Teaching-Related Policies - COE
- Karla Steffen
- 1 Academic Dishonesty
- 2 Advising
- 3 Appropriate Use of Teaching Assistants (TAs)
- 4 Class Schedules
- 5 Course Syllabus and Information
- 6 Doctoral Supervision Policy
- 7 Dropping courses
- 8 Evaluation of Student Performance
- 9 Evaluation of Teaching Effectiveness (Course Evaluations)
- 10 Faculty Teaching Load Policy
- 11 Final Examination Policies
- 12 Grade Policies
- 13 Individuals Hired to Teach Organized Courses
- 14 Mid-Semester Failing Notices
- 15 Minimum Enrollment in Organized Courses
- 16 Obligation to Meet Classes
- 17 Observation of Religious Holy Days
- 18 Office Hours
- 19 Privacy Act (FERPA)
- 20 Student Organizations
- 21 Students With Disabilities
- 22 Summer Teaching Policy
- 23 Textbooks and Other Course Materials
Academic Dishonesty
All faculty should inform students at the beginning of the semester that scholastic dishonesty will not be tolerated and that incidents of dishonesty will be reported. When a faculty member suspects a student of cheating, published guidelines (available from the Office of the Dean of Students) should be followed. Faculty can virtually eliminate cheating by specifying the ground rules, by challenging students to practice education ethics, and by creating environments that discourage cheating. It is recommended that faculty include the UT Honor Code in course syllabi.
Additional resources:
Institutional Rules: Chapter 11. Student Discipline and Conduct
Office of the Dean of Students:
Advising
Faculty are expected to be available for advising, counseling, registration, and other regularly scheduled departmental duties. See HOP 2-2170: Faculty Workload and Reporting Requirements. Faculty should consult the Department Chair for any specific departmental policies and procedures related to advising and availability for advising prior to the start of the semester.
Appropriate Use of Teaching Assistants (TAs)
Teaching assistants may only be assigned duties which are adjunct to regular classroom instruction. See HOP 9-2020: Teaching Assistants. All duties performed by teaching assistants shall be under the supervision and direction of the instructor of record or the designated member of the faculty.
Teaching assistants may not serve as an instructor of record for any instructional activity. Under no circumstances can a teaching assistant be responsible for graduate instruction. Under no circumstances can a graduate student hired under the title of Teaching Assistant be assigned to serve as a Research Assistant for a faculty member.
The supervising faculty shall, at the end of each semester, file with the Department Chair of the employing department a written evaluation of the performance of teaching assistants under the supervising faculty's direction. The evaluation shall become a permanent part of the teaching assistant's permanent file.
See additional information on student titles at COE: Student Employment.
Class Schedules
It is the policy of the College of Education that courses meet 15 contact hours per credit hour during the long session (45 contact hours for three-hour courses). In the summer, three-hour classes normally are scheduled for a total of 37.5 hours in a six-week term.
Classes should meet as designated in the course schedule. Any variation in meeting times or arrangements must have the written approval of the Department Chair.
Course Syllabus and Information
Policy
In compliance with HB 2504: Public Access to Course Information, which requires the posting of undergraduate course syllabi and other materials on the University’s website by the first day of class, the following are the policies of the College of Education regarding providing and posting course syllabi.Â
On the first day of class, the faculty member responsible for that course must provide to students a Course Syllabus. A syllabus has the primary purpose of letting students know what they can expect during the course in terms of the material they will cover, what they must do, and how they will be graded. Courses in the teacher certification program should also address and ensure that our students master the State educator standards as assessed in coursework and field experience performance indicators. See tips at Center for Teaching and Learning: An Effective Syllabus.
A copy of each course syllabus will be filed with the department chair each semester. All class syllabi for undergraduate courses should be provided in electronic form in a PDF file format created from a word processing package such as MS Word; the PDF should not be created from a scanned image or fax. These PDF syllabi will be posted to the respective class via the Registrar’s Office Class Manager System or Information Management and Analysis’ FaSET System by the seventh class day.
Other information that is required to be accessible online per HB 2504 includes a curriculum vita for the instructor of record.
Contents of syllabus
Required content
See EVPP: Your Syllabus at UT Austin for a list of required syllabus content and a link to a template.
Recommended content
In addition to the required items, the following information is recommended on the course syllabus:
A notice regarding academic dishonesty - see Office of the Dean of Students: Academic Integrity. See also the UT Honor Code at UT: Mission & Values.
A notice regarding accommodations for religious holidays. Sample statement: “By UT Austin policy, you must notify me of your pending absence at least 14 days prior to the date of observance of a religious holy day. If you must miss class, an examination, a work assignment, or a project in order to observe a religious holy day, you will be given an opportunity to complete the missed work within a reasonable time after the absence."
A notice regarding the policy on sex discrimination, sexual harassment, sexual misconduct.
A notice about SB 212/Title IX requirements. The Title IX Office provides language that can be used at Mandatory Reporting Syllabus Language (pdf).
A link to the Dean of Students’ office: https://deanofstudents.utexas.edu/. This office includes 10 specialized service areas: Leadership and Ethics Institute, Legal Services for Students, Legislative Student Organizations, Dean of Students Research Institute, Sorority and Fraternity Life, Student Activities, Student Conduct and Academic Integrity, Student Emergency Services, Student Veteran Services, and Title IX Training and Investigations.
A link to the Sanger Learning Center: https://ugs.utexas.edu/slc. The SLC provides academic support for all UT Austin students. Each year, center personnel help more than 10,000 students achieve their academic potential with free services.
Information regarding UT Night Rides. Lyft serves as the provider for UT Austin’s Night Rides program and provides students a Lyft away from main campus to home seven days a week from 11 pm to 4 am.
Additional resources:
Doctoral Supervision Policy
Tenured faculty in the College of Education will chair or co-chair no more than five dissertations or treatises concurrently. Tenure track faculty, i.e., assistant professors, will chair/co-chair no more than two dissertations or treatises concurrently. Faculty who hold administrative appointments and are less than 100% time on a department instructional budget will chair/co-chair no more than two dissertations or treatises concurrently. This policy was approved by the Management Team in October 2009 for implementation on September 1, 2010.
Dropping courses
A student may not drop a course after the twelfth class day in the long session except for good cause (e.g., health or serious personal problems, or a demonstrated need to work more hours). An undergraduate student seeking to drop a class after the twelfth class day should contact the Office of Student Affairs for necessary approvals. Graduate students should go to the department offering the course.
See additional information at Dropping a Class: Rules for Undergraduate Students and Dropping a Class: Rules for Graduate Students.
Evaluation of Student Performance
Faculty members are free to develop their own methods of evaluating the performance of students in their courses, but they are required to make the methods of evaluation to be used known to their students in writing before the end of the first four class days of each long-session semester and the first two days of the summer terms. Responsibility for assuring adequate methods of evaluation rests with the departmental faculties and is subject to administrative review. In courses with multiple sections, the departments should provide for necessary coordination. In any event, materials to be used in evaluating the student’s performance must be collected by the instructor at, or prior to, the time of the regularly scheduled final examination.
See additional information at UT Academic Policies and Procedures: Evaluation.
Evaluation of Teaching Effectiveness (Course Evaluations)
By University policy, evaluations by students are required of all teaching faculty. It is the policy of the College that all organized courses, including those offered in the summer, will be evaluated, using an appropriate Course Instructor Survey arranged through the University’s Division of Instructional Innovation and Assessment.
Student evaluations remain anonymous. Neither the instructor nor the Teaching Assistant should be present during the evaluation and neither is to see the response sheets until grades have been officially reported. We recommend that a student in the class administer the surveys.
Course Instructor Surveys should be administered at the beginning of the class period to increase the likelihood that all students will participate in the evaluation process.
See additional information at UT Testing and Evaluation Services: (CIS) Course Instructor Surveys.
Faculty Teaching Load Policy
The College of Education requires each full-time tenured or tenure-track faculty member to teach two organized courses per long semester. Full-time professional track faculty in teaching-focused lines are required to teach a maximum of four organized courses [for a total of 12 semester credit hours (SCHs)], or the equivalent, each long semester. Deviations from this policy can occur for faculty with endowments, salary buyouts, leaves of absence, or ongoing departmental service assignments. Department chairs have the discretion to modify the required course load for a limited period of time, but with the expectation that the faculty member will move back into compliance with the College policy as soon as it is feasible. Departments may also enact stricter minimum teaching load policies based on need.
Additional information regarding teaching-related workload guidelines for full-time, tenured, tenure-track, and professional track faculty is available at COE: Workload Policies.
Additional resources:
Final Examination Policies
For University policies, see UT Academic Policies and Procedures: Examinations.
Class activities during final examination and no-class days:
Class-related activities, with the exception of office hours, are prohibited on designated no-class days and during the final examination period. These dates are set aside for students to prepare for and take scheduled final examinations. During this period, papers and projects are not to be due, review sessions are not to be scheduled, quizzes are not to be given, and there are not to be any other class-related activities, with the exception of office hours. See Final Exam and No-Class Day schedules.
Timing of final examinations:
No final examinations may be given before the examination period begins, and no change in time from that printed in the office schedule is permitted (see Catalog). An instructor with a compelling reason to change the time of an examination must obtain the approval of the Department Chair and the Dean of the college in which the course is taught before announcing an alternative examination procedure to the students. A change in the room assignment for a final examination may be made only with the approval of the registrar.
No substantial examinations may be given during the last class week preceding the final examination period. An examination counting for more than 30% of the final course grade is considered to be substantial.
Faculty presence on campus during final examination periods:
A faculty member is responsible for ensuring that final examinations for his or her courses are adequately staffed, that he or she is available for related questions and to resolve problems, and that final course grades are turned in on time. Unless a faculty member has received approval for travel under regular University policy, he or she must be available on campus during final examinations in his or her courses, or available in the Austin area and easily reachable by telephone or e-mail. The faculty member must remain in the Austin area until his or her grades are finalized. If a faculty member must travel during this time, he or she must include on the request for travel authorization how final examination matters will be handled and how he or she can be reached in case of an emergency.
Grade Policies
For University policies, see UT Academic Policies and Procedures: Evaluation.
Grade Submission:
Instructors must use the online Grade Submission System to enter and submit final grades for organized courses. An organized course is defined as a course with a regularly scheduled meeting time and a specified instructor. Although instructors may designate another person to enter the grades into this system, only the instructor of record may submit final grades online. Anyone entering or submitting grades online must have a high assurance UT EID. Information about grade reporting, grade sheets, and the grade submission system is available at Office of the Registrar: Grade Reporting. Questions about the online grade submission system may be addressed to the Student Academic Records section of the Office of the Registrar.
Posting of Grades:
Posting students’ grades by student name, Social Security Number, UT EID, or other identifiable information constitutes a violation of federal law, namely, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). Similarly, returning student papers and exams in a manner that allows students to see other students’ grades is also a violation of FERPA. An example would be leaving graded papers in a stack for students to see as they pick up their own papers. When posting grades and returning graded work, faculty should do so in a secure manner that allows students only to see their own grade. Papers and exams should be in individual sealed envelopes if left for students to pick up. Confidential student information such as grades may be posted on the web only using the approved secure method of the Grade Submission System, which ensures that students may only see their own information.
Grade Inflation:
Chairs are to monitor faculty grading practices, to identify courses/faculty in which grade inflation may be an issue, and to take corrective action.
Related UT policies:
Individuals Hired to Teach Organized Courses
Individuals who are hired by a department to teach a course during a long semester will be paid no more than $9,000 per course per semester. This policy also applies to faculty and staff who have retired from UT Austin and are hired back to teach a course. (Approved by Management Team, 11/8/10).
Mid-Semester Failing Notices
Many faculty find it advantageous to notify undergraduate students if they are currently earning a grade of "D" or "F" in the course or they are failing the course due to excessive absences. There are forms available for this purpose in each department or faculty can send a list of students (either hard copy or electronic) to the Office of Student Affairs (or, in the case of an undergraduate student in a college other than the College of Education, to the Dean's Office of that college). If a list is sent, it should include each student's UT EID and status.
Minimum Enrollment in Organized Courses
In an effort to maintain robust enrollment in College of Education courses, it is encouraged that the minimum enrollment for an organized undergraduate course is 20 students, and the minimum enrollment for an organized graduate course is ten students for each of the two long semesters. However, the Dean’s Office allows department chairs to exercise discretion and flexibility to offer organized courses that fall below these College minimums yet still satisfy the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board enrollment requirements of ten students in an organized undergraduate course and five students in an organized graduate course.
For summer course minimum enrollments, see COE: Teaching-Related Policies > Summer Teaching Policy on this page .
Obligation to Meet Classes
Students have the right to instruction from the faculty or staff member assigned to the course. Therefore, it is the faculty member's obligation to meet his/her scheduled classes, making a reasonable effort to avoid dismissal of any classes. See EVPP: Faculty Workload Policy. If a faculty member is unable to meet teaching responsibilities, University policy must be followed in making arrangements to cover the course.
Unless on authorized leave, the faculty member is expected to meet with the class, even though that class is being taught by a guest lecturer. Under no circumstances can a faculty member subcontract the teaching of an assigned course or a portion of a course.
Observation of Religious Holy Days
By Students:
Religious holy days sometimes conflict with class and examination schedules. Section 51.911 of the Texas Education Code states that a student who misses an examination, work assignment, or other project due to the observance of a religious holy day must be given an opportunity to complete the work missed within a reasonable time after the absence, provided that he or she has properly notified each instructor. It is the policy of the University of Texas at Austin that the student must notify each instructor within 14 days of the classes scheduled on dates he or she will be absent to observe a religious holy day. For religious holidays that fall within the first two weeks of the semester, the notice should be given on the first day of the semester. The student may not be penalized for these excused absences but the instructor may appropriately respond if the student fails to complete satisfactorily the missed assignment or examination within a reasonable time after the excused absence.
By Faculty:
Section 51.925 of the Texas Education Code prohibits the University from discriminating against or penalizing an instructor who is absent from class for the observance of religious holy days. Proper notice must be given to the Department Chair. Prior to the beginning of classes each semester, the instructor must provide the Chair a list of classes that will be missed due to observance of a religious holy day. The list must be either personally delivered, acknowledged and dated by the chair, or sent by certified mail, return receipt requested. Consistent with University policy, the instructor is responsible for finding a qualified substitute for any such class(es).
Office Hours
Members of the teaching staff are expected to include in their syllabus office hours and conference periods available to students. Office hours must be observed. The recommended minimum for office hours is one hour of office time for every one course credit hour. Faculty should explain to students how office hours can be used.
Privacy Act (FERPA)
Faculty members are responsible for being familiar with the University’s policies related to confidentiality of records, directory information, transcripts, and disciplinary records, which can be found at UT System: Rule 50702: Confidentiality and Security of Education Records Subject to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). These policies and procedures are in full accord with the final regulations implementing The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974. Copies of this act and its implementing regulations are on reserve in the Undergraduate Library.
Student Organizations
The College has several student organizations, including student chapters of professional and honorary societies for the disciplines, and organizations that cover the entire education profession. By being active in these organizations, students develop a sense of professional service, develop organizational and leadership skills, and provide valuable services to the College of Education.Â
Students With Disabilities
Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) in the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement is the area on campus responsible for determining eligibility and implementing reasonable accommodations for students with disabilities at the University of Texas. Federal law is clear on this matter and applies to all students with disabilities. SSD works with undergraduate and graduate students and serves as a resource to faculty, other University departments, agencies, and the Austin area community.
Additional resources:
Summer Teaching Policy
Summer teaching assignments are not an entitlement of the faculty. Preference will be given to faculty who have a record of good teaching performance and who are good citizens of the department. Summer teaching assignments are made at the discretion of the Chair based on department needs and priorities.
Programmatic needs must be considered first in making summer teaching assignments, e.g., required courses for a program, prerequisites for higher level required courses, courses with typically healthy enrollments.
Minimum enrollment in summer courses
In making summer teaching assignments, the Chair will aspire to meet the College's minimum enrollment standards of ten students for a graduate organized course and 20 for an undergraduate organized course. Courses that fall below the University's minimum enrollment standards (five for a graduate course, and ten for an undergraduate course) will be cancelled, unless the Department Chair can make a compelling argument to the Dean for changing the course to individual instruction.
For administrative information, see COE Faculty Summer Appointments.
Textbooks and Other Course Materials
Textbooks, notebooks, manuals, or other materials for the use of students which are written or prepared by a member of the faculty shall not be prescribed for the use of students or sold to them until approved by the Dean, Chief Academic Officer and Chief Administrative Officer, pursuant to policies included in the institutional Handbook of Operating Procedures. At a minimum, consultation with departmental faculty is required.
Additional resources:
EVPP: Authorization to Use Textbooks Written By a Member of the Faculty at UT Austin
HOP 2-9990: Selection, Use, Notification, and Sale of Instructional Materials
UT System: Rule 31004: Rights and Responsibilities of Faculty Members
Process - textbooks and other course materials:
If a textbook, notebook, manual, etc. written or prepared by a UT faculty member, or to which a UT faculty member contributed, is to be used, approval must be granted by the department chair and Dean or Dean's delegate. See EVPP: Authorization to use Textbooks Written by a Member of the Faculty at UT Austin.
The Textbook Authorization form for departmentalized units should be routed in DocuSign, routed to the department chair, and to the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs.
Faculty are asked to share the final-approved form with their department Administrative Manager, and send a copy to COE-FacultyAffairs@austin.utexas.edu.
Related policies - textbooks and other course materials:
EVPP: Textbook Affordability & Open Educational Resources (HB 33)
HOP 2-9990: Selection, Use, Notification, and Sale of Instructional Materials
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Please send suggested additions to this page and notifications about broken links to COE-FacultyAffairs@austin.utexas.edu.
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