NORTH CAROLINA WESLEYAN COLLEGE
ROCKY MOUNT, NORTH CAROLINA

JUS 293 CRIMINAL LAW
ONLINE COURSE

 

Professor:  Mark Stevens, J.D.
Office hours: 8am - 8pm (7days)
Office phone: (252) 985-5276
Home Phone:  (252) 904-9085
Office: Hardee's 110
 

E-mail: mstevens@ncwc.edu
http://faculty.ncwc.edu/mstevens
 

Textbook: Criminal Law for the Criminal Justice Professional, by Norman M. Garland

ISBN:  0-02-800908-8

The textbook is available at the College Store
           Contact:

         Rdix@ncwc.edu

 

 

INSTRUCTIONAL SUPPLEMENTS

 

COURSE DESCRIPTION (from College Catalog):
    JUS 293 Criminal Law (3 semester hours) Criminal law includes the study of the most common crimes prosecuted in American courts, including homicide, sexual assault, and theft.  The student will also learn about the common defenses, including insanity and self-defense.

COURSE PURPOSE:
    This course provides online multimedia instruction of the most common crimes prosecuted in American courts, including homicide, sexual assault, theft, and crimes against public order and morals. Students will obtain an understanding of the nature, origins, and purposes of criminal law, the general principles of criminal liability, complicity and vicarious liability, as well as the defenses to liability.   Teaching methods, which will include technology applications as well as case work, will reinforce the understanding of general principles.

    This course is online and will use the North Carolina Wesleyan College Campus Cruiser platform.

OBJECTIVES:
1. To obtain familiarity with the criminal elements of crimes against persons, property, and order
2. To be able to analyze and apply principles and procedures derived from the Criminal law
3. To increase understanding of key terms, clauses, cases, and chronologies in Criminal Law

INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS:
    (A) Assigned textbook(s), study guide, CD-Rom, and any companion websites
    (B) Instructor website for instructional supplements and other resources
    (C) Library website, holdings, reserve, and NCLive
    (D) CampusCruiser, website portal for NCWC

Campus Cruiser:  After you have registered for this course you will be added to the NCWC Campus Cruiser website within 48 hours.  To log on to Campus Cruiser you will need to go to the Campus Cruiser homepage.  Scroll down the page and there are instructions on the homepage for first time users.  You should read these instructions completely prior to trying to log in.  Campus Cruiser is not administered by the instructor, and you should not contact the instructor if you have problems with Campus Cruiser.  For Campus Cruiser assistance contact the Information Systems help desk at helpdesk@ncwc.edu or 252-984-5000.

Communications with the Instructor:   The online instructor has provided you with numerous opportunities to establish contact with him. Communications will be primarily through NCWC's Campus Cruiser.  The online student should be making a visit to  Campus Cruiser websites at least once every 48 hours to check for new assignments or announcements (every two days or three times a week which is 3 contact hours).  All assignments, announcements, exams, written assignments, and grades for this course will be posted on CAMPUS CRUISER. 

COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
 Exams and written assignments:  All exams and written assignments will be administered using Campus Cruiser.  Exams and written assignments will be posted under the "My assignments" function of campus cruiser.  When you open the assignment page which contains an exam you will see that it is attached as a file.  A writing assignment may be attached as a file or described in the body of the assignment.   In this class there will be a mid term and a final exam. There will be several  writing assignments on a weekly basis. Separate instructions for each assignment will be provided at least a week in advance of the due date of the assignment.  In addition, there will be four message board discussions These discussions will utilize the Message Board function of Campus Cruiser.  All written assignments and exam dates will be posted at a minimum of a week in advance of the due date.  The final grade for this course will be calculated as follows:

 

Exams...................40%
        Writing Assignments ............30%
Discussion Topics........20%
(message board discussions)

 

Grading System:

A = 94-100. A- = 90-93 B+ = 87-89
B = 84-86 B- =  80-83 C+ = 77-79
C = 74-76 C- = 70-73 D+ = 67-69
D = 60-66 F = Below 60  

 

Message Board Discussions:  There will be Four Message Board Topics during this course. Each worth 25 points for a total of 100 points during the course.  As you can see above you total grade for the Message board is worth 20% of your grade.  Message board topics will be posted on the Message Board function of Campus Cruiser.  The Message board topics will be directly related to your reading in the text.  But you are encouraged to go to other sources to learn more about a subject.  

Message Board Grading:

Quantity:  You will be required to participate in the message board  discussion 3 times (on 3 different days) during the week of a particular message board topic.  Each of the 3 post during the week is worth 8.3 points.  So if you only post 2 times you would get 16.6 points, if you only posted 1 time you would get 8.3 points and if you did not post at all you would get "0" points.

Quality:    Not only will you be graded on the Quantity of your post on the message board, you will be also graded on the Quality of your responses. You are to respond not only to my question, but to each other.  A post that says "I agree"  or "I disagree"  is worth a "0".  I expect 3 thoughtful discussions (several sentences) of the topic. So, if you have a good response you would get all the points (8.3), a fair response (4.15) or a poor response (1or 2 points)

Submitting Exams and Written Assignments:  Your exams and written work will be submitted using the Campus Cruiser submission function.   The following is the procedure for submitting your assignments.

Your assignment page will now tell you the date and time that your assignment was posted.

You can only submit an assignment once so don't try to send parts of the assignment at different times.  Also, if the due date has expired you will not be allowed to submit the assignment.

    When you submit the answers for an objective exam you would send your exam answers in a list format  For example, your answers should be in the form that lists the question number and your answer:  e.g., 1-C, 2-A, 3-B.  Please leave space between answers and use a 12 font.  Do not cut and paste or mark up the exam in other ways.  Do not make any written comments.  Do not include page numbers or internet addresses.  Grading rubrics consist of one and only one correct answer (for objective exams).  Sometimes, there is a second best or even third best answer. There are no "red herring" or distracter ITEMS IN AN answer set.  Do not send the entire exam back to the Professor.  Send ANSWERS ONLY unless otherwise instructed.

    For written assignments you must submit the entire assignment at one time.  For example, if you had a 5 page point paper you MUST submit all 5 pages at one time.  You can NOT submit 3 pages, and then try to submit the other 2 pages.  Also, remember that you will NOT be able to submit an assignment past the due date.

INCOMPLETE POLICY (and Withdrawals):
    Incompletes (a grade of "Inc") and Withdrawals (a grade of "W") are not automatic, and never given as a substitute for missing makeup periods or low scores.  To receive an incomplete, a real emergency must exist for which the student misses a series of adjacent assignments, such as the last quiz, final exam, and 4th practicum, but this is only an example, as circumstances vary, and in all cases must involve notice beforehand and instructor approval of the emergency. Incompletes must be removed before eight weeks after the semester ends (otherwise they convert to a grade of "F").  In some cases, the instructor supports extensions beyond the eight week period, but a Work Needed for Incomplete form should be filled out, and the student must request such extension (in writing) to the VPAA.  Instructors can also change a grade of "F" to some other letter. Students with incompletes are ineligible from registering for Independent Study, Unscheduled Courses, and Special Topics courses. 

    Withdrawals arranged between the student and Registrar are allowed up to the midpoint of a semester (or whenever scheduled in the college's Academic Calendar). For Fall, 2002, that date is October 11.  After that date, any withdrawal is processed as a grade of "F" unless extenuating circumstances exist which are discussed with the instructor, the Registrar, and/or VPAA. Withdrawals do not compute into grade point averages, but do appear on transcripts, and may affect academic standing and/or financial aid. Tuition refund policies are set by the Business Office, with strict deadlines. 

    Excuses are only allowed for cases of illness, unavoidable circumstances, or college extracurricular activities approved by the VPAA.  Illnesses should be documented by a medical professional or by the school's Wellness Center.  Unavoidable circumstances should be described in writing, and the Instructor reserves the right to override what the student deems as unavoidable.  Extracurricular activities are normally notified to the faculty via email from the organization's advisor or coach.

ACADEMIC HONESTY:
   
Plagiarism and Cheating (as per the College Catalog) are prohibited.  Plagiarism is defined as taking or using the thoughts, writings, or inventions of another as one's own.  It also means using direct quotations without credit and quotation marks, as well as using the ideas of another without proper credit.  Some ideas in criminal justice, however, are so general that credit need not be given.  Ask your instructor when in doubt.  Cheating is defined as any intent to deceive the instructor in his or her effort to grade fairly.  Anything that can possibly effect the fairness of grading is cheating, which I interpret to include any collaborative, mischievous, or disruptive behavior.  In this course, pay special attention to gleaning information off the Internet, and do NOT pass it off as your own, or without proper citation.  Learn to paraphrase ideas in your own words.  Do not purchase, borrow, or revise another student's work.  Do not "double dip" an assignment you did in another class to turn it in for this one.  The following penalties are applied, as per the College Catalog.

Schedule of Academic Dishonesty Penalties

A. First offense
B. Second offense
C. Third offense
A. Instructor gives no credit for assignment
B. VPAA withdraws student with grade of F
C. VPAA suspends student from college

Institutional Student Support Resources:
For matters relating to your admissions status at the college, please contact the school's admissions office at adm@ncwc.edu or the site director at the location where you were first processed for admission to NCWC.  For matters relating to financial statements, credit hours, transcripts, articulation and transfer credit, please contact the school's business office or the school's Registrar by calling the Business Office during regular working hours at 252-985-5104.

Student Support Center:  If you find the need for tutoring or any other support need you should contact the Student Support Center at the main campus.  Tutoring is available by appointment at the Rocky Mount campus Mon-Thurs 8am -9pm, and Fri 8 am -5pm.

Advising and Course Offerings:  Your online instructor is not responsible for information on future courses or degree audits.  For matters relating to advising, scheduling, upcoming courses, or courses needed for degree completion you should contact your advisor.  If you do not have an assigned advisor you can contact the following personnel at each campus:  Rocky Mount smdavis@ncwc.edu, for Goldsboro goldsboro@ncwc.edu, for Raleigh/Durham Raleigh@ncwc.edu

Technical Assistance:  I am not able to provide assistance with computer or software problems.  In the event that you encounter technical problem go to help@ncwc.edu or call 252-985-5000

Online Classes at NCWC:  For general information about online classes at NCWC—including policies, access to library services, etc.—please visit http://faculty.ncwc.edu/jstubblefield/online2/onlinecourses1.htm.  

COURSE CALENDAR:
Note: The instructor reserves the right to make adjustments to this calendar as necessary.

Week One Textbook:  Chapters 1, 2, 3, and related lectures
Week Two Textbook:  Chapters 4 and 5 and related lectures
Week Three Textbook:  Chaptes 6 and 7 and related lectures
Week Four Mid-Term Exam
Week Five Textbook:  Chapter 8
Week Six Textbook:  Chapters 9 and 10
Week Seven Textbook:  Chapters 11
Week Eight Final Exam

Last Updated: 06/14/07
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