaper
industry, the magazine industry, the film industry, and the radio industry. In a similar manner, the
Internet is having a profound effect on all the existing "old" media. These old media are trying to
determine how to adjust to, and make the best use of, the Internet. The Internet is trying to determine
its own place in the media environment. An additional aspect of this competition is that the media are
adjusting to the rise of user-created digital content.

In a period of just 40 years, we have gone from mass media, to niche media, to user-created
individual media. All three are fighting for their place at the consumer's table.

This competition for the attention of the consumer is being heightened by the worst economic
conditions since the Great Depression of the 1930s. Advertising revenues for newspapers,
magazines, radio and television have fallen precipitously, requiring new business models for the old
media to survive. The growth in ad revenues for Internet properties has slowed, calling into question
how robust the revenues for websites will eventually be.

Our focus will be on developments in the United States, but we will not overlook the global context in
which our media operate. The worldwide web, after all, has made the world a much smaller place.
We will examine the power of the media, and the limits to that power; the meaning of freedom of the
press; the structure of media ownership; the role of advertising in our for-profit media system; the
current status of all the media as they adjust to the Internet; the nature of news and public relations;
and we will examine the ways in which certain messages shape and reflect society’s ethics and
values, social norms, reinforce stereotypes, and influence our perceptions of others.

Regardless of economic conditions and the job market, we can be confident that trained individuals
will continue to gather news, create advertising and public relations strategies, produce movies and
television shows, build websites, and so on. Content is not going away. Content is what attracts
consumers to the media.

Further, it is in just such periods of revolutionary change and ferment that visionary and
entrepreneurial young people shape the future. We hope and assume this group will include many of
you. The overarching purpose of this course, therefore, is to begin to prepare you for this new world.

COM 107 Fall 2012 Syllabus/Page 1

Course Goals & Learning Outcomes:
1. Develop an understanding of the business environment in which the media operate;

2. Appreciate the changes that have overtaken the “old” media in the last 40 years and understand
the impact of the digital revolution;

3. Learn the meaning of the First Amendment’s freedoms of speech and press;

4. Explore the power of the media to inform, persuade, stereotype, and create the popular culture, as
well as the very real limitations on that power;

5. Examine the role of the media in bringing about changes in race relations;

6. Study how advertising works, and how the ad industry is adjusting to the digital revolution;

7. Learn how “news” is defined, distributed, and supported;

8. Study how the public relations industry and the news business are intertwined;

9. Examine the challenges facing all the media over the next decade, with a particular emphasis on
how digital media are changing the rules of the game;

10. Improve your writing and analytical skills.

At the conclusion of the course, I hope you will have a more critical (but not cynical) understanding of
the role of the mass media in American life, and of the demands on the professionals who create and
distribute media content.

Course Resources:
There are three required texts for this course. A number of additional readings will be provided as the
semester progresses. In order to keep up with class discussion and lectures, you will need to
complete the assigned readings prior to coming to class.

• Campbell, R., Martin, C. R., & Fabos, B. (2012). Media and culture: An introduction to mass
communication (8th Ed.). Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s.
• Twitchell, J. B. (2000). Twenty ads that shook the world. New York: Three Rivers Press.
• Roberts, G. & Klibanoff, H. (2007). The Race Beat. New York: Knopf.

In addition, you should read the front page of the New York Times every day in order to be prepared
for the current events quizzes (see Course Requirements). This newspaper is provided free of charge
this year around campus. Every Monday, you should also check the Business Section of New York
Times or the Media & Advertising subsection on the website (www.nytimes.com) and read the stories
related to media industries.

Course Website:
Course documents will be posted on the class Blackboard website at http://blackboard.syr.edu. These
will include detailed assignment instructions, links to some of the additional readings, updates on
schedule changes, course resources and policies, and basic lecture outlines. Please note that these
are very basic lecture outlines and will not serve as a substitute for class notes.


Course Requirements:
Your course grade will be based on the following elements:

Percent of Grade Points Your Score
Daily Participation/Attendance – in-class discussion & participation with
Twitter Back Channel 15% 150 ____
9/26 Exam 1 10% 100 ____
10/31 Exam 2 10% 100 ____
12/5 Exam 3 (Final) 10% 100 ____
10/10 Paper 40% or 25% 400 or 250 ____
11/14 Revision 15% 150 ____
TBA Grammar Slammer 2.5% 25 ____
TBA Academic Honesty Session 2.5% 25 ____
unscheduled Current Event Quizzes 10% 100 ____
Total 100% 1000 ____

Extra Credit: max 20 ____

Grade Scale:

930-1000 A C+ 770-799
900-929 A- C 730-769
870-899 B+ C- 700-729
830-869 B D 600-699
800-829 B F 0-599

Grading Criteria
A grades: Reserved for superior work, above and beyond the basic requirements of the
assignment, demonstrated in quality of writing or production, strength of arguments,
and rigor of analysis.
B grades: Good work that fulfills the requirements of the assignment, but needs some
improvement in terms of writing quality, clarity, and analysis.
C grades: Fulfills the basic requirements of the assignment, but needs improvement
D grades: Extensive Improvement needed. Work demonstrates some attempt to fulfill the basic
requirements of the assignment, but is irrelevant, poorly written, or severely flawed.
F: Unsatisfactory. Work that fails to fulfill the basic requirements of the assignment.

____________________________________________________________
Keeping in Touch:
Your Instructor Assistant and I hold regular office hours every week. We will be happy to meet with
you to talk about the course, your work, and your writing. If you can’t meet with either of us during
those scheduled times (see the first page of the syllabus), make an appt. Email is the best way to
contact me (dr4ward@syr.edu). University policy requires me to use your campus account rather than
off-site email for official class correspondence.


Participation & Attendance
In-class participation and attendance is required to be successful in this class. You are expected to
contribute to in-class discussion and with the class Twitter back channel. We will be connecting the
class together on Twitter. We will be creating a class list on Twitter and using a class Hashtag for an
online, real-time Twitter back channel for in-class discussion. The Hashtag for the class Twitter back
channel will be #NH1074Ward. The Hashtag will be used for communication in-class and outside of
class throughout the week.

Exams
There will be three exams. The first two are scheduled for regular class periods during the semester.
The first will assess your knowledge of the course material covered prior to that date and the second
will be based on the course material covered between the first and second exams. The final exam will
focus on the material covered after the second exam but may also include three or four essay
questions that draw on material from the entire span of the course.

Paper (Due 10/10)
The purpose of this paper is two-fold. First, we want to introduce you to an information source located
outside the United States. Second, we want to develop your analytical powers by requiring you to
compare and contrast coverage of a specific news event in two quite different American news sources
with coverage from a news source located outside the U.S.

This is a challenging assignment. In order to make it easier, I have provided below a step-by-step
explanation for how to approach this paper:

STEP ONE. You will monitor news events of significance being reported in the media between
Monday, August 27 and Wed, September 12. You should be looking for events of international
significance in such media as The New York Times, USA Today, CNN, and the Washington Post.
Once you have found an event that interests you and has received significant coverage, make certain
it has also received significant coverage in news media abroad. This can be an economic, political,
cultural, religious, or scientific event. It could be based on a serious natural disaster, should one
occur. Do NOT select a sporting event. It is acceptable to select an event related to the campaign for
the U.S. presidency, although much of the day-to-day campaigning that is covered in the U.S. is of
little interest abroad.

STEP TWO. Get that event approved as your paper topic by IA via e-mail no later than 5 p.m. on
September 12. This will provide a written record of your selections. Also select THREE news media
whose coverage of your event you intend to compare and contrast. One should be a major national
news medium in the U.S. such as The New York Times or CNN. One should be a local or regional
news medium, such as your hometown newspaper. The third should be a major news medium based
in a foreign country. You must also get approval for the three media whose coverage you intend to
study. These selections should also be made and approved no later than 5 p.m. on September 12.

STEP THREE. Read ALL the coverage of your event on these three news sites beginning on the day
the story broke and continuing for the next three or four days, or until the story runs out of steam.

STEP FOUR. Sit down with all that coverage, and your notes about the content of that coverage, and
think carefully about what you have read, heard and watched. Also pay attention to any still
photographs and video images on the websites that add to the coverage. As you do this, prepare to
answer the following questions in the paper:

Which news sites gave this story the most coverage? The least? Why do you think this is so?


Which facts about the event appeared in all the sites? Which facts appeared in only one or two of the
sites?

Which facts are in dispute? Why do you think this is so?

Do you detect any bias in the coverage based on the nationality of the news site? What is that bias?

How does the coverage in a small American site compare with the coverage in a major site?

How much would it matter to your understanding of the event if you relied on only one site for
information? Whose coverage was most useful to you, and why?

Does it matter where we get our information about events in the news?

In conclusion what, overall, did you learn about news coverage from this exercise?

STEP FIVE. Your paper should cover the ground discussed in Step Four above, and whatever else of
interest you discover in the course of your research. In support of your arguments you should provide
specific quotes where appropriate from the many stories you read. Provide a citation for EVERY
quote you use in an Endnotes page, and list ALL of the stories you read in a complete list of sources
attached to the paper.

The paper should be no more than 1250 words long (five double-spaced pages of approximately 250
words per page) and no less than 1000 words long. No exceptions. (The Endnotes and Bibliography
are outside the word count.) Please include a word count at the end of the paper. Leave sufficient
margins so that there is room for line editing on the paper.

STEP SIX. Put the first draft of your paper away for a couple of days. Then rewrite it three or four
times until it is clear and free of all extraneous words and grammatical, punctuation and spelling
mistakes. Proofread carefully. Make sure you have built a logical argument. Start the paper with an
exciting lead paragraph, and conclude it with a paragraph that not only summarizes your findings but
also leaves the reader with something novel to think about. In short, if you turn in a hastily composed
first draft, you are likely to receive a poor grade.

STEP SEVEN. Turn in the paper in class on Wednesday, OCTOBER 10. I will grade the papers
between that date and Wednesday, October 31, when I will return them with comments, line editing
and a grade.

STEP EIGHT. Based on those comments, you will rewrite the paper and make it much better.
Students who received an A on the first submission need not rewrite. Those who received an A- or a
B+ may rewrite if they so choose. It is not required. Those who received a B or below MUST rewrite.
The rewrite is due in class on Wednesday, NOVEMBER 14. I will return the rewrite, with a second
grade, at the final exam.

The first draft of the paper is worth 25% of the final course grade. The second draft is worth another
15% of the final course grade. If you do not rewrite, the grade on the first draft is also the grade for
the second draft. In other words, if you get an A on the first draft, 40% of the course grade is an A. If
you get an A- and choose not to rewrite, 40% of the course grade is an A-. (Note that it is possible
the rewrite will not produce a higher grade. It must be better than the first submission.)


Given that this paper is due on October 10, you should conduct your research and analysis between
September 10 (or earlier) and September 21. Then spend at least 10 days writing, rewriting, and
rewriting. We will discuss some basics of the writing process in class on September 24.

Those of you not used to writing at a high level of proficiency will find this assignment to be a
challenge. But good writing is at the heart of a successful career in the media.

Paper Revision “Option”
We have learned from past experience that many of you will want a second chance to rewrite and
improve the paper once you have received comments and a grade on the first effort. Therefore, all of
you who receive a grade of B- or below are required to rewrite the paper. Those of you who earn a
grade of B or higher may rewrite it if you so choose, but you are not required to do so.

The paper is worth 40% of the final course grade. If you submit a rewrite, the first submission will
account for 25% of your course grade, and the rewrite will account for remaining 15%.

Students who received an A on the first submission need not rewrite. Those who received an A- or a
B+ may rewrite if they so choose. Those who received a B or below MUST rewrite. The rewrite is due
in class on 11/14.

Current Events Quizzes (unscheduled) (10% total)
In addition to the exams, paper, and project, there will be a series of unscheduled short quizzes and
assignments given throughout the semester. These will include short current events quizzes based on
the front page stories in the New York Times. The purpose of these quizzes is to encourage students
to stay informed of the events covered by major news media. You will only receive credit for these
assignments if you are in class on the day that they are assigned. There will be no make ups.

Extra Credit (maximum of 20 pts.)
Extra credit opportunities will be offered throughout the semester. Extra credit can be earned through
a) attending instructor-approved guest lectures and writing a brief (1 page) reaction paper, and b)
participating in instructor-approved research studies. The amount of extra credit earned will vary
depending upon the nature of the opportunity.

THREE ADDITIONAL REQUIRED SESSIONS

Grammar Slammer
You are required to attend one of the scheduled Grammar Slammer sessions. This session will
provide an intensive grounding in the grammatical rules that we will expect you to apply in your class
papers. Session dates will be listed on Blackboard. Attendance is worth 25 points.

Academic Honesty Sessions
You are required to attend one of the scheduled Academic Honesty sessions. In addition to covering
issues of copyright & plagiarism, this session provides information on on-line searching and source
evaluation. Session dates will be listed on Blackboard. Attendance is worth 25 points.

Academic Misconduct
Cheating in any form--falsification of data, plagiarism, etc.--is not acceptable. In addition, unless you
are instructed to work in groups, you are expected to submit your own work. I have included a copy of
the SU and Newhouse School policies. Any form of academic misconduct will result in a grade of "F"
for the course and we will pursue the academic misconduct grievance procedures. If you have any


questions about how to appropriately cite sources or use references, please ask us. Additional
guidance for students can be found in the Office of Academic Integrity resource: ‘What does academic
integrity mean?’

General Policies for Written Work
The Newhouse School takes writing very seriously and considers it one of the most important skills
you will develop here. Newhouse emphasizes a straightforward, declarative style of writing that is
clear and concise; arguments are expected to be well supported with appropriate evidence and
demonstrate logical thinking.

Write, Re-Write, and Re-Write Again
First drafts are rarely (if ever) perfect. Leave yourself time to polish and proofread your work before
submitting it. Emily and I will be happy to meet with you to discuss the overall organization, structure,
and strength of your arguments prior to the submission of your paper, but we expect you to be
responsible for proofreading your own work. The following source provides some suggestions for
proofreading:
• http://www.indiana.edu/~wts/pamphlets/proofing_grammar.shtml

References
You must provide complete citations for each source that you use in your written work--both within the
body of your work and in the accompanying List of References. Remember, even if you are
paraphrasing someone else’s words (as opposed to using a direct quote), you must still provide a
citation. The Internet is not the public domain. Material drawn from Internet sources must also be
cited. Never make up quotations, sources, “facts,” statistics, or any other material. Be prepared to
provide sources for every quotation or disputable fact. As the field of Communication uses the
American Psychological Association (APA) citation style format, your papers should use this
style. The following websites provide information on how to correctly cite written, electronic, and
broadcast sources using APA style:
• http://www.apastyle.org/pubmanual.html
• http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/research/r_apa.html
• http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/10/
• http://ia.juniata.edu/citation/apa/apa06.htm#lecture

Structural Expectations
It is difficult to assess papers if it is difficult to read them. In other words, all papers must be typed,
double-spaced, and appropriately bound or stapled. Use page numbers. For this class (other
professors may have different expectations), you should use subheadings to clearly identify the
different sections of your paper. You should also include a word count at the end of your paper. Most
word-processing systems have this function.


Due Dates
Assignments are always due at the beginning of class on the designated due date. Late assignments
will lose a letter grade for each day that they are late. No late work will be accepted after one week
from the due date. Any exceptions (illness or family emergencies) must be properly documented for
an extension to be arranged. Please note that printer jams and computer crashes are not considered
emergencies. Be familiar with the location of computer labs on campus and save your work
frequently. In addition to the print copy, you will need to submit an electronic copy on the Turnitin link
on the course blackboard site.

Religious Observances
SU’s religious observances policy can be found at
http://supolicies.syr.edu/emp_ben/religious_observance.htm. SU recognizes the diversity of faiths
represented among the campus community and protects the rights of students, faculty and staff to
observe religious holy days according to their tradition. Students will be provided an opportunity to
make up any examination, study or work requirements that may be missed due to a religious
observance provided they notify the instructor before the end of the second week of classes. Students
who plan to observe a religious holiday this term must use the online notification process on myslice.
This is only available the first two weeks of classes.

General Exam Policies
You are expected to be on time for each scheduled exam. No one will be allowed to take the exam
after one of the students in the class has completed his or her exam and left the room.
• Class lectures will not cover everything in your assigned readings but you will still be
responsible for reading and learning that material.
• Exams will be reviewed and discussed in class, but not returned. If you have any questions
concerning your exam, we’ll be happy to go over them with you during office hours. Your
scores will be available on Blackboard.

Makeup Exams
Essay make up exams will be offered only to those students who provide adequate documentation
justifying their missing the exams (illness or family emergency). Please note that out-of-town travel
plans and over-sleeping are not considered to be valid reasons for missing scheduled exams.

Students with Special Needs
I will be happy to make arrangements for students with documented special needs. If you need
special conditions for exams, please let me know at the beginning of the semester. For information on
authorized disability-related accommodations go to http://disabilityservices.syr.edu.
____________________________________________________________
Questions About Grades
The following policies apply to any questions you may have about your grades:
1) The 24 hour reflection period: Emily and I will not answer any questions until 24 hours after
your graded work has been returned to you. During that period, you should carefully read the
comments and evaluations of your work, re-check the assignment instructions, and then
determine if you would like to meet and discuss the assignment.


2) The two week expiration period: After the 24 hour reflection period, Emily and I will answer
questions or respond to requests for grade re-evaluation for two weeks. After that period, no
grade re-evaluations will be considered.
3) The “it could go down” policy: Please note that it is possible that in taking a “second look” at
your work, we may identify problems that we missed on our first evaluation and as a result
your grade may be lowered.
4) The “keeping track” policy: Your grades for all assignments will be regularly updated to
Blackboard. Should you notice any problems (missing assignments, grade changes), notify me
immediately.
5) The last week moratorium: Because of the end-of-the-semester crunch, neither Emily nor I will
have the time to respond to grade related questions during the last week of the semester.

Note: These policies do not apply to questions about upcoming papers or other assignments.
Your IA and I will be happy to meet with you during our office hours or by appt. to
discuss ways in which you can improve your work.

Grade Policies
Please note that assigned grades are not a “basis for negotiation.” As mentioned above, Emily and I
are very willing to work with you on preparing for your exams or paper. We are also willing to explain
the standards used to grade your work and to discuss the reasons for assigned grades. Once a final
grade has been assigned, no submission of additional work for a higher grade will be accepted. I
established this policy as I believe that if this opportunity is offered to one student, in fairness it needs
to be offered to all of the other students in COM 107. Given the time constraints, it is impossible for us
to accomplish this.


Course Schedule
As this course focuses on current events, scheduled lectures and reading assignments may (and
probably will) change over the course of the semester as “life happens.” These changes will be
updated on the course website. Check that site regularly.
• Additional Readings will be added over the course of the semester. You should read the
assigned material prior to coming to class on that date.
___________________________________________________________
Week One—8/27-8/29
Lecture Topics:
• What do we mean by Communication? What do we mean by Society? And why are you
taking this course?
• Communication & Culture
o Readings: Campbell, Chpt. 1 & Case Study

Week Two—9/5
Lecture Topics:
• Mass Society and Maximum Media Effects
o Readings: Campbell, Chpt. 4, pp. 107-124; Chpt. 14
• Changing World—Changing Media—Changing Minds?
o Readings: Campbell, Chpt. 6, pp. 185-198

Week Three—9/10-9/12
Lecture Topics:
• TV, Violence, & V-Chips
o Readings: Campbell, Chpt. 5; pp. 143-172
• The Players--Media Economics & Ownership

Week Four—9/17-9/19
Lecture Topics:
• So Who Owns First? Competition, Consolidation, & the FCC
• What’s News?
o Readings: Campbell, Chpt. 8
o
Week Five—9/24-9/26
Lecture Topics:
• Are the News Media Biased? Principles & Ethics in Journalism
o Readings: Power of People’s Media http://www.alternet.org/mediaculture/18966/
• Wed. 9/26: Exam 1

Week Six—10/1-10/3
Lecture Topics:
• Making (or Faking) the News—Citizen Journalists?
o Readings: Campbell, Chpt. 14;
o Frontline: News War (Part III) http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/newswar/part3/
• And They’re Off! Campaign Coverage & Political Advertising


o Readings: http://www.opednews.com/rosen0104_press_is_player.htm


Week Seven—10/8-10/10
Lecture Topics:
• News & National Security
o Readings: Frontline: News War (Part I)
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/newswar/part1/primer.html
o Misperceptions, The Media, & the Iraq War
http://www.pipa.org/OnlineReports/Iraq/IraqMedia_Oct03/IraqMedia_Oct03_rpt.pdf
• Say What You Want to Say…
• Wed. 10/10: Paper 1 Due

Week Eight—10/15-10/17
Lecture Topics:
• … But Don’t Say: Free Speech and the 1st Amendment
o Frontline: News War II (Chpt. 9-11)
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/newswar/view
• Let’s Go Surfing: Internet Development & Regulation

Week Nine—10/22-10/24
Lecture Topics:
• Deliberate Persuasion: Audiences, Advertising, & Culture
o Readings: Campbell, Chpts. 10; Twitchell, pp. 1-87
• Look at Me! Goals, Techniques, & Branding
o Readings: Twitchell, pp. 87-215;

Week Ten—10/29-10/31
Lecture Topics:
• Public Relations—Developing Images & Ethics
• Wed. 10/31: Exam 2

Week Eleven—11/05-11/07
Lecture Topics:
• Public Relations
o Readings: TBA
• The Power of the Printed Word
o Readings: Campbell, Chpts. 9 & 10

Week Twelve—11/12-11/14
Lecture Topics:
• Songs & Satellites
o Readings: Campbell, Chpt. 3, Chpt. 4, pp. 124-143
• Color Adjustment-- Images of Others
o Readings: TBA
• Wed. 11/14: Paper Revision Due


Week Thirteen: Thanksgiving Break 11/19-11/21

Week Fourteen—11/19-11/121
Lecture Topics:
• Race in the Media
o Readings: Race Beat, Chpts. 15-19
• Race in the News:
o Readings: Race Beat, Chpts. 20-23; Media Blackface (http://www.fair.org/index.php?
page=1431);

Week Fifteen—11/26-11/28
Lecture Topics:
• “Real Women & Real Men”--Gender Stereotypes
o Readings: TBA
• Gender & Media
o Readings: TBA

Week Sixteen—12/03-12/5
Lecture Topics:
• Exam Review
• Wed. 12/5: Final Exam

Final Exam Schedule:
• Mon. 12/10 3-5 PM Newhouse 1 101 Final Exam Review / Class Wrap up


SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY ACADEMIC INTEGRITY POLICY
I. Preamble
At Syracuse University, academic integrity is expected of every community member in all endeavors.
Academic integrity includes a commitment to the values of honesty, trustworthiness, fairness, and respect.
These values are essential to the overall success of an academic society. In addition, each member of the
university community has a right to expect adherence to academic integrity from all other community members.
An individual’s academic dishonesty threatens and undermines the central mission of the university. It
is unfair to other community members who do not cheat, because it devalues efforts to learn, to teach, and to
conduct research. Academic dishonesty interferes with moral and intellectual development, and poisons the
atmosphere of open and trusting intellectual discourse.
While the policies and procedures in this document pertain in the main to students, it is also the policy
of Syracuse University that all instructors, administrators, and staff shall adhere to academic integrity standards
expected of academic professionals.
This policy applies in all schools and colleges at Syracuse University, except as provided in section A,
below. Syracuse University schools and colleges utilize a uniform approach to academic integrity to promote
communication and awareness of policies and fairness and consistency in their application. There may be
instances, however, in which it is legitimate for the faculty of a school or college to adopt a policy
augmentation. Such an augmentation will be consistent with the university-wide approach. A discipline-specific
rationale for the augmentation is especially appropriate. A copy of any policy augmentation will be provided to
the university’s Academic Integrity Office (AIO) and published as an appendix to the university’s academic
integrity policies and procedures wherever they are published by the university and/or the schools/colleges.
[ Section A applies on to the College of Law and is omitted here]

II. Academic Integrity Expectations
Academic integrity is violated by any dishonest act which is committed in an academic context
including, but not restricted to the following:
A. Use of Sources
1. Plagiarism is the use of someone else's language, ideas, information, or original material without
acknowledging the source.
a. Examples of plagiarism:
i. Paper is downloaded from an Internet source and/or obtained from a paper mill.
ii. Paper contains part or all of the writings of another person (including another student), without citation.
iii. Paper contains passages that were cut and pasted from an Internet source, without citation.
2. While students are responsible for knowing how to quote from, paraphrase, and cite sources correctly,
the ability to apply that information in all writing situations is an advanced literacy skill acquired over time
through repeated practice.
When a student has attempted to acknowledge sources but has not done so fully or completely, the instructor
may determine that the issue is misuse of sources or bad writing, rather than plagiarism. Factors that may be
relevant to the determination between misuse of sources and plagiarism include prior academic integrity
education at Syracuse University and the program level of the student. Instructors are responsible for
communicating their expectations regarding the use and citation of sources.

B. Course Work and Research
1. The use or attempted use of unauthorized aids in examinations or other academic exercises submitted
for evaluation;
2. Fabrication, falsification, or misrepresentation of data, results, sources for papers or reports; in clinical
practice, as in reporting experiments, measurements, statistical analyses, tests, or other studies never performed;
manipulating or altering data or other manifestations of research to achieve a desired result; selective reporting,
including the deliberate suppression of conflicting or unwanted data;
3. Copying from another student's work;
4. Actions that destroy or alter the work of another student;
5. Unauthorized cooperation in completing assignments or examinations;


6. Submission of the same written work in more than one course without prior written approval from both
instructors.

C. Communications
1. Violating the confidentiality of an academic integrity investigation, resolution, or documentation;
2. Making a false report of academic dishonesty;
3. Dishonesty in requests for make-up exams, for extensions of deadlines for submitting papers, or in any
other matter relating to a course.

D. Representations and Materials Misuse
1. Falsification of records, reports, or documents associated with the educational process;
2. Misrepresentation of one's own or another's identity in an academic context;
3. Misrepresentation of material facts or circumstances in relation to examinations, papers, or other
academic activities;
4. Sale of papers, essays, or research for fraudulent use;
5. Alteration or falsification of university records;
6. Unauthorized use of university academic facilities or equipment, including computer accounts and files;
7. Unauthorized recording, sale, purchase, or use of academic lectures, academic computer software, or
other instructional materials;
8. Expropriation or abuse of ideas and preliminary data obtained during the process of editorial or peer
review of work submitted to journals, or in proposals for funding by agency panels or by internal university
committees;
9. Expropriation and/or inappropriate dissemination of personally-identifying human subject data;
10. Unauthorized removal, mutilation, or deliberate concealment of materials in university libraries, media,
laboratories, or academic resource centers.

III. Course-Specific Expectations
A. The instructor of record is responsible for determining and communicating course-specific academic
integrity expectations. Instructors of record are responsible for stating course-specific expectations in writing,
particularly those regarding use of sources and collaboration.

B. Students are responsible for consulting their instructors for any clarification needed on academic integrity
standards, including those set forth in this policy and those that are course-specific.

C. Collusion is assisting or attempting to assist another in an act of academic dishonesty. Collusion is distinct
from collaborative learning, which may be a valuable component of scholarly development. Acceptable levels of
collaboration vary in different courses, and students are expected to consult with their instructor if they are
uncertain whether their cooperative activities are acceptable.

Portions of this policy are adapted from the following sources, with permission: Council of Writing Program Administrators. "Defining and Avoiding
Plagiarism: WPA Statement on Best Policies." Council of Writing Program Administrators, January 2003.
<http://www.wpacouncil.org/positions/index.html>.Howard, Rebecca Moore. "A Plagiarism Pentimento." Journal of Teaching Writing (Summer 1993).
233-245. Portions of this policy are based on the academic integrity policies of Boston College, Cornell University, Duke University, Georgetown
University, the University of Maryland, and former policies of Syracuse University’s School of Architecture, College of Arts and Sciences, L.C. Smith
College of Engineering and Computer Science, School of Education, College of Human Services and Health Professions, School of Information Studies,
Whitman School of Management, and College of Visual and Performing Arts.


NewhouseSU COM 107 Communications and Society #NH1074Ward - Fall 2012 Syllabus

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NewhouseSU COM 107 Communications and Society #NH1074Ward - Fall 2012 Syllabus