Course Organization and Policies

Statement on Flexibility

In acknowledgement of COVID-19 and its impact on the University of Texas at Austin community, this course will reaffirm one of the core values here at UT Austin: responsibility. Our responsibility to ourselves and each other is to put our humanity in the forefront of our academic pursuits. With that being said, this semester I commit to being adaptable in this time of great need, which is reflected in the course policies below around attendance, grading, and assignments/exams.

If you experience any hardships such as illness, accident, family crisis please know that these policies may be amended and therefore you should communicate with me as soon as you feel comfortable doing so. If for any reason you do not feel comfortable discussing with me, please visit Student Emergency Services. For additional campus resources, please visit https://coronavirus.utexas.edu/students.

Course Format and Attendance

The default delivery of this course is in person. Recordings of the lectures will be available via Lectures Online. If you are not able to make it to lecture or are feeling unwell, please watch the recordings offline.

Assignments and Grading

The course will consist of five homework assignments and two in-class exams (February 21, April 20) weighted as follows:

Homeworks: 70% (each 14%)
Exams: 30% (each 15%)

Your grade will be the higher of the grade you would receive under a curve (determined based on the overall distribution of scores in the class) and that according to the traditional grading scheme (i.e., 90% = A-, 80% = B-, 70% = C-, etc.).

Textbook

There is no required textbook for this class. Optional supplementary readings will be taken from A Graduate Course in Applied Cryptography by Dan Boneh and Victor Shoup (see syllabus for more details).

Homework

There are 5 homework assignments in this course. One of the assignments (Homework 3) is a programming assignment. Some of the written assignments may also have a programming component. For the written assignments, you must use LaTeX to typeset your solutions using the provided template. The programming assignments must be completed in Python and you will be using the Python cryptography library.

Homework submission: Submission instructions will be described at the top of each homework assignment. All assignment submissions will be handled through Gradescope.

Late submissions: You get five “late days” in total during the semester. You may use a late day to submit a homework assignment after the deadline. You can use at most three late days for any single assignment, and you may only use late days in one-day increments (no partial late days).

If you submit an assignment more than 72 hours after the deadline, or if you submit an assignment late after running out of late days, you will receive no credit for the submission. Please submit your assignments on time and save your late days for extraordinary situations.

Exam

There are 2 in-class exams (February 23 and April 20). You will be provided a copy of the ‘‘List of Cryptographic Definitions’’ handout for the exam. For Exam 1, you can bring a single sheet of notes (on standard 8.5"-by-11" paper). For Exam 2, you can bring two sheets of notes (on standard 8.5"-by-11" paper). You can organize your notes however you want and you can use both the front and the back.

Collaboration Policy

You are encouraged to discuss the homework problems with other students in the course. However, you must write up all of your solutions independently and without referring to notes taken from your collaborative discussion. Your discussions should be limited to a high-level discussion of ideas and should never involve activities such as sharing of answers or developing detailed solutions to homework questions. You may not share written notes or documents (for instance, sharing Overleaf or Google Docs is not allowed). Activities like collaboratively solving a problem on a whiteboard and then transcribing the whiteboard contents into your solution is equivalent to sharing written notes. Any submission that shares similar text with that of another submission will be considered to be in violation of this policy. You must list the names of all of your collaborators when submitting your homework.

Please do not seek published or online solutions for any assignment or exam. Any submission that is similar to a published solution or one found online will also be considered in breach of this policy (regardless of whether you cited the solution or not). If you use any published or online resources (these must not include solutions), you must cite them.

The in-class exams are individual assignments and no collaboration is allowed.

Note that it is a violation of this policy to submit a solution that you are unable to explain orally to a member of the course staff. We reserve the right to spot-check for this requirement on both the homework assignments and on the exam.

Assignments or exams where a violation of this policy occurred will automatically receive a zero grade for the entire assignment or exam. Additional penalties such as receiving a full letter-grade penalty on the course grade, receiving a zero grade in the entire course, or referring the case to the Dean of Students Office, will be determined at the discretion of the instructor.

COVID-19 Guidance

To help preserve our in-person learning environment, the university recommends the following:

Adhere to the university mask guidance.
Vaccinations are widely available, free and not billed to health insurance. The vaccine will help protect against the transmission of the virus to others and reduce serious symptoms in those who are vaccinated.
Proactive Community Testing remains an important part of the university's efforts to protect our community. Tests are fast and free.
Visit Protect Texas Together for more information

Special Accommodations

Services for Students with Disabilities

The university is committed to creating an accessible and inclusive learning environment consistent with university policy and federal and state law. Please let me know if you experience any barriers to learning so I can work with you to ensure you have equal opportunity to participate fully in this course. If you are a student with a disability, or think you may have a disability, and need accommodations, please contact Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) at 512-471-6529 or ssd@austin.utexas.edu. If you are already registered with SSD, please deliver your Accommodation Letter to me as early as possible in the semester so we can discuss your approved accommodations and needs in this course.

Religious Holy Days

If you cannot meet an assignment deadline due to the observance of a religious holy day, you may submit the assignment up to 24 hours late without penalty, if proper notice of the planned absence has been given. Notice must be given at least 14 days prior to the classes which will be missed (or the assignment deadline). For religious holy days that fall within the first 2 weeks of the semester, notice should be given on the first day of the semester. Notices can be delivered via email and must be confirmed by the instructor.

Title IX Reporting

Title IX is a federal law that protects against sex and gender-based discrimination, sexual harassment, sexual assault, unprofessional or inappropriate conduct of a sexual nature, dating/domestic violence and stalking at federally funded educational institutions. UT Austin is committed to fostering a learning and working environment free from discrimination in all its forms. When unprofessional or inappropriate conduct of a sexual nature occurs in our community, the university can:

Intervene to prevent harmful behavior from continuing or escalating.
Provide support and remedies to students and employees who have experienced harm or have become involved in a Title IX investigation.
Investigate and discipline violations of the university’s relevant policies.

Beginning January 1, 2020, Texas Senate Bill 212 requires all employees of Texas universities, including faculty, report any information to the Title IX Office regarding sexual harassment, sexual assault, dating violence and stalking that is disclosed to them. Texas law requires that all employees who witness or receive any information of this type (including, but not limited to, writing assignments, class discussions, or one-on-one conversations) must be reported. I am a Responsible Employee and must report any Title IX related incidents that are disclosed in writing, discussion, or one-on-one. Before talking with me, or with any faculty or staff member about a Title IX related incident, be sure to ask whether they are a responsible employee. If you would like to speak with someone who can provide support or remedies without making an official report to the university, please email advocate@austin.utexas.edu. For more information about reporting options and resources, visit http://www.titleix.utexas.edu/, contact the Title IX Office via email at titleix@austin.utexas.edu, or call 512-471-0419.

Although graduate teaching and research assistants are not subject to Texas Senate Bill 212, they are still mandatory reporters under Federal Title IX laws and are required to report a wide range of behaviors we refer to as unprofessional or inappropriate conduct of a sexual nature, including the types of conduct covered under Texas Senate Bill 212. The Title IX office has developed supportive ways to respond to a survivor and compiled campus resources to support survivors.