Academic expectations and honor code

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+ General responsibilities
+ Attendance and participation
+ Assignments and assessments
+ Religious and disability accommodations
+ Academic Honor Code
+ Privacy and copyright

The Academic Expectations and Honor Code is applicable to all DIS students. Below you will find guidelines on program requirements, attendance, participation, assessments, accommodations, and maintaining academic integrity. By studying in the program, you agree to adhere to the expectations set out below and contribute to a respectful, supportive learning environment at DIS.

General responsibilities

Due to the experiential nature of DIS, it is essential that you actively participate in each of your courses, including Field Studies, Study Tours, Seminar Nights, DIS festival, and other class relevant activities. As a DIS student, you are responsible for understanding the expectations outlined in your course syllabi and communicating any questions or challenges to faculty or DIS Academic Support. This includes communicating any difficulties in understanding course material, seeking clarification on assignments, deadlines, late policies, and discussing any personal circumstances, including approved accommodations, that might affect academic performance.

Course meeting times
Most DIS classes meet twice per week for 1 hour and 20 minutes each on either Mondays/Thursdays or Tuesdays/Fridays. Wednesdays are dedicated to mandatory course-integrated Field Studies. Most 3-credit courses meet 23 times per semester, with some exceptions, such as classes with double time blocks and Core Courses. Please check your Student Registration for your specific course meeting times. You are expected to be available to attend any courses scheduled within these designated days. Please note that faculty may schedule additional classes during the semester as needed.

Departure date
Do not schedule a flight or plan to leave Denmark until after the last day of the semester, which is typically after the DIS Festival. Even if your syllabus does not indicate an exam or presentation during the final week, faculty have the option of scheduling make-up classes, presentations, exams, etc. through to the last day of the semester. If you depart before the final day of the semester, you do so understanding that it will likely impact your grades.

You must notify your faculty and Academic Support of your intention to leave. Final assessments will not be rescheduled. If you do not complete final assessments will receive 0 (zero) points and may, at the faculty’s discretion, fail the entire course.

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Attendance and participation

Attendance is required for all scheduled classes, Field Studies, and Study Tours. Participation in the full orientation program is also mandatory for all students. Your faculty are required to take attendance and will report any consistent or repetitive absences to DIS Academic Support. Academic Support will follow up with students to check their wellbeing and offer additional avenues of support.

In addition to attending all scheduled classes and activities, active participation is required and will factor into final grades for each course.

Academic attendance takes precedence over other scheduled appointments. If you encounter any scheduling conflicts, please reach out to Academic Support as soon as possible.

Excused absences
If you are unable to attend class due to illness, family bereavement, or use of a pre-approved accommodation, you must proactively communicate with faculty to receive consideration for an excused absence. If granted, you remain responsible for any material covered or assigned. You must coordinate with your faculty and other students to catch up. Note that due to the experiential nature of DIS, excused absences may still impact your overall grade.

Zoom option
For a non-recurring sickness that causes you to miss class, you have the option to contact your faculty in advance (e.g., the same day of your class session and no later than 2 hours before your class begins) to request a Zoom link to attend the class virtually. You may only join class virtually one to two times during the semester at the discretion of your faculty. Note that the Zoom option, and decisions on grading participation for a Zoom session, are also made at the discretion of your faculty.

Unexcused absences
Absences that are considered unexcused may impact your grade, and you may face sanctions, as per the Code of Student Responsibility. Sanctions may include dismissal from individual courses (resulting in an “F”), or dismissal from the DIS program. Absences will be unexcused in the following circumstances:

• Personal/individual travel: Personal travel is not permitted during the semester on days scheduled for class instruction, Field Study sessions, or Study Tours. Personal travel may only be scheduled during announced breaks or before or after the semester. Travel, including travel delays, is not a legitimate reason to miss class, field studies, Study Tours, deadlines or scheduled assessments. Absences caused by personal travel, including delayed or canceled flights, will be considered unexcused and missed assignments, quizzes, and exams will receive 0 (zero) points for any missed assessment components.
  
  
• Lack of proactive communication: If you miss class for reasons that would result in an excused absence (see above) and you do not proactively inform your faculty, your absence may be considered unexcused.
  
  
• Repeated or consistent absences: In case you miss/need to miss several class sessions due to a recurring illness and Academic Support and/or Care Team are unaware of your situation.

Study Tours
For all DIS Study Tours, you are – without exception – required to travel to the destination with your assigned class. You must depart for your Study Tour with your class. You cannot meet them at the location. Students are expected to actively participate in the entire Study Tour itinerary including scheduled travel during the Study Tour, academic visits, group activities and meals. Students who miss any component of a Study Tour itinerary may face sanctions, as per the Code of Student Responsibility.

Note that you cannot leave a Study Tour early for personal travel. You may travel independently after the Study Tour ends. If you choose to do so, you will need to purchase your own return ticket to Copenhagen or Stockholm, notify your faculty, and register your travel with DIS in advance.

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Assignments and assessments

Students are responsible for completing and handing in all coursework (assignments and assessments) on time, as outlined in your course Canvas pages and syllabi. Assignments handed in after the due date may earn 0 points or a downgraded percentage, according to the instructor’s own guidelines. All required course work must be completed, and students must participate in all required activities to earn a passing grade.

Assessments (i.e. papers, presentations, discussions and exams) can take place during any scheduled class or during any published, concluding events of the semester (including the DIS festival). DIS Academic Expectations state that faculty can move tests, deadlines, and class sessions within the semester. Thus, if you plan to miss a class day you are also taking the risk that you may miss an assessment, exam, or other graded activity.

You are responsible for arriving on time for all assessments. You will not be given additional time if you arrive late for an assessment.

You will not be permitted to retake any missed assessment, except in cases of a proactively communicated, excused absence. You will receive 0 points for any missed assessment which has not been proactively excused (e.g. if your flight is delayed/canceled, you overslept, or you were sick but did not reach out to your faculty before the scheduled assessment). If you were proactively excused and missed an assessment, you are responsible for arranging a make-up with your faculty.

Electronic submissions
If you are submitting work electronically, it is your responsibility to ensure that the file is readable and not corrupted. An assignment that arrives in an unreadable state will not be considered submitted and subsequent submissions will earn 0 points, or, downgraded percentage, according to the instructor’s own guidelines and syllabus.

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Religious and disability accommodations

Academic accommodations
To utilize your approved academic accommodations at DIS, please refer to your DIS-issued accommodations letter and our Disability Accommodations page.

Religious accommodations
To utilize your approved academic accommodations at DIS, please refer to your DIS-issued accommodations letter and Religious and disability accommodations at DIS page. You are responsible for communicating with your faculty, receiving the content of the missed class(es), making up any missed work, and turning in any work due in that class period in advance. Please note that this accommodation only applies to the holiday and does not include days of travel that may come before or after the holiday.

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Academic Honor Code

All members of the academic community are expected to behave with respect toward each other and abide by the highest standards of intellectual honesty and integrity in all academic work. As a student at DIS, you pledge to:

• Do your own work at all times, without using unauthorized material or resources
• Refrain from allowing others (including Chat GPT or other AI) to write any part of our papers or assessments unless explicitly authorized by your faculty/syllabi
• Not submit or present words or ideas that are fabricated
• Credit all work or ideas from others using standard forms of citation
• Not share details about an assessment (tests, exams etc.) with others who have not yet taken the assessment
• Not submit duplicate work, even if it’s your own work
• Not violate the intention or spirit of the DIS Academic Honor Code in any way
• Clarify any questions with faculty in advance as it is our own responsibility to understand what constitute academic honesty

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Privacy and Copyright

If you create content for an academic assignment that will be posted online (videos, photos, papers, social media posts, etc.), please respect the privacy of any interviewees/subjects. You should either have written permission (email is acceptable, but must be retained), and/or refrain from using real names.

If an academic project requires the use of the DIS name or brand in a website, social media post, hashtag, blog, or in printed material, permission must be explicitly granted by DIS Marketing and Communications prior to project implementation. For information about the disciplinary process and possible sanctions for violating the DIS Academic Honor Code and Academic Regulations, please see the Code of Student Responsibility.

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