UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS POLICIES, EXCERPTED
Excerpts from
POLICIES GOVERNING FACULTY SERVICE
Faculty members assigned to teach classes are responsible for determining that the content of their classes is appropriate to each course, as officially described in the catalog (or proposing changes to the description through the campus process), and achieves the coverage indicated by that description. They are also responsible for choosing appropriate texts and other teaching materials in a timely way. Faculty members are responsible for confining classroom discussion to subjects related to the topics of concern in the course. They are responsible for holding the classes and giving final exams at the times and places approved for them, except as changes are authorized by the appropriate department head and dean. They are responsible for providing reasonable accommodation to students with documented disabilities, consistent with policies and procedures of the Center for Students with Disabilities (telephone 5-3104). It is also the responsibility of the faculty member to include in the course syllabus instructions on how students can learn prior to class time whether a class is cancelled because of weather conditions or for other reasons. See http://www.uark.edu/admin/vcacsey/vcaa/policies.html.
ATTENDANCE POLICY
(Faculty Senate, May 26, 1999)
… Instructors have the responsibility to provide a written policy on student attendance that is tied to course objectives included in a course syllabus. There may be times, however, when illness, family crisis, or university-sponsored activities make full attendance or participation impossible. In these situations students are responsible for making timely arrangements with the instructor to make up work missed. Such arrangements should be made in writing and prior to the absence when possible.
(Examples of absences that should be considered excusable)
GRADES AND EXAMS
Faculty members are advised to note the terms of the “Grade Appeal Structure for Undergraduate Students” in which is implicit the assumption that instructors will include grading and make-up policies in the syllabus for the course or at the course
Web site, or announce such policies at the beginning of class meetings for each course.
Student appeal and grievance policy and procedures are available at http://advancement.uark.edu/catalogofstudies for undergraduate students. See http://www.uark.edu/gradinfo/grievance-final.htm for graduate student procedures.
The grading system in use at the university is stated in the current catalog under the heading Grades and Marks, at http://advancement.uark.edu/catalogofstudies.
The Campus Council has gone on record as “affirming the fundamental responsibility of instructors to inform students of their progress in courses as accurately and completely as possible.”
Any final examination must be given at times specified in the schedule.
POSTING GRADES
The Family Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, as amended, prohibits disclosure of personally identifiable education records to a third party without prior written consent. Accordingly, faculty should ensure that grade information posted or made available through graded papers left for collection in public places (such as offices or hallways) is not “personally identifiable.” The Department of Education Regulations for the Act define “personally identifiable” information as that data or information which includes (1) the name of the student, the student’s parent, or other family members; (2) the student’s address; (3) a personal identifier (such as a social security number or student number); or (4) a list of personal characteristics, or other information which would make the student’s identity easily traceable.
OFFICE HOURS
Faculty members are expected to keep regularly-scheduled office (or laboratory) hours each week during which time students may confer with them.
RECORDS
Consistent with Academic Policy 1480.10, records and materials collected by faculty as evidence of student performance and learning … should be retained for two years following the assignment of final grades for all coursework, either by the faculty member or by the department in which the faculty member is appointed, in the event of the faculty member’s leaving the employment of the institution.
TEACHER AND COURSE EVALUATION
(Campus Council, Adopted March 14, 1985)
The Campus Council action reaffirmed the value of teacher and course evaluation by students, … The new policy also makes clear that no one form [such as the Purdue form] or procedure is suitable for all classes, …. The policy adopted by the Campus Council specifies the following:
1. That each department faculty adopt a formal procedure whereby each student in each class has the opportunity to submit a written critique to the instructor for the instructor’s self-evaluation. If maximum benefit is to be realized, students must be assured that their comments are for the instructor, alone, and will be reviewed by others only if the instructor releases them for such review;