Faculty Duties

XIII.  FACULTY DUTIES

A.   Teaching Evaluations

All faculty will participate in regular evaluations of teaching. Faculty should follow the College evaluation procedures posted on the College website. Classroom observations by the department chairperson will be done for each full-time faculty member according to the schedule prescribed in the Faculty Evaluation document. Chairpersons will discuss the results of the teaching observations with the faculty member.

B.   Academic Advising

After their first year of service, all Full-time Faculty members have responsibilities as advisors of students. As an advisor he/she represents the primary point of contact between the student and College resources and serves as a guide to the students’ understanding of the academic program. In addition to registering students for classes, the advisor is responsible for planning, reviewing, and discussing all aspects of each student’s academic and career program. The advisor should be knowledgeable about registration procedures, academic policies of the college, career options, and the various avenues for assisting a student when problems occur. A complete description of the responsibilities of advisors is in the Academic Advising portion of the Faculty Resource pages on the College website, and should be studied thoroughly.

C.   Academic Processions

Academic processions are ordered according to the standards of traditional academic protocol. Faculty members are expected to attend all events in which the faculty process (e.g., Spring convocation, Fall if involved, and commencement exercises).

D.   Syllabi

The faculty member will make available, by or before the first day of class, a syllabus which must include: name, time and location of course; instructor contact information and office hours; course description; learning objectives; readings and other course materials; number and type of assignments; course schedule; methods of evaluating student performance, including point distribution; and, for one-unit classes that meet three hours, a statement concerning work required to satisfy the fourth hour of quality. Statements regarding College policies on academic dishonesty, learning disability accomodations, and instructor expectations for student conduct are stongly encouraged. As the course progresses, the instructor may distribute or post a modified syllabus to achieve the course goals as necessary.

Electronic copies of all syllabi must be submitted according to College procedures no later than one week after classes begin.

It is expected that faculty continually revise and update course material.

E.   Final Examinations

All instructors are expected to give final examinations in all courses, except those that clearly focus upon end-of-term writing requirements or laboratory reports. All final exams must be administered during finals period at their regularly scheduled time. If a final project is required in lieu of the final exam, including in-class presentations (but not lab reports), these must occur during the allotted time during final exam week. Any final exams or final projects occurring prior to finals week violate College policy.

F.   Course Grading

Faculty are expected to establish and maintain high academic standards and requirements. Grading criteria should be clearly stated on the course syllabus and every effort should be made to return graded assignments within two weeks of the due date. Grading should provide sufficient feedback for student improvement, especially in the area of writing, and the opportunity should be afforded the student to meet with the faculty member for additional comments. Faculty are encouraged to include a graded assignment in the first two weeks of a course and provide frequent and early feedback. Multiple assignments throughout the course are especially helpful to first-year students and allow faculty to identify problems early on.

Although the College has no official attendance requirement, some academic departments do have a policy for some or all of their courses. Keeping attendance records is required if attendance is a grading criterion; keeping attendance records is advised in other cases. Faculty should familiarize themselves with the Excused Absences policy published in the Compass, governing absences for field trips and athletic events.

Faculty must follow practices of fairness and objectivity when assigning student grades. Course grading should be the result of careful evaluation of a student’s academic performance in a class and be consistent with documented assessment criteria. The course syllabus must contain a clear statement of the weighting of each assignment and how a final grade is computed. As the course progresses, the instructor may distribute or post a modified syllabus to achieve the course goals as necessary. Grades are confidential and can only be shared with someone with a legitimate educational interest.

Midterm grades must be submitted for all first year students and for students who are performing unsatisfactorily (a grade of D+ or below). Grades of Incomplete should not be awarded at midterm; final grades of Incomplete should follow the policies described on the form available through the Registrar’s web page.

Final course grades for all underclass students must be submitted to the Registrar within one week after the course’s final examination.

For one calendar year following the completion of a course, faculty shall maintain appropriate records of student performance in the course as evidence in support of the assignment of the final course grades. In the event of separation from the College, faculty shall leave such records with the Department Chair, who shall retain them for one calendar year.

G.   Office Hours

All faculty are required to offer and publicize to students at least one office hour (50 minutes) per week for each course unit that they teach, and are encouraged to offer additional hours and to be available to students outside of office hours by appointment. The faculty member must be physically present during office hours, and should schedule them in such a way that office hours are unlikely to conflict with any single class.

H.   Faculty Support for Developing the Whole Student

Faculty are encouraged to support the general education curriculum by offering courses that meet general education requirements, to sponsor experience events and to encourage students to participate in them, to include experiential learning opportunities in their courses, and to involve students collaboratively in scholarship and research projects.

This augments Albright’s core emphasis on the liberal arts and interdisciplinary study, enabling students to better reflect upon and articulate their knowledge and skill sets and to achieve greater personal satisfaction and professional success. Faculty are also encouraged to participate in and to encourage students to participate in as many of the non-classroom activities of the College as possible, while always maintaining academics as the highest priority. Faculty participation in these activities provides additional points of contact with students, and serves to demonstrate to them the importance of such events. Faculty may be called upon to serve as advisors to campus organizations. Albright encourages Faculty to make themselves available to such groups as much as possible.