Course Instructional Guidelines

COURSE PROCEDURES

Each year a number of complaints and disputes about grades and course procedures come to department heads, deans, Provost's and Ombuds Offices, and the Student Center for Educational Research and Advocacy (SCERA). Perhaps the majority of those disputes could be avoided if faculty members took note of the guidelines listed below.

REQUIRED SYLLABI STATEMENTS FOR COURSES SUBMITTED FOR APPROVAL 

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GRADE SCALE

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GUIDELINES

Make available to each student an up-to-date syllabus that will provide students with the following information:

  • Course objectives
  • Expectations and requirements such as papers, lab reports or exams
  • Attendance policies
  • Grading criteria and the approximate weight of each course requirement in the final grade
  • Examination schedule and any make-up or rescheduling policies
  • Policies on academic honesty
  • Office, phone and mailbox numbers

If possible, try to avoid major changes once the semester is underway.

  • Since grading policies often tend to be a focus of confusion or misunderstandings, please take special care to articulate your grading criteria and invite students to discuss related questions with you early in the course.
  • Remind students of their responsibilities. For instance, students are responsible for taking exams at the scheduled times, to know the location of their exams, and to make alternative arrangements in advance if they have a legitimate reason for not being able to take an exam. It is their responsibility to provide appropriate explanation and documentation if they miss an exam without making prior arrangements. Remind students also of your particular policy and official University policy on make-up exams.
  • Announce field trips and other special meetings, preferably in class and in writing. If these require activity on holidays and/or weekends, state this clearly.
  • Unless it is your custom to return exams, lab reports, papers and projects, retain all of these materials for timely review with students both during the semester and after final grades. Students have the right to discuss their grades and other forms of evaluation with faculty.

 

TITLE IX SYLLABUS STATEMENT

Title IX Statement – Faculty must include ONE of the below Title IX statements.  All faculty are non-Responsible Employees/non-Mandatory Reporters UNLESS told by UMass administration that they are a Responsible Employee/Mandatory Reporter.  Most faculty will fall into the non-Responsible Employee/non-mandatory reporter category.  Pursuant to the current MSP contract, “Vice Chancellors, Vice Provosts, Deans, Department Heads, and Directors (including Directors of Centers and Institutes and Graduate and Undergraduate program directors) as well as employees specifically tasked with responding to incidents of sexual harassment and violence are “responsible employees” for Title IX purposes and must report incidents of sexual misconduct to the Title IX Coordinator.  All such employees that are members of the MSP will be notified of their obligations.”
 
#1:   Title IX Statement (non-Responsible Employee/non-mandatory reporter statement—all faculty should use this statement unless told otherwise by UMass admin)

In accordance with Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 that prohibits gender-based discrimination in educational settings that receive federal funds, the University of Massachusetts Amherst is committed to providing a safe learning environment for all students, free from all forms of discrimination, including sexual assault, sexual harassment, domestic violence, dating violence, stalking, and retaliation. This includes interactions in person or online through digital platforms and social media. Title IX also protects against discrimination on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth, false pregnancy, miscarriage, abortion, or related conditions, including recovery. There are resources here on campus to support you. A summary of the available Title IX resources (confidential and non-confidential) can be found at the following link: https://www.umass.edu/titleix/resources. You do not need to make a formal report to access them. If you need immediate support, you are not alone. Free and confidential support is available 24 hours a day / 7 days a week / 365 days a year at the SASA Hotline 413-545-0800.  

#2:  Title IX Statement (use this statement ONLY if you have been told by UMass administration that you are a Responsible Employee/Mandatory Reporter)

In accordance with Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 that prohibits gender-based discrimination in educational settings that receive federal funds, the University of Massachusetts Amherst is committed to providing a safe learning environment for all students, free from all forms of discrimination, including sexual assault, sexual harassment, domestic violence, dating violence, stalking, and retaliation. This includes interactions in person or online through digital platforms and social media. Title IX also protects against discrimination on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth, false pregnancy, miscarriage, abortion, or related conditions, including recovery. There are resources here on campus to support you. A summary of the available Title IX resources (confidential and non-confidential) can be found at the following link: https://www.umass.edu/titleix/resources. You do not need to make a formal report to access them. If you need immediate support, you are not alone. Free and confidential support is available 24 hours a day / 7 days a week / 365 days a year at the SASA Hotline 413-545-0800.  

For purposes of Title IX reporting, I am a considered a “responsible employee” at UMass (https://www.umass.edu/titleix/about). That means that if you tell me about a situation involving sexual assault, sexual harassment, domestic violence, dating violence, stalking, and retaliation, I must share that information with the Title IX Coordinator. Making a report to the Title IX Coordinator is my legal obligation, meets the University's goal of providing members of our community with supportive resources they might need, and enables the University to obtain a more accurate picture of the extent of sexual violence in our community. It will be completely up to you to determine if and how you want to work with the Title IX Coordinator's office. You will not be in trouble for reporting to me that you have experienced any of these situations, and the law prohibits retaliation against anyone who participates in a Title IX process.

Optional language for relevant classes for faculty who are Responsible Employees/Mandatory Reporters: “For the purposes of this class, if you choose to discuss your own personal experiences of sexual violence as part of a written assignment or a discussion, we do not consider that a report covered by Title IX.”

Source: Sen.Doc.No 23-050