Please do not send messages that include HTML or MIME, since plain text (ASCII) is the standard for electronic communication. Click here to see why and to find out how to turn off HTML and MIME.
Now that you are aware of this issue and how to fix it, be warned that we reserve the right to ignore any message that includes HTML or that is MIME-encoded.
Never post to any public forum (such as a course newsgroup)
your solution to an assignment, or even your idea of the solution to an
assignment, or even one small part of a program or proof that is part of
your solution to an assignment, etc.
In particular, questions similar to the ones in the following list should be
avoided completely: you should ask these types of questions only by
direct e-mail to your instructor (or during office hours), not by posting
them to the newsgroup.
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Before asking a question by e-mail or in the newsgroup, please
check the course webpage CAREFULLY!
We try very hard to keep the webpage updated with the most recent
information regarding all aspects of the course (announcements, answers to
common questions, etc.) so the answer to your question may already be there.
Send or post your question only if you've already checked all relevant
sections of the webpage carefully without finding the information you need.
(And if your question is about something that you expected to find on the
webpage, let us know where you expected to find it so that we can update the
webpage.)
If your question is about something in the textbook, or just about course material that is covered in the textbook, take a few minutes to check the relevant sections, or look it up in the index. Generally, you will find your answer much faster than the time it would take you to compose your message, send it, and then wait for a reply. Even if you don't find exactly what you're looking for, you will probably find out enough to be able to ask a more precise question.
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Always sign your full name at the end of your message,
so that we know we are answering an actual student in the course.
You should also include your student number in e-mail messages sent to us,
but do not include your student number if you are posting to the
newsgroup (unless you want every other student in the class to find out
your number and be able to know your marks and other personal
information...)
If we cannot tell who you are, we will ask you to send your message again
with proper identification before we answer.
Always use a descriptive subject for your e-mail,
and always include the course identifier (like "CSC165") in
your subject.
Remember that your instructor may teach more than one course during a term,
and it's not always obvious what course your question is about.
Also, subjects like "A question" are NOT descriptive: at least 75%
of e-mails we get are questions!
At least, let us know what the question is about (lecture material,
assignment, test, etc.).
If your E-mail does not have a subject field, or if the subject field does
not contain the course identifier or is not precise enough, we will look
at it last, and our usual response time (see below) will not apply.
Use correct English.
No matter how friendly you may think we are, we are still your instructors
and the tone of your messages should reflect this, because they are
communications of a more official nature.
Writing things like "would u plz ..." or "r u going to ..." or "l8r" or "bye
4 now" may be fine for personal messages but they are not acceptable for
other e-mail.
The same is true (although to a lesser extent) when you use all lower case
letters, all upper case letters, or omit all the punctuation.
You'll get faster, more positive responses to your questions (or for that
matter, to your job applications or any other official correspondence in
general) if they are well-written with correct grammar and correct spelling
and if you do not assume a familiarity with the recipient that is
inappropriate (even if you feel that the familiarity is there, it shouldn't
show up in your official correspondence).
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We normally answer e-mail or post replies in the appropriate newsgroup
or on the course webpage within 2-3 work days (i.e., not including
weekends).
If you've sent or posted a question and have not received an answer by that
time, it's almost certainly because the answer can already be found on the
webpage or in the textbook, so check again more carefully!
(If we know that we will not be checking e-mail for more than 5 business
days in a row, we will set up an automated reply so that you don't wait for
nothing.)
Also, please be patient when you send a question: just because we
don't answer right away does not mean that we are ignoring you or
that we forgot about you!
It could be that we haven't checked e-mail (or the newsgroup) recently, or
that we need to look up the information before we answer, or any number of
other reasons.
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We reserve the right NOT to answer any question on the day that an
assignment is due or on the day before,
especially if it's a basic question about the assignment or the course
material that the assignment is on!
In other words, we made an effort to give you the assignment early so you
have enough time to do it, so we expect you to at least make the effort to
read and understand the assignment (and the relevant course
material) before the due date.
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As long as you respect these guidelines, we will be happy to answer any questions you may have, about any aspect of the course. (We also welcome any suggestions or concerns you may have about the course: see our policy about feedback.) Don't let these guidelines discourage you from asking questions! They are only meant to help you find the information you need quickly and accurately, and to leave us enough time to answer everyone's questions.
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© Copyright 2003 by François Pitt