00 Intro

Big Picture

• CMPUT 275 starts with course mechanics because those mechanics control how you schedule work, how you recover from bad weeks, and how you avoid preventable mark loss.
• This lecture is administrative on the surface, but it is still worth studying because the policies shape every later decision about assignments, attendance, and communication.
• The correct way to read this deck is as a set of operating rules for the term, not as background trivia.

What You Need to Know

• Instructor and term context:
• Instructor: Rob Hackman.
• Term: Winter 2025.
• University context: University of Alberta.
• Assessment breakdown:
• Assignments are 25% total.
• Morning Problems are 10% total.
• Midterm is 30% total.
• Final is 35% total.
• There are five assignments, each worth 5%.
• Slip days:
• The course gives eight total slip days for late assignments.
• One slip day extends one assignment deadline by 24 hours.
• No more than three slip days may be used on one assignment.
• The practical maximum lateness on a single assignment is 72 hours, assuming you still have slip days left.
• Slip days are not automatic; you must email to use them.
• Excused absences:
• A qualifying excused absence can cover assignments, morning problems, or the midterm.
• Qualifying reasons include incapacitating mental or physical illness, severe domestic affliction, or another compelling reason.
• If approved, the missed assignment weight shifts to the other assignments.
• If approved, the missed morning problem weight shifts to the other morning problems.
• If approved, the missed midterm weight shifts to the final exam.
• Communication:
• Ed Discussion is the primary communication channel for the course.
• Questions should go there so the whole class can benefit from the answer.
• The forum link is distributed through email, Canvas, and the syllabus.

How to Interpret the Policy

• Slip days and excused absences are different tools.
• Slip days are a planned delay mechanism for assignments.
• Excused absences are a recovery mechanism for serious interruptions after approval.
• You should not mentally merge them into “free extensions.”
• The grading breakdown tells you where your effort should go.
• Assignments are large enough to matter.
• Morning Problems reward steady practice.
• The midterm and final together dominate the term, so the small policy details about missed work matter.
• The forum is not just a convenience.
• It reduces duplicated effort.
• It makes answers searchable later.
• It is part of how the course scales help.

Slip Days in Practice

• Tanisha’s example shows the real cost of spending slip days early.
• Three days on Assignment 1.
• One on Assignment 2.
• Two on Assignment 3.
• Two on Assignment 4.
• Result: nothing left for Assignment 5.
• Tian’s example shows the per-assignment cap.
• Saving all eight slip days does not let you spend eight on one assignment.
• The cap prevents one submission from consuming the entire reserve.
• The policy is designed to help with surprise disruptions, not to replace ordinary time management.
• A good habit is to track remaining slip days the same way you track deadlines: as a finite resource.

Excused Absences in Practice

• Approved excused absences change where the weight lands.
• Missed assignment weight moves to the remaining assignments.
• Missed morning problem weight moves to the remaining morning problems.
• Missed midterm weight moves to the final exam.
• That shift can change how you study.
• If you lose a midterm to an approved absence, the final becomes much more important.
• If you lose an assignment, the rest of the assignment category matters more.
• The policy is not just about fairness in the abstract.
• It determines which remaining work now carries more weight.
• That affects study plans, time allocation, and stress.

Worked Scenarios

• If you spend three slip days on one assignment early in the term, you still only have five left for everything else.
• If you later need four days on another assignment, the policy will not let you spend four on that single assignment.
• If you miss the midterm with an approved excused absence, the final becomes the place where that 30% weight lands.
• If you miss an assignment with an approved excused absence, the remaining assignments inherit that weight.
• If you need help with a question that is not private or personal, posting on Ed Discussion is the best default because it creates a public answer others can reuse.

Common Failure Narratives

• A student treats slip days as extra working time and spends them casually, then has no reserve when something serious happens later.
• A student assumes an excused absence and slip days are interchangeable, even though one is pre-allocated flexibility and the other is an approved policy response.
• A student waits until the last minute to ask a course question, turning a small clarification into a deadline emergency.
• A student forgets that a missed midterm shifts to the final and then underestimates how much the final matters after an approved absence.

How to Study This Lecture

• Memorize the weights and the slip-day limits, but also memorize the policy logic.
• When you see a scenario question, identify the mechanism first:
• grading weight,
• slip days,
• excused absence,
• or communication channel.
• Do not answer by vibe.
• Translate the situation into the rule.
• Then apply the rule.
• If you are unsure, ask what happens to the weight, not just whether something is “allowed.”

Exam Reasoning

• If a question asks about course policy, state the rule in direct language and avoid paraphrasing it into something weaker.
• If a question asks about a late assignment, check both the total slip-day pool and the three-day per-assignment cap.
• If a question asks about excused absences, identify the affected assessment category and where the weight moves.
• If a question asks where to ask a course question, the correct answer is Ed Discussion, not private messages or ad hoc email unless the issue is personal.

Quick Reference

• Assignments: 25%
• Morning Problems: 10%
• Midterm: 30%
• Final: 35%
• Total slip days: 8
• Maximum slip days on one assignment: 3
• Slip-day extension: 24 hours each
• Communication channel: Ed Discussion
• Excused-absence shifts: assignment to assignments, morning problem to morning problems, midterm to final

Exam Questions

• Q: A student has used seven slip days already. Can they spend two slip days on the next assignment?

A: No. They only have one slip day left in total.

• Q: What does one slip day do?

A: It extends an assignment deadline by 24 hours.

• Q: If an excused absence is approved for a missed morning problem, where does that weight go?

A: It shifts to the other morning problems.

• Q: If an excused absence is approved for a missed midterm, where does that weight go?

A: It shifts to the final exam.

• Q: Why is Ed Discussion the preferred place for most course questions?

A: It lets one answer help the whole class and leaves a searchable record of common problems.