Policies

Academic Honesty
Unless explicitely noted otherwise, the work in this course is to be done independently. Discussions with other students on the assignments should be limited to understanding the statement of the problems (except when assignments are to be done in groups, in which case it is expected of members of the same group to work together). Cheating in any way, including giving your work to someone else will result in an F for the course and a report to the appropriate University authority. Submissions that are alike in a substantive way will be considered to be cheating by ALL involved parties. Please protect yourselves by only storing your files in private directories, and by retrieving all printouts promptly.

Also, please make sure you read, understand and abide by the Academic Integrity Code for the School of Computing and Information.

Email Communication
In order to receive the highest priority, you should send all email regarding class matters to and you must include the keyword cs2550 in the subject line of your email messages. Your email will go to the instructor and the TA. Note that this email address works only within the pitt.edu domain. If you have a confidential matter, then please email the instructor directly, but make sure to include again the keyword cs2550 in the subject line of your email messages. We will make every effort to respond to all email requests within one business day at the latest.

Class Mailing List
All students must subscribe to the class mailing list, so that they receive time-sensitive information from the instructor.

Grading
Assignments and Projects: 30%
Midterm Exam: 30%
Final Exam: 30%
Participation: 10%

Assignments
All written assignments must be submitted electronically using the submission site.

Late Submissions
There are no late submissions. An assignment which is late will be accepted only under special circumstances with the instructor's permission prior to its deadline. In such a case, the instructor will determine any penalty in a fair manner.

Grade Appeals
Grades can be appealed up to two weeks after they have been posted; no appeals will be considered after that time.

Students with Disabilities:
If you have a disability for which you are or may be requesting an accommodation, you are encouraged to contact both your instructor and Disability Resources and Services, 216 William Pitt Union, 412-648-7890 or 412-383-7355 (TTY) as early as possible in the term. DRS will verify your disability and determine reasonable accomodations for this course. The DRS web page is http://www.drs.pitt.edu/.

Religious Observances:
In order to accommodate the observance of religious holidays, students should inform the instructor of any such days which conflict with scheduled class activities within the first two weeks of the term by email.

Audio/Video Recording
To ensure the free and open discussion of ideas, students may not record classroom lectures and recitations, discussion and/or activities without the advance written permission of the instructor, and any such recording properly approved in advance can be used solely for the student's own private use.

Cell Phone Use
Answering a cell phone or texting is disruptive and hence any use of a cell phone is not permitted in the class or recitation. Cell phones must be switched to silent mode and if you have a phone call which cannot wait until the end of the class, you need to step out of the class and then answer it.

Copyrighted Material
All material provided through this web site is subject to copyright. This applies to class/recitation notes, slides, assignments, solutions, project descriptions, etc. You are allowed (and expected!) to use all the provided material for personal use. However, you are strictly prohibited from sharing the material with others in general and from posting the material on the Web or other file sharing venues in particular.