Out-of-class Activities

During the course of the quarter, students may participate in a series of "out-of-class activities" relevant to the topic of wildlife ecology as it relates to forestry and forest management for Outside Activity points. ACTIVITIES ASSOCIATED WITH OTHER COURSES ARE NOT ACCEPTABLE AS OUTSIDE ACTIVITIES FOR THIS CLASS. Acceptable activities include:

•  attendance on one or more of the optional course field trips, 
• attendance of seminars or presentations related to the interface of forest management and wildlife, 
• attendance of public hearings related to wildlife and forestry issues, or 
• other appropriate events. 

The course instructor will announce events when he is aware of them, but you are invited to seek out opportunities and propose them to the instructor or teaching assistants in advance for outside activity points. 

IMPORTANT: If you are receiving extra credit for attendance at a seminar, presentation, or any event not being sponsored by the course, it is necessary to get the signature of the presenter indicating your presence at the event.

How Outside Activity Credits Are Applied to the Final Grade.

When the final grades are calculated, student grades will be adjusted in one of the following manners:

• Standard OAU NOT completed (Standard Out-of-class Activity Unit [OAU] = 6 OAU points, see below): reduction of grade by one-half grade (e.g., from a C+ to a C or from an A- to a B+)
• Standard OAU completed: base grade based on exam scores will be used as the final grade
• Standard OAU plus Advanced OAU completed: increase of grade by one-half grade beyond that based solely on exam scores (e.g., from a C+ to a B- or from an A- to an A)  

OAU's are comprised of a series of OAU points.  Most indoor activities (such as attending a seminar) will be credited with 1 OAU point, and most outdoor field trips will be credited with 2 OAU points.  Partial credit for partial completion of an OAU will not be given.  Assignment of points for specific activities are at the discretion of the course instructor. 

To complete the Standard OAU, students must complete 6 OAU points.   

Outside Activity Unit points may not be used to boost a grade of F to a grade of D-.

Information ONLY for students wishing to complete both the Standard and Advanced OAU.

To complete the Advanced OAU, students must complete the Standard OAU PLUS 5 additional OAU points. To receive credit for BOTH the Standard and Advanced OAU, students must have attended at least 1 field trip.  In addition, the student must have completed 3 one-page critiques of 3 research articles dealing with issues related to forest management and wildlife populations published between 1998 and 2004 in Conservation Biology, the Journal of Wildlife Management, Forest Ecology and Management, Forest Science, Ecological Applications, or the Wildlife Society Bulletin.  Completion of the critiques will account for 2 Outside Activity points.  Completion of written critiques will not be credited toward completion of the Standard OAU.  No more than 3 adequate critiques will be accepted from any individual student. 

Critiques will be accepted any time up to May 28.  No critiques will be accepted after May 28.  The instructor will return critiques within one week of receiving them for revision (if necessary).  Critiques received after May 21 may not be revised and resubmitted.   

Click here for information on the format for critiques and additional important details. 

Click here to see a list of currently available Out-of-class Activity options.

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