Courses

Course information for all courses (syllabus):

Contact: Dr. Joseph Harchanko, D.M.A.
phone: 765-285-2449
email: harchanko@bsu.edu        website: http://www.bsu.edu/web/harchanko 

Click here to see office schedule for Spring 2004.

Attendance: Attendance is required for all courses.  Three absences (excused or unexcused) per semester will be allowed without penalty.  Any absence in excess of three will result in the final grade being lowered by two percentage points per absence beyond the allowed three.  If the student has an excess of three absences that he or she feels is excused under university policy, proper documentation must be shown for all absences.  In other words, if you have four absences and can only show documentation for three, your grade will still be docked, regardless of the chronological ordering of your absences.  Students may refer to the student handbook concerning what constitutes excused and unexcused absences, but ultimate discretion rests solely with the professor.  The professor must be notified in advanced in writing of any foreseeable absences, including but not limited to, excused absences for university events.  All excused absences must be documented with a written excuse such as a doctor's notice, obituary, university memo, etc.  

Typically, there will be NO opportunity to make up grades missed for any absence.  An absence during a quiz for any reason will be awarded a 0.  Grades for the midterm or final may not be dropped and will only be made up in strict adherence to university policy.

In the event of an absence contact the professor immediately by email and by calling his office phone.  If the absence is foreseeable, give notice before the absence occurs at the earliest possible time.

There are no unexcused absences permitted in private instruction courses such as composition lessons and electronic composition lessons.  In the event of any absence from a composition lesson, contact Dr. Harchanko by email and phone prior to the lesson.  Students of acoustic and/or electronic composition are expected to present new work every week.

Email: Students are required to maintain and check their BSU email accounts regularly.  Information sent to a BSU account is assumed to have been received and read within a 24-hour period.  Students are responsible for any such information.  In addition, help for assignments and quizzes are often distributed via the BSU email so it is to the students advantage to stay current in their email accounts.  Alternate email accounts will not be substituted, so don't ask.  You may be able to create an automatic forwarding command to your preferred email system.  Check with UCS for details.

Cheating and Plagiarism:  Students should refer to the student handbook concerning university policy on cheating and plagiarism.  Violations will not be tolerated.  Students wishing to use copyrighted material under the fair use clause of of U.S. copyright law must understand U.S. copyright law.  My powers and desire to enforce plagiarism standards, while sincere, pales in comparison to the motivation of the legal departments of W.B., Sony, and other record industry giants.  Beware!  Students wishing to use another's work must site it properly.  You may review U.S. copyright law in an online tutorial offered by The University of Texas at Austin. Students caught plagiarizing or cheating will, at minimum, be given a zero for their work.  Any work given a zero for cheating or plagiarizing MAY NOT BE DROPPED according to any other policy.

Grading will be done on the following standard: (N.B.: MUSTH courses do not use this scale, see below*.)
93-100             A
 90-92               A-
87-89               B+
83-86               B
80-82               B-
77-79               C+
73-76               C
70-72               C-
67-69               D+
63-66               D 
60-62               D-
59 and below   F

Disclaimer: Those uncomfortable with the creative process, including the exposition and criticism of their creative works, should consider their enrollment in these courses carefully.  Students must be prepared to offer and accept criticisms positively.

Materials: Students should be prepared to provide additional materials, such as computer disks, as necessary (note: USB Flash drives, while handy for daily work, do not have sufficient memory for digital audio courses).  All work should be saved and backed up.  Digital information does not exist unless it is saved in at least two locations.  Data loss for any reason is not an excuse.  YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

Professor-student contract: Your education is your responsibility.  It is my sincerest desire to facilitate the learning process.  Please do not hesitate to see me should you need help or should you have any desire to discuss class materials, classroom environment, or any element of the learning process or subject matter at hand.  I cannot oversee your life nor guarantee your success.  Only you can do that, but you will find it much easier if you seek what you need in your education.  Remember that I am here to help you do the work necessary to achieve your goals.

College life often places many stresses upon students.  Ball State University offers support for students' well-being.  All students having difficulty coping with any part of academic life are encouraged to make use of these resources.  Visit Ball State's Student Health Center's Counseling Services web site for a free and anonymous on-line screenings for depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress, alcohol and eating disorders.

*All regulations stated on this page are superceded by regulations particular to each course's syllabus.