CSCE 4380 104: Senior Design I-WIN

CSCE 4380 - Senior Design I-WIN

Fall 2025 Syllabus, Section 104, CRN 17059


Instructor Information

Habib M. Ammari

Endowed Professor of Computer Engineering

Email: habib.ammari@tamiu.edu

Office: LBV 313

Office Hours:
Tuesday and Thursday 10:00 am – 1:00 pm, and by appointment

Office Phone: 9563263295


Times and Location

TR 1:15pm-2:35pm in Bullock Hall 220


Course Description

This is the first course in the senior design sequence. This course provides students the experience of devising a system, component, or process to address predefined needs and requirements within constraints, such as time, cost, technology, etc. Students are expected to propose an iterative and innovative engineered design solution for implementation in CSCE 4390. This course should be taken the semester preceding CSCE 4390. Prerequisites: ENGL 2311 and Senior Standing
Engineering Department, College of Arts & Sciences

WIN-Designation

This course is designated as a writing-intensive (WIN) course. In this course, writing will not only be the subject of study, but it will also serve as a method of learning. Students will learn how communication in written, oral, and visual forms change according to purpose and genre. Brainstorming, drafting, revising, and peer-workshopping are integrated into the course curriculum and are the required components of this writing-intensive course. The final Research Paper is the designated assignment for WIN assessment.

Additional Course Information

Recommended References

  1. R. Sethi, Software Engineering: Basic Principles and Best Practices, Cambridge University Press, 1st Edition, 2023.
  2. F. Tsui, O. Karam, and B. Bernal, Essentials of Software Engineering, Jones & Bartlett Learning, 5th Edition, 2022.
  3. L. Bass, P. Clements, and R. Kazman, Software Architecture in Practice, Addison-Wesley Professional; 4th Edition, 2021.
  4. B. Maxim and R. Pressman, Software Engineering: A Practitioner's Approach, McGraw-Hill Education; 9th Edition, 2019.
  5. I. Sommerville, Software Engineering, Pearson; 10th Edition, 2015.
  6. S. R. Schach, Object-Oriented and Classical Software Engineering, McGraw Hill, 8th Edition, 2010.
  7. S. Pfleeger and J. Atlee, Software Engineering: Theory and Practice, Pearson; 4th Edition, 2009.
  8. S. R. Schach, Object-Oriented Software Engineering, McGraw-Hill Education; 1st Edition, 2007.
  9. C. Ghezzi, M. Jazayeri, D. Mandrioli, Fundamentals of Software Engineering, Pearson; 2nd Edition, 2002.

Prerequisites

ENGL 2311 and Senior Standing

Course Objective

This is the first senior-level course of a two-semester capstone design experience course of the Computer Engineering Curriculum, which involves engineering design principles of an advanced team project with realistic constraints as well as application of relevant engineering codes, standards, ethics and professionalism in engineering practice. The design achievements are demonstrated by written technical reports and oral presentations. This course is an essential element in an engineering program for undergraduate engineering students, such as computer engineers. Through this course, the students will have the opportunity to apply core course materials, engineering design methods, and testing-to-practical open-ended design problems. Specifically, this course covers various topics in system development, including but not limited to engineering design methodology, project management (e.g., Gantt charts/diagrams, task breakdowns, budgets, etc.), and engineering standards. This course discusses test and validation plan development, debugging, failure, and risk analysis and management. It gives an overview of resources for the design and implementation of projects. Moreover, it discusses approaches related to group dynamics and effective professional teams. Furthermore, this course will provide the students with the opportunity to put into practice all the knowledge gained from other courses, including but not limited to the concepts, data structures, and algorithms covered in the Algorithms and Data Structures course, as well as the principles, models, techniques, and approaches covered in the Software Engineering course. It will prepare the students for the second course of the sequence, i.e., CSCE 4390 Senior Design II, which will provide the students with hands-on experience and implementation of all the above knowledge through the design, analysis, and development of algorithms, programs, and software systems for a variety of application domains using a stepwise refinement-based approach.

Course Goals

This course aims to achieve several goals. Precisely, by the end of this course, the students will become:

  • Competent with the principles and issues of engineering design, such as problem statement/definition, requirement and objectives analysis, engineering and technical specifications, system models and representation, generation and selection of design concepts
  • Familiar with principles and tools for management of a design project
  • Exposed to the purpose, development, and use of engineering standards
  • Experienced with collaborative design methodology
  • Familiar with the need to account for several realistic constraints, such as economic, environmental, sustainability, ethical, safety, and social constraints, in engineering design
  • knowledgeable with test and validation planning and execution, debugging of prototypes, and the risks and types of failures
  • Equipped with strengthened and refined skills in leadership, teamwork, communication, project planning, innovation, design, and entrepreneurship
  • Empowered with a philosophy that emphasizes professional and ethical behavior
  • Competent in writing technical design and project management documentation

By the end of this course, all the student teams must have completed the following:

  • Development of the requirements
  • High-level or architectural design
  • Development of a project plan

Instructor Roles

In this course, students should work in teams to engineer practical solutions to problems. First, starting with a problem statement/definition, the students investigate the motivations for the problem and conduct literature review (i.e., what others have done to solve this problem, if any). Second, they create and analyze new and better solutions to the problem (from concept level to detailed level). Third, they build and test prototypes of their solution. Student teams are formed under the leadership of the instructor, who is responsible for oversight of the teamwork, and assigning their grades.

As an instructor of this course, I will be assuming the following roles:

  • Serving as a mentor in understanding the design process
  • Serving as an adviser to all the teams in response to questions
  • Acting as a coach to stimulate the teams and all their members to high performance levels
  • Ensuring that teams conduct their business in a professional, disciplined manner
  • Making clear standards for performance on analyses and reporting work
  • Giving fair and timely feedback on student performance

Program Learning Outcomes

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Student Learning Outcomes

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Important Dates

Visit the Academic Calendar (tamiu.edu) page to view the term's important dates.

Textbooks

Group Title Author ISBN
Optional Design for Electrical and Computer Engineers: Theory, Concepts, and Practice R. M. Ford, C. S. Coulston

Other Course Materials

Reading List

K. Devlin, Why universities require computer science students to take math, Communications of the ACM, vol. 46, no. 9, pp. 36-39, Sep. 2003.

K. B. Bruce, R. L. Scot Drysdale, C. Kelemen, and A. B. Tucker, Why math?, Communications of the ACM, vol. 46, no. 9, pp. 40-44, Sep. 2003.

P. B. Henderson, Mathematical reasoning in software engineering education, Communications of the ACM, vol. 46, no. 9, pp. 45-50, Sep. 2003.
V. L. Almstrum, What is the attraction to computing?, Communications of the ACM, vol. 46, no. 9, pp. 51-55, Sep. 2003.

T. A. Easton, Beyond the algorithmization of the sciences, Communications of the ACM, vol. 49, no. 5, pp. 31-33, May 2006.

D. J. Armstrong, The quarks of object-oriented development, Communications of the ACM, vol. 49, no. 2, pp. 123-128, Feb. 2006.

B. Stroustrup, Why C++ is not just an object-oriented programming language, Addendum to the Proceedings of the 10th Annual Conference on Object-Oriented Programming Systems, Languages, and Applications (OOPSLA), pp. 1-13, Oct. 1995.

Online Resources

B. Eckel, Thinking in C++: Introduction to Standard C++, vol. 1, Second Edition, Prentice Hall, 2000.

B. Eckel, Thinking in C++: Practical Programming, vol. 2, Second Edition, Prentice Hall, 2003.

S. Seiden, Theoretical computer science cheat sheet, ACM SIGACT News, vol. 27, no. 4, pp. 52-61, Dec. 1996.

Guidelines

Here are some guidelines on how to do very well on this course. First, you should work very hard and devote a reasonable amount of time to this course so you can meet all the deadlines. It is important that you attend all the lectures so you can benefit from the discussions in class. You need to start early on your homework assignments and projects and do not wait until the last moment. Otherwise, it would be highly unlikely that you could finish them by their deadlines. Also, do not hesitate to ask questions related to this course during the lectures, and I will try my very best to answer them. If you have any difficulties, please come to see me during office hours and I will be more than happy to assist you. If for some reason you cannot make it to office hours, please email or call me for an appointment and I will surely meet you and give you the assistance that you need. I strongly believe that you would be very successful if you took into consideration all these guidelines.

Deadlines

Each discussion, homework, or programming assignment has a deadline that is stated on the first page of the assignment. The teamwork is optional and has a deadline that is also stated on the first page of the assignment. The bonuses associated with all the teamwork and in-class discussions will be added to your grades for the midterm and final exams. Your solutions for any teamwork assignment must be submitted through Blackboard according to the timing specified on the assignment. All deadlines are firm.

Grading Criteria

Grading

Attendance, Discussions, and Homework Assignments (30%)

Programming Projects (20%)

Midterm Exam (20%)

Teams Project Presentations and Final Exam (30%)

Teamwork (Bonuses)

GRADE PERCENTAGE
A 91-100
B 80-90.9
C 70-79.9
D 60-69.9
F Below 60

Schedule of Topics and Assignments

Day Date Agenda/Topic Reading(s) Due
Tue 8/26 Chapter 1: The Engineering Design Process Introduction, World-class engineer.
Thu 8/28 Chapter 2: Project Selection and Needs Identification Engineering design projects, Sources of project ideas, Project feasibility and selection criteria.
Tue 9/2 Chapter 2: Project Selection and Needs Identification (cont’d) Needs identification, Research survey
Thu 9/4 Chapter 2: Project Selection and Needs Identification (cont’d) Needs and objectives statements, Project application: Problem statement.
Tue 9/9 Chapter 3: The Requirements Specification Overview of the requirements setting process, Engineering requirements, Developing the requirements specification
Thu 9/11 Chapter 3: The Requirements Specification (cont'd) Requirements case studies, Advanced requirements analysis, Project application: Requirement specification.
Tue 9/16 Chapter 4: Concept Generation and Evaluation Creativity, Concept generation
Thu 9/18 Chapter 4: Concept Generation and Evaluation (cont'd) Project application: Concept generation and evaluation.
Tue 9/23 Chapter 5: System Design I: Functional Decomposition Bottom-up and top-down design, Functional decomposition, Guidance, Application 1: Electronics design
Thu 9/25 Chapter 5: System Design I: Functional Decomposition (cont'd) Application 2: Digital design, Application 3: Thermometer design, Coupling and cohesion, Project application: Functional design
Tue 9/30 Chapter 6: System Design II: Behavior Models Models, State diagrams, Flowcharts, Data flow diagrams, Entity relationship diagrams
Thu 10/2 Chapter 6: System Design II: Behavior Models (cont'd) Unified Modeling Language (UML), Project application: Selecting models
Tue 10/7 Chapter 7: Testing Testing principles, Constructing tests, Case study: Security robot design, Guidance
Thu 10/9 Review Session for Midterm (10/9) - Midterm (10/10)
Tue 10/14 Chapter 8: System Reliability Probability theory review
Thu 10/16 Chapter 8: System Reliability (cont'd) Reliability prediction, System reliability
Tue 10/21 Chapter 9: Teams and Teamwork What is a team? Models of team development, Characteristics of real teams
Thu 10/23 Chapter 9: Teams and Teamwork (cont'd) Project application: Team process guidelines
Tue 10/28 Chapter 10: Project Management Work breakdown structure, Network diagrams, Gantt charts, Cost estimation
Thu 10/30 Chapter 10: Project Management (cont'd) Project manager, Guidance, Project application: Project plan
Tue 11/4 Chapter 11: Ethical and Legal Issues Ethical theory in a nutshell, IEEE code of ethics, Intellectual property and legal issues, Handling ethical dilemmas
Thu 11/6 Chapter 11: Ethical and Legal Issues (cont'd) Case study analysis, Project application: Incorporating ethics in the design process
Tue 11/11 Chapter 12: Oral Presentations How people evaluate presentations, Preparing the presentation
Thu 11/13 Chapter 12: Oral Presentations (cont'd) Project application: Design presentations
Tue 11/18 Chapter 13: Decision Making with Analytical Hierarchy Process Applying AHP for car selection
Thu 11/20 Chapter 13: Decision Making with Analytical Hierarchy Process (cont'd) Hierarchical decision criteria
Tue 11/25 Chapter 14: Component Failure Rate Data and Manufacturer Datasheets Environmental use, Analog components: Resistors and capacitors
Thu 11/27 Chapter 14: Component Failure Rate Data and Manufacturer Datasheets (cont'd) Microelectronic devices, Manufacturer datasheets
Tue 12/2 Teams Project Presentations Final teams project presentations (Last Class Day 12/2, Reading Day 12/3) "Education is not about filling a bucket but lighting a fire." W. B. Yeats, poet

University/College Policies

Please see the University Policies below.

COVID-19 Related Policies

If you have tested positive for COVID-19, please refer to the Student Handbook, Appendix A (Attendance Rule) for instructions.

Required Class Attendance

Students are expected to attend every class in person (or virtually, if the class is online) and to complete all assignments. If you cannot attend class, it is your responsibility to communicate absences with your professors. The faculty member will decide if your excuse is valid and thus may provide lecture materials of the class. According to University policy, acceptable reasons for an absence, which cannot affect a student’s grade, include:

  • Participation in an authorized University activity.
  • Death or major illness in a student’s immediate family.
  • Illness of a dependent family member.
  • Participation in legal proceedings or administrative procedures that require a student’s presence.
  • Religious holy day.
  • Illness that is too severe or contagious for the student to attend class.
  • Required participation in military duties.
  • Mandatory admission interviews for professional or graduate school which cannot be rescheduled.

Students are responsible for providing satisfactory evidence to faculty members within seven calendar days of their absence and return to class. They must substantiate the reason for the absence. If the absence is excused, faculty members must either provide students with the opportunity to make up the exam or other work missed, or provide a satisfactory alternative to complete the exam or other work missed within 30 calendar days from the date of absence. Students who miss class due to a University-sponsored activity are responsible for identifying their absences to their instructors with as much advance notice as possible. 

Classroom Behavior (applies to online or Face-to-Face Classes)

TAMIU encourages classroom discussion and academic debate as an essential intellectual activity. It is essential that students learn to express and defend their beliefs, but it is also essential that they learn to listen and respond respectfully to others whose beliefs they may not share. The University will always tolerate different, unorthodox, and unpopular points of view, but it will not tolerate condescending or insulting remarks. When students verbally abuse or ridicule and intimidate others whose views they do not agree with, they subvert the free exchange of ideas that should characterize a university classroom. If their actions are deemed by the professor to be disruptive, they will be subject to appropriate disciplinary action (please refer to Student Handbook Article 4).

TAMIU Honor Code: Plagiarism and Cheating

As a TAMIU student, you are bound by the TAMIU Honor Code to conduct yourself ethically in all your activities as a TAMIU student and to report violations of the Honor Code. Please read carefully the Student Handbook Article 7 and Article 10 available at https://www.tamiu.edu/scce/studenthandbook.shtml.

We are committed to strict enforcement of the Honor Code. Violations of the Honor Code tend to involve claiming work that is not one’s own, most commonly plagiarism in written assignments and any form of cheating on exams and other types of assignments.

Plagiarism is the presentation of someone else’s work as your own. It occurs when you:

  1. Borrow someone else’s facts, ideas, or opinions and put them entirely in your own words. You must acknowledge that these thoughts are not your own by immediately citing the source in your paper. Failure to do this is plagiarism.
  2. Borrow someone else’s words (short phrases, clauses, or sentences), you must enclose the copied words in quotation marks as well as citing the source. Failure to do this is plagiarism.
  3. Present someone else’s paper or exam (stolen, borrowed, or bought) as your own. You have committed a clearly intentional form of intellectual theft and have put your academic future in jeopardy. This is the worst form of plagiarism.

Here is another explanation from the 2020, seventh edition of the Manual of The American Psychological Association (APA):

“Plagiarism is the act of presenting the words, idea, or images of another as your own; it denies authors or creators of content the credit they are due.  Whether deliberate or unintentional, plagiarism violates ethical standards in scholarship” (p. 254).  This same principle applies to the illicit use of AI.

Plagiarism: Researchers do not claim the words and ideas of another as their own; they give credit where credit is due. Quotations marks should be used to indicate the exact words of another. Each time you paraphrase another author (i.e., summarize a passage or rearrange the order of a sentence and change some of the words), you need to credit the source in the text. The key element of this principle is that authors do not present the work of another as if it were their own words. This can extend to ideas as well as written words. If authors model a study after one done by someone else, the originating author should be given credit. If the rationale for a study was suggested in the discussion section of someone else's article, the person should be given credit. Given the free exchange of ideas, which is very important for the health of intellectual discourse, authors may not know where an idea for a study originated. If authors do know, however, they should   acknowledge the source; this includes personal communications (p. 11). For guidance on proper documentation, consult the Academic Success Center or a recommended guide to documentation and research such as the Manual of the APA or the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. If you still have doubts concerning proper documentation, seek advice from your instructor prior to submitting a final draft.

TAMIU has penalties for plagiarism and cheating.

  • Penalties for Plagiarism: Should a faculty member discover that a student has committed plagiarism, the student should receive a grade of 'F' in that course and the matter will be referred to the Honor Council for possible disciplinary action. The faculty member, however, may elect to give freshmen and sophomore students a “zero” for the assignment and to allow them to revise the assignment up to a grade of “F” (50%) if they believe that the student plagiarized out of ignorance or carelessness and not out of an attempt to deceive in order to earn an unmerited grade; the instructor must still report the offense to the Honor Council. This option should not be available to juniors, seniors, or graduate students, who cannot reasonably claim ignorance of documentation rules as an excuse. For repeat offenders in undergraduate courses or for an offender in any graduate course, the penalty for plagiarism is likely to include suspension or expulsion from the university.
    • Caution: Be very careful what you upload to Turnitin or send to your professor for evaluation. Whatever you upload for evaluation will be considered your final, approved draft. If it is plagiarized, you will be held responsible. The excuse that “it was only a draft” will not be accepted.
    • Caution:  Also, do not share your electronic files with others. If you do, you are responsible for the possible consequences. If another student takes your file of a paper and changes the name to his or her name and submits it and you also submit the paper, we will hold both of you responsible for plagiarism. It is impossible for us to know with certainty who wrote the paper and who stole it. And, of course, we cannot know if there was collusion between you and the other student in the matter.
  • Penalties for Cheating: Should a faculty member discover a student cheating on an exam or quiz or other class project, the student should receive a “zero” for the assignment and not be allowed to make the assignment up. The incident should be reported to the chair of the department and to the Honor Council. If the cheating is extensive, however, or if the assignment constitutes a major grade for the course (e.g., a final exam), or if the student has cheated in the past, the student should receive an “F” in the course, and the matter should be referred to the Honor Council. Additional penalties, including suspension or expulsion from the university may be imposed. Under no circumstances should a student who deserves an “F” in the course be allowed to withdraw from the course with a “W.”
    • Caution: Chat groups that start off as “study groups” can easily devolve into “cheating groups.” Be very careful not to join or remain any chat group if it begins to discuss specific information about exams or assignments that are meant to require individual work. If you are a member of such a group and it begins to cheat, you will be held responsible along with all the other members of the group. The TAMIU Honor Code requires that you report any such instances of cheating.
  • Student Right of Appeal: Faculty will notify students immediately via the student’s TAMIU e- mail account that they have submitted plagiarized work. Students have the right to appeal a faculty member’s charge of academic dishonesty by notifying the TAMIU Honor Council of their intent to appeal as long as the notification of appeal comes within 10 business days of the faculty member’s e-mail message to the student and/or the Office of Student Conduct and Community Engagement. The Student Handbook provides more details.

Use of Work in Two or More Courses

You may not submit work completed in one course for a grade in a second course unless you receive explicit permission to do so by the instructor of the second course. In general, you should get credit for a work product only once. 

AI Policies

Your instructor will provide you with their personal policy on the use of AI in the classroom setting and associated coursework.

TAMIU E-Mail and SafeZone

Personal Announcements sent to students through TAMIU E-mail (tamiu.edu or dusty email) are the official means of communicating course and university business with students and faculty –not the U.S. Mail and no other e-mail addresses. Students and faculty must check their TAMIU e-mail accounts regularly, if not daily. Not having seen an important TAMIU e-mail or message from a faculty member, chair, or dean is not accepted as an excuse for failure to take important action.

Students, faculty, and staff are encouraged to download the SafeZone app, which is a free mobile app for all University faculty, staff, and students.  SafeZone allows you to: report safety concerns (24/7), get connected with mental health professionals, activate location sharing with authorities, and anonymously report incidents.  Go to https://www.tamiu.edu/adminis/police/safezone/index.shtml for more information.

Copyright Restrictions

The Copyright Act of 1976 grants to copyright owners the exclusive right to reproduce their works and distribute copies of their work. Works that receive copyright protection include published works such as a textbook. Copying a textbook without permission from the owner of the copyright may constitute copyright infringement. Civil and criminal penalties may be assessed for copyright infringement. Civil penalties include damages up to $100,000; criminal penalties include a fine up to $250,000 and imprisonment. Copyright laws do not allow students and professors to make photocopies of copyrighted materials, but you may copy a limited portion of a work, such as article from a journal or a chapter from a book for your own personal academic use or, in the case of a professor, for personal, limited classroom use. In general, the extent of your copying should not suggest that the purpose or the effect of your copying is to avoid paying for the materials. And, of course, you may not sell these copies for a profit. Thus, students who copy textbooks to avoid buying them or professors who provide photocopies of textbooks to enable students to save money are violating the law.

Students with Disabilities

Texas A&M International University seeks to provide reasonable accommodations for all qualified persons with disabilities. This University will adhere to all applicable federal, state, and local laws, regulations and guidelines with respect to providing reasonable accommodations as required to afford equal education opportunity. It is the student's responsibility to register with the Office of Student Counseling and Disability Services located in Student Center 126. This office will contact the faculty member to recommend specific, reasonable accommodations. Faculty are prohibited from making accommodations based solely on communications from students. They may make accommodations only when provided documentation by the Student Counseling and Disability Services office.

Student Attendance and Leave of Absence (LOA) Policy

As part of our efforts to assist and encourage all students towards graduation, TAMIU provides
LOA’s for students, including pregnant/parenting students, in accordance with the Attendance Rule (Section 3.07) and the Student LOA Rule (Section 3.08), which includes the “Leave of Absence Request” form. Both rules can be found in the TAMIU Student Handbook (URL: http://www.tamiu.edu/studentaffairs/StudentHandbook1.shtml).

Pregnant and Parenting Students

Under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, harassment based on sex, including harassment because of pregnancy or related conditions, is prohibited. A pregnant/parenting student must be granted an absence for as long as the student’s physician deems the absence medically necessary. It is a violation of Title IX to ask for documentation relative to the pregnant/parenting student’s status beyond what would be required for other medical conditions. If a student would like to file a complaint for discrimination due to his or her pregnant/parenting status, please contact the TAMIU Title IX Coordinator (Lorissa M. Cortez, 5201 University Boulevard, KLM 159B, Laredo, TX 78041,TitleIX@tamiu.edu, 956.326.2857) and/or the Office of Civil Rights (Dallas Office, U.S. Department of Education, 1999 Bryan Street, Suite 1620, Dallas, TX 75201-6810, 214.661.9600). You can also report it on TAMIU’s anonymous electronic reporting site: https://www.tamiu.edu/reportit.

TAMIU advises a pregnant/parenting student to notify their professor once the student is aware that accommodations for such will be necessary. It is recommended that the student and professor develop a reasonable plan for the student’s completion of missed coursework or assignments. The Office of Equal Opportunity and Diversity (Lorissa M. Cortez, lorissam.cortez@tamiu.edu) can assist the student and professor in working out the reasonable accommodations. For other questions or concerns regarding Title IX compliance related to pregnant/parenting students at the University, contact the Title IX Coordinator. In the event that a student will need a leave of absence for a substantial period of time, TAMIU urges the student to consider a Leave of Absence (LOA) as outlined in the TAMIU Student Handbook. As part of our efforts to assist and encourage all students towards graduation, TAMIU provides LOA’s for students, including pregnant/parenting students, in accordance with the Attendance Rule and the Student LOA Rule. Both rules can be found in the TAMIU Student Handbook (https://www.tamiu.edu/scce/studenthandbook.shtml).

Anti-Discrimination/Title IX

TAMIU does not discriminate or permit harassment against any individual on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status, educational programs, or employment. If you would like to file a complaint relative to Title IX or any civil rights violation, please contact the TAMIU Director of Equal Opportunity and Diversity/Title IX Coordinator, Lorissa M. Cortez, 5201 University Boulevard, Killam Library 159B, Laredo, TX 78041,TitleIX@tamiu.edu, 956.326.2857, via the anonymous electronic reporting website, ReportIt, at https://www.tamiu.edu/reportit, and/or the Office of Civil Rights (Dallas Office), U.S. Department of Education, 1999 Bryan Street, Suite 1620, Dallas, TX 75201-6810, 214.661.9600.

Incompletes

Students who are unable to complete a course should withdraw from the course before the final date for withdrawal and receive a “W.” To qualify for an “incomplete” and thus have the opportunity to complete the course at a later date, a student must meet the following criteria:

  1. The student must have completed 90% of the course work assigned before the final date for withdrawing from a course with a “W”, and the student must be passing the course;
  2. The student cannot complete the course because an accident, an illness, or a traumatic personal or family event occurred after the final date for withdrawal from a course;
  3. The student must sign an “Incomplete Grade Contract” and secure signatures of approval from the professor and the college dean.
  4. The student must agree to complete the missing course work before the end of the next long semester; failure to meet this deadline will cause the “I” to automatically be converted to an “F”; extensions to this deadline may be granted by the dean of the college. This is the general policy regarding the circumstances under which an “incomplete” may be granted, but under exceptional circumstances, a student may receive an incomplete who does not meet all of the criteria above if the faculty member, department chair, and dean recommend it.

WIN Contracts

The Department of Biology and Chemistry does not permit WIN contracts. For other departments within the college, WIN Contracts are offered only under exceptional circumstances and are limited to graduating seniors. Only courses offered by full-time TAMIU faculty or TAMIU instructors are eligible to be contracted for the WIN requirement. However, a WIN contract for a course taught by an adjunct may be approved, with special permission from the department chair and dean. Students must seek approval before beginning any work for the WIN Contract. No student will contract more than one course per semester. Summer WIN Contracts must continue through both summer sessions.

Student Responsibility for Dropping a Course

It is the responsibility of the student to drop the course before the final date for withdrawal from a course. Faculty members, in fact, may not drop a student from a course without getting the approval of their department chair and dean.

Independent Study Course

Independent Study (IS) courses are offered only under exceptional circumstances. Required courses intended to build academic skills may not be taken as IS (e.g., clinical supervision and internships). No student will take more than one IS course per semester. Moreover, IS courses are limited to seniors and graduate students. Summer IS course must continue through both summer sessions.

Grade Changes & Appeals

Faculty are authorized to change final grades only when they have committed a computational error or an error in recording a grade, and they must receive the approval of their department chairs and the dean to change the grade. As part of that approval, they must attach a detailed explanation of the reason for the mistake. Only in rare cases would another reason be entertained as legitimate for a grade change. A student who is unhappy with his or her grade on an assignment must discuss the situation with the faculty member teaching the course. If students believe that they have been graded unfairly, they have the right to appeal the grade using a grade appeal process in the Student Handbook and in the Faculty Handbook.

Final Examination

All courses in all colleges must include a comprehensive exam or performance and be given on the date and time specified by the Academic Calendar and the Final Exam schedule published by the Registrar’s Office. In the College of Arts & Sciences all final exams must contain a written component. The written component should comprise at least 20% of the final exam grade. Exceptions to this policy must receive the approval of the department chair and the dean at the beginning of the semester.

Mental Health and Well-Being

The university aims to provide students with essential knowledge and tools to understand and support mental health. As part of our commitment to your well-being, we offer access to Telus Health, a service available 24/7/365 via chat, phone, or webinar. Scan the QR code to download the app and explore the resources available to you for guidance and support whenever you need it. The Telus app is available to download directly from TELUS (tamiu.edu) or from the Apple App Store and Google Play.