CONTENTS
Policy Statements Available on the University "GURU" System: http://guru.sp.psu.edu
Penn State Homepage address: http://www.psu.edu/
College of the Liberal Arts Homepage address: http://www.la.psu.edu/
Department of English Homepage address: http://www.psu.edu/dept/english/
University Handbook for Part-time Faculty: www.psu.edu/oldmain/vprov/
Department Housekeeping
First Day of Fall Classes to Follow Regular Schedule
Department Events
Departmental Keys
Reimbursement Procedures
Office Door Policy
Supplies
Building Security
Policy on Alcoholic Beverages
Travel and Meal Policies
U.Ed. Guidelines
Course Materials
Obtaining Classlists
Ordering Textbooks
Department Directory
Department Policy on Office Hours
Course Syllabi
Preparing your Syllabus
Using Student Identification Numbers at Penn State
Course Descriptions
Policy on Independent Studies
Final Exam Requests
Grades On-line
New Change of Grade Policy
SRTE Procedures
Angel Course Management System
Classroom and Attendance Issues
Request for Changes of Classroom
Canceling Classes
Attendance Policy
Fall Study Day
Thanksgiving / Spring Break Cancellations
Religious Holy Days
Records and Grades
Confidentiality of Student Records
Academic Integrity Issues
Buckley Amendment
Mid-Semester Grade Evaluations
47-70 Mid-Semester Evaluations
Returning Papers to your Students
Posting Grades
Policy for Using Phone, Fax, Mail, Copying and Computers
Instructional Copying
Copying Service
Personal Copying
Special Projects Copying
Sample of Copying Account for Special Projects Request Form
Laser Printer Use
Request for Computer Support
Copyright Problems
Abiding by Copyright Restrictions
DEPARTMENT HOUSEKEEPING
FIRST DAY OF FALL 2005 CLASSES TO FOLLOW A REGUALR SCHEDULE
The first day of Penn State classes for fall semester 2005 will be Tuesday, August 30. Instructors and students are reminded that they will be following a Friday and not a Tuesday schedule on this first class day of the semester. After that first day, all is normal. The reason for the change is that, as the semester progresses, there will be two Fridays where classes will not be conducted--October 14 is a study day, and November 25 is part of the Thanksgiving holiday. To balance class offerings and laboratories so there are an equal number of Mondays through Fridays, the first day of class (Tuesday) will follow a regular class schedule and the Tuesday (November 22) before the Thanksgiving break will follow a Friday schedule. The University's academic calendar is published on the Web at http://www.psu.edu/registrar
Department Events
All events and meetings sponsored by the Department must be checked with Shannon Dennison in 117 Burrowes to assure that there are no conflicts. This includes all regularly scheduled committee meetings, meetings of ad-hoc committees, as well as readings and other events involving guests. She will enter each event on the Department Event Calendar and provide information for open meeting times.
Contact Shannon (slf5@psu.edu or at 865-6384) to schedule rooms for special events. A 48-hour notice must be provided for scheduling purposes.
Special events are of professional and educational importance to faculty and students alike. Faculty are expected to attend those events regularly, and to urge graduate and undergraduate students to attend them.
Departmental Keys
To request department keys first go to the following URL to select a username/password. You need to do that before you can access the key form for the first time.
http://english.la.psu.edu/facstaff/enter_name.asp
If your default internet service is set to open into Netscape, copy and paste the website into Explorer. This program is set up to work in Explorer.
If you are unable to find your name on that page, contact Shannon Dennison at slf5@psu.edu.
This Key Form application is in no way connected to your PSU user account. If you change your PSU user account password on the CAC Work site, your Key Form user account password will remain the same as the original.
Once you get your username/password, you will be prompted to click on the link that will take you to a login screen. This screen can be accessed at http://english.la.psu.edu/facstaff/ if you are not logged in. This is also the URL that you can use for future access to the Key Form once you have your username/password.
In addition to requesting keys, you can view a list of the keys pending approval by the Key Custodian by clicking on the "View my keys pending approval" link, and the ones that have
been approved (and you currently have signed out) by clicking on the "View my approved keys" link.
If you forget your username/password for the Key Form contact Shannon Dennison slf5@psu.edu.
Reimbursement Procedures
In order for faculty to be reimbursed for any type of expenditure, approval must be given in advance of the purchase. If prior approval is not received, the department cannot guarantee reimbursement. Prior approval for expenses must come from Kim Keller (102A), who will explain proper procedures. Original receipts must be obtained and submitted for reimbursement. Appropriate forms are necessary for expenditures and must be signed and must accompany original receipts. Feel free to contact Kim, Julia Franklin, or Amy Barone (116) with any questions. University guidelines have been established for faculty travel reimbursement. Policies are available on the brochure rack outside of 102 Burrowes.
Office Door Policy
It is required that all faculty members post their name and their current office hours on their office doors. Please have them posted by the first week of classes.
Supplies
Routine office supplies, including printer paper, are available in 111 Burrowes.
Building Security
It is worth taking some simple steps to reduce the chances of theft.
When you leave your office (or if you are the last one to leave a shared office), close and lock your door and windows.
In the evenings and on weekends, be sure to close and lock any departmental rooms that you use, including seminar rooms, the mail room, the kitchen, and the computer office.
If you notice that the door or window of a departmental room is left open after hours, please close and lock it.
Never prop open doors to Burrowes Building. Close and lock any door you see propped open.
Policy on Alcoholic Beverages
The English Department and its faculty and staff are committed to observe state laws and university policies regarding the appropriate use of alcoholic beverages on and off campus.
Travel and Meal Policies
Group Meals:
The maximum amount permitted for daily meals and incidental expenses for the State College/Centre County area is: $31.00. This estimate is inclusive of all meals in one day.
The total to be charged on a personal credit card for any meal, tip, and tax (note this . . . tip and tax) cannot exceed a total of $31/per person per day. Any overage cannot be charged to a University budget and therefore will not be reimbursed. No exceptions will be given to this policy.
Travel:
There have been many changes to University travel policies regarding airline ticket purchases. Here is the policy that you must adhere to:
If you elect to purchase airfare from an alternate source at a lower cost, the University policy requires you (prior to booking) to first print documentation from the Travel Services On-Line System that shows the airfare costs available based on the exact same itinerary. Documentation from the Travel Services On-Line System must be obtained on the same day that airfare costs are obtained from an alternate source.
When travel receipts are turned into the department for reimbursement, we will process the forms only if we have appropriate copies of the Travel Services On-Line System with the same exact itinerary date and destination in order to compare rates with the ticket you purchased. If the comparison quote is not turned in, the University will not permit reimbursement from University funds.
Itemized Receipts:
The University requires itemized receipts for all purchases. If we do not receive an itemized receipt we cannot process forms for reimbursement.
If you have questions regarding these policies or procedures, please feel free to visit our department budget reference page located at within the policies are of the website
or stop by any of our budget offices (Kim Keller, Julia Franklin, or Amy Barone) for clarification.
U.Ed. Guidelines and Procedures
Publications that have a significant impact on the University's image, including student recruitment and fund raising publications, must be reviewed prior to production by the University Editor and the Department of University Publications. It is recommended that these publications be produced by the Department to ensure consistency of message. All other publications intended for distribution to the public must be reviewed by the University Editor Representative (U.Ed. Rep.) of the area producing the publication.
The University mark is the official logo for the University. Other registered University symbols that co-exist with the mark are designated for specific uses. No other logos, trademarks, wordmarks, or special graphics may be used to identify any internal unit or any aspect of the University unless approved by the Director of University Publications. Use of the University mark and registered symbols must follow established guidelines.
The College of the Liberal Arts U.Ed. contact is: Gabriel Welsch, Assistant Director of Communications, Alumni Relations, and Development. The request for a U.Ed. number must have a five working day turnaround time. If you have questions about this policy, feel free to talk to Kim Keller in 102A Burrowes.
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Obtaining Classlists
Classlists are available to each Instructor via the Elion system. To obtain course lists, follow these steps:
· Go to the following website: https://elion.oas.psu.edu/
· Click on the “Faculty” link on the left side of the screen
· Enter your access ID and password (this is your email account information)
· Choose the appropriate semester
· Choose the specific course you wish to obtain a list for and designate the format in which you would like to receive your lists.
If you cannot access this information, go to the appropriate departmental office for assistance.
Ordering Textbooks
The usual method for ordering textbooks for Undergraduate and Graduate courses is to submit the list of desired books to Jennifer Moore in 103 Burrowes. The list is then forwarded to the Penn State Bookstore, which then shares the orders with the Student Book Store and the University Book Centre. Each bookstore sells one-third of the total number of books requested.
The Penn State University has a contract with Barnes and Noble agreeing to have all textbook orders placed through Barnes and Noble (Penn State Bookstore). Any instructor who wishes to use another bookstore, in addition to the PSU Bookstore, must contact that bookstore personally. Please remember that a copy of the order must still be forwarded to Jennifer for submission through the Penn State Bookstore system. Although you may place your order at whichever bookstore you prefer, no textbook order can be exclusive at any bookstore. Even if you order books at another bookstore, students may seek them at the Penn State Bookstore, and it is only fair to those students to have information about your order available to the Bookstore.
All textbook orders for the composition program go through Christi Daniels in 104 Burrowes.
Department Directory
It is essential for every faculty member, lecturer, and graduate student to update their directory listing by the end of the first week of classes every semester. The department must be able to contact you and must know your teaching and office hours.
Follow these steps to update directory information:
English Department Directory Form Instructions
In order to update your directory listing, go the English Department website to the Inter-Departmental Forms area and print off the appropriate form and submit to 103 Burrowes.
This is the same place you need to go to request department keys.
If you are new to the department and have not yet accessed the Department Login, please contact Shannon Dennison –(slf5@psu.edu) -- in order to get an account for this system. Once you are added to the system, you will be able to select a username/password at this page:
https://english.la.psu.edu/facstaff/enter_name.asp
The username field on this form is programmed to pre-populate, when possible, with your PSU user account (for example, abc123). Keep in mind, though, that the username/password you choose for the Department Login is in no way connected to your PSU user account username/password. If you change your PSU account password on the ITS Work site -- located at https://www.work.psu.edu -- your Department Login account password will remain the same as the one that you selected for it when creating the account.
Once you get your username/password, you will be prompted to click on a link that will take you to the login screen. This login screen can be accessed via the following URL -- https://english.la.psu.edu/facstaff/
2. Entering your directory listing
Once you are logged in, click on the "Add to/modify my directory listing” link which will take you to a form where you can enter your directory listings. In filling out this form, you must provide the following information
a. Contact Info -- such as Name, Significant Other, Office Address, Office Phone, and Email Addresss. These items are entered via text entry form fields.
b. Your Title -- which is entered via a drop-down list. If your title doesn't appear in the drop-down list, then select 'Other' for your title in the drop down list and enter your title in the box below the Title drop-down list.
c. Your Teaching Status -- select from drop-down list whether you're Teaching, Not teaching, On sabbatical, On leave, or A staff member and do not teach
d. Office Hours -- this is entered via the drop-down lists for each day of the week. Each day of the week supports the addition of up to two office hour periods. In order to add office hours for a particular day, you need to select YES for that day and Y for Include? for each time period you hold office hours on that day. So for example, if you held office hours once a day on both Tuesday and twice on Thursday, you would need to select YES for Tuesday and Y for Include? for the first Tuesday time period, and YES for Thursday and Y for Include? for both Thursday time periods. Selecting NO for any day of the week for which you previously had office hours scheduled will delete those hours, even if you had selected Y for Include? for those time periods. This means that if this isn't the first time you have filled out the directory form, and you are no longer holding office hours on a day that you previously held office hours, merely selecting NO for that will wipe out all office hours that you had selected for that day. Each office hour time period is made up of 5 form field items:
1. Include? -- You must select ‘Y’ for yes for this item, in addition to the ‘Yes’ to the left of the meeting periods for that day in order for an office hour meeting period to be added
2. Begin time -- The beginning of your office hour meeting period, selected via a drop-down form field
3. End time -- The end of your office hour meeting period, selected via a drop-down form field
4. By appt? -- Selecting ‘Y’ for yes for this item will cause the notation ‘BA’ for ‘by appointment’ to appear next to this office hour period in the directory
5. Advising? -- Selecting ‘Y’ for yes for this item will cause the notation ‘A’ for ‘advising’ to appear next to this office hour period in the directory
At the end of the office hours there is a drop-down filed next to the following statement: When not available during the hours above, I am available to meet with students by appointment. Selecting ‘yes’ here will cause the words "and by appt" to appear in your directory listing below the office hours, if any, specified above. This will alert students that you are available to meet with students by appointment at times other than those specified in your office hours. If you select ‘yes’ for this item and you do not have any office hours selected in the normal Monday-Friday time slots, then the words ‘By appointment’ will appear on your listing under office hours
e. Courses you're teaching -- these are selected via the multiple drop-down select box on the form. As with any select item, you can in Windows select multiple non-contiguous classes by holding the <Ctrl> key down and scrolling through the list of courses and clicking on the sections that you teach. Multiple contiguous courses can be selected by holding down the <Shift> key and clicking on the sections that you want to select. If this isn't the first time you've filled out the directory form, and you had previous course selections, you can zero these out by clicking on the 'Reset Courses' button.
f. Your address -- entered via text entry form fields near the end of the form.
g. Permission to release your home telephone # -- indicated on the form via the Yes/No drop-down list. If you select ‘no’ for this item, your number will still appear in the internal department directory, which will only be accessible by department faculty and staff. However, notation will be placed beside your home number indicating that it should not be released to anyone. Your home phone number/home address will NEVER appear on the English department Web site.
3. Once your directory listing has been entered
· Once your directory information is submitted, it is reviewed for approval by department staff. After approval, it is posted on the department web site and in the internal department directory.
· You can return to this form anytime before it is approved and delete the information pending approval and start over. Also, you can return to this form any time during the semester to make updates to your directory listing should any of the information in your listing change.
· You can view your current directory listing at any time by clicking on the “View my current directory listing” link.
· You can view the internal department directory by clicking on the “View Internal Department Directory” link. This directory is the online version of the printed department directory that used to be circulated at the beginning of each semester. It is also sometimes referred to as the private department directory because it is only available online via the username/password protected Department Login. Directions for printing out a copy of the directory can be found by clicking on the “Printing Tips” link at the top of the directory.
If you have questions, Christi Daniels (cym8@psu.edu).
Department Policy on Office Hours
Every member of the English Department who is teaching should schedule at least three office hours per week. These are hours during which the faculty member will be available for
consultation in his or her office, and students do not have to schedule their appointments in advance for these times. These hours should be staggered throughout the week in order to accommodate the varied schedules of students. That is, they should not all be at the same time or on the same day (not "MWF 11 a.m. -12 noon," and not "Monday, 2 p.m.-5 p.m."). No one's office hours should be "by appointment only," though you may indicate your willingness to meet with students by appointment in addition to your regular hours.
Most faculty members do a great deal of consulting with students over e-mail, usually in addition to personal consultation during office hours. You may want to inform your students about the extent of your willingness to answer queries by e-mail and set up whatever limits you think appropriate. For example, some people do not answer e-mail after 10 p.m. or on weekends. Some people do not mind receiving papers electronically, but students should not be encouraged to submit assignments as attachments that the instructor needs to print out.
Course Syllabi
To help our advisors provide students with more accurate information about our courses, please give Jennifer Moore (room 103) a copy of the syllabus for each undergraduate literature or creative writing course you will be teaching this semester. Your syllabus should include information about attendance policies, course requirements, and whether or not there will be a final exam. Copies of the syllabus for each composition class should go to the composition assistant in room 106.
At its December 4, 2001, meeting, the Faculty Senate passed two legislative reports, which were subsequently approved by the President. These changes do not necessitate any revisions to the academic administrative policies and procedures. The legislation is described briefly below and may be viewed in its complete form in the December 4, 2001, Senate Agenda and Senate Records available on the web at www.psu.edu/ufs/.
"Revision of Senate Policy 47-20: Basis for Grades." This legislation specifies that faculty should provide written notification of the basis for grades to students within the first ten calendar days of a semester.
"New Senate Policy: Syllabus." This new legislation stipulates that a written syllabus must be distributed to students in the first ten calendar days of a semester. Included in the syllabus is the course examination policy, basis for grades, and academic integrity policy.
The University Guidelines for Preparation of Syllabi
The following was sent from Ron Filippelli on July 3, 2003:
Colleagues,
The web pages below contain important information for all instructors. I leave it to your discretion as to when to send it out so that it will have maximum impact, but please be sure to send it out sufficiently before the beginning of fall semester so that instructors preparing their syllabi will have access to it. In fact, it might make sense to send it out several times to be sure that some have not overlooked it, particularly new instructors who may not arrive until mid-August. I want to draw particular attention this year to the issue of identity theft and the role of social security numbers in that theft. The Web Page below on using student identification numbers at Penn State addresses this important issue.
Preparing Your Syllabus
http://www.la.psu.edu/assocdea/syllabus.htm
It is a link from http://www.la.psu.edu/assocdea/policiesandprocedures.htm
Using Student Identification Numbers at Penn State
http://www.psu.edu/dept/registrar/conf.html#ssn
It is a link from the Registrar’s Home page under confidentiality
Course Descriptions
There is a new procedure for submitting course descriptions; please visit the department website for helpful directions https://english.la.psu.edu/facstaff/section_desc_select.asp. Course descriptions for undergraduate courses are requested a semester in advance by the Undergraduate Office (room 103). The course descriptions are to be emailed to Jennifer at jmm58@psu.edu on or before the deadline. This deadline is set to ensure that the booklets can be produced in time for students to review the courses since the students base their next semester’s schedule on what they read in the course descriptions booklet. It is very important to get the course descriptions in to the undergraduate office by the deadline.
Policy on Independent Studies
Undergraduate Students
Tenure-line faculty are allowed to offer independent studies courses to undergraduates. In practice few faculty members do so (outside of honors theses) because we want to encourage students to enroll in our courses and because there are not incentives or acknowledgements for such service. As a result, students sometimes turn to lecturers and graduate students with such requests. It is, however, department policy that independent studies may be offered only by tenure-line faculty. It is not fair to allow our lecturers and graduate students to be pressured to assume additional responsibility.
Graduate Students
The problems created by independent studies for graduate students are even more acute in the graduate curriculum, precisely because there are fewer students. In short, independent studies take students out of the classroom, creating the possibility of under-enrolled and cancelled graduate seminars. In general, we as a faculty have agreed to discourage independent studies for MA students. Independent studies are, of course, necessary for some advanced PhD and MFA students, but if we want to continue to offer a robust schedule of graduate seminars, we need to curb our enthusiasm for independent studies, especially among students at the MA level.
Final Exam Requests
Before the beginning of fall and spring semesters, Christi Daniels (room 104) sends an email to the faculty asking if they need a final exam scheduled. If a faculty member wishes to give a final exam in his or her course, he or she completes the email request and returns it to Christi Daniels at cym8@psu.edu. If a final exam request is not returned to Christi Daniels before the set deadline, no final exam will be scheduled for that faculty member’s course(s).
Please remember that classrooms are not available to instructors after the first day of classes for the semester. A faculty member can view his or her final exam schedule at http://www.psu.edu/registrar/exams/examschs.html and click on the appropriate semester.
If you have requested a final exam and it does not appear on the web site, please notify
Christi Daniels in room 104 immediately.
Grades On-line
The instructors now submit students’ grades on-line. The instructors have 48 hours
after their last class or final exam to submit grades on the eLion system. Instructors
need a SecurID in order to enter their grades. To obtain a SecurID, contact Shannon Dennison in
room 117A at the beginning of the semester.
Procedure to submit grades on eLion:
Go to www.psu.edu
Go to the bottom of the home page and click the Faculty and Staff Services heading
Once the listing of services appears, click on eLion
Choose Faculty on the left hand side menu
Enter in your user id (the first part of your email address such as abc15) and password (same password as your email account)
Go to the left hand side of the screen and choose grade entry
Enter your user id again and password as well as the six digit SecurID number
Select the course for which you would like to enter grades
Using the provided drop down boxes select the grades for each student
Once you have entered all the grades for the course press submit
To review and print grades from eLion:
Select the Grade Review options on the left hand side menu
Select the course you wish to review
Press print the grade roster at the bottom of the page
Change of Grades
Earlier this calendar year, ACUE modified policy G-5, Corrected Grades. This change has enabled a significant improvement to the practice that faculty follow when changing a previously assigned end-of-semester grade. I am pleased to report that we have completed the requisite computer system changes, and that the improved practice will be available for faculty starting August 9, 2004.
The most visible change for faculty will be the addition of a new eLion application. The Grade Change service will deliver the same advantages faculty have experienced with the eLion Grade Entry service - the convenience of electronic recording, no paper forms to complete, convenient access, and immediate response to their students.
Anne Kepler, Assistant Registrar Academic Records, is the operational contact for grading system issues and questions. Anne is an excellent resource if you have questions related to this grade change practice. She may be contacted by e-mail at ahk1@psu.edu or by telephone at (814) 863-3687.
SRTE Procedures
For undergraduate courses, each semester instructors are given a written evaluation request form. This request lets the department know which written undergraduate form to use when preparing the SRTE packets for each course. If the form is not returned to Jennifer Moore (room 103) on or before the deadline, the instructors will receive the short form questionnaire. The composition and graduate courses will receive the routine SRTE forms.
All SRTE packets are distributed to the instructors the Friday before the last week of classes. If an instructor needs to have the SRTEs distributed before that time, please see the appropriate staff assistant.
Instructors are to select and instruct a responsible student how to administer the SRTEs to the class. The instructor is not to be present during the administering of the SRTEs. Once the student has collected the SRTEs from the class, they are to return them to the appropriate offices.
Undergraduate Course SRTEs – Room 103 Burrowes
Composition Course SRTEs – Room 104 Burrowes
Graduate Course SRTEs – Room 107 Burrowes
Once the SRTEs have been logged in to the department and been separated into packets, an instructor may request to view his or her SRTE written results. An instructor may not review their SRTEs until their grades have been submitted.
Angel Course Management System
ANGEL (A New Global Environment for Learning) is Penn State’s centrally supported course management system (CMS). A CMS enables instructors to post their syllabus and course assignments to the Web without needing to know any HTML. Instructors can also develop and revise course materials; create collaborative learning groups; create threaded discussion areas; create online quizzes; monitor students’ progress; collect assignments online and much more. Instructors can choose to use the features they want to.
Faculty, instructors, and TAs can locate all the seminars by going to http://cac.psu.edu/training/sembrowse/index.html and typing ANGEL in the search tool.
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CLASSROOM AND ATTENDANCE ISSUES
Request for Changes of Classroom
If you need to request a change of classroom, please see Kathy Force (room 102A or email Kathy at kxl1@psu.edu) to discuss the reasons for your request. Please note that room changes usually require at least a 48-hour processing time. The number of available classrooms is very small, and many problems can be corrected without a change of classroom. Requests should be limited to strictly pedagogical reasons, such as insufficient number of seats, seriously inappropriate seating configurations, lack of access for handicapped students, or a serious physical problem that cannot be repaired within a reasonable period. Avoid requests based on matters of convenience such as the geographical location of the classroom. The number of suitable rooms may be limited, but Kathy will make every effort to meet reasonable requests in the order in which she receives them. Since requests cluster at the beginning of the semester, please be patient waiting for yours to be met.
If you discover serious problems with how your room is set up or with the functioning of equipment, such as chairs, windows, overhead projector, thermostat, air conditioners, etc., call the classroom hot line number (863-6000).
Canceling Classes
Because the department is so large and has so many sections of courses, the office staff cannot cancel classes in emergencies or when snowstorms strike. For planned absences, please arrange for a qualified substitute (someone approved by the department to teach the course) and inform the Associate Head’s office or a relevant program director ahead of time. If it's an emergency and you cannot arrange for a substitute, inform the appropriate director's office as early as possible. Please do not call staff assistants to cancel the class; they simply cannot handle such requests. You can make it easy on yourself if you will find out who teaches at the same hour as you do near the same location and then call him or her to cancel the class for you. A small bit of preparation before hand will save trouble for everyone. If you need to miss a number of classes, consult the appropriate program director or the Associate Head.
Attendance Policies
The text of the University's attendance policy (Policies and Rules for Students) has important implications.
According to item 42-27 in the Policies and Rules handbook (which is copied below), instructors "should provide, within reason, opportunity to make up work for students who miss class for regularly scheduled, University-approved curricular and extracurricular activities (such as field trips, debate trips, choir trips, and athletic contests) ... [and for] other legitimate reasons." Clearly, "other legitimate reasons" include illness (if certified by a doctor's note) and religious holidays—see the list of dates for these that follows.
This means that we cannot validly penalize a student for missing more than a certain number of classes (e.g., 3), if those absences are for "legitimate reasons."
There are, however, a few qualifications to be added here:
(1) Students who must miss class for University-approved activities are required to present to the instructor a letter "from the sponsoring unit/department delineating the semester's anticipated excused absences"; this letter is to be presented at least one week in advance of the anticipated absence. (See the "Procedure" section of item 42-27; this is a new addition this year.)
(2) A student whose absences are excessive "may run the risk of receiving a lower grade or a failing grade," whether or not those absences are excused or unexcused, if the student's "irregular attendance ... causes him or her, in the judgment of the instructor, to become deficient scholastically." This is a judgment call for you to make, but the essential point is that excused absences do not release the student from responsibility for required coursework.
(3) Please note that students who legitimately add a course "late" in the add-drop period have a right to be in that course. We cannot deny them admission by invoking attendance policies. Again, however, such students are still responsible for completing the required coursework.
Please read policy statement 42-27 carefully, and please adjust your own attendance policies accordingly. In particular, be sure that students are aware of the procedure for informing you in advance of absences for University-approved activities.
42-27 Class Attendance
The faculty, staff, and other resources of the University are furnished for the education of students who attend the University. A class schedule is provided for students and faculty so that a reasonably orderly arrangement for instruction is facilitated. The fact that classes are scheduled is evidence that the faculty believes class instruction is important. Therefore, class attendance is important for the benefit of students.
Accordingly, it is the policy of the University that class attendance by students be encouraged and that all instructors organize and conduct their courses with this policy in mind. A student should 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, the instructor should decide when the class absence constitutes a danger to the student's scholastic attainment and should make this fact known to the student at once. 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.
Instructors should provide, within reason, opportunity to make up work for students who miss class for regularly scheduled, University-approved curricular and extracurricular activities (such as field trips, debate trips, choir trips, and athletic contests). However, if such scheduled trips are considered by the instructor to be hurting the student's scholastic performance, the instructor should present such evidence for necessary action to the head of the department in which the course is offered and to the dean of the college in which the student is enrolled or to the Division of Undergraduate Studies if the student is enrolled in that division.
Instructors also should provide, within reason, opportunity to make up work for students who are obliged to miss classes for other legitimate reasons.
Procedure
1. Students should obtain a letter or the class absence form from the sponsoring unit/department delineating the semester's anticipated excused absences. This must be presented to the respective faculty member at least one week in advance to the University-approved activity in order to provide the faculty member adequate time to prepare make-up opportunities. Unanticipated absences should be brought to instructors' attention as soon as the student becomes aware of such events.
2. Students who believe they have been unfairly denied a make-up opportunity should, after trying to resolve the problem with the course instructor, contact the head of the department for the course in which the student is enrolled.
3. If the problem is not resolved, the student should contact the sponsoring unit/department (in some instances, this may be the student's college assistant or associate dean for undergraduate programs or the student's campus director of academic affairs) and provide documentation describing the unresolved make-up opportunity. The sponsoring unit/department should attempt to resolve the problem.
4. If the problem is still unresolved, the sponsoring unit/department should forward the documentation to the Vice Provost and Dean for Undergraduate Education for resolution.
Fall Study Day
The fall study day during fall semester will be Friday, October 14. No classes will be held but departmental offices will be open.
Thanksgiving/Spring Break Cancellations
The Department Reaffirms the Following University Policy:
Class attendance on the days immediately before Thanksgiving and Spring break is often so poor that some instructors cancel classes altogether. Such cancellations are inconsistent with Penn State’s obligation to be fully operational on all scheduled class days. The administration and the faculty (through the University Faculty Senate) have consistently communicated that class attendance is fundamental and that we want to encourage regular class attendance by students. We cancel classes only rarely, such as when warranted by severe weather conditions. All instructors should organize and conduct their courses with these principles in mind. Faculty members should hold classes for all assigned periods. Of course, instructors may always accommodate individual absences, as appropriate, by making alternate arrangements and providing opportunities to make up work. But faculty and students alike should be clear that at Penn State classes are conducted for the full measure of each semester.
Religious Holy Days
Occasionally students request exemptions from class attendance and other University obligations for purposes of religious observance. Most University faculty and staff are willing to entertain such requests, but many are unsure as to which holy days may merit excusable absence.
Please see the Penn State Calendar at http://www.psu.edu/registrar/calendar/calendar_index.html for a complete calendar of religous holidays.
Confidentiality of Student Records
The English Department urges Faculty and Staff to comply with University Policy on confidentiality of student records. To supplement the following summary see the Student Guide to University Policies and Rules or AD-11.
1. DO refer all requests for information from the educational record of a student to the proper educational record custodian.
2. DO keep only those individual student records necessary for the fulfillment of your teaching or advising responsibilities. Private notes of a professor/staff member concerning a student and intended for professor's/staff member's own use are not part of the student's educational record.
3. DO keep any personal professional records relating to individual students separate from their educational records. Private records of instructional, supervisory and administrative personnel and ancillary educational personnel are to be kept in the sole possession of the maker and are not to be accessible or revealed to any other person, except a substitute.
4. DO change factual information regarding grades and performance in an educational record when the student is able to provide valid documentation that information is inaccurate or misleading. The substantive judgment of a faculty member about a student's work, expressed in grades and/or evaluations, is not within the purview of students' rights to challenge their educational records.
5. DO NOT display student scores or grades publicly in association with names, social security numbers, or other personal identifiers. If scores or grades are posted, use only the last four digits of the student's number arranged numerically or some other code known only to you and the individual student.
6. DO NOT put papers or lab reports containing student names and grades in publicly accessible places. Students are not to have access to the scores and grades of others in the class. Please note that this applies to leaving papers in the hall or the mailroom.
7. DO NOT request information from the educational record custodian without a legitimate educational interest and the appropriate authority to do so.
8. DO NOT share student educational record information, including grades or grade point averages, with other faculty or staff members of the University unless their official responsibilities identify their "legitimate educational interest" in that information for that student.
9. DO NOT share by phone or correspondence information from student educational records, including grades or grade point averages, with parents or others outside the institution, including recipients of letters of recommendation, without written permission from the student.
10. DO NOT include in a student's educational records or make available to him/her, or to a third party, information from medical, psychiatric, or psychological reports; records from law
enforcement officials on or off the campus; or notes of a professional or staff person which are intended for that individual alone.
11. DO NOT respond to a subpoena regarding educational records of a student without first contacting your academic dean.
Please be aware of the - "Revision of Senate Policy 47-20: Basis for Grades." This legislation specifies that faculty should provide written notification of the basis for grades to students within the first ten calendar days of a semester.
*Please watch for notification of the University social security conversion scheduled to take place on December 4, 2004.
Academic Integrity Issues
Academic dishonesty encompasses a wide range of activities, whether intentional or unintentional, that include, but are not limited to:
all forms of fraud
plagiarism
any failure to cite explicitly all materials and sources used in one’s work
cheating
lying
deception
directly harming the work of others
You must give students due process in suspected cases of academic dishonesty. In other words, you must clearly inform students of the problem, and allow them the opportunity to either accept or deny responsibility for the charges no matter how strong the cases against them.
What to do if you suspect academic dishonesty:
Talk to the student privately as soon as possible. Face to face is better than email.
Explain the problem, when it happened, and any other circumstances that are relevant.
Inform the student of the academic and/or disciplinary sanctions that are possible.
Give the student an opportunity to respond.
If you decide to move forward with the charges, give the student the completed Academic Integrity Form and a copy of your evidence.
Give the student at least 3 days to return the signed form to you.
Forward the form to Barb Welshofer, 120 Sparks Building.
What NOT to do in suspected cases of academic dishonesty:
Do not simply fail the student.
Do not take any action that can be considered punitive (retake exam, additional assignments, lower grades, etc.)
Do not impose a grade (academic) sanction until the College Committee reviews the case.
Do not contact or discuss the case with members of the college committee prior to a review.
Do not threaten the student (e.g., If you don’t sign the form the sanctions will be worse).
After forwarding the form to Barb Welshofer, do not proceed with the case until notified to do so.
If at any time during a case you are not sure what to do, contact Barb Welshofer in 120 Sparks, by phone at 865-2545, or via email at blw7@psu.edu. You may also want to review our policy and procedures on the WEB at: http://www.la.psu.edu/ASSOCDEA/Academicinteg.htm
Family Educational Rights & Privacy Act of 1974 (Buckley Amendment)
Please review the following statement from Richard Yahner, Dean of the Graduate School:
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA or Buckley Amendment) protects the educational records of students who are currently enrolled in higher education institutions or formally enrolled, regardless of their age or status in regard to parental dependency. Students who have applied but have not attended an institution do not have rights under FERPA.
Education records may be handwritten materials, print, computer, magnetic tape, e-mail, film, or other medium that directly relate to a student’s attendance, academic performance, status, disciplinary record, etc. or information that can be derived from these records. Information, such as a student’s grades or other indications of performance in the class, may also be considered as educational records.
A graduate teaching assistant (TA) may be put in an uncomfortable position by a third party inquiring into the academic standing or performance of an undergraduate student in the course taught or supervised by the TA. One scenario may involve a phone call or visit from the parent of an undergraduate in a course in which the parent is questioning the grade given by the TA and is inquiring into the quiz/exam/report grades of the undergraduate. If a TA is approached by a third party, e.g., parent or guardian, no educational record can be provided to the third party without the student’s consent, unless there is affirmative evidence that the student is a dependent of the third party. In the event of such a request, University counsel recommends that the TA explain to the third party that he/she (the TA) will first need to advise the student of the request and obtain the student’s permission in writing. The written consent from the student must (1) specify the records that may be disclosed, (2) state the purpose of disclosure, and (3) identify the party (or class of parties) to whom the disclosure may be made. The TA can then go back to the third party and provide the information requested.
A second scenario may involve a student who has given advance verbal consent to the TA to release information to his/her parent. For example, a student may call the TA to contest a course grade and says "my father is going to call you about this." In that situation, the TA should confirm with the student that he/she is giving consent to release educational records related to the course. The TA should then prepare and file a memo outlining that verbal consent was obtained from the student giving the three points mentioned in the previous paragraph as the content of the written consent.
The University assumes that students over 18 years of age are not dependents unless there is information to the contrary. Several units on campus may have information on whether a student is a dependent, including the Admissions Office, Financial Aid Office, and Office of Judicial Affairs.
Details of FERPA can be found at two Penn State web sites:
http://www.courses.psu.edu/Materials/cn_ed553_jdt/ferpa.htm
http://www.psu.edu/oue/aappm/N-1.html
Mid-Semester Grade Evaluations
The College reminds us that it is important that you inform all of your instructors, whether tenure line, fixed term, or TAs of this policy. It is important to stress that the reporting of mid-semester evaluations to the registrar is a requirement set by the Senate. When this is not done and a student complains about a grade, we are at risk of being found derelict on our own procedural requirements.
47-70 Mid-Semester Evaluations
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 students. If any such student has a grade of less than C, the instructor will notify the Registrar who will, then, notify the students and his or her adviser(s) that the performance is unsatisfactory.
The complete senate policy can be found at http://www.psu.edu/ufs/policies/
Returning Papers to your Students
The mailroom (112 Burrowes) is small. One of the worst times for over-crowding and over-cluttering in the mailroom is at the end of the semester, when students are dropping off or picking up papers. Papers that easily fit in a mailbox are fine; the problem arises when boxes filled with papers appear.
To reduce the congestion of people and paper, please follow these guidelines:
• don't leave graded papers in boxes in the mailroom; apart from clutter, this practice is inconsistent with University policy on keeping evaluations of students private. There have been several sightings of students rummaging through graded papers and taking papers that do not belong to them for future use. Papers left in the mailroom will be removed and disposed of without notice. Alternative ways to return semester-end papers are:
--ask students to pick up papers at your office. DO NOT tell students to get a key from a staff assistant to open your office; staff assistants are not permitted to do so.
--ask students to turn in a large, self-addressed mailing envelope with sufficient postage to carry their papers to their home address.
• if many students will be dropping off long papers for you, ask them to try to hand them in at your office first. Check your mailbox frequently during this period.
• if you have readings for students to pick up, consider using Pattee Library's Reserve Reading Room (West 18 Pattee, phone 3-0323). The library is much more accessible than the mailroom outside of business hours. Various options are possible there for setting up folders of materials for your class. There is also a file cabinet in the mailroom which can be used for materials for small graduate courses or senior seminars in which you can leave materials for students to copy. Please do not use this file for large classes that will congest the mailroom.
All cabinets will be emptied at the end of each semester. It is the instructor’s responsibility to obtain their files; if not, they will be disposed of without prior notice.
Posting Grades
Because students have immediate on-line access to their grades, the English Department does not post grades publicly.
Do not put papers or lab reports containing student names and grades in publicly accessible places. Students are not to have access to the scores and grades of others in the class.
POLICY FOR USING PHONE, FAX, MAIL, COPYING AND COMPUTERS
The departmental allotment for business expenses has not kept pace with our growth in faculty and graduate students. Departmental resources are finite and must be stretched to cover the legitimate business expenses of a large number of people. In order to continue to have easy access to sufficient resources, we all have to cooperate in limiting uses of departmental equipment and supplies to strictly business purposes. Almost everyone already makes appropriate use of our resources; this policy is simply a reminder.
The University provides equipment and resources for business purposes only--not for personal uses. "Business" communications are any communications required to carry out your teaching, research, scholarship, service and administrative responsibilities. Please follow these guidelines for using phones, faxes, mail, and copying facilities:
Telephone: If you make personal calls, keep a log of the telephone number and the date of the call. You will receive a copy of the bill for calls charged to your phone. Mark each call on the bill as either "business" or "personal”. Add the expenses for any personal calls and write a check for that amount to The Pennsylvania State University. Return both the annotated bill and the check to Julia Franklin in 116 Burrowes.
Fax: If you send any personal faxes, write a capital "P" in the upper right corner of the covering transmittal sheet. When the bill for the call comes in, Julia will send you a copy of that sheet with the charge for the call. Write a check for that amount to The Pennsylvania State University and return both the cover sheet and the check to Julia Franklin or Amy Barone in 116 Burrowes.
Mail: Be sure to write your name and return university address on all mail sent out through the department. If you have personal mail to send, affix the appropriate postage. Place outgoing mail in the box in 112 Burrowes.
Federal Express and Overnight Mail:
The Department no longer can cover the cost of last minute posting through these services.
Copying: The restrictions on requests for copying through the duplicating office are explained below. The coin-operated copiers located in S147 and 109 are, of course, available for any personal or business copying.
Printing: Computer printers are a more expensive means of printing than photocopiers. Please print only one copy of a file from your printer and make additional copies on a photocopier. Naturally, even for business purposes, we would prefer you to use the least expensive form of communication possible for the circumstances.
All departmental photocopiers are for staff use only. Please follow the request format listed below.
Instructional Copying
Instructional copying is limited to 400 pages per section for all courses or 10 pages per student, whichever is greater. When submitting material to be copied, please keep in mind the following:
--Documents can be sent to Sherry Holt via email for duplication or documents can be dropped off in 111. Please email L-ENGL-DUPLICATING@LISTS.PSU.EDU to email duplication jobs.
--Provide good masters. Pencil, ink and ditto originals do not duplicate. Masters that are not legible will be returned.
--In general, most regular size requests will be filled within 24 hours unless the Duplication Secretary is absent, exceptionally busy, or the equipment breaks down.
--There will be no "rush" copy jobs accepted during the first two weeks and the last two weeks of the semester. No exceptions will be granted.
--The same considerations apply for research copying for faculty members.
--Personal copying and "rush" research copying should be done on the 5 cent machine in 109 or S147 Burrowes.
--Copies of plagiarism and grading standards for English 202 and English 15 are made up in advance and can be picked up in Room 104 Burrowes.
--Copying machines in department administrative offices are strictly for administrative use.
If you need to duplicate more than the limits allow, please take your material to Kinko's, Pro Copy or other copying services.
Copying Service
The copiers in room 109 and S147 are equipped with a datatron, so we are able to offer a copying service for personal and special projects copying at a cost of five cents per copy. If you are interested in utilizing this set-up, please read the section below titled “Personal Copying.”
Personal Copying
The service is intended to make it easier to pay for personal or unsupported work-related copying. Here's how the service works: To apply for an account and receive a code number, you may fill out the form available from Julia Franklin (see copy below). You may pay for copies with a check made out to "Penn State University." To make copies, you will punch in a code number on the copier in S147 for your account on the key-pad instead of inserting coins. If you use up the copies you have paid for, you can use this form to request and pay for an extension to your account. You will receive a notice with your current balance of copies remaining on your account. If you leave the department and have credit remaining on the account, you may ask another department member to take over the account and pay you for the remaining copies.
Remember that if you request an account, you are responsible for following University guidelines for copyrighted materials and for keeping your code number confidential. We hope that this pay-as-you-go service will cut down on the use of laser printers for multiple copies. If you are making copies for class AND DO NOT WANT TO PAY FOR THEM, you have two options:
• submit these requests to the printing office--there is no charge for up to 400 copies for classwork.
• If you reach your limit, consider taking your materials to a printing service such as Kinko's or ProCopy so students can pay for their copies.
Special Projects Copying
Requests for the departmental support of special projects copying can be obtained from Kim Keller in 102A Burrowes. See sample request form on the next page:
COPYING ACCOUNT FORM FOR SPECIAL PROJECTS
To: Robert L. Caserio, Head
Subj: Special Project Copying Account
I request the department to set up a copying account to support a special project as part of my scholarly or research activities. I agree to follow University guidelines for copyrighted materials. I understand that I am responsible for keeping my code number confidential.
The copying I require is for the following purposes:
___ Editorial responsibilities for the following journal
___ Materials for research or scholarship funded by
___ Materials for on-going research
Estimated date when a fixed-term project or responsibility will be completed____________________
Estimated number of copies needed per semester _______
**Please submit form to Kim Keller, 102A Burrowes Building
Laser Printer Use
The department's budget for the very expensive laser toner cartridges is easily exhausted. The best way to deal with the situation is for everyone voluntarily to reduce their laser printing.
• Print only one copy on a laser printer! We should have enough toner cartridges if everyone honors the "One Copy Only" rule. Many people have been printing class handouts on office laser printers. Due to the ongoing problem with this, we have installed software that monitors the printing in a few of our offices. Whenever you need multiple copies, print one copy on the laser printer and get multiple copies from the duplication office or from the duplicating machine in the mailroom.
• Use the duplicating office! Printing on duplicating machines is significantly cheaper than printing on laser printers.
• For personal copies, please use the duplicating machine in 109or S147 which will keep accounts for each faculty member, who will then be billed periodically.
Request for Computer Support
The College now requires that all computer questions and problems be directed to the Liberal Arts Help Desk (5-3412 or http://techsupport.la.psu.edu). The computer support specialists for the Burrowes Region are Mike Riden, JoElle Divinney, and Tracey Jackson. When you submit a request to the help desk one of these three people will assist you.
COPYRIGHT PROBLEMS
Abiding by Copyright Restrictions
Department copiers should be used in accordance with U.S. copyright restrictions. Because the restrictions are not clear-cut, please consider the attached guidelines provided by the University. Relevant considerations include: the length of the text, the amount to be copied, the number of copies, and the "spontaneity" of the need for the text. For more information consult AD 46.
There are several additional ways to make materials available to students, including:
• putting material on reserve in the library
• providing a "reserve" copy for students in the filing cabinet in our mailroom. (Folders are provided.)
• taking materials to a copy store that will seek permissions and pass along any associated costs to the students
Restrictions:
There are some basic restrictions regarding the production of multiple copies for classroom or seminar use.
Copying shall NOT:
be repeated with respect to the same item, by the same instructor, from term to term.
be used to create or to replace anthologies, compilations, or collective works.
substitute for the purchase of books, publisher's reprints, or periodicals.
be directed by a higher authority (i.e., copying must be at the inspiration and direction of the individual instructor).
be of or from works intended to be "consumable" in the course of study or of teaching. These include workbooks, exercises, standardized test booklets and answer sheets.
Permitted Copying:
In order to use multiple copies without seeking permission, the use must be brief AND spontaneous.
Brevity is summarized as follows:
Poetry-- (a) a complete poem, if it is less than 250 words and if it is printed on not more than two pages (b) from a longer poem, you may make an excerpt of not more than 250 words.
Prose-- (a) either a complete article, story, or essay is allowed if it is less than 2,500 words, or (b) an excerpt from any prose work of not more than 1,000 words or 10 percent of the work, whichever is less, but in any event, a minimum of 500 words.
Illustrations-- one chart, diagram, drawing, graph, cartoon, or picture per book or per periodical issue.
Special works-- works that combine text with illustrations such as children's books or poetry. No more than 10 percent of the words in the text may be used without permission.
Spontaneity is defined as follows:
If the work is used only once and "the inspiration and decision to use the work and the moment of its use for maximum teaching effectiveness are so close in time that it would be unreasonable to expect a timely reply to a request for permission."
GENERALLY SPEAKING, COURSE PACKS ARE CREATED FAR ENOUGH IN ADVANCE THAT SPONTANEITY AS A DEFENSE OF FAIR USE DOES NOT APPLY.
If the use of a work does not comply with these standards of brevity and spontaneity, permission from the copyright holder is required.
These guidelines should be followed as closely as possible, and any questions on interpretations shall be directed to the University's Copyright Clearance Office
(863-0580).
CROSS REFERENCES:
Other Policies In this Manual should also be referenced, especially; Patents and Copyrights (Intellectual Property), WHICH DEALS WITH THE INTELLETUAL PROPERTY OF THE UNIVERSITY AND ITS FACULTY AND STAFF.
