TALKING AS AN ACADEMIC COMMUNITY
www.umn.edu/home/jewel001/AcademicCommunity.htm
Dear members of the class,
Good academic behavior on the bulletin boards is like good academic behavior in a physical classroom. Sometimes people writing bulletin board messages forget this, but it is of great importance. To make these boards work well for everyone, we must treat each other with respect, caring, and balance.
There is also a tendency sometimes for people to think that bulletin boards are a place to complain--to or about each other, the assignments, or even unrelated events--but they are not. Rather, the bulletin boards are a place--as in a regular classroom--to stick to the topics at hand.
If you have a problem with someone in class or feel you have been unfairly treated or hurt by someone on the bulletin board or elsewhere, let me know, but do it by email, phone, or in person. If you have a question about why the class is being run the way it is, then keep it at that simple level--a polite question--and ask me privately--again by email, phone, or in person. This is only good academic ethics and polite behavior, just as in a regular, physical classroom at school.
Please do not use the bulletin boards as a place for emotional disagreements. In particular, be careful of the words you use and how you put them together in sentences, as they might have an emotional message that you did not intend. Reread what you've written before sending it. Show respect to other students and to me. Stick to the topic, and try to be kind to others. And be willing to disagree with each other as long as you do so respectfully in a balanced, caring way.
Please read a longer statement, "Talking as an Academic Community," by clicking here on www.umn.edu/home/jewel001/AcademicCommunity.htm.
You also can find it by going to the home page of the course Web site, and then to the "Bulletin Boards" section.
I appreciate your serious attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
Richard Jewell
