Dear Students,

You have decided to take Composition 1 and 2, which will count for six hours of your college career (please check with the college you plan on attending to make sure the credit will transfer) and your English IV high school credit. In order for you to receive credit for these courses, you must adhere to the following guidelines.

For Pearl High School

§  You must take both Composition 1 (fall semester) and 2 (spring semester). If you do not qualify for Composition 2, you will be placed in a regular English IV class for the remainder of the year. There are no AP or Honors sections of English IV, so keep this in mind when you are finalizing your course schedule.

§  The English IV credit will be weighted by 1.05%.

§  Your Hinds grade will consist of 5 major essays, a final exam, and daily quizzes/classwork/homework (per their required course syllabus). Your English IV grade will consist of these same assignments with some additions (summer reading, book tests, literature projects, midterm, etc.)

§  You are responsible for summer reading.

§  There are no “off” days for this course. Every day the class is scheduled to meet day, we will meet.

For Hinds Community College

§  You will be required to pay a fee for the dual enrollment class; fortunately, this is less than regular college tuition if you were to take this course elsewhere.

§  You will be responsible for purchasing the following books:

§  Norton Field Guide to Writing with Readings, 3rd ed. (minus handbook), Richard Bullock, Norton ISBN: 978-0-393-93976-7. This includes the Norton Field Guide to Go for free.

§  The Little Seagull with Exercises, Norton ISBN: 978-0-393-93580-6

Hinds Community College requires that a student must be present for 80% of the class in order to receive credit. Students who miss 80% of the class will be given a grade of F seven days after they are sent a Notice of Absence letter. Make-up work is the responsibility of the student and should be done in a timely manner.

Grade Scale and Point Distribution

The grading scale for the Hinds Community College English Dept. is as follows:

90-100 A 65%...... 5 semester essays

80-89 B 25%...... final essay

70-79 C 10%...... daily quizzes/classwork/homework

60-69 D

Below 60 F

§  Students should be aware that more than three major errors (fragment, run-on, comma splice, verb error, 3 misspelled words, 3 minor errors related to pronoun misuse and incorrect punctuation) will result in a grade of F on an essay assignment.

§  Students should be aware that the grade earned at Hinds follows different criteria than the grade earned at Pearl High School. Pearl High School is weighted by 1.05.

§  Academic Honesty

According to the Hinds Community College Student Handbook:

o  “Cheating on any examination, quiz, work to be completed in class, assigned work to be completed outside of class; cheating on term papers; cheating on final examinations; plagiarism on any assignment; theft or attempted theft of examination questions or possession of examination questions prior to the time for examination period shall be offenses subject to the following penalties. The penalty for commission of any offense set out above is failure in the course and possible dismissal or suspension from the College “ (47).

§  If a student is caught violating the policy I will inform the student, the school principal, the department chair, and the Academic Dean of Hinds Community College.

§  Other Important Information for Dual Enrollment

o  A 17 or higher composite score on the English and Reading portions of the ACT is required.

o  All students must have a FERPA waiver, a PPSD Student Letter, and a Hinds CC Parent/Student Letter signed and returned by the end of the second week of class.

o  All books must be purchased by the end of the second week of class, or the student will be removed from Dual Enrollment and placed in a regular English IV class.

o  Students will receive a bill for Dual Credit from Hinds Community College. It is up to the student to make sure the bill is paid by midterm.

o  Students who would like to drop the class must make sure they fill out a Drop Request form from Hinds and follow the proper Hinds procedure as soon as they decide to drop. DO NOT WAIT to drop the class. If you are not comfortable in Comp I, make the decision to return to English IV soon. Students are also responsible for informing the instructor and counselor at Pearl High School.

New this year, the Rankin Campus has a new English Lab in George Wynne Hall 212. The English lab is open M-F during fall and spring semesters from approximately 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Also, the English lab is open Monday and Tuesday evenings from 4:30 to 7:15. The lab is for individual work – individual tutoring in English, not proofreading, and for individual computer use, only for English assignments.

Please sign below to note that you have read and understood the preceding information.

Student Signature: ______Date: ______

Parent Signature: ______Date: ______