Grading is pretty simple:

• In-class presentations: 50%
• Final project: 40%
• Individual blogging / participation: 10%

In-class presentations will be done solo. Grading will focus on both the technical meat of the presentation as well as the quality of the communication. Once we’re further into the semester, we’ll shift to final project mode. We’ll still do paper presentations, but we’ll also be doing status report presentations (where you are in your project, what problems you’re looking at, etc.).

You will also be asked to participate in this blog. You will be expected to:

• At least once in the semester, write up a security analysis of something in the world around. Maybe that’s the airport metal detector. Maybe it’s your dormitory’s dining hall. It’s up to you.
• At least three times in the semester, write up a piece discussing the latest news in the security world. Somebody broke something! Don’t just link to it. Describe it and analyze what it means.
• Comment on and discuss what the other students post on the blog.

Late Policy

If you sign up to give a presentation, you’d better be there to do it. If you’re not ready or poorly prepared, that will count against you. Of course, disasters occur and can be worked around. We are willing to make custom arrangements if you talk to us in advance of a deadline. We can work around your constraints if we have enough time.

Final Project Grading

The final project is pretty big. It includes a proposal at the beginning, status update presentations in class, a final oral presentation, a final paper, and (oh by the way) you also have to do the work. Rather than give you a precise grading breakdown, suffice to say we will show more sympathy if you’ve been working diligently all along.

The Flaking Partner Policy

Final projects are typically done in groups of two. Given this, we often receive complaints that somebody cannot find their partner, or that their partner continues to promise things that are never delivered. To address this concern, the policy is you flake, you fail. Simply put, if you disappear or are generally not pulling your own weight at any time during the semester, you get an F in the course right then. End of story. If you don’t completely flake, but are under-responsive, we reserve the right to design an appropriate (but still fair) way of redistributing points.

Of course, disasters happen that may pull you away from campus. You are responsible for notifying your partner(s) and the course staff if a major time conflict arises in your life. In the real world, you don’t just disappear from your job for a week. You tell people you have to go. The same thing applies here. Likewise, if you feel you’re going to need to drop this class, then do it between projects, not in the middle of one. Dropping the course in the middle of a project may be allowed by the university, but it’s extremely rude to your partner(s). Be polite.