How to Prepare and Submit Your Assignments
Harry S. Delugach

Authorship

By submitting any work for a grade in this course, you are acknowledging that all work has been done by you unless explictly stated otherwise. Any work done by any other person (and only if allowed under the assignment rules) MUST be appropriately acknowledged and cited/referenced. For group assignments, this applies to work done by any person who is not a group member. Outside sources must always be appropriately acknowledged and cited/referenced, with allowance for the exception below.

Material taken substantially or directly from an external source must be cited at the place in the document that it is used in your submission. If you do not know what this means, or do not know how to do this, find out.

There is a general exception regarding the course textbook(s) and course notes on homework assignments or short papers. For assignments, the textbook or notes do not have to be explicitly cited (though sometimes it is a good idea to point out your specific source). For short papers, the textbook and/or class notes can be included in a bibliography as a general reference.

Content

• Be sure the current date, your name, the course name/number and the assignment/project are identified in the content of what you turn in. Do not rely on an email address or filename to identify you! Never include your student id (A-number)! 
• If there is more than one question, submit your answers in the order given. If there are sub-problems, answer them also in the order given. Make sure all answers are properly labeled to match the question.
• if the question is short, it is a good idea to include the actual question's text.
• If you choose not to answer a question, show the number and write "BLANK" or "NOT ANSWERED"
• Check spelling and punctuation, making sure they match the problem(s).
• All writing should be in standard English (preferably U.S.), unless specifically and explicitly directed otherwise. All of the rules of proper English usage, spelling, and taste prevail. See here and/or here for some common English errors that are to be avoided. See also the book Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation, by Lynne Truss, Penguin Books, 2004.

Deadlines

• Most submitted work has a deadline. Most assignments are submitted online (see below); these often have a midnight deadline (11:59pm). If hardcopies are required, the work is due at the beginning of the class period on which they are due. If you turn in a hardcopy assignment during the middle of a class, expect a one-day penalty.
• Late work will be subject to a penalty of 5 percent per 24-hour period (or part thereof) past the deadline until the effective time received (see table below)
• For obvious reasons, no credit is given for assignments turned in after I have gone over any solutions in class or posted solutions..

Electronic submissions in general

In most cases, materials are to be submitted electronically, following these guidelines.

• You are expected to type your papers, using standard word processing software. All diagrams or drawings must also be prepared using software (i.e., no "hand" drawn and/or scanned diagrams will be accepted).
• Use a font size of 11pt, or 12pt, single spaced and have about 1 inch margins on the top, bottom, left, and right of your text.
• Do NOT provide a cover page. Since these are generally not ever printed out, a "cover" page isn't necessary.

Canvas submissions

Unless otherwise instructed, assignments posted to Canvas will also be submitted through Canvas. These will be done by attaching your file to the assignment. Follow these instructions unless the particular assignment instructions say something else.

• Prepare your submission as a normal document file. Format must be one of the formats that are allowed in the assignment description. Make sure you include your name, course, date, etc. in the file itself.
• Canvas comments: You do not need to add a courtesy comment, e.g., "Attached is my submission," "Please accept my submission" etc. Use Canvas comments only for any important additional information you think your instructor may need.
• Assignments will generally be graded through Canvas, where you can see instructor comments and your grade. In some cases, a new copy of your submission with instructor comments will be attached to your submission.
• Resubmissions before the deadline. Simply choose "Re-submit assignment".
• Resubmissions after the deadline. Simply choose "Re-submit assignment". Warning: the submission date (see below) will be the resubmitted date, not the original one.

Note: in all cases, the last (most recent) submission will be the one considered for grading; if it is late, earlier on-time submission has no effect.

Electronic submission rules (other than Canvas)

• Submit a single file, submit only ONCE
  • Prepare your submission in a single file.
  • Include any cover page(s) (but only if required), appendices, etc. in the single file. If you don't, it is possible that some parts of your submission will be lost, ignored, overlooked, etc. and hence will not be graded.
  • If more than one copy is submitted, the most recent copy submitted will be the one graded. Please check your work carefully before you submit it!
• Submission methods allowed:
  • Email: Attached to email (include in the message a brief overview of what the document is)
    • Subject must include course number and brief assignment name.
    • Email itself must include your complete name.
      • This is in addition to the attachment (which of course would have your name in it).
      • This is in addition to your email address which may or may not resemble your name.
    • NOTE: Make sure it's really an attachment! Some systems (Yahoo is especially bad for this) assume that attached text should be made part of the email message itself. One way to is to cc: yourself and make sure you get an attachment back.
  • Server: On a server (suitably concealed). It is your responsibility to make sure that file permissions are set properly so that only the instructor can access your submission.
• Format allowed (except for Canvas): any one of the following formats (other formats with permission of instructor):
  • MS Word (any version, any platform)
  • PowerPoint (any version, any platform)
  • RTF
  • PDF
  • Postscript
  • ASCII or Unicode text
• Deadline (see above)
• Electronic Grading: If I will be grading your assignment and return it electronically, do the following:
  • Do not use either Postscript or PDF submission formats.
  • Expect the graded submission to be returned in the same format and software version in which you submitted it.
• NOTE: The presence of a computer virus in any submitted file (as detected by any well-known commercial virus detection program) may adversely affect your grade and/or your academic progress.

Source Code

"Source code" for these purposes means any signficant section of executable code,written by the student, usually longer than 15 or 20 lines of code, For example if you have short segments of code for illustration purposes in a homework, or if you show programs to implement an algorithm or demonstrate a capability, these aren't considered source code for my purposes. In general, do not submit longer amounts of source code unless specifically directed. Short segments of source code (e.g., less than 20 lines) should be included as regular text if you're doing hard-copy submission.

When source code is submitted, all source code written by you must be commented and documented as you have been taught in all your programming courses. Each file must contain at least your name, the date you wrote it, the course number and title, the instructor's name, the assignment identifier (if any), and a general summary of what's in the file. Internal units (e.g., classes, modules, etc.) must have a comment header block with a summary of the unit. Code written by other persons or obtained from other sources must be attributed. Individual assignments may require additional comments; see assignment for details.

Executable Unit(s)

To submit some executable artifact (e.g., program, script), do one of the following:

• Make such artifact accessible over the Internet in a location and form (e.g., zip file) which you specify in an email to the instructor, or
• Submit the assignment through the "Assignment" facility in Canvas, or
• Email the executable artifact to the instructor so that it is received before the deadline (see below).

It is your responsibility to make sure that any file permissions are set so that the artifact can be accessed by the instructor as needed. If an executable (or other) submission contains any sort of virus, worm, Trojan horse or other malicious code (whether deliberate or accidental), then a grade of zero will be given for the entire assignment. At the instructor's discretion, the matter may also be subject to disciplinary action through the University Judicial Board.

Hardcopy submissions
(i.e., printed or written, handed in physical form)

Format, style, etc.

• If you have multiple pages, they must be STAPLED together (no paper clips, please).
• You are expected to type your papers, using any standard word processing software. Diagrams or drawings must also be prepared using software (i.e., not "hand" drawn).
• Use a font size of 10pt, 11pt, or 12pt, single spaced and have about 1 inch margins on the top, bottom, left, and right of your text.
• DO NOT FOLD your papers.
• DO NOT USE a cover sheet unless specifically required by the instructor.
• DO NOT enclose your assignment in an envelope, unless specifically required by the instructor. If you are told to use an envelope or folder, make sure there are no loose pages that might fall out of it, and BE SURE to put your name, course, date and assignment on the outside of the envelope.
• When you submit a Word formatted document, make sure that all "Tracked Changes" have been accepted, UNLESS you have been specifically directed to mark your changes.

Most assignments and other work will be turned in as printed or written materials ("hard copy"). If hard copy is required, then an electronic submission is not acceptable without prior permission of the instructor; otherwise, the instructor may not consider it turned in until the actual hard copy is submitted. (If electronic submission is allowed, follow the Electronic Submission guidelines in the next section.)

You are expected to use a word processor or other electronic preparation software, unless an exception is specifically given. You are responsible for getting your own printing done in time. Do not wait until the last minute to print your submissions -- printer problems are not acceptable as an excuse for lateness. Very minor edits in pen or pencil are allowed.

Effective date/time received

Here is how the effective date/time received will be determined for hard-copy submissions. Your work is not considered properly submitted until either (a) the instructor receives the work in person or (b) a CS staff assistant receives the work in person. In order of decreasing reliability (and therefore potentially decreasing grade), here are your choices:

How turned in	Effective date/time received
Submitted electronically	Date/time the upload was recorded or time that Canvas timestamps or that email was received (be sure to allow five or ten minutes transit time)
Give to instructor in person	Date/time handed to instructor
Give to departmental assistant in person	Date/time the assistant logs and stamps the assignment
Slide under instructor's office door	Date/time the instructor happens to enter their office (or later)
Put in instructor's campus mail box (in the mailroom)	Date/time the instructor next happens to look in their mail box
Put on departmental assistant's desk or chair	Date/time the assistant happens to notice it (if it is noticed at all)
Give to someone else other than the above	Whenever that someone decides to give it to me. Maybe never.
Put it somewhere other than the above	If the assignment does ever reach me, the date and time that I actually receive it.