Some of the Laws of Teaching

Updated 6/05

UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS POLICIES, EXCERPTED

Compiled by Katherine Shurlds, J.D.

Journalism Instructor

 

The following are some of the policies that affect UA teachers. Sections from policies contain some sections in their entirety and others that I have edited. I have also added some Web sites and additional information, preceded by "Ed." (Employment section not excerpted.)

 

Excerpts from

  • POLICIES ON EMPLOYMENT, STUDENT RECORDS, SEXUAL ASSAULT AND SEXUAL HARASSMENT

    http://www.uark.edu/admin/vcacsey/facultyhandbook/

     

    The AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT of 1990 … prohibits discrimination against students, employees, and the general public on the basis of disabilities.

    Ed.: (Center for Students with Disabilities) http://www.uark.edu/ua/csd/, with links to applicable state and federal law at http://www.uark.edu/ua/csd/legal.htm. Also, the University of Virginia has posted good information on the kinds of accommodations that might be reasonable in the classroom. http://www.virginia.edu/vpsa/ada-fac.html#suggestions).

     

    NON DISCRIMINATION

    In the Spring of 1983 the Campus Council adopted a statement regarding discrimination which was amended in the Fall of 1991: "The Campus Council of the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, does not condone discriminatory treatment of students or staff on the basis of age, disability, ethnic origin, marital status, race, religious commitment, sex, or sexual orientation in any of the activities conducted upon this campus. Members of the faculty are requested to be sensitive to this issue when, for example, presenting lecture material, assigning seating within the classroom, selecting groups for laboratory experiments, and assigning student work. …."

    •

    Ed.: Brown University’s Web page on achieving gender equity in the science classroom.

    On UA campus: Kay Fairchild, Compliance Officer, Office of Affirmative Action, 575-4019

     

    PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE STUDENT RECORDS

    The university adheres to the requirements of the "Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974" as amended (Buckley Amendment). Under this act, students have a right of access to personal records, may challenge the content of records, and have the assurance that their records will be kept confidential. There are exceptions to these regulations which must be carefully observed and documented. See the Catalog of Studies for additional information: http://advancement.uark.edu/catalogofstudies/

     

    SEXUAL ASSAULT POLICY (Adopted by the Campus Council, Sept. 23, 1993)

    Responsibility to Report

    Any student, faculty member, staff member, administrator, or visitor to the campus who has experienced or witnessed sexual assault should report the assault immediately to the University Police (Department of Public Safety. ) If the assault occurred outside the jurisdiction of the University Police, they will assist in reporting it to the proper authorities.

     

    SEXUAL HARASSMENT POLICY

  • (Adopted by the Campus Council, February 17, 1994, Amended, March 17, 1994)

    The policy applies to sexual harassment which takes place in any relationship, including both those involving a power differential and those between peers, colleagues, and co-workers. The university policy prohibits sexual harassment between or among students, faculty, staff, and others visiting or conducting official business on campus, and in all areas of the university’s work and educational environments.

     

    Definitions

    Sexual harassment as defined by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and adapted to the academic environment consists of unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct or written communication of a sexual nature, regardless of where such conduct might occur, when:

    •
    1. submission to the conduct is made either implicitly or explicitly a term or condition of an individual’s employment with the university or of an individual’s academic status or advancement in a university program, course, or activity;
    2. submission to or rejection of the conduct by an individual is used as the basis for employment or academic decisions affecting that individual; and/or
    3. the conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual’s work or academic performance or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working or learning environment.

       

    4. Academic Freedom

      Works of art and literature, readings, and other written, auditory, or visual course materials which are used in an educational context, including classrooms, academic offices, and all other learning environments, or which are part of academic or cultural programs, do not constitute sexual harassment, regardless of their sexual, erotic, suggestive, or vulgar content and regardless of whether they may be offensive to some individuals.

       

      Consensual Relationships

      Consensual sexual relationships between faculty and their students or between supervisors and their employees in some instances may result in charges of sexual harassment. Consensual relationships may lead other faculty and students or supervisors and coworkers to question the validity of grades, evaluations, and other interactions between the people involved in such a relationship.

      Responsibility to Report

      Any student, faculty member, staff member, administrator, or visitor to the campus who has experienced or witnessed sexual harassment is strongly urged to report it.

      The following are some examples of behavior that the courts have found to constitute either quid pro quo or hostile atmosphere sexual harassment. An important factor is that sexual harassment must be unwelcome.

       

      5.

    Excerpts from

    POLICIES GOVERNING FACULTY SERVICE
  • http://www.uark.edu/admin/vcacsey/facultyhandbook/

     

    •

    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;

     

    Excerpts from

  • SECTION 5: ACADEMIC REGULATIONS

    2004-2005 CATALOG OF STUDIES

     

    http://catalogofstudies.uark.edu/current/studies/06_AcademicReg.pdf

    •

    GRADE APPEAL STRUCTURE FOR UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS

    If a student questions the fairness or accuracy of a grade, there is recourse through a student grade appeal structure. Disagreements shall be heard that allege the instructor’s policy was not applied consistently to all students, differed substantially from the announced policy, or that a policy was not announced. All grievances concerning course grades must be filed within one calendar year of the end of the term in which the grade that is being appealed was assigned.

     

    STUDENT COMPLAINT PROCEDURE

    This procedure is designed to give all students a means by which an academically related complaint against an instructor other than that which is solely concerned with a grade (covered by the previous section) may be reviewed and acted upon in such a way as to protect the rights of both the student and the instructor. The procedure must be initiated within one calendar year of the occurrence of the cause for the complaint.

     

    Guidelines: All committee discussions or hearings shall be private. Furthermore, every effort shall made to protect any person against discrimination as a result of statements or actions made in this procedure, but fraudulent or intentionally deceptive statements and/or allegation shall be considered an extremely serious violation of the procedures and could result in a recommendation for grave disciplinary measures. Nothing in this procedure may violate policies stated under "Appointments, Promotions, Tenure, Non-reappointment, and Dismissals" in the Faculty Handbook.

     

    Excerpts from

    CODE OF COMPUTING PRACTICE

     

    http://www.uark.edu/compserv/npp/policies/code.html

     

     

    Individuals who are granted computing accounts or use computing resources at the University of Arkansas (are) expected to use accounts or resources within the university-approved educational, research, or administrative purposes for which they are granted. Activities beyond these stated purposes are strictly prohibited.

    Policy and Regulations

    One additional faculty responsibility is to know and follow the policies and regulations of the state, the university, and their college or school. As not all policies related to faculty service and responsibilities can be collected and duplicated in one place, faculty should be aware not only of such information provided in the Faculty Handbook but should also be familiar with, or know how to consult, the following major policies and policy series for information on policies that apply to faculty:

     

    Academic Policy Series

    http://www.uark.edu/admin/vcacsey/AcaPolicySeries/academic_policies.html

     

    Board of Trustees policies

    http://www.uark.edu/admin/vcfainfo/systempp/systemindex.html

     

    Catalogs

    http://www.advancement/CatalogofStudies/default.html

     

    College and school personnel documents

    (Consult with the department chair or dean regarding the school or college personnel document).

     

    Fayetteville Policies and Procedures

    http://www.uark.edu/admin/vcfainfo/policyprocedures/ppindex2.html

     

    Schedules of Classes

    http://www.uark.edu/classes/soc.html

    Copyright Addendum (added by Ks 6/06)

    Question: When you create work at the university, do you own it?

    Board Policy 210.1 (J) (1) states in part that:

    Copyrights to, and royalties from, textbooks, reference works, submissions to scientific journals, and other Works (excluding computer software and Technology Enhanced Course Materials) produced by persons to whom this policy is applicable as a part of their normal teaching, scholarly and aesthetic activities at the University or on approved off-campus duty assignments, and which do not result from projects specifically funded in whole or in part by the University or by a sponsor of the University, shall belong to the Author or Authors and may be retained or assigned by them.

    If, on the other hand, the University provides its own funds, or a sponsor's funds, to finance (in whole or in part) a specific research or educational project (herein "commissioned Works") and such Works are produced by persons to whom this policy is applicable as a result of the project or the Works constitute University Works, ownership of copyrights and Revenue rights therein shall reside in the University.

    The entire policy is available at

    www.uark.edu/admin/rsspinfo/techtransfer/index.html

    see "Patent & Copyright Policy" in the left menu bar.

    The link to copyright registration information at the Copyright Office at the Library of Congress is www.copyright.gov/

    A helpfulWeb site from UT is at

    <http://www.utsystem.edu/ogc/IntellectualProperty/whowns.htm>