The Maxwell School
Syracuse University
Syracuse University
Fall 2020
General information that you may need at the beginning of the semester.
No required textbook. Required readings will consist of selected articles assigned during the course of the semester.
This course focuses on applying interdisciplinary analyis to develop pragmatic solutions to concrete, real-world energy problems. Students will work in interdisciplinary teams to address issues arising in the Syracuse community or central New York region. The first few weeks of the semester will be devoted to development and refinement of term project proposals. The remainder of the semester will consist of weekly progress reports from the teams, along with the milestones discussed below. Grades will be based on quality of the interim progress reports and the final presentation and written report. Attendance is expected at all class meetings.
The term project will be carried out in a series of stages and will involve the following assignments or "milestones":
Primary and Alternate Proposals
Due 9/9. The team will be responsible for submitting two (2) preliminary project proposals. One should be the primary project the team would like to carry out, and one should be an alternate, second-choice, project the team would carry out if the first project fails its feasibility assessment (below) or runs into other serious obstacles.
Each preliminary project proposal should be 1-2 single spaced pages. It should be an executive summary of the project including each of the following:
The proposals will be submitted via Blackboard, preferably as PDFs.
Feasibility Assessments
Due 9/23. The team will submit feasibility assessments of the primary and alternate project proposals. The contents and structure of a feasiblity assessment are described in more detail here. The files will be submitted via Blackboard.
Draft Presentations
Due 11/4. The team will submit a complete presentation and will present it to the class. The team will then prepare and present a revised presentation the following week.
Final Presentation
Week of 11/18. Date to be determined depending on availability of outside participants.
Syracuse University’s Academic Integrity Policy reflects the high value that we, as a university community, place on honesty in academic work. The policy holds students accountable for the integrity of all work they submit and for upholding course-specific, as well as university-wide, academic integrity expectations. The policy governs citation and use of sources, the integrity of work submitted in exams and assignments, and truthfulness in all academic matters, including course attendance and participation. The policy states that any work a student submits for a course must be solely their own unless the instructor explicitly allows collaboration or editing. The policy also requires students to acknowledge their use of other peoples’ language, images or other original creative or scholarly work through appropriate citation.
These expectations extend to the new, fast-growing realm of artificial intelligence (AI) as well as to the use of websites that charge fees or require uploading of course materials to obtain exam solutions or assignments. Students are required to ask their instructor whether use of these tools is permitted – and if so, to what extent – before using them to complete any assignment or exam. Students are also required to seek advance permission from instructors if they wish to submit the same work in more than one course. Failure to receive this permission in advance may violate the Academic Integrity Policy. Under the policy, instructors who seek to penalize a student for a suspected violation must first report the violation to the Center for Learning and Student Success (CLASS). Students may not drop or withdraw from courses in which they face a suspected violation. Instructors must wait to assign a final course grade until a suspected violation is reviewed and upheld or overturned.
Upholding Academic Integrity includes abiding by instructors’ individual course expectations, which may include the protection of their intellectual property. Students should not upload, distribute, or otherwise share instructors’ course materials without permission. Students found in violation of the policy are subject to grade sanctions determined by the course instructor and non-grade sanctions determined by the School or College where the course is offered, as outlined in the Violation and Sanction Classification Rubric. Students are required to read an online summary of the University’s academic integrity expectations and provide an electronic signature agreeing to abide by them twice a year during pre-term check-in on MySlice.
Syracuse University values diversity and inclusion; we are committed to a climate of mutual respect and full participation. There may be aspects of the instruction or design of this course that result in barriers to your inclusion and full participation in this course. I invite any student to contact me to discuss strategies and/or accommodations (academic adjustments) that may be essential to your success and to collaborate with the Center for Disability Resources (CDR) in this process.
If you would like to discuss disability-accommodations or register with CDR, please visit Center for Disability Resources. Please call (315) 443-4498 or email disabilityresources@syr.edu for more detailed information. The CDR is responsible for coordinating disability-related academic accommodations and will work with the student to develop an access plan. Since academic accommodations may require early planning and generally are not provided retroactively, please contact CDR as soon as possible to begin this process.
SU religious observances notification and policy, found at the URL below, recognizes the diversity of faiths represented among the campus community and protects the rights of students, faculty, and staff to observe religious holidays according to their tradition. Under the policy, students are provided an opportunity to make up any examination, study, or work requirements that may be missed due to a religious observance provided they notify their instructors before the end of the second week of classes for regular session classes and by the submission deadline for flexibly formatted classes. If you prefer, however, you can notify me directly by email. In either case, just check with me and we'll work out an arrangement that fits your schedule. More information is available here.