Pace
Pick up your textbook and open it at the half way point. You should be looking at the end of Chapter 16, Conjugation Resonance and Dienes. If all goes according to plan, at the end of the semester you will be looking at the end of this Chapter again.

There are 16 weeks in the semester. When you include the academic holidays and the odd snow day that is less than a chapter/week.To maintain our sanity and the pace we are going to skip some sections or take some short cuts. I will let you know in advance.

EXAMS
We are going to use the common exam times listed below room and seating assignments will be announced/ posted.
October 9        6:00 P.M. - 6:50 P.M.     Tuesday
November 6     6:00 P.M. - 6:50 P.M.     Tuesday

Course Content

     CHE 230 is the first course of a two-term sequence. This course covers the fundamentals of structure and reactivity of organic compounds, and how organic chemistry relates to many phenomena and other scientific disciplines.

Grading Policy

If you do not come to class, you will probably not get a decent grade. However, I will not determine whether you are here for the lectures. The course will be graded based on three cumulative exams, see above. Answers to the exam and the class results will be posted on the class website shortly after the exam is graded. There will be no other graded assignments, but it is strongly advised that all students work problems from the book in order to test her/his own understanding of the course material. The exams consist of similar questions geared to probe your ability to apply concepts.

If, for some reason, you have an academic conflict with any of the exam times, you must see me within the first two weeks of the term. In accordance with University procedures, you must provide written notice, and this must be done for each exam with which you have conflicts. An e-mail message will serve as written notice.

A seating chart will be posted (outside the lecture room and on the web) prior to each exam. Please arrive at your assigned room and be in your seat at least 5 minutes before the beginning of the exam. Be prepared to show your student identification (or other photo ID) at the exams. The exams will emphasize material covered since the last exam, but since new chemistry builds on old chemistry, command of the older material will be necessary. All exams are therefore cumulative. Copies of past years' exams and other goodies are posted on the CHE 230 web page (http://www.chem.uky.edu/courses/che230). 

If an exam is misgraded, mark the number of the problem in question on the front page of the exam and return it to me within one week from the day the exam was returned. Exams returned for regrading after more than one week from the day the exam was returned will not be considered for regrading. Changing an answer prior to requesting that an exam be regraded is cheating and will result in a minimum penalty of an E in the course, in accord with University rules. Selected exams will be photocopied in order to minimize this temptation. Cheating is not worth it; the risk-cost to benefit ratio does not favor the cheater.

You will be permitted to bring a set of molecular models and a plain calculator to the exams. No other material can be used during examinations unless I have authorized the class to use those specific materials.

Grades will be assigned using the following scheme:

	85%-100%     A
	70%-84%      B
	55%-69%      C
	40%-54%      D
	<40%       E

I reserve the right to decrease the numerical value of the cutoffs in order to raise the overall grade point average of the class, if I deem this is appropriate. I will not increase the cutoffs.

Homework
Problems from the book and other sources will be assigned, but they will neither be collected nor graded. Answers to homework problems are available in the Study Guide and Solutions Manual. Answers to non-text problems assigned in class are available in the lecture notes or on this Web site.

Even though I will not be collecting or grading the traditional homework, you are strongly encouraged to do it. I design exams around the problems I assign.

Makeup Exams

Students who have academic conflicts (i.e. conflicts with University classes, participation in athletic teams, etc.) will be offered either an alternate exam time or the choice to assign the points from a missed exam to the final exam. This offer is only good if the instructor is notified BEFORE the examination is given. Please contact me as soon as possible if you will be unable to attend one of the scheduled examinations. As soon as you know you have to miss the exam for a valid excuse you need to call me at 323-8977 (leave a message) or if time permits, communicate with me by e-mail. If you notify me after the exam is given, you must also have a valid excuse for the late notification to be granted a makeup exam.

Makeup exams must be completed within one week of the original exam date. If an exam is missed without an excused absence, a '0' will be recorded as the score for that exam. The manual, Students Rights and Responsibilities, describes what is a valid excuse for a missed exam. Please note - a conflict with a work schedule is not a valid University excuse for missing an exam. If you have a job and your employer expects you to be working during one of the exam times, arrange to take time off or arrange for some one else to work your shift for you.

Tutors

The Chemistry Department Office (CP-125) maintains a list of Chemistry undergraduate students, graduate students, and postdoctoral research fellows who are interested in tutoring.

Preparing for exams

This is a process that starts on the first day of class--keep up with the reading and do not miss a lecture. Read the relevant sections of the text before class. Work all of the assigned problems to test your ability to apply the concepts in the chapter and the lectures. Ask questions if you have trouble. DO NOT 'PEEK' AT THE SOLUTIONS MANUAL UNTIL YOU HAVE TRIED HARD TO SOLVE EACH PROBLEM. Use the problems in the book as 'mini-exams' to test yourself as you finish reading sections of the text. 

Heartfelt Advice

1. Attend every lecture.
2. Read and think about each chapter before the lecture. DO NOT FALL BEHIND.
3. Work all of the problems assigned.
4. Come to office hours to ask questions. 
   
5. Review your general chemistry book and notes when necessary. Hit Wikipedia for short explanations of items you don't understand. If you can't understand the information offered there or from any source, ask your instructor about it.
   
6. Read the text, your notes, and do problems every day. Cramming for the exam is not as efficient as thinking about the subject as the weeks unfold. Think about it . . . . cramming is akin to having one long class session and expecting you to take a test--a disservice to you.