ITC-2480 Syllabus

Covers the installation, configuration and maintenance of Linux systems with an emphasis on server administration. A major focus of this course is learning the Linux command line interface for system administration tasks. Other topics involve providing network services such as routing, firewalls, DNS, DHCP, file, web, and email servers to network clients.

No optional resources have been suggested for this course.

If assignments are turned in late 10% will be deducted for each day or partial day the assignment is late. If you are turning in an assignment late you must contact the instructor for information before the due date. Failure to do so may result in additional penalties. The grading of late assignments is given a lower priority and may take longer so students are encouraged to plan ahead and turn in assignments on time. Penalty-free deadline extensions will not be given without written documentation from a licensed medical practitioner or other extenuating circumstances at the discretion of the instructor.

Some assignments cannot be turned in late. These assignments are indicated as such on the ITC Info site course assignments page. If one of these must be turned in late because of written documentation from a licensed medical practitioner or other extenuating circumstances at the discretion of the instructor an alternative assignment may be given instead.

A last date and time that any late work may be turned in may be included on the course schedule, if so work turned in after that deadline will not be graded and will not be worth any points. If no date is specified late work may be submitted for credit until the end of the last regular class meeting.

Grades for this course are calculated based on a weighted points system. Each assignment, quiz or test is assigned to one of the weighted categories below and is graded on a points system. Your percentage is calculated for each category by dividing the points earned in that category by the points available. Finally, your percentage earned in each category is multiplied by the weight of that category and these are added together. The instructor may round up based on student participation and individual improvement.

Detailed information about assignments and which grade category they are included in is on the "Assignments" page of the ITC Info course website.

Your grade activities can be found in the D2L gradebook for the course.

A common question of students is "How am I doing in this class?" but it is a very difficult thing for your instructor to answer because students often want different levels of detail and have different expectations about both what kind of information they should get when they ask this question and what it means to be "doing well". Do not wait until near the end of the semester to review your progress in the course. By then both most assignments have already been due for some time and there is little time to make any changes to how you have been doing things.

There are really three approaches to checking your progress in the course:

The first and simplest level is just a quick check-up to see if you’ve been doing all the work required and if there are any scores that seem wildly out of wack. Your instructor is usually willing to help you assess this as it can be done in just a few minutes. This involves opening any and all of the grade books that are used in the class and reviewing your scores (as well as noting any assingments you have not turned in). Be sure to pay close attention to what category each assignment will end up in when your final grade is calculated. This is a quick way to check on how things are going but won’t give you a specific grade you’re currently at or a grade you’re likely to receive in the class.

If you want a more solid idea of where you are at right now in the course you’ll need to spend a bit more time working out your exact current grade in each category. You should not use your total category scores from online gradebooks as they vary quite a bit in how they handle missing assignments (until the end of the semester when they become 0s) amongst other things. Instead, you should put build a spreadsheet with a list of every assignment in a program such as OpenOffice Calc, Microsoft Excel, or Google Sheets.

It’s still not really possible to give an exact grade to you because there are many things which don’t come into play until the very end of the course such as final exams, final skills exams, presentations, etc. So, if you want to go a step further and estimate your final grade what you should do is to keep working with your spreadsheet you started above. . Add in all assignments which are not graded yet or are not due yet so that the spreadsheet includes all the assignments that will exist on the last day of the class. . Put in estimates for the earned points based on what you think you will get on each of those assignments . Calculate your average percentage on the assignments in each category (add up all the points you earned or estimated you will earn in the category, and divide by all the points possible in the category) . Take the average percentage in each category and multiply it by the weighted percentage for the category (in the above section of the syllabus) and add all of those values together to get your estimated final grade (assuiming the score you get on all remaining assignments is what you estimated).

If you are satisfied with how you are doing both on individual assignments as well as in each category of assignments then you probably don’t need to make a change. If you are not satisfied and you know what you need to do to get higher scores that’s easy, if you don’t know how to improve your scores it is a good idea to ask your instructor about what you could do. Asking the instructor how you can improve your grade at the very end of the semester is not really useful because the answer is there is not much you can usually do after an assignment is due to change the grade and it’s annoying to your instructor. For this reason it’s always a good idea to monitor your grade throughout the semester and ask your instructor about it as soon as you notice something concerning.

Students should not rely on extra credit to boost their grade and should instead complete each assignment to the best of their ability. However, from time to time extra credit opportunities may arise at which time they will be announced in class, by email and/or through the course website. Extra credit will be added to the Homework, Activities & Participation category.

It should be assumed that all the work you turn in for this class is your own and that the use of "artificial intelligence", "large language models" and the like, hereafter referred to as "AI", are not acceptable aids in completing assignments for this class. In particular, you may not use AI to assist in writing discussion posts, lab reports, project reports, papers, or any other written assignments for the course. Other uses of AI for any assignments in the class are also prohibited including using it to assist in answering questions on exams, complete skills exams, or any other assignments.

There may be some limited circumstances where it would be acceptable to use AI in this course; however, in all cases you must discuss the use of AI with the instructor before using it and must receive express and specific permission to do so from the instructor as well as adhere to the limitations on it’s use the instructor provides. Always ask first!

After the first class meeting formal attendance will not be taken; however, students are expected to arrive to class on time and participate in class. Students are expected to attend all sessions of each class in which they are enrolled. If attendance is a problem participation assignments may be given and included in the course grade. If an illness or emergency results in an absence, students should contact their instructors as soon as possible to determine if missed work can be completed. A student may receive a course grade of FN or NC after two consecutive weeks of unexcused absence at any time during the semester. Class attendance is defined as being physically present in the classroom. Online attendance is defined as having submitted an assignment, taken a quiz, or posted/made a course content-related comment on the discussion/chat board for the course in which the student is registered.

You will need daily access to a high-speed internet connection and a modern computer to successfully complete this course.

Academic integrity is one of the most important values in higher education. This principle requires that each student’s work represents his or her own personal efforts and that the student acknowledges the intellectual contributions of others. The foundation for this principle is student academic honesty. IHCC students are expected to honor the requirements of the College Academic Integrity Policy. The following are some examples of unacceptable academic practices that will be viewed as policy violations.

For the purposes of this policy artificial intelligence (AI) systems such as ChatGPT or automatic summarization systems are "another person". As such they are prohibted unless authorized in advance by your instructor.

It is unacceptable to submit the work of another person as your own. If you quote, summarize, paraphrase, or use the ideas of another, you must accurately attribute that information. If you do not acknowledge the source, you are plagiarizing. Academic dishonesty also includes unauthorized collaboration on academic work; taking, acquiring, or using test materials without faculty permission; submitting the same assignment for multiple classes without instructor permission; taking an examination for another person and many other situations. If you are unsure whether you are plagiarizing or how to cite a source please ask an instructor or staff member for help prior to turning in the assignment.

In this course, the first offense of plagiarism and/or cheating will result in a score of zero on the assignment, quiz or test and reporting of the incident to college administration. Further plagiarism and/or cheating may result in immediate failure of the course and additional consequences determined by college administration.

If you have cheated in other ITC courses that will count as your first offense. In other words, if you have cheated in ITC courses before cheating in this course may result in immediately failing the course and additional consequences determined by college administration.

All instances of cheating will be reported to the college administration. In addition, plagiarism and cheating are covered by the Student Code of Conduct. Please see the Catalog or IHCC website for details.

Students must initiate requests for withdrawal from a course by filing the appropriate form with Enrollment Services. Students who stop attending classes without completing the withdrawal process may receive a grade of “F,” and are responsible for all tuition/fees associated with the course registration. The last day to withdraw from your course will be the date on which 80% of the course has elapsed. The last day to withdraw for each course can be viewed in E-Services by searching for the course at the following link: https://webproc.mnscu.edu/registration/search/basic.html?campusid=157. Click on the course title to view additional details about the course, including last day to withdraw.

There are limits as to the latest date you can withdraw from the course and still receive a refund as well as the last date to withdraw from the course at all. Please see the Add, Drop and Withdraw page on the IHCC website: https://inverhills.edu/Registration/AddDropWithdraw.aspx

Recognizing the value and efficiency of communication between faculty/staff and students through electronic mail Inver Hills Community College has designated e-mail as an official mode of communication. At the same time, email raises some issues concerning security and the identity of each individual in an email exchange. Therefore, students are asked to regularly check and utilize the email address they have registered with the college. If your email address has changed it is your responsibility to make sure the college has an up-to date email address where you can be contacted. You should check your email on a regular basis as course changes and communications may be sent by email.

A student may elect to take a course on a pass/fail (P/F) grading basis by contacting the instructor within the first 5 business days of the semester, or within 1 business day of the start date for a course beginning after the first week of the semester. If the instructor approves, they will submit approval to the Enrollment Center. Not all courses are approved for students to elect the P/F grading method and there may be limits to the total number of classes which can be taken pass/fail in your degree or certificate program. Contact your instructor for details about what level of achievement in the course will be required to receive a pass in the course.

Inver Hills values diversity and inclusion; we are committed to fostering mutual respect and full participation for all students. My goal is to create a learning environment that is equitable, inclusive and welcoming. If any aspects of instruction or course design result in barriers to your inclusion or learning, please notify me. The Office of Accessibility Resources (OAR) provides reasonable accommodations and assistive technologies for students who encounter barriers in the learning environment. Services are available to students with a wide range of disabilities including, but not limited to, physical disabilities, medical conditions, learning disabilities, attention deficit disorder, depression, and anxiety. If you have already registered with OAR and have your Letter of Accommodation, please meet with me early in the course to discuss, plan, and implement your accommodations in the course. For additional information, please contact OAR located within the Learning Center (L207), 651-450-3884, accessibilityresources@inverhills.edu or https://www.inverhills.edu/LearningSupport/AccessibilityResources/index.aspx

In accordance with federal and state laws, Inver Hills Community College is committed to a policy of free expression and respect for the diversity of beliefs, including religious observances, among our academic community. It is the policy of the college to provide reasonable accommodations for students when religious beliefs and/or observances conflict with classroom activities or course requirements.

It is the responsibility of students to notify instructors of the need for accommodation at the beginning of the course or as soon as a situation arises. If a mutually agreed accommodation is not made, a student may initiate a complaint. The procedure for filing a complaint is described in the Catalog and on the Inver Hills website. The complaint must be filed within 15 days of a denied accommodation request.