Faculty Handbook
TEACHING
The policy of the University states that students’ class attendance should be encouraged and that all instructors should organize and conduct their courses with this policy in mind. A student is expected to attend every class for which the student is scheduled and should be held responsible for all work covered in the courses taken. In each case, you are the one who decides when class absences constitute a threat to the student’s scholastic success and should make this fact known to the student at once.
Students should also know that, according to University policy (Policies and Rules for Students [42-27], “a student whose irregular attendance causes him or her, in the judgment of the instructor, to become deficient scholastically, may run the risk of receiving a failing grade or receiving a lower grade than the student might have secured had the student been in regular attendance.”
You should provide, within reason, opportunity for students to make up work from classes missed because of illness, family emergencies, or regularly scheduled, University-approved curricular and extracurricular activities (e.g., field trips, debate trips, choir trips, and athletic contests). But if such scheduled trips are considered to be hurting the student’s scholastic performance, you need to bring this situation to the student’s attention.
Students may request missing class to observe religious holy days. A listing of religious holy days can be found at http://www.events.psu.edu/cgi-bin/cal/webevent.cgi
Students may add (if there is room) or drop any course during the first ten days of a semester without any notation on their record. You as instructor play no role in these decisions unless permission is sought to enter a filled course. Students may also late-drop a course by completing a Drop/Add Form and submitting it to the Records Office from the eleventh day of the semester to the last workday of the twelfth week, but with transcript notation. They must also pay a processing fee of $6. Baccalaureate students may late-drop up to 16 credits over their entire Penn State career.
Informing Students of Progress and the Mid-Semester Evaluation
One of the most important services instructors provide to students is to keep them well informed of their progress. Students should receive feedback before the course drop dates to help them to evaluate their progress when options are still available. Return graded exams and assignments on a regular and timely basis so that they can mark their own progress. (As a general guideline, if at all possible work should be returned within a week of its submission.) In addition, University policy mandates that at the end of the sixth week of classes during both fall and spring semesters, each instructor shall evaluate the performance of each first- and second-semester degree candidate or provisional student.
The Registrar’s office will identify such students and supply you with Mid-Semester Grade Report forms for this purpose. If any such student has a grade of less than C, you are required to notify the Registrar who will then notify the student and his or her advisors that the performance is unsatisfactory.
Classroom Conduct: Discipline; No Smoking, Eating, and Drinking Policy
Smoking Policy. Smoking of any material is prohibited in all University facilities at all locations, including University-owned vehicles. Smoking includes any kind of lighted pipe, cigar, cigarette, or other smoking equipment, whether filled with tobacco or any other type of material.
A Drug-Free Workplace. University policy states that the unlawful manufacture, distribution, dispensation, possession, or use of a controlled substance, on property owned, leased, or controlled by the University and used in the performance of University services, is prohibited. As a condition of University employment, every employee shall abide by the terms of this policy and he or she shall notify the supervisor of any criminal drug conviction for a violation occurring in the University workplace no later than five days after such conviction. Any employee found in violation of these prohibitions shall be subject to disciplinary action, including dismissal, and may be required to participate in a drug abuse assistance or drug rehabilitation program. (See University Policy AD-33, "A Drug-free Workplace.")
Possession/Use/Distribution of Alcoholic Beverages. The use, possession, and distribution of alcoholic beverages are prohibited on University property unless specifically authorized. Where such use, possession, and distribution are authorized, strict compliance with the laws of the Commonwealth, as well as with the Liquor Code and other regulations, is required. The possession and use of alcoholic beverages, subject to the laws of the Commonwealth, is permitted by persons 21 or older in a facility licensed by the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board, and in individual housing units (e.g., rooms, apartments, and houses) owned by The Pennsylvania State University. This policy applies to all University locations. (See University Policy AD-18, "Possession, Use, and Distribution of Alcoholic Beverages.")
Faculty Conduct. You should be aware that romantic or sexual relationships with students or subordinate employees have the potential for adverse consequences, including the filing of charges of sexual harassment. Given the fundamentally asymmetrical nature of a relationship in which one party has the power to issue grades, give thesis advice, make evaluations, write recommendations, initiate promotions, recommend salary increases, or oversee performance evaluations, the apparent consensual nature of such a relationship is inherently suspect. In such a situation, the person in the position of power assumes special responsibilities, and there may be conflicts of interest and unfair treatment of others. Under such circumstances, the person in the position of power should not make decisions relative to grades, thesis advice, evaluations, recommendations, promotions, salary increases, or performance evaluations.
Classroom Emergencies: Maintenance, Danger or Severe Misconduct, Medical Emergency, Police Services, and Employee Accidents
Medical Emergency and Misconduct of a Student. You must notify immediately the Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs at University Park of all emergencies involving students. This official has the authority and the responsibility for coordinating the efforts made on the students’ behalf.
Situations that you must report include the injury or death of a student, serious accidents, severe illnesses, missing students, arrests for serious offenses, or other cases of serious misconduct. University Park Police will initially take charge of the situation in the event of the death of a student.
In the case of a medical emergency, if you or someone on the scene is trained to administer proper first aid, this step should first be taken. While first aid is being administered, someone must call for emergency medical assistance (dial 911).
If you are having difficulty with a student who is disrupting your course, you should ask the student to meet with you after the class, or, if the disruption continues, to leave the class and meet with you in your office afterwards. At that time, you should explain to the student the appropriate behavior that you expect in your classroom. If a student persists in being disruptive in the class setting, discuss the problem with your unit head. Avoid getting into disciplinary discussions with individual students in front of other students in the class.
Maintenance and Repair of Classroom Facility. When emergency or routine maintenance of a classroom facility is necessary, report the condition to your academic unit’s administrative assistant in written form together with instructions that indicate the date of report.
Employee Accidents. The University covers its employees with Worker's Compensation Insurance as a protection for injuries or illness compensable under the Pennsylvania Worker's Compensation Act. The following procedures govern the injury of you or another employee:
- An accident report must be filed each time anyone is hurt, no matter how minor the injury may seem, by completing an Employer's Report of Occupational Injury or Disease form. This form is available in the Office of Risk Management.
- You must report the accident whether the employee is full-time, part-time, casual, or a student.
- If you are injured on the University Park campus, the report must be submitted to the college or department Safety Officer, who will send the report to the Office of Risk Management, 412 Rider Building, within forty-eight hours of the accident.
- If you are injured off campus, but at a University-sponsored event, the report must be in the Office of Risk Management within four days.
Cancellation of Classes by Instructor or Weather-Related Causes
Except in unusual circumstances, you are expected to meet all classes on the days and the times assigned. Illness or family emergencies are usually the only reasons for a last-minute cancellation. If bad weather requires the University to cancel classes, radio and television stations will be informed.
Faculty members may not terminate a class before the scheduled end of the semester, cancel classes before or after holidays or semester breaks (even though students may request it), or move the regular time and place of the course as listed in the class schedule, without the consent of the unit head.
Actions you need to take when canceling classes:
- Record your cancellation on your voice-mail’s outgoing message
- Notify your staff assistant of a cancellation by phone
The unit’s staff assistant must be informed of a cancellation!
You may also wish to set up alternate arrangements for notifying a class. These arrangements may include instructing students to call the voice-mail number, and compiling a listserv to notify students via e-mail of an absence. If alternate arrangements are made, you must include these in the course syllabus and discuss them with the class. You should also contact the unit’s staff assistant, who can provide additional information to the students when a class is cancelled.
If you know in advance that you cannot meet a class because of University responsibilities or another legitimate reason, you should attempt to schedule a classroom activity for the students that does not require your presence, e.g., lectures by a graduate assistant, guest lectures by faculty colleagues, movies, or examinations proctored by a graduate student or substitute faculty member.
All missed classes must be made up by some means. The most common make-up is rescheduling the class. Although rescheduling a class meeting is difficult, the period between 7:00 and 7:50 A.M. is usually an option. A Saturday morning make-up class meeting might also be considered. When arranging a make-up class, the instructor must be sensitive to the work and family responsibilities of the students. Remember that students cannot be required to attend a make-up meeting. It may be prudent to anticipate this problem by scheduling one or two classes in the syllabus as “catch-up days.”