Normally, you will take this class face to face. There are a few exceptions, like students who cannot enter the USA, who will take the entire class remote (online). However, after Thanksgiving, everyone will be remote. USA students are normally not expected back in Tallahassee after Thanksgiving.
You must attend the first class, on Aug 24, live if you can. If you cannot, you must attend the first class online, using Canvas. These remote students must complete a survey to prove that they are present. Watch your e-mail for instructions.
Remote or not, this class must be taken synchronously, for attending lectures, submitting homework, and taking exams. The required times and dates are exactly as listed in the "Schedule" section. You should be confirming attendance using a survey.
In remote Zoom lectures, you are asked to normally have your video on, so that we can see that you are actually attending. You are also asked to normally have your microphone muted, both to reduce stray noises and to prevent you becoming the "speaker" by accident. The microphone and video control buttons are at the bottom left of the Zoom screen with the mouse low. The mike should be crossed out.
Note that all lectures will be recorded. The recording will be posted on the cloud, with links provided in the Canvas learning management system. They should be available to the class only. To further protect your privacy, the recording will use "speaker view", so the remote attendees will not show in it.
Unless, that is, if you are remote and ask a question, or more generally talk (with your microphone active). If you do want to talk and do not want your face and/or voice recorded, type "Request Pause" in the "Chat" box and hit enter. Hopefully, the instructor or someone else online will see that and the instructor will temporarily pause recording. Then you can un-mute and ask your question without being recorded. Alternatively, simply un-mute and talk, but temporarily turn off your video. (To be sure, then your face will be not seen, but your name and question or remark will still be recorded).
Use of an appropriate mask is required by the universities and COE both in the classrooms and in the entire COE building to ensure your safety and that of others. The mask should fully cover mouth and nose.
You are also encouraged to use the FAMU CoVid19 checklist each morning and take the class remotely if there is a reason to suspect that you may be infected. According to a graph that appeared in the editorial pages of Nature, fatigue, sudden loss of smell, dry cough, and fever are some tell-tale signs of CoVid-19. e-Mail the instructor that you are taking the class remotely for this reason; e-mail is below. No other action is needed.
The COE information, taken from FSU and FAMU, on the requirement
and enforcement of mask use, and other matters, can be found at
COE_University_Policy_Sheet_to_Attach_to_Syllabus_V20200824_COVID-F2F
and
COE_Face_Covering_Guidance_Matrix_8-13_COE[8].pdf.
I consider the enforcement parts to be advisory rather than regulatory.
The actual procedures I will follow should the need arise are below.
Authoritative health agencies such as the US CDC and the World Health Agencies inform us that the CoVid-19 virus is both highly infective and dangerous. If you catch it, the risk of dying from it increases strongly with age. So I as instructor, normally speaking a lot older than any other in the classroom, am at higher risk than anyone else. But if there are 40 students in the room, the chances that at least one of them may catch coronovirus are likely much greater, and no age group is immune.
If you catch CoVid-19, not only is there a relatively large chance of dying, there are also other consequences that are often ignored. In more serious cases, the feeling of being very slowly strangled to death, even if you do not die, cannot be quite comfortable either. And I have seen reports that seem credible that even after they test as no longer infected, many people suffer quite significant long term effects. It has been established that usually, it is not so much the virus itself, but the patients' own immune system that does most of the damage.
Until there is an effective vaccine (if there ever will be one, which is still not established for this rapidly mutating virus), authoritative sources like the ones mentioned tell us that some of the most effective things we can do to minimize spread is to wear masks and socially distance. For most people, each of these two actions, while certainly unpleasant, is believed to be appropriate given the facts known to us. Not doing so certainly puts other people around you at risk.
At the College of Engineering, security matters are handled by the FSU Police Department (FSUPD). I have been informed by my sources that the FSUPD says they are not going to enforce the mask requirements. I assume (hope) that means strictly the mask requirement, and not also related security issues. However, the general message is that people should try to resolve mask use issues amicable if at all possible.
For appropriate masks, see https://www.al.com/news/2020/08/neck-gaiters-may-be-worse-than-no-mask-at-all-study-suggests.html. Simply put, if you can see through it when put to a light, it may be worse than none. According to FSU, "Cloth face masks should: Fit snugly but comfortably against the side of the face ensuring that it covers the nose and mouth; Allow for breathing without restriction; Be secured with ties or ear loops; Include multiple layers of fabric; Be able to be laundered and machine dried without damage or change to shape; Should not be shared with or worn by others; When not in use, should be stored in a clean, dry bag." There should also be a limited supply of disposable masks in case a student forgets to bring their mask to COE.
If a student does not wear a mask to fully cover mouth and nose, the instructor will first try to find out why not, in a way as nonconfrontational as possible.
For example, the student may simply not be aware that masks are a university and COE requirement, or have forgotten the mask, or even not have one. If the student does not have a mask, the student will be send to Student Services in B111, who have an emergency supply. If the student does have a mask but has forgotten to put it on or put it on incorrectly, the instructor will ask the student to correct that.
Also, in rare but genuine cases, use of a mask may be contra-indicated for a student. Such a student should request accommodations (i.e. taking the class completely remotely) from their university. Please see the section below on "Americans with Disabilities Act" for more. If you apply for accommodations, please take the first few lectures online instead of face to face, and inform the instructor of that by e-mailing him at the e-mail below before the first class.
The student may simply not believe masks are effective. The instructor will counter that authoritative health agencies disagree, and ask the student to wear a mask.
The student may want to make a political statement, say, that being forced to wear a mask violates the student's constitutional freedom. Now there is freedom of speech in the USA, and a brief statement or action to that effect is quite acceptable if there is no great danger involved. But at the end, the student will be asked to wear the mask. The universities do believe the mask requirement is legal and needed, and a classroom is not the place to appeal that.
In any case, the student will be asked to wear the mask. If the student refuses, the student will be asked to leave the classroom. If the student also refuses that, the instructor will conclude that a dangerous situation exists, terminate the lecture, evacuate the class room, and report the student in question to their university. See the links at the start of this subsection for University procedures to deal with such a report.
What these university procedures do not clarify what happens during subsequent lectures. To conform with proposed FAMU procedures, the student (at either university) may continue in the class remotely until the University review is completed.
However, any student who causes the classroom to be evacuated due to refusal to wear a mask will no longer be allowed to attend subsequent lectures face to face. If the universities are unable to ensure this, I will apply for a restraining order to be enforced by the Tallahassee Police Department. I do believe there is sufficient evidence to argue that refusal to wear a mask is nontrivially endangering the safety of the other students, the instructor, and other people they may be in contact with.
Before entering the classroom, you will be asked for your name to record attendance and to perform a no-touch forehead surface temperature check as an additional safety measure. Please try to come as early as possible to class to accommodate the time spent. Maintain social distancing and mask use in line. After the last student in line is processed, or after 12:30 pm, whichever is later, the door will be closed to additional students, who will be marked as absent. See below for the allowed number of absences.
For your own safety, disinfect your desk, chair, etcetera with the provided tools when you come in. The College also requires you to disinfect them when you leave.
During the first two exams, every effort will be made to allow the maximum number of students to take the exam face to face. However, everybody will take the final exam remotely. Unfortunately, this requires some special efforts from you to ensure the integrity of the exam.
For most students, the procedure will be as follows: At the start time of the exam, at 12:30 pm, you obtain a pdf with the exam questions from Canvas or e-mail and print that out. Then you seat yourself at a table to make the exam, but before doing that, you put a webcam, laptop camera, ipad, or mobile phone so that it shows you and your immediate surroundings while making the exam. After you are done, you notify the online proctor (probably me) that you are done, and you use your scanner or cell phone to scan your exam to pdf and submit the pdf to the course Canvas page.
While most ME students nowadays seem to have a computer, cell phone, and printer, there may of course be exceptions. If you do not have a printer, maybe you can use the printer and a table to sit of a friend. Or go to Kinkos or similar to print, provided they allow you to sit somewhere to make the exam. If you do not have something to scan, a similar solution may work.
FSU Libraries also allow you to check out laptops for 5 hours (in library use only), which would be plenty of time to take the exam. The laptop no doubt has a camera. The last time I looked, the libraries also had scanners. While at the time of the final exam you will probably not be in Tallahassee, I would bet that similar stuff can be found at local libraries.
I also understand that the FSU Office of Distance Learning will be opening their testing center again, in a way consistent with social distancing. I am unsure about the FAMU Center for Disability Access and Resources and the FSU Office of Accessibility Services test proctoring. Of course, these might not work for you for the final.
Another possibility might be for you to be faxed the exam to some package service company that accepts a package for delivery and marks it with the date received. You should be keeping your cell phone camera on yourself all the time from the time the exam is received by you until the exam is received and marked by the company.
Another option is to take the exam using a proctor acceptable to the instructor. Look around for recognized proctoring services.
If you have problems putting together a suitable setup, contact the instructor for ideas.
If you choose to take the course remotely, the instructor might require an acceptable proctor for exams. The instructor might also require that ADA students get exam proctoring from the ADA office.
Mechanical Engineering.
This course will familiarize students with methods of analysis in mechanical engineering. Surveys applications of integration and series, ordinary differential equations, and linear algebra.
Graduate/Senior standing in Mechanical Engineering. (Assumes undergraduate exposure to calculus, and ordinary differential equations, and to some Fourier series, Laplace transforms, and linear algebra.)
Class times are MWF 12:30-1:20 in B210 (B = new building) or online.
The below schedule is subject to change. Coverage shown is that of an earlier year, not necessarily this year.
See the COE syllabus statements for where to find the official COE academic deadlines.
The course grade will be computed as:
Historically, the B/B-- boundary has been at 75%.
Grading is at the discretion of the instructor.
See the exam calculator policy.
See also the COE syllabus statements.
The specific desired outcomes for the undergraduate students are:
Samples of specific problems are in the lecture notes, old exams, and in the homework assignments.
Students must have an e-mail address and daily check their e-mail. Students must be able to use a Web browser such as Firefox or Chrome. The basic class web page can be accessed at
See the CoVid19 statement at the start of the syllabus for special computer requirements in this crisis. Normally, this includes a laptop with a camera, a printer, a scanner or mobile phone to scan exam pages, or acceptable substitutes. You should be skilled in using these.
Immediately check the dates listed in the schedule above for any conflicts. Enter the exam dates in your planner. If conflicts exist, contact the instructor immediately.
Students must check their e-mail to the address they gave the instructor at least once a day. Failure to do so may result in missed exams and/or other problems.
See: the COE syllabus statements.
FSU students are dropped if not present the first day of classes. FAMU students are dropped if not attending at the end of the first week.
See the CoVid19 statement at the start of this document for modifications to the above.
You should contact the instructor as soon as possible when the need for an excused absence arrives. (F19 FSU policy for a religious holiday is at least 2 weeks in advance)
Excused absences include documented illness, deaths in the immediate family and other documented crises, call to active military duty or jury duty, religious holy days, and official University activities. Accommodations for these excused absences will be made and will do so in a way that does not penalize students who have a valid excuse. Consideration will also be given to students whose dependent children experience serious illness. See however the notification requirements below.
Please note that the College of Engineering has a restrictive
interpretation of what is considered a valid excuse for an
absence. See:
the COE syllabus statements.
If an absence is to be excused, make sure you check beforehand. In
case of excused absence, the instructor will work with you to help you
make up for missed time and catch up, subject to the notification
requirements below.
Classes are not suspended at the College of Engineering unless they are suspended at both institutions. If you are required to attend a university event, you can receive an excused absence. Otherwise, your absence is considered unexcused.
You must notify me in the first week of the semester if you will need an excused absence during a scheduled examination for observance of a religious holy day. If you will need such an absence for a planned event, you must notify me at the start of the semester, or the day that the event is scheduled if later. If an emergency prevents you from attending a scheduled examination, you must notified me at your earliest opportunity, by e-mail (check that you get a timely response from me), phone, or in person. Please provide official documentation of event or emergency. In case the notification procedures are not followed, no make up examination will be given and a zero will be assigned.
A student having more than four unexcused absences will be dropped from the course and assigned the grade F. Tests and exams missed because of unexcused absence receive the grade 0. No exceptions.
Other projects and activities missed completely receive the grade 0 for those projects or activities. No exceptions except as may be noted elsewhere in this syllabus. Homework handed in after the due date and time will receive a zero or greatly reduced credit depending on circumstances and any regulations elsewhere in this syllabus.
Failure to properly complete homework, tests, assignments, etcetera due to changes in date, assignment, etcetera, that you did not know about due to failure to check e-mail, unexcused absence, lateness, or inattentiveness will not be excused and cannot be made up.
Students are expected to uphold their University Student Code of Conduct and/or Academic Honor Code. You must read this code if you have not yet done so.
Possible sanction for violations of your code of conduct and/or honor code include but are not limited to:
See: the COE syllabus statements.
Students with disabilities needing academic accommodation should:
See: the COE syllabus statements.
See: the COE syllabus statements.
The instructor might wave some regulation on a case-by-case basis depending on his subjective determination of fairness and appropriateness. This will occur only under exceptional circumstances and should not be assumed. Especially, never assume that a seemingly minor regulation will be waived because the instructor has waived it in the past. A second appeal to waive a minor regulation will probably indicate to the instructor that the regulation is not being taken seriously and most likely refused. Any appeal to the instructor will further be refused a priori unless it is made at the earliest possible moment by phone and/or by e-mail. Do not wait until you are back in town, say.
Except for changes that substantially affect implementation of the evaluation (grading) statement, this syllabus is a guide for the course and is subject to change with advance notice.