CS293G: Computing on encrypted data (graduate)

Grading

Your final grade for the course will be based on the following weights:

50%: Reviews/comments/summaries/insights on assigned readings
30%: Class participation
20% (plus an optional 30% extra credit): Research proposal

Reviews

Before the start of a lecture (that is, 9 AM on the day of the lecture), you will submit an insightful review of the assigned readings for the lecture. By "insightful", we mean something that is not simply a rewrite of the content of the readings, but rather something that demonstrates in-depth understanding (and strengths/weaknesses) of the material, and perhaps talks about alternate design points or directions for future work. Not all of the submitted reviews will be graded; instead, the instructor will randomly pick a few (perhaps three to five per lecture) and grade them. To receive credit, you must make a credible effort. Points will be awarded, based on the following criteria.

If your submitted review is selected for grading, but your submission is blank, then you will score negative points---up to five times the maximum points for the submission. This number may be adjusted to make sure that the expected number of points you loose if you don't submit is roughly equal to 1.5 to 2 times the maximum points you can score for the submission.
If you submit a dull review or simply paraphrase what is written in the readings, you will receive negative points. Writing an insightful review will require effort, so don't plan to read the readings a few hours before the lectures. Quality and depth matter most. And you need to be clear and neat. If the instructor can't understand what you have written, he can't give you credit! Your review doesn't have to be long---even one page reviews can be very insightful and thought-provoking.
If your submission is not selected for grading, you will receive a zero.

If you do not submit or submit a dull review or simply paraphrase what is written in the readings, you will receive zero points.
If your submission doesn't fall in the above category, then depending on the quality you will receive up to 100 points.

Writing an insightful review will require effort, so don't plan to read the readings a few hours before the lectures. Quality and depth matter most. And you need to be clear and neat. If the instructor can't understand what you have written, he can't give you credit! Your review doesn't have to be long---even one page reviews can be very insightful and thought-provoking.

Your review submissions may have at most 3 pages of content including bibliographic references. You must use: Times New Roman font, a minimum font size of 10 pt with at least 2 points of spacing between lines, and minimum 1 inch margins on all sides. Your review may reference figures/tables/code/etc. in the assigned readings. Your instructor won't read a review beyond its third page.

Research proposal

Your research proposal will be in two parts. First, in the middle of the quarter (see the course schedule for the exact due date) you will submit a preliminary version of your proposal. This preliminary version should clearly state the problem statement, motivation, and give a rough idea of the related work and key insights. This version should be at most 2 pages of content; you may use extra pages for bibliographic references. Your proposal must follow the formatting requirements mentioned above. Your instructor will read your proposal in detail and provide feedback, especially on whether he thinks that your idea has potential to advance the state-of-the-art. Based on your instructor's feedback you will refine your proposal and produce the final version. Note: proposal's that don't promise to advance the state-of-the-art will receive zero points, and proposal's that show promises of turning into a publication will receive extra credit.

Turn-in policy and lateness

Late submissions will not be accepted, except in three cases:

Illness, which requires a doctor's note. The instructor will not look at such notes; instead, bring the note to the graduate program coordinator, who will communicate with the instructor.
Death in the immediate family.
Accommodation for students with disabilities, as prescribed by the university.

No extensions will be given for any other reason (including job interviews, business trips, work on research publications, etc.).

Collaboration, source material, and academic integrity

Here is this class's collaboration policy:

The work that you turn in must be yours. Do not discuss your reviews or research proposal, in any form, with your classmates or others outside the class until after the due date of the review or research proposal. (You may discuss your proposal idea with others after submitting its preliminary version.) You may discuss your research proposal idea with the instructor via email or in a private meeting.
You must acknowledge your influences. This means, first, writing down the names of people with whom you discussed the readings or the ideas behind the proposal, and what you discussed with them. If student A gets an idea from student B, both students are obligated to write down that fact and also what the idea was. Second, you are obligated to acknowledge other contributions (for example, ideas from Web sites or other sources). That is, consistent with the policies and normal academic practice, you are obligated to cite any source that gave you an idea.
You must not look at, or use, solutions from other incarnations of the course or the Web, or seek assistance from the Internet. For example, do not download or look at publicly available reviews for the readings covered in this course.
You must take reasonable steps to protect your work. You must not publicly publish your solutions (for example on github or stackoverflow), in this quarter or any future quarter. You are obligated to protect your files and printouts from access.

We will enforce the policy strictly. Penalties of failing to comply with the policy include an F grade in the course, referral to the university's disciplinary body, and possible expulsion. Note that we will use a variety of mechanisms to detect cheating, including text-similarity detection softwares, so getting away without being detected will be hard.

More about source material

Per the policy above, you may not look at any course material relating to any project similar to this course's assignments. You may not look at work done by students in past years' courses. You may not look at similar course projects at other universities. If you are unsure about whether a particular source of external information is permitted, contact the instructor before looking at it.

More about academic integrity

The above guidelines are necessarily generalizations and cannot account for all circumstances. Intellectual dishonesty can end your career, and it is your responsibility to stay on the right side of the line. If you are not sure about something, ask.

Regrades

You can submit any graded item for a regrade, under the following conditions. First, you need to submit a clear, written statement that explains the request (what was wrong and why). Second, you must submit your request within one week of when the graded work was returned. Third, we will reread and regrade the entire review, proposal, etc. (so a regrade can potentially decrease your grade.)

Last updated: 2019-04-08 12:16:24 -0700 [validate xhtml]