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Faculty Senate Administrative Office
Lindley 346
Athens, OH 45701
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Academic Activities

[Section IV A of Handbook]

A. General

1. Scope

The obligations of the teacher are self-evident. They include teaching, research, and service. The assessment of these activities should be an on-going process and is the responsibility of the faculty, duly supported by the administration. These obligations will be honored at Ohio University. Whenever questions arise about the relationship between faculty and student, those concerned should consult with the appropriate chair or dean. Specific questions about administrative matters should also be addressed to the chair or dean.

2. Change of Instructor, Time, or Place of Meeting

Change of instructor, time, or place of a meeting for a scheduled class may be made only with the approval of the department chair or director of the school who shall report in writing all such changes to the dean and to the Registrar.

3. Information Given Class at First Meeting

Before or at the first meeting of the class, the instructor shall distribute a syllabus, which can be in electronic form, and which also provides students with the following information:

  1. The instructor's name, the call number, the descriptive title, and the catalog number of the course;
  2. The intended learning outcomes or objectives upon successful completion of the class;
  3. The basis for grading in the course;  
  4. A statement of the instructor's attendance policy (see Section IV.B.3)
  5. A statement of the instructor’s policy on academic misconduct that either refers to a policy approved by the academic unit or college or that includes the following:
    1. A definition of academic misconduct if the field requires a more specific definition of academic misconduct than the one found in the student Code of Conduct (see Section IX.f); 
    2. A list of the range of sanctions that the instructor might implement in the case of academic misconduct; 
    3. A statement that students may appeal academic sanctions through the grade appeal process; 
    4. A statement that the Office of Community Standards and Student Responsibility may impose additional sanctions.
  6. An explanation of policy relative to absences consistent with the student regulations as given in the Undergraduate Catalog and reproduced herein (see Section IX.C).
  7. In order to protect the instructor’s intellectual property, it is suggested that the following statement appear in the syllabus: “The lectures, classroom activities, and all materials associated with this class and developed by the instructor are copyrighted in the name of [instructor’s name] on this date [give date].”
  8. Information regarding accommodations in course work and assessment for students with a disability, and available resources offered by the Office of Student Accessibility Services. It is suggested that the following statement appear in the syllabus; “Any student who suspects he/she/they may need an accommodation based on the impact of a disability should contact the class instructor privately to discuss the student’s specific needs and provide written documentation from the Office of Student Accessibility Services. If the student is not yet registered as a student with a disability, he/she/they should contact the Office of Student Accessibility Services.”

4. Class Lists and Record Books

Faculty members shall make up their class rolls solely from the class lists issued by the Registrar. Names of students who have withdrawn from class should, upon receipt of official notice of withdrawal, be deleted from the class roll. A grade of WF or WP should be submitted in accordance with instructions accompanying the notice of withdrawal.

5. Office Hours for Student Conferences

Members of the faculty are expected to maintain an adequate number of office hours in accordance with a posted schedule and by appointment.

6. Texts

Textbooks should be ordered through the appropriate departmental procedures. In order to allow students time to look for affordable copies, each instructor should provide in a timely manner information about author, title, edition, ISBN and approximate price of each textbook to be entered for each course listed in Course Offerings on the Registrar’s website. Individual faculty members are not permitted to sell textbooks or text materials to students. Text materials prepared by faculty may be duplicated in accordance with applicable copyright laws by local bookstores and duplication services; and these materials may be sold only at cost or with a reasonable royalty to the faculty member(s). Royalties accrued to faculty members for these materials should be reviewed by appropriate departmental committees.

7. Retention of Student Records

Instructors shall retain grades, tests, and assignments as well as any other material used in determining a student's grade for at least one academic semester, and until the end of the fall semester following spring semester classes unless the instructor returns the material to the student or provides an alternative policy to the class at the beginning of the semester. Persons with grading responsibilities who leave the university should make appropriate arrangements with their department chairs or school directors on the disposition of their student records. 

8. Instructional Evaluations

Evaluations of instruction are an important part of faculty development and professionalism in teaching. Instructors are expected to participate in all phases of their school’s or college’s instructional evaluations, including by providing evidence of their teaching effectiveness. Such evidence may demonstrate but is not limited to: preparation for instruction; student engagement with course content; serving the needs of a diverse student population; maintaining or developing subject expertise and pedagogical competence; enabling students to achieve designated instructional outcomes; and adapting and revising pedagogical practices and content, as appropriate. Evaluations of instruction should use multiple sources of evidence, which may include but are not limited to: instructor self-assessments, sample course materials, anonymous student evaluations, measures of student learning, peer reviews, academic leader reviews, and/or stakeholder feedback.

9. Classroom Privacy

While it is sometimes desirable for classroom practices to be observed for the purpose of improvement of pedagogy, and such observation is sometimes required for annual faculty evaluation and for tenure and/or promotion evaluation, faculty are entitled to classroom privacy, academic freedom, and professional courtesy. Consequently, observation and evaluation of any classroom (including those on-line) by any observer or evaluator requires the prior notification and mutual agreement of the class instructor and the observer or evaluator. Furthermore, recording of classroom activities by any electronic means or by students, other faculty, university administrators, or others requires permission of the instructor. All students in a class must be informed if permission has been given for a class to be recorded. Classroom lectures and associated course materials may be copyrighted by an instructor (see Section IV.A.3). Under no circumstances may verbatim recording of copyrighted classroom lectures and materials by electronic or any other means (including note taking) be conducted for 1) sale, whether or not it is for educational benefit, or 2) for the educational benefit of those not enrolled in the class. This does not apply to non-verbatim notes taken by students.