STA 9890 - Additional Resources and Course Policies

Course Resources

There are no required textbooks for this course. Supplemental readings and suggested practice will be assigned from the following readily-available resources:

Course Discussion Board

STA 9890 will use Piazza as the course discussion board. Students are encouraged to direct all questions about course topics or logistics to Piazza; use of a public anonymous discussion board allows students to benefit from the insights of their classmates and allows instructors to answer questions publicly to the benefit of all students.

Students are encouraged to use Piazza’s private question feature if they need to contact the instructor directly. Please only use private questions for personal inquiries: questions about the technical substance of the course can and should be asked (pseudonymously) in the public section of Piazza.

Piazza login information will be distributed through CUNY Brightspace.

Communication Resources

Written and oral communication is an important element of this course.

The Baruch Writing Center offers free support to all Baruch students; students can meet with a professional writing consultant one-to-one (in person, in NVC 8-185, or online, by video, audio, and text-based chat) and in group workshops. Writing Center consultants will work collaboratively with you to deepen your writing and English language skills. At any step in the process, they’ll help you become a more independent, confident, and versatile writer.1

Baruch’s Tools for Clear Speech program improves the pronunciation, fluency, and pragmatic abilities of English language learners and non-native English speakers at Baruch College. TfCS participants achieve more effective and intelligible communication, developing skills that empower them to succeed in their classrooms, careers, and beyond. TfCS offers a range of free face-to-face and online services with our professional Speech Consultants, including One-to-One Sessions, small-group Focused Skills Series sessions, large-group Overview Workshops, interview and career preparation, and weekly Conversation Hours.

DataCamp

DataCamp generously provides free access to many of their courses through DataCamp classrooms. I have created a DataCamp classroom for this course and assigned lessons that appear to be relevant to the material covered each week. As a general rule, these lessons will be more “hands on” and “code oriented” than what we are able to cover in lecture and provide a valuable supplement to this course. If there is a DataCamp course which is relevant to this course but which I did not assign, please contact me through Piazza and I will make it available to the class.

Completion of these DataCamp courses is not required and will not be tracked by the instructor. These are provided to you only as an additional learning resource.

A sign-up link will be made available through CUNY Brightspace.

Course Policies

Academic Integrity Policy

I fully support CUNY’s Policy on Academic Integrity, which states, in part:

Academic dishonesty is prohibited in The City University of New York. Penalties for academic dishonesty include academic sanctions, such as failing or otherwise reduced grades, and/or disciplinary sanctions, including suspension or expulsion.

Academic integrity is at the core of a college or university education. Faculty assign essays, exams, quizzes, projects, and so on both to extend the learning done in the classroom and as a means of assessing that learning. When students violate the academic integrity policy (i.e., “cheat”), they are committing an act of theft that can cause real harm to themselves and others including, but not limited to, their classmates, their faculty, and the caregivers who may be funding their education. Academic dishonesty confers an unfair advantage over others, which undermines educational equity and fairness. Students who cheat place their college’s accreditation and their own future prospects in jeopardy.

In this course, expectations for academic integrity for in-class graded activities are straightforward: no use of unauthorized materials on weekly quizzes or mid-semester tests. Unless explicitly stated otherwise by the instructor in writing, the only authorized materials allowed during in class assessment are instructor-provided formula sheets.

The Course Competition is “open peers”, “open book”, “open internet” but you may not use paid services or generative AI services. You must cite all sources used and include an acknowledgement section listing all peers with whom you collaborated. You do not need to acknowledge the instructor or any Piazza discussions, but you must acknowledge other faculty members or other Baruch students who help you complete your reports, even if they are not enrolled in this course.

Academic sanctions in this class will range from an F on the Assignment to an F in this Course. A report of suspected academic dishonesty will be sent to the Office of the Dean of Students.

Students are encouraged to contact the instructor with any questions or concerns related to matters of academic integrity.

External Resources Use Policy

Students are encouraged to make use of any and all external resources, including generative AI tools, for at home study and for practice problems. Students are strongly encouraged to collaborate on weekly practice problems. You are ultimately responsible for the correctness of any submitted materials - “the AI told me so” is not a valid defense.

The instructor may provide a formula sheet for use during in-class exams. No alternative resources may be used during these activities unless specifically pre-authorized by the instructor in writing.

Students may use online resources, such as blog posts, discussion fora, etc. for the Course Competition but Generative AI tools are specifically disallowed.

Exception: Coding Assistance Tools, e.g., GitHub CoPilot, may be used for the Course Competition. Their usage is limited to coding your ideas. They may not be used as idea generation tools.

The era of Generative AI is challenging and fast-paced. If you are unsure whether a tool is allowed in this course, please reach out to the instructor before using it. In matters of Academic Integrity, it is far better to ask permission than forgiveness.

Late Work Policy

Late work will not be accepted except in extraordinary and unforeseeable circumstances. Students submitting late work should provide supporting documentation to the Office of the Dean of Students; ODS will provide the instructor with a letter authorizing late work submission as appropriate.

All assignment submission technology used in this course allows multiple submissions, so students are encouraged to submit early and often to avoid any technology troubles associated with late submission.

Note that late work is allowed consistent with specific pre-arranged course accommodations as noted elsewhere in this document.

Communication Policy

Students should use the course discussion board for all course-related communication. Technical questions, that is, questions either about the course material or asking for help with an issue specific to your computer, should always be asked as “Public” and visible to the entire class. Even if you think an issue is too specific to be of broad interest, it is almost certain that one of your classmates has a very similar issue and will benefit from your question. Before posting a new question, students should review previous questions and, if appropriate, post their question as a follow-up discussion to relevant prior answers. If your question is large enough to merit a new question, but is similar to a previous question, please reference the prior post so the instructor knows that you have already read that question. Failure to do this may result in an sub-optimal answer (e.g., “go read XYZ”).

Questions should only be marked as private if they are personal or sensitive, e.g., specific questions about grading, request for religious or medical accomodation, or discussion of interpersonal conflicts. Questions of potential broad interest inapporiately marked as private, or sent via email, will be closed by the instructor and the student will be asked to re-post their question publically.

You should take full advantage of the course discussion board to discuss anything of interest related to this course: in addition to diving deeper into course material, please bring in connections to other courses, discussion of news or cutting-edge research, or general questions about your studies and careers as data scientists. The most valuable aspects of your education at Baruch are the connections and community you develop with your classmates and with your faculty.

The instructor will attempt (but not guarantee) to respond within two business days of all student posts.2 Consequently, if you have a complex issue requiring significant back-and-forth to resolve, you need to ask for help early. In particular, you should submit your mini-projects early and often to identify-and hopefully resolve-any technology issues as quickly as possible.

Be sure to keep your interactions in all course fora helpful, respectful, and professional. Inappropriate or unpressional postings will be deleted and grade penalties will be applied for particularly inappropriate interactions. Your classmates have a wide range of technical background - what is obvious to you may be difficult for them - so do not be overly curt.

Unexcused Abscence Policy

Attendance is not required, but lecture recordings will not be provided. Students are responsible for the content of all sessions missed.

Course Accomodations

Disability Services

It is CUNY policy to provide Accommodations and Academic Adjustments to students with disabilities.

Any student who has a disability who may need accommodations in this class should register as early as possible with Student Disability Services (SDS). Your registration with Student Disability Services is confidential, and is not recorded on your Baruch Academic Record. SDS can be reached by email at disability.services@baruch.cuny.edu, by phone at 646-312-4590, or in person at NVC 2-272.

Please note that the instructor cannot provide disability-related accommodations unless requested by SDS.

Religious Accomodations

It is CUNY policy to provide accommodations for students’ sincerely held religious beliefs. If a religious accommodation is requested, please contact the instructor at least two weeks in advance.

Additional Baruch and CUNY Benefits

As Baruch students, you have access to a variety of cultural and education benefits including:

among many others.

More will posted as I discover them.

Care Resources for Students3

Take care of yourself. Do your best to maintain a healthy lifestyle this semester by eating well, exercising, avoiding drugs and alcohol, getting enough sleep and taking some time to relax. This will help you achieve your goals and cope with stress.

All of us benefit from support during times of struggle. You are not alone. Asking for support sooner rather than later is often helpful.

This course is intended to be demanding, but not difficult. If you feel like you are struggling, please reach out sooner rather than later. Swimming long-distances in choppy waters builds strength: drowning doesn’t.

Mental Health Resources

If you or anyone you know experiences significant academic stress, difficult life events, or feelings like anxiety or depression, I strongly encourage you to seek support.

The Baruch Counselling Center is here to help. You can visit them in person at 137 E 25th St, 9th floor or call them at 646-312-2155 during normal business hours; you can make an appointment online here. For more immediate support, please call NYC WELL (1-888-NYC-WELL or 1-888-692-9355).

Asking for help is often difficult: consider reaching out to a friend, family, or a member of the faculty you trust for help getting connected to support that can help.

If you are worried about a friend or classmate, consider reaching out to the Baruch Campus Intervention Team.

Physical Health

Healthy CUNY promotes well-being and a culture of health in order to foster the academic and life success of all CUNY students. They can connect you with a variety of campus- and community-based healthcare providers.

Baruch Health Services provides students with a full range of clinical health services. Call 646-312-2040 or email StudentHealthCareCenter@baruch.cuny.edu to make an appointment.

Food Security

All CUNY students have access to CUNY Food Pantries located throughout the five boroughs, thanks to the CUNY CARES program. CUNY CARES is also able to help qualifying students with SNAP (“Food Stamps”) enrollment.

On campus, you can also access the Bearcat Food Pantry.

Financial Security

Baruch students experiencing heightened financial stress have access to Student Emergency Grants administered through the Office of the Dean of Students. Note that funds are also available for students experiencing immigration-related financial stress.

Immigration Status

CUNY Citizenship Now! provides confidential, high-quality immigration law services to all CUNY students.

Note that Citizenship Now!’s primary Manhattan office is located in the Heights, not on the Baruch campus and that an appointment is strongly recommended. Call 646-664-9350 during standard business hours for more information or to make an appointment

In situations when more immediate immigration assistance is needed, students should reach out to the CUNY Immigration Assistance Project (CIAP).

Footnotes

  1. Descriptions of Baruch and CUNY resources adapted from program websites.↩︎

  2. As a general rule, I do not check the course discussion boards regularly over weekends or CUNY holidays and you should not expect a rapid response during these periods.↩︎

  3. Language adapted from Professor Ryan Tibshirani (UC Berkeley).↩︎