Section 1: Forms and Procedures 1-1 Requests to Change Rooms 1-2 Overrides 1-3 Moving Students from One
Section to Another 1-4 Absences: Submitting Reports
and Dropping Students 1-5 Early Alert Forms 1-6 Report of Plagiarism 1-7 Evaluations 1-8 Grade Reports 1-9 Incomplete Grades 1-10 Grade Changes 1-11 Grade Complaints/Appeals 1-12 Teaching Request Forms 1-13 Textbook Order Forms 1-14 End of Semester Responsibilities
Section 2: Support 2-1 The Supervisory System
Checklists
1: Syllabus and Class Plan
2: Instructor's Teaching Record
3: Grading and Marking,
Problem Students
4: Class Observation
5: Debriefing 2-2 The Writing Lab 2-3 Counseling Center 2-4 Academic Support Services 2-5 Library Orientation/Instruction 2-6 Computer Use in English 1000 2-7 Workshops/Brown Bags 2-8 Further Information
Section 3: Some Common Problems 3-1 The Assignment Produces
Distressingly High Low Grades 3-2 The Uncooperative or Disruptive
Student 3-3 Complaints, Grade Protests,
Poor Evaluations 3-4 The Student Who Must Have
an A or B 3-5 Plagiarism 3-6 Problematic Relationships
with Students 3-7 Breaches of Confidentiality
Section 1, Forms and Procedures
This section describes the procedures and accompanying
documentation needed to deal with a number of concerns
instructors are likely to encounter. Remember that
the proper handling of bureaucratic affairs can
prevent future headaches and misunderstandings.
If you have questions about topics not covered
here, please see Dana Kinnison in the composition
office.
Most of the information in this section
relates to student records and information.
All such records and information are confidential
and should not be discussed inappropriately.
See Section 3-7 for
detailed guidelines on confidentiality.
1-1
Requests to Change Rooms
Instructors assigned to classrooms they have never
seen should visit them before the semester begins.
With classroom space at a premium, requests for
room changes should be made only if your classroom
is inadequate (for example, too few seats) or is
for some reason unbearable. We cannot provide rooms
with moveable chairs for everyone. Report any problems
to the composition office.
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Figure 1.1: The Enrollment Override card is completed by a member of the department's office support staff after the student has gone to class and received a note from the instructor authorizing the override. Currently, the key staff member handling these matters is Gretchen Labutti, 882-6421.
1-2
Overrides
Students may request
an override into courses that are listed as full.
Instructors should be careful about their override
decisions. There are at least two things to think
about when considering an override: the extra
time that will be spent working with additional
students; the circumstances that might warrant
an override. For each additional student in a
composition section, the instructor should expect
an extra six to ten hours per semester for grading
and conferencing. At the same time, if you are
teaching the only English 2030 that fits into
the student's schedule and it is
required by the student's department, you
might give an override serious consideration. In
almost all circumstances, however, the English
department leaves override decisions to the instructor's
discretion.
Normally, instructors
write a note or respond to an email giving permission
for the override, send the student to 107 Tate,
and the office support staff completes the override
form (See figure 1.1).
1-3
Moving Students from One Section to Another
In the first few
days of a semester, some students will shift
from section to section. In recent semesters,
we have been able to reserve seats for this purpose
in "late starter" sections. The term
means that these sections fill two to five days
after classes have begun and so regular course
work starts a little later than in other sections.
On the first day of class of each semester, instructors
should announce that those students interested
in switching sections visit the composition office
immediately. Options are limited, and seats are
awarded on a first-come basis.
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Figure 1.2: The Special Absence Report is used to inform the Dean's office of frequent and excessive absences. It is in both the instructor's and student's best interest that students are notified of the consequences of absences before administrative actions (such as dropping them from the course) are taken. This form should be sent directly to 130 Jesse Hall.
1-4
Absences: Submitting Reports and Dropping Students
Some instructors have
attendance policies that warn students they will
be dropped from the course for a given number of
absences, typically the equivalent of two weeks
(six absences for a MWF class and four for TR).
Instructors who use such policies should take care
to give sufficient notice in their syllabi and
should make every reasonable effort to warn students
of their absences in writing with a report to the
Dean's office (see Special Absence Report, Figure
1.2) before dropping the student from the
course.
In order to drop
students from a course for excessive absences,
a letter must be sent to Dean Tarkow in the College
of Arts & Sciences, 317 Lowry
Hall, requesting the action. Drop letters are available
from the composition office or Gretchen Labutti. The
letter must be sent prior to the last couple of
weeks of the semester. If you send it before the
designated "last day to drop course without
grade," then the student's name will
not appear on your end of semester grade roster.
Beyond that date, however, you are required to
award the student a grade at the end of the semester,
either a W (indicating passing at the time of removal
from the course) or F. Simply crossing a name off
of a five-week class roster will not result in
the student being withdrawn from the course.
1-5
Early Alert Forms
Early alert forms
are available from the composition office or
the front desk. These forms are used to inform
the dean's office of a student's
behavior that will affect his or her performance
in the course. The student is asked to come to
the dean's office and the concerns addressed
by the form are discussed with the student. The
forms are confidential, and the process is designed
to help the student. Do not use this form if you
only wish to report a student's absences;
use the special absence report instead.
1-6
Report of Plagiarism
We are required to report to the Office of the
Provost all instances of academic dishonesty. The
policy is a sensible one: it keeps hardened offenders
from attempting to cheat in every class, confident
that if caught they can claim they've never done
it before and will never do it again. Recent revisions
to Article VI of the Faculty Handbook offer instructors
two options for responding to suspected academic
dishonesty. (See section 3.5 in this guide for
a fuller discussion of plagiarism and academic
dishonesty.) In both cases, instructors must first
notify students of their intention to report a
suspected incident of academic misconduct, and
they should work with the composition office, which
will submit the necessary paperwork to the Provost.
Option A allows
instructors to discuss the matter with the student
and arrive at an agreement regarding both the
nature of the violation and appropriate academic
sanctions. Under this option, although the Provost
is informed of the violation, he or she will
take no further action as long as no other such
incidents are on file for the student. Option
B requires the instructor to file a report of the
incident with the Provost, who will determine the
appropriate penalty. At all times, the instructor
is solely responsible for academic concerns while
the Provost's Office is solely responsible
for possible disciplinary action. Forms and advice
are available from the composition office.
Procedure
for Evaluations
1. Designate
a student to collect the evaluations
from the class and give him or her
a copy of the evaluations memo. The
student should hand the evaluations
in person to Gretchen Labutti or
Victoria Thorp (107 Tate).
2. Leave the
room during the evaluation process.
3. Evaluations
will be read by the Director of Composition
and by coordinators.
4. You will
not have access to evaluations until
you have submitted your grades to the
appropriate secretary, currently Victoria
Thorp.
1-7
Evaluations
Instructors are required to have students complete
course evaluations at the end of the semester.
The composition office may require the use of a
particular form, either the narrative or the scantron,
but instructors may also choose to supplement these
evaluation forms with their own. Students and teachers
have both expressed reasonable concerns about the
way we handle end of semester evaluations, which
are intended to be confidential. Please follow
this procedure when doing evaluations:
1-8
Grade Reports
The forms on which you will report your grades
are generally available two weeks before the end
of the semester from the department secretary responsible
for submitting grades, currently Vickie Thorp,
882-4676. Grade rolls should be carefully reviewed
for accuracy; any discrepancies should be reported
to the department as soon as possible. The forms
must be completed using a medium lead (#2) pencil.
Instructors should make a copy of their grade sheets
for reference, although a copy is kept on file
by the department.
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Figure 1.3: When completing
the Incomplete Grade Report it
is important to be as specific
as possible about the requirements
of changing the incomplete to
a grade. All other information
needed to complete this form
is readily available to the instructor
on the grade roll. The student
number is the unique six-digit
number assigned all students
when they enter the university.
Completed incomplete grade forms
are turned in with the grade
roster to the secretary responsible
for submitting grades, currently
Victoria Thorp, 882-4676.
1-9 Incomplete
Grades
Before assigning
a grade of Incomplete (I) to a student, instructors
should speak to the Director or Associate Director
of Composition. The grade of I should rarely
be assigned in English 1000, and should only
be assigned in those cases in which the instructor
teaching the course can reasonably expect to
work with the student to resolve the Incomplete.
Circumstances that might warrant an Incomplete
include serious illness or emergency at the end
of the semester that precludes completion of
the course by a serious and diligent student.
The student's work in the course, with the
exception of the end of the semester requirements,
should be up to date. Instructors must file an
Incomplete Grade Report (Figure 5.3) that provides
the reasons for the Incomplete and outlines the
requirements, including a due date, for changing
the Incomplete to a standard letter grade. Incompletes
that are not resolved within one year automatically
become F grades.
1-10
Grade Changes
The Grade Change Form is used to change an Incomplete
grade to a letter grade, or to correct errors made
on the end-of-semester grade roll. Grade changes
are serious matters and require the signature of
the department head. In order to change grades
that are over one year old, a letter signed by
the instructor must accompany the grade change
form (Figure 1.4).
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Figure 1.4: All of the information
on the grade roster, including
student and course numbers, is
needed to complete a Grade Change
Form. Gretchen Labutti, 882-6421,
can help in completing the grade
change forms, which require the
signature of the department chair.
1-11
Grade Complaints/Appeals
At times, some students
will appeal their final grade to the Director
of Composition. At Missouri, only final grades
may be appealed. The document "Grade
Reconsideration for English 20" is available
from the composition office. "Grade Reconsideration
for English 20" outlines the requirements
for a grade appeal. The following criteria apply
in all cases:
1. Only final course grades may be appealed;
2. Appeals will only be successful in cases
of arbitrary and capricious grading;
3. The academic standards of the instructor,
when applied to all students and explained in
the syllabus, are not grounds for a grade appeal;
4. Students must first attempt to speak with
the instructor;
5. If the appeal is not resolved by speaking
with the instructor, the student must file a
written petition with the Director of Composition.
Keeping clear detailed records will help instructors
deal with grade complaints. Instructors should
be available to meet with students about their
grades at the end of the semester and should do
all in their power to return phone calls or email
from students who are concerned about and wish
to talk about their grades.
1-12
Teaching Request Forms
Near the end of
September and the beginning of March, instructors
can expect to receive course assignment request
forms. Each form asks specific questions about
an instructor's circumstances
(are you taking comprehensive examinations during
the following semester, etc.) and preferences (what
times are you unavailable for teaching, e.g.).
Returning these forms in a timely manner is the
best way to insure a favorable assignment.
Several course requests (English 1150, 1160, 1200,
1300, 1000gh) require course proposals which will
be evaluated by a faculty committee. Generally,
proposals will include the texts the instructor
will use, grading and evaluation methods, and a
general description of the course. The request
form itself provides information regarding proposals.
1-13
Textbook Order Forms
Textbook orders are generally submitted as soon
as possible after teaching assignments have been
made. Because the department does not use a standard
syllabus or textbook in its composition courses,
all instructors must submit orders to the department
secretary responsible for textbook orders, currently
Victoria Thorp, 882-4676.
1-14
End of Semester Responsibilities
1. Get your courses evaluated. The
forms should be delivered to your mailbox. Leave
the room while the students are completing the
forms, and have a student bring them to the front
desk in 107 Tate. You can read the evaluations
after you turn in your grades.
2. Have your students turn in final
papers during class, or during
a set time when you can be in your office. Do
not have students turn final papers in to
your mailbox. The standard
problems with that strategy (students putting
them in the wrong mailboxes with inadequate
identifying information) are even worse at
the end of the semester. In addition, papers
have been pilfered from mailboxes, and there
is really no confirmation whether or not
a paper has been turned in.
3. Turn in your grade sheet. The
grade sheet is necessary for questions regarding
grades. In addition, hold on to the final papers,
as students often need them for grade questions.
4. If this is your last semester
teaching here, turn in your keys and clean
out your desk. If there are
outstanding issues (students to whom you
gave Incompletes whom you have never seen
again, for example) notify the composition
office in writing and in person.
5. Make sure Victoria Thorp has
your summer phone numbers and addresses. We
may need to contact you regarding things
like changes in scheduling or grade complaints
(which often must be resolved immediately).
If you will be out of town (or the country)
for long periods of time, let Victoria know
so that we don't leave messages on
your machine that go unreturned, slowing
down our attempt to resolve problems.
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