Guide to Undergraduate Distance Education 2011-2012

Assignments

13.1 General Instructions on Submitting Assignments

Assignments for undergraduate courses are to be submitted electronically, through the RMCC Portal.

Note: Students enrolled as undergraduates in an OPME (hybrid) course will submit their assignments in accordance with the RMCC Student Guide to OPME Distance Education.

If you do not have an RMCC Portal account please contact: PortalSupport@rmc.ca or 1-866-677-2857 during working hours (8:00-16:00 EST).

To submit your assignment on the RMCC portal, follow the steps below:

1. Access the portal .
2. Select the Academic tab
3. Select My Courses portlet
4. Select the course for which you will be submitting the assignment
5. Next go to the Course Evaluation Scheme portlet for that course, use the Upload link for the desired assignment and follow the instructions

The RMCC Portal stipulates that only one file may be uploaded per assignment; therefore, if your assignment submission contains multiple electronic documents, ZIP them together into one file for uploading. Many freely available tutorials exist on the internet that provides information on the process of ZIPing files together.

Note: Some undergraduate courses will require students to include graphics, equations and other symbols (e.g. mathematical) in their assignments. Students may experience special challenges in creating these items in a format compatible with their word processing editor. Two approaches are recommended:

1. Use a commercial or freeware specialty software program to make the necessary graphics, equations (e.g. Microsoft Equation Editor) or other symbols and then insert them into the word processing document containing your assignment. Many freely available tutorials and specialty software programmes exist on the internet that can assist students with this process. Consult with your instructor as he/she may be able to provide additional guidance or advice on appropriate specialty software; or
2. Hand-draw graphs, equations or special symbols in your assignment and then scan or capture your hardcopy document into an electronic format with a document scanner or digital camera such that the resolution is sufficient to allow the instructor to read and grade the assignment. As a guide, scan documents at a scale of 100% and a resolution of 150 to 200 dpi. Save image file(s) as a .pdf, .tiff, or .jpg (avoid using a file type of .bmp as these files are too large).

The submitted assignment will be recorded in the database, which will allow the instructor to retrieve it for marking.

Note: It is the student’s responsibility to keep a copy of all assignments and proof of their submission until the final grade is received. Problems can occur when transmitting and assignments may need to be re-submitted.

For further assistance in submitting your assignment:

1. Click on the Help icon on the Course Evaluation Scheme portlet, or
2. Contact Portal Support at PortalSupport@rmc.c a or by phone at 1-866-677-2857 during working hours (8:00- 16:00 EST), or
3. Contact: DCS-Support@rmc.ca .

The RMCC and its faculty members, reserve the right to employ originality checking and plagiarism detection instruments or services to protect, preserve, and promote the academic integrity of the credits and degrees it grants. Students enrolled in an RMCC distance education course may, as part of the requirements to receive credit for that course, be required to submit their work to such originality checking and plagiarism detection instruments or services. Note that the Assignment File and Course Manual for each course contains the following notice, which was promulgated by the Principal at Faculty Council 712 (4 Feb 2009) in response to RMCC Academic Regulation 23.7:

“Assignments in this course are subject to submission for textual similarity review to the commercial plagiarism detection software under license to the Royal Military College of Canada. All assignments submitted will be retained as source documents in the reference database for the purpose of ascertaining the originality of current and future assignments submitted to the system.”

13.2 Submitting a Late Assignment

You must contact the instructor and get approval for the late submission of any assignments. Failure to do so may result in a penalty. If the instructor is unreachable, contact DCS and a message will be forwarded to the instructor. In the event that a late assignment impacts the due dates of future assignments, you must submit a “revised assignment due date list” to the instructor and to DCS at dcsassignments@rmc.ca .

13.3 Returning Graded Assignments

Instructors are advised that assignments are to be returned within two weeks of their due date or before submission of the next assignment. If you have not received your assignment within the time indicated above please contact your instructor. If you experience difficulties in receiving your marks, contact DCS at dcsstudentservices@rmc.ca or by telephone at 613-541-6000 ext 3847.

In accordance with RMCC Undergraduate Academic Regulations, the instructor may refuse a student permission to write a final examination if the requirements with regards to course work have not been met. In addition, normally, all assignments must be completed to the satisfaction of the Department concerned prior to the last day of the term in which the course is offered in order for the student to complete the course.