Things You Should Know

Miscellaneous Information You Should Know

Syllabus Requirements: (Article 28.3)

1. A course syllabus must be provided to each student in each course taught. The syllabus shall be distributed within 7 days after the beginning of the term. (Electronic distribution of the syllabus is acceptable.)
   
2. The syllabus shall include a clear explanation of the faculty member’s policies on grading and class attendance.
   
3. A printed copy of the syllabus must be placed on file in the department office.

Graded Work:

1. The faculty member shall return to the students at least 1 written grade report on a class assignment (test, examination, essay, etc.) at least 3 weeks before the deadline for student withdrawal from a course with a grade of W. (Article 28.3)
   
2. Faculty members shall retain student materials in physical or digital form that have not been returned to the students for 1 semester. Material from the spring or summer semester should be retained through the following fall semester. Faculty members shall retain grade and attendance records (if kept) for 1 year. Backup of student materials through the course management system by faculty members will satisfy the materials retention requirement. (Article 28.3)

Office Hours:

1. Faculty members shall maintain a minimum of 5 office hours weekly during each term (3 hours for Summer Term) at times convenient to both the faculty member and to his/her students.
   
2. Office hours shall be distributed over a minimum of 3 days each week (2 days each week for Summer Term) unless alternative arrangements have been made subject to the approval of the department chairperson. (Article 28.6)
   
3. For online course(s) the faculty member shall establish office hours for consultation with students at a distance utilizing available communication tools including email, chat, computer conferencing or other technologies. Such online office hours shall count toward the five (5) required office hours. The physical location of these online office hours is at the discretion of the faculty member. Theses online office hours may fall beyond the standard institutional business operations of the university; however, the students must be informed of online office hours in the syllabus. For each online course, the faculty member must conduct at least one office hour online per week. If the faculty member is teaching all online courses, four (4) hours will be scheduled online distributed between three calendar days and one hour must be in person on campus. (Article 28.6)
   
4. Faculty members teaching cyberlearning course(s) shall post a statement regarding the methods and procedures to be utilized for office hours. Faculty members teaching cyberlearning course(s) are expected to respond student communications that occur outside of the scheduled office hours within two (2) business days of the receipt of the student communication. (Article 28.6)

Grade of W:

"W represents a withdrawal properly processed at any time from the end of the full-refund period through the last day to withdraw with a W (as published in the Academic Calendar for each semester). For courses involving foreign travel, the last day to drop a course with a W shall be the date at which the student first leaves the campus to begin the travel. Withdrawal after the designated date (or an improper withdrawal) is recorded as F. Withdrawal thereafter (or improperly done, at any time) is recorded as F. If the grade resulted from circumstances over which the student had no control, the student may petition the appropriate dean for a late withdrawal.” 2014-15 Undergraduate Bulletin p. 41.

Grade of I (Incomplete):

“An incomplete grade of I may be given to a student who has been doing satisfactory work in a course but, for reasons beyond the control of the student and deemed justifiable by the instructor, had not completed all requirements for a course when grades were submitted. A letter grade may not be changed to an I (Incomplete) after the term has ended and grades have been recorded. A written explanation of the reason for the I and a date (which must be within one year) by which all course requirements will be completed must be forwarded by the instructor to the Office of Records. This explanation will be included in the student’s permanent record, with copies to the student and department chairperson. For fall term courses, the final date to complete an I will be March 1 of the following term; for the spring term courses, September 1; for all summer term courses, October 1. With approval by the instructor and the dean of the college in which the course is taught, the completion date may be extended. Courses not completed by the appropriate date will be converted to an F.” 2014-15 Undergraduate Bulletin p. 40.

Academic Honesty:

The Student Code found at the Student Code of Conduct webpage, outlines the university’s policy on academic honesty. According to the Code, “Academic honesty is essential to the educational process and serves to protect the integrity of the University community. Therefore, all members of the University community have a responsibility of maintaining high standards of honesty and ethical practice. Cheating, plagiarism, and other forms of academic dishonesty constitute a serious violation of University conduct regulations.”

Student Absence from Classes and Examinations:

“The problem of excessive class absence concerns instructor and student, and consequently requires their mutual effort. All students must realize that for their own welfare they are expected to attend all class meetings of courses in which they are enrolled. The instructor, however, has the prerogative of determining the relationship between class attendance, achievement, and course grades, and the responsibility for communicating the relationship to the students at the beginning of each term.

A student must have the instructor’s consent in order to take any examination at a time other than that scheduled.” 2014-15 Undergraduate Bulletin p. 43. Faculty members may not penalize a student for missing a class if the student provides advanced documentation that the absence was a result of a University-sponsored activity. (Article 28.3)