Below are the standard syllabus statements for an NWACC course. For institutional policies, be sure to read the full, most up-to-date version on PolicyStat (linked in each policy).

Campus Safety Statement

The NWACC Department of Police and Public Safety (DPS) are committed to creating and maintaining a safe learning environment for all students, faculty, and staff. Part of this mission includes educating the campus community on how to respond to potential campus threats, such as the threat of an active aggressor on campus or other suspicious behaviors. NWACC offers training on how to handle a variety of campus safety scenarios. All students are encouraged to visit the NWACC Police and Public Safety webpage, in particular the content under the Emergency Preparedness program. Students are also encouraged to report any suspicious behaviors on campus using the Report a Concern portion of the webpage. Additional materials on campus safety prepared by NWACC Police, including special safety tips and training, will also be provided on our webpage. DPS is available 24/7 at 479-619-4229.

Learning Outcomes for General Education

NWACC believes that general education is an essential part of all its higher education degree programs. These general education outcomes prepare students to pursue life-long learning. Students should expect to practice these skills across the curriculum.

- - Students develop higher order thinking skills.
  - Students gain greater awareness of cultural perspectives.
  - Students can write clear, coherent, well-organized documents, which are substantially free of errors.
  - Students employ active reading strategies to extract and construct meaning and educational value from texts and media.
  - Students develop effective oral communication skills.
  - Students can achieve mathematical literacy.
  - Students will demonstrate technological fluency.
  - Students demonstrate information literacy.
  - Students can apply discipline-specific learning to community or social topics.

Disability Resource Center

Any student with a disability or medical concern which may impact access to or progress in this course is encouraged to contact the Disability Resource Center (DRC). The DRC works with students and faculty collaboratively to coordinate reasonable academic accommodations for students. Once registration with the DRC is complete, eligible students are given tools and guidance on how to use their individualized academic accommodations appropriately. This includes the student taking the responsibility to contact each instructor privately to discuss his/her DRC Accommodation Letter. For Distance Learning courses, an electronic copy of the Accommodation Letter will be sent by email to both the student and the instructor(s), which will include further instructions. For more information, please see our introductory video:

For an appointment or to speak to DR Staff, email (preferred) disability@nwacc.edu or call (479) 986-4076. For students who are able to visit our Bentonville campus, the DRC is located in Room 114 on the first floor of the Student Center.

Counseling & Wellness Center

NWACC recognizes that students sometimes experience challenges that make learning difficult. If you find that life stressors such as anxiety, depression, relationship problems, difficulty concentrating, alcohol/drug abuse, or other stressful experiences are interfering with your academic or personal success, consider contacting the Counseling & Wellness Center at counseling@nwacc.edu or 479-619-4128 to schedule a session. All services are included in your Health & Safety fee. Sessions are confidential and are offered in-person or via Telehealth. The Counseling & Wellness Center is located on the second floor of the Student Center. More information is also available on our website.

Class Continuation Plan

NWACC reserves the right to enact a class continuation plan in the event of class cancellations due to weather or other emergency events. The instructor will maintain continuity using the Canvas online system or other alternate means as determined by the instructor. You will be contacted via your established communications channels with instructions. Students will be expected to continue with assignments. Online classes will continue to operate according to schedule. Consideration may be given for exceptional circumstances.

Emergency Information

All students should review the Emergency Preparedness Handbook in case of a campus emergency.

Technical Support Information

For assistance with your NWACC account, email, Teams or Workday; contact IT tech support at techsupport@nwacc.edu or 479-619-4376 during weekday business hours. Passwords cannot be reset via email! Use the Forgot Password option for after hours or self help.
For Canvas questions or technical support with your course work, contact Digital Learning at dl@nwacc.edu. Canvas courses are designed to be accessed using a traditional desktop/laptop computer. Alternate direct access to Canvas can be found at: https://nwacc.instructure.com

Student Handbook

The current NWACC Student Handbook can be found on the Current Students page under the heading Student Support Services or at this direct link. Both FERPA and the Student Handbook guide students and faculty and apply to all learning settings.

Administrative Drop/Administrative Withdrawal (Policy 3009)

NorthWest Arkansas Community College (NWACC) students are expected to participate in class throughout the semester. NWACC faculty are required to track student participation in course activities in the college designated system. If an instructor chooses to use attendance as part of grading, the specific attendance policy will be distributed with other course information at the beginning of the semester. Faculty are required to document student participation in classroom activities used to determine administrative withdrawal. These class activities may or may not be used as part of grading. Requirements for class participation to determine administrative drop (removed from course with 80% refund) (NP) and end of term reporting (FP grade) will be included in the course syllabus and distributed with other course information at the beginning of the semester.

Course Commencement and Drop for Non-participation at Census

Students should establish participation in required course activities before the census date. Students who do not establish participation before the census date will be administratively dropped from the class with an 80% refund. There will be no reinstatement of students who have been administratively dropped for failure to establish participation in course activities. Course commencement requires active participation in course activities. Presence in the classroom or logging into the on-line course system is not sufficient to establish participation. Course commencement establishes a student’s eligibility for financial aid and inclusion in the official course roster. Census date is set by the college and typically marks the end of the add/drop period. On this day, the college takes a “snapshot” of all students’ enrollment and is used for both state reporting and financial aid eligibility. It is generally the end of the eleventh day of classes for a 16-week course and the end of the fifth day for courses in shorter parts of term.

Responsibilities

Faculty have the responsibility for documenting and reporting student participation and grades. Faculty should be able to provide documentation supporting any administrative drop. College Administration has the responsibility of maintaining student records after faculty submission at the end of the semester. The administration should specify any particular format in which these records are to be submitted.

Grading Policy (Policy 3008)

Grades of FP - (failure to participate) will be issued to those students failing to participate in class activities and failing to officially withdraw from their course(s). Students will be assigned a grade of “FP” if they do not officially withdraw from the course and failed to participate in course activities through the end of the period. FP is used when, in the opinion of the instructor, completed assignments or course activities or both were insufficient to make normal evaluation of academic performance possible. Students who complete the course but fail to achieve the course objectives will be awarded the grade of F (failing).

Possession of Weapons on Campus/Concealed Carry Policy (Policy 2005)

It is unlawful for any person to knowingly possess a weapon, defined as a handgun, knife or club, other than a law enforcement officer or a commissioned officer in the employment of NWACC, in any NWACC owned or operated building or on any College grounds. However, effective September 1, 2017, possession of concealed handguns in buildings and on the grounds of NWACC is permitted, provided all of the following conditions are met:

- Licensee has a license to carry a concealed handgun, and
- Licensee has completed required endorsement training as approved by the Director of the Department of Arkansas State Police, and
- Licensee is 21 years of age or over (exceptions to minimum age are noted below).
- Handgun must be concealed at all times.

Notwithstanding the above, Licensee has the ability to store concealed handgun in his or her locked vehicle on a publicly owned and maintained parking lot.

Exceptions:

- Concealed carry is not allowed in the following:
  - Public K-12 schools and private spaces not owned or leased by Northwest Arkansas Community College.
  - Brightwater: A Center for the Study of Food
  - Documented grievance and disciplinary meetings, provided additional requirements are met.
- Exceptions to the age requirement limiting concealed carry as follows:
  - Twenty-one (21) years of age; or
  - Eighteen (18) years of age and is:
    - Currently a federally recognized commissioned or noncommissioned officer or an enlisted member on active duty in the United States Armed Forces;
    - In the National Guard or a reserve component of the United States Armed Forces; or
    - A former member of the United States Armed Forces who has been honorably discharged.

For additional information, refer to Arkansas Act 562 of 2017. Definitions may be found at Ark. Code Ann. §5-73-301 (2017).

Class Recordings

Class sessions may be recorded by the instructor. Students may not record, distribute, or live-stream the class without prior permission of the instructor or an approved ADA Accommodation from the NWACC Disability Resource Center. Students with accommodations should show their instructor their accommodation information from NWACC Disability Resource Center before recording class sessions. Please contact your instructor with any questions or concerns.

Remote Proctoring

Some classes may use live proctoring or an automatic video recording system for proctored testing. If your instructor requires you to use this testing option, your location must meet instructor guidelines for privacy and security. If the location you choose is a home or personal environment, you agree to allow your activity and surrounding workspace to be viewed and/or recorded by video and audio to ensure testing integrity. If you do not agree to have your private testing environment viewed and/or recorded, please contact your instructor immediately so arrangements can be made for on-campus proctored testing or proctored testing at an alternative location approved by the instructor.

Academic Honesty & Plagiarism

Academic honesty means that students do their own work and do not represent another’s work as their own. This includes AI-generated content. A violation of academic honesty includes a misrepresentation such as the submission of materials for evaluation that are not the student’s own or completion of an academic exercise that does not result from individual effort or intellectual production. For more information about academic honesty, please consult the college's Academic Honesty policy.

Plagiarism results when a student presents the words or ideas of another as if it were their own (including AI-generated content). If the words of another entity apart from the writer are reproduced without acknowledgement of the source or if another’s ideas are paraphrased in such a way that leads the reader to believe it originated with the writer, then plagiarism
has occurred. For more information about plagiarism, please consult the plagiarism subtopic of the Student Handbook.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) Usage Policy for Academic Use

Acceptable Use

- AI tools may be used to enhance learning, or assist with coursework and research, provided their use is aligned with the NWACC Academic Honesty Policy.
- Among other uses, AI may be used for brainstorming, summarizing, generating study materials, or as a supplementary aid to personal understanding, with the consent of the instructor.

Prohibited Use

- AI-generated content must not be submitted as original work unless explicitly allowed by the course instructor.
- Using AI to complete assignments, exams, or assessments in place of a student's own effort is strictly prohibited. To do so would be considered plagiarism or cheating, covered in the NWACC Academic Honesty Policy.
- Any work that involves the use of AI tools must clearly acknowledge and document the tool's contribution unless otherwise directed by the course instructor.