| GTA/GRA
Syllabus Guidelines
Prepared by the University Ombudsman Office, The
University of Kansas, rev. 2002
The following from the University Senate Rules and Regulations are
relevant to the preparation of course information:
Article II, Section
1.1
The evaluation of student performance shall be
based upon examinations, written papers, class participation and
such other requirements as the instructor in each course may determine.
Article II, Section
1.2
Information about the basis for evaluating students'
performance and about the requirements that students must fulfill
should be made available to students, preferably in writing, within
the first two weeks of class. Students who are not in class when
such information is provided are responsible for knowing it. Students
are also responsible for subsequent announcements about course content
and grading policies. This information should not be considered
a contract; the information may be revised as the courses progresses,
provided students are given timely notice of such revisions.
[back to top]
SPECIFIC SUGGESTIONS
BASIC INFORMATION
* Full number and title of course
* Full name and title of instructor
* Office and phone contact information
* Name and contact information of any others involved in the course
(i.e., TA's, discussion leaders, guest instructors)
* Course description in clear language*
* Arrangements for persons with disabilities
* Arrangements concerning religious holidays
*Note: if the description varies from the catalog
or previously distributed department or school information, the
fact of the change should be emphasized.
SPECIFIC LIST OF COURSE
REQUIREMENTS AND POLICIES
1. Reading - text and other: Give complete information
on reading required and recommended.
2. State class attendance and participation expectations.
Be as specific as possible regarding any absence and excuse policy.
If "class participation" is expected, be specific about
what it means:
- student asking instructor questions
- student answering instructor's questions
- student responding to other students' questions
- student initiating discussion
Be clear as to how "participation" is graded.
3. Describe seating requirements, if any, especially as they affect
taking examinations
4. Lab participation
5. External requirements: field trips, lecture/concert attendance,
etc.
6. Discussion group participation
7. Papers/projects
8. Examinations
9. Policy regarding make-up examinations
10. Time limits on scheduled examinations
11. Indicate any flexibility in the above requirements, and how
the changes are negotiated.
[back to top]
CLEAR STATEMENT
OF GRADING SYSTEM
* Explanation of grading system
* Points? Letter grades with numerical values?
For example:
If points on an exam or project are then translated
into a letter grade by the instructor, then worked through a percentage
application at the end of the semester, the method for doing so
must be made very clear.
* Clarify any curve applied and how it works
* Make clear any provision for a student "dropping" or
substituting any portion of the requirements, and how such changes
relate to grading
* If any adjustments are made at the end of the semester, how are
they done? What is the rationale? When, where and how are grades
announced?
* Opportunities for discussing grades
* Grade consequences for missing deadlines
* Any portion of the course that is required to pass the course
(i.e., taking final exam) must be specified
* The University grade appeal policy should be noted
POLICY REGARDING STUDENT ACADEMIC MISCONDUCT,
WITH SPECIFIC REFERENCE TO CHEATING AND PLAGIARISM, INCLUDING CONSEQUENCES
You may wish to quote the university statements
on academic integrity and misconduct.
Interpretations of plagiarism especially relevant to your discipline
can be helpful.
[back to top]
COURSE SCHEDULE
* Provide as much specific detail as feasible,
including dates of examinations and due dates of assignments
* Identify the relationship of readings to lectures/class activities
RULES
* regarding classroom procedure, if relevant
* regarding use of materials in class, in labs, or during examinations
* related to writing assignments:
length requirements
acceptability of handwritten work
requirements of grammar and style, including punctuation and spelling,
and any grading implications
* requirements of supporting materials for answers or solutions
to quizzes, homework, lab reports or exams
* how are these related to grades?
[back to top]
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS
1. If students are to be held responsible for
knowing about oral announcements or requirements during the progress
of the course (a risky procedure!), they should be forewarned in
writing.
2. If changes are made in the syllabus, especially related to requirements,
grading or deadlines, these should be distributed in printed form,
with effort made to reach all students in the course in sufficient
time for them to make necessary adjustments.
3. If you, or your department, have a system for catching up with
students who do not meet prerequisites or other requirements for
the course, it is well to warn them in writing that this can happen,
and that it may require their disenrollment at a potentially inconvenient
time.
4. In scheduling exams or other written material (and their return
to students), keep in mind that students should have an opportunity
to receive some grade evaluation in the course before the withdrawal
deadline.
5. If it is known that the university final examination schedule
has your exam scheduled for an evening hour at the same time as
another course in which some of your students could be enrolled,
it is helpful to call that to their attention, as well as the page
in the Timetable regarding priorities in such cases, and state what
your arrangements are in the event of such a conflict.
SUMMARY
* Be as specific as possible.
* If you or a colleague have recently been engaged in a time-consuming
dispute with a student over an "I didn't know that" issue,
it is probably worth paying attention to the content of that issue
in preparation of your syllabus.
[back to top]
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
YOU SHOULD KNOW!
University Senate Rules and Regulations pertaining
to:
GRADE APPEALS
Article II, Section 2.3.1-2.3.5.3
2.3.1 Unless the provisions of 2.3.2 obtain, no
change in a grade shall be made after it is filed with the University
Registrar except upon the written request of the faculty member
in charge of the course with the approval of the chairperson of
the department in which the course is given. Such a change may be
made only if (1) the original grade resulted from an error, or (2)
the original letter was I or P. In either case this change of letter
shall not include the change to a W.
2.3.2 In the following exceptional cases a committee
of at least three faculty members appointed by the chairperson of
the department in which the course is given may review a student's
work and assign the course grade:
2.3.2.1 When a faculty member who has been charged
with and found guilty of sexual harassment or academic misconduct
has assigned a grade to the student who has pressed charges.
2.3.2.2 When a clerical error is suspected in
a course grade assigned by a faculty member who has become seriously
ill and incapacitated or has died or whom the chairperson of the
department in which the course is given cannot locate with due diligence.
2.3.2.3 When a student is found guilty of academic
misconduct after the course grade has been assigned by a faculty
member who has become seriously ill and incapacitated or has died
or whom the chairperson of the department in which the course is
given cannot locate with due diligence.
2.3.2.4 When there is procedural irregularity
in the assignment of the course grade. However, in such a case,
the grade shall be assigned in accordance with section 2.3.5.3 of
the University Senate Rules and Regulations.
2.3.3 In the most extreme and unusual circumstances
a student may petition to either
a) withdraw from all the courses in which he/she was enrolled. In
this case a properly constituted committee from the school or College
in which he/she was enrolled may assign the letter W in all courses
of that semester. The faculty members (s) in charge of the course(s)
need not be consulted. Or
b) if the student is asking for selective relief in a course in
which he/she was enrolled, a properly constituted committee from
the school or College in which the course was taken may assign,
after consultation/concurrence with the faculty member in charge
of the course, the letter I, incomplete, or W, withdrawal. If the
incomplete is assigned, it is to be completed in the next semester
in which the student is enrolled at the University in accordance
with University Senate Rule 2.2.3.2. The work necessary to complete
the course and remove the incomplete is to be determined by the
faculty member in charge of the course. If the faculty member in
charge of the course is unavailable or otherwise unable to provide
a regime of work to complete the course, the department will take
responsibility to determine the required work.
Each course is to be considered separately but the same committee
may consider more than one course at the discretion of the dean
of the school responsible for the course.
2.3.4. To insure uniform implementation of these
procedures a) each school and the College will develop a written
policy for the guidance of the committee and b) each school or College
will adopt a uniform policy as to whether concurrence or only consultation
is required. The policies are to be made available to faculty and
student.
2.3.5 A student may initiate a grade appeal of
a final course grade if he or she believes that there has been an
improper application of the grading procedure announced for the
course by the instructor.
2.3.5.1 Each academic unit within the University
shall provide its members access to an exclusive procedure for appeal
of a final course grade, which shall be the sole procedure available
to such members at the unit level.
2.3.5.2 Such an appeal shall be made in accord
with the procedures established by the unit under Article V, section
2 of the University Senate Rules and Regulations. To the extent
that a grade appeal involves charges of improper application of
grading procedures, the dispute shall be resolved under the applicable
procedures for disputes involving improper application of grading
procedure, and appeal to the Judicial Board shall be available in
accordance with those procedures. To the extent that a grade appeal
involves charges of academic misconduct, the dispute shall be resolved
under the applicable procedures for disputes involving academic
misconduct, and appeal to the Judicial Board shall be available
in accordance with those procedures.
2.3.5.3 If the Judicial Board sustains the student's
appeal, the grade shall be assigned in accordance with Section 2.3.2
of the University Senate Rules and Regulations.
[back to top]
ACADEMIC MISCONDUCT
Article II, Section 2.6.1
Academic misconduct by a student shall include,
but not be limited to, disruption of classes; threatening an instructor
or fellow student in an academic setting; giving or receiving of
unauthorized aid on examinations or in the preparation of notebooks,
themes, reports or other assignments; knowingly misrepresenting
the source of any academic work; unauthorized changing of grades;
unauthorized use of University approvals or forging of signatures;
falsification of research results; plagiarizing of another's work;
violation of regulations or ethical codes for the treatment of human
and animal subjects; or otherwise acting dishonestly in research.
Academic misconduct by an instructor shall include,
but not be limited to, grading student work by criteria other than
academic performance, willful neglect in the discharge of teaching
duties, falsification of research results, plagiarizing of another's
work, violation of regulations or ethical codes for the treatment
of human and animal subjects, or otherwise acting dishonestly in
research.
Article II, Section 2.6.2
2.6.2 An instructor may, with due notice to the
student, treat as unsatisfactory any student work that is a product
of academic misconduct. An instructor also may, with due notice
to the student, treat a student's performance for a course as unsatisfactory
when there are severe or repeated instances of academic misconduct
as defined in Section 2.6.1. If an instructor deems other sanctions
for academic misconduct by a student to be advisable, or if a student
wishes to protest a grade based upon work judged by an instructor
to be a product of academic misconduct, or if a faculty member is
charged with academic misconduct in connection with the assignment
of a grade or otherwise, the case shall be reported to the Dean
of the College or School in which the course is offered and processed
in accord with applicable procedures.
Article 2.6.4
Every instructor shall make clear, at the beginning
of each course, his or her rules for the preparation of classroom
assignments, collateral reading, notebooks, or other outside work,
in order that his or her students may not, through ignorance, subject
themselves to the charge of academic misconduct. An instructor has
the authority to set reasonable rules for classroom conduct. When
an instructor judges that a student's behavior is disruptive or
obstructive to learning, the instructor can request that the student
leave the classroom. Refusal to comply with a request to leave a
classroom can itself be grounds for a charge of academic misconduct.
[back to top]
EXAMINATIONS
Section 3.
1.3.2 No examination may be scheduled during the last week of regularly
scheduled classes unless a comprehensive final examination is given
during the regularly scheduled final examination period. If an examination
is the last work submitted in a course, then that examination shall
be given at its appointed time during the regularly scheduled final
examination period.
Any exceptions to the above paragraph must be approved by the Calendar
Committee. Petitions to the committee must be submitted at least
three weeks before the last scheduled day of classes. Students'
academic best interests shall be the criteria for the Calendar Committee's
decisions on petitions.
Students should report violations of the above to the appropriate
department head or dean, or to the Provost.
1.3.4 Except for those excused in advance by the
instructor, all students are required to take final examinations
when prescribed. No student shall be obligated to take more than
two (2) examinations on the same day. In the event that a student
has three (3) or more final examinations scheduled on the same day,
and wishes to take no fewer than two (2) final examinations on the
same day, the student shall notify the instructor(s) from the highest
numbered course(s) no later than two weeks before the last day of
class to provide a make-up examination to be administered at a mutually
acceptable time.
Section 4. Examinations, Quizzes and Tests Other Than Final Examinations
1.4.1 Examinations and tests other than final examinations shall
normally be given during regularly scheduled class or laboratory
hours.
1.4.2 Examinations and tests other than final examinations may be
given at times other than regular class hours when the time and
place are approved by the Calendar Committee and published in advance
in the Official Timetable of Classes. When such examinations conflict
with a student's obligation to other regularly scheduled university
classes the student shall be accorded the opportunity to take the
examination or test at a time not in conflict with other regularly
scheduled university classes. In the event of the cancellation of
an examination due to an emergency, rescheduling of the examination
shall be negotiated by the Associate Provost for Academic Services
with the affected unit.
1.4.3 Examinations and tests other than final examinations should
not be scheduled in conflict with mandated religious observances.
In order to ascertain in a given class if a scheduled examination
conflicts with a mandated religious observance, at the beginning
of the semester the instructor shall ask students who may be affected
to identify themselves privately so that a make-up examination may
be scheduled at a mutually acceptable time.
1.4.4 Students with a verifiable medical crisis of a relative or
friend may be excused from being present for scheduled examinations
and tests. It is the responsibility of the student to initiate discussion
with the instructor, prior to the examination/test if possible.
The instructor and student shall come to a mutually agreeable method
of making up the missed work.
[back to top]
Prepared by the University Ombudsman Office,
Revised, January, 2002
|
1301
Mississippi Street