TEACHING RESPONSIBILITIES AND INFORMATION

FACULTY HONOR CODE RESPONSIBILITIES
Since the founding of the University, the Honor Code has been and remains a part of the educational process. Faculty bear primary responsibility for maintaining academic integrity in the educational process, and along with students, preserving and enforcing the Code. It is the responsibility of all faculty members to carry out tests and examinations in accordance with the provisions of the Code. The following practices are recommended to faculty in conjunction with these sections of the Code:

• Faculty should remain in the classroom during a test or examination.
• If a faculty member considers that the procedure outlined in Section V is inappropriate in a particular case, he or she is strongly encouraged to discuss the matter with either the Chair of the Honor Committee or the faculty adviser before taking an alternate course of action.
• Each member of the faculty is asked to give whatever moral support and encouragement possible to those students who perform a substantial service to the University by their work on the Honor Committee.

UNDERGRADUATE ADVISING
tudents are assigned to individual faculty members in their major fields for advice concerning academic programs, appropriate courses, and preparation for careers and/or post-baccalaureate study. Only full-time faculty members, or those specifically assigned advising duties, are expected to assume this responsibility.

Advisers should be thoroughly familiar with university regulations as well as with the local unit's policies and requirements. Advising makes the greatest demand on faculty time during student orientation, registration, and early registration period. (Faculty are expected to be available for advising and other duties during the week preceding the start of each semester.)

GRADUATE ADVISING
Graduate students are normally assigned a faculty adviser in the chosen field of study. When known, the name of the adviser is included in the letter of admission. Faculty members assigned the responsibility of advising graduate students should be thoroughly familiar with current university regulations and procedures for graduate study. The graduate adviser has the major responsibility for assisting the student to plan a program of study, for approving course registrations, and for helping to direct the student's intellectual and professional development.

GRADES AND EXAMINATIONS
Both the undergraduate and graduate catalogs contain information about grading and examination procedures. Faculty should review this information at the beginning of each academic year.

Faculty are responsible for preparing the examinations for their courses and determining the grades. Policies concerning the weight given examinations in determining final grades and the kinds of examinations used may differ according to the preferences of individual faculty. Such information should be clearly communicated to students in the syllabus during the first week of classes.

With certain exceptions, final examinations are given at the conclusion of all undergraduate courses. Changes in location or time from the in-class final examination schedule must be approved by the department chair (or in schools without departments by the collegiate dean). Individual student requests for changes in final examinations must be approved by the collegiate dean.

Examinations administered during the final examination period should not exceed two hours and forty-five minutes (except for the Law School). Students should be told at the beginning of the semester if a take-home final examination will be used. Such examinations should be distributed at least by the beginning of the last week of classes so that students may coordinate preparation for them with other examinations.

Students should not be required to submit examinations prior to the date of the regularly scheduled examination for that class. Final re-examinations are not permitted (except for the Law School).

At the beginning of every grading period the Registrar distributes a description of the grading procedures and grade definitions. Questions regarding these matters should be addressed to the Registrar.

Faculty are reminded that grades are due no later than 48 hours after the final examination is given. Faculty may not leave for vacation until grades have been submitted and questions concerning grades have been resolved.

For full details on this subject refer to the Grading Policies and Procedures provided by the Registrar's Office.

TEXTBOOK SELECTION
Faculty are responsible for selecting texts for single-section courses. Such decisions will be made by the chair or other members of the department if new faculty are hired too late to make the decision. If a single textbook is being selected for a multiple-section course, the faculty involved shall determine, if necessary by ballot, the book to be used. If one of the faculty is the author of one of the competing texts, the ballot will be secret.

Faculty may not earn profits from the sale of unpublished notes, manuscripts, or other materials which they require for classroom use. Faculty should review the "Comprehensive Conflict of Interests Act" which is available in the library.

Faculty are obliged to make significant use of required texts. Those not planning to use optional materials should inform their students of this fact at the first class meeting.

Similar principles apply to the planning of laboratory exercises and the ordering of laboratory supplies. Wherever primary responsibilities for multiple laboratory sections are delegated to a single individual with the consent of the faculty of that discipline, this person must consult with those teaching the sections and follow democratic procedures in coordinating their activities.

STUDENT RECORDS
Faculty members must maintain a record of each student's grades; the record will be retained after final grades are submitted. Final examination papers will be retained for at least one semester to provide supportive data if a grade is challenged.

SYLLABI
Faculty are required to create a syllabus for each credit-bearing course that they teach. Syllabi should clearly outline the student's responsibilities in the course and provide a reasonable account of the faculty member's expectations. Each department should file current issues of syllabi for courses. Chairs should review syllabi to ensure that course content and expectations are appropriate.

GRADE CHALLENGE PROCEDURE
Although faculty are the best judges of student performance in their classes, there may be instances when a student believes a grade is unfair. In such cases, the student should first ask that the grade be reconsidered.

Grade challenges in the Law School cannot be entertained if based upon an issue of academic judgment in evaluation, whether of the grading of work or of the content of the work required. Challenges are submitted to the Executive Committee of the Law School. In the other colleges and schools, if the student remains dissatisfied, he or she may appeal the matter to the department chair, dean, or director.

Upon receiving an appeal, the chair should ask the student to return to the faculty member who assigned the grade for further consultation. If a mutually satisfactory agreement is not reached, and the chair believes the student has a legitimate complaint, the student may request that the chair form a committee of three faculty peers of the faculty member who assigned the grade. Grade challenges against chairs should be filed with the senior member of the department.

If the chair believes the student's complaint is not legitimate, no review will be conducted unless the collegiate dean believes the challenge has merit. The instructor or the student may challenge, and have replaced, one of the three members of the committee without giving a reason for the challenge.

The committee will meet separately with the faculty member and the student to explore the full particulars of the case. A non-participating observer of the student's choice may attend the meeting. Every effort will be made to avoid an adversarial relationship.

After the committee has thoroughly reviewed the case, it will give to the chair, with copy to the faculty member, a written recommendation including the reasons for its findings. At this time, the faculty member will have an opportunity to take the recommended action, if any.

If the matter is not resolved at this point, the chair will consider the committee recommendation and make a recommendation to the dean.

If the dean decides that a change of grade is appropriate, and the faculty member refuses to make the change, then the dean may direct the Registrar to do so.

Chairs will not normally accept grade appeals after the end of the semester following the emester in which the grade was recorded.

CHANGES IN CLASS TIME OR LOCATION
Changes in the regular meeting time or location of a class from that announced in official University publications should only occur for exceptional reasons, in order to preclude inconvenience to students and further stress to an already overburdened room scheduling process. Should it be necessary to change the time and location of a class, prior approval of the department chair and Registrar or the Recorder at the Law School is required.

STUDENT COMPLAINTS
Departments, schools, and institutes without departments, are expected to have an established procedure for dealing with student complaints. The procedure should include instructions for filing appeals in order that students may follow-up on matters about which they feel strongly. Departments will publish compliant procedures so that students know how to resolve issues.

DISRUPTIVE BEHAVIOR IN THE CLASSROOM
Students have a legitimate right to express their views on matters relevant to a class, even when these views are diametrically opposed to those of the faculty member. Such expression, however, needs to occur in an atmosphere of mutual respect, and at a time and in a manner which the faculty member considers appropriate.

Students who engage in continual interruptions of the instructor, continual conversation with their neighbors, or disrespectful challenges to the instructor are undermining the learning atmosphere for all. It is important that instructors do not mistake aggressive intellectual challenges of their own ideas for disruptive behavior.

In the event that disruptive behavior does occur, faculty should take the following actions:

• At first occurrence, announce to the entire class that such behavior will not be tolerated.
• At second occurrence, remind the offending student(s) that the disruptive behavior, if repeated, may result in expulsion from the classroom.
• At third occurrence, consider inviting the disruptive student(s) to leave the class. Make it clear that the student may return when s/he agrees to cease the disruptive behavior. In the event a disruptive student refuses to leave the class, the student may be dropped from the course immediately with a grade of "W" or "F". However, a student who refuses to leave the class must be notified of the consequences of his or her actions before this measure is invoked. If the student persists in remaining, University Police assistance may be requested or other reasonable actions may be considered in dealing with the situation.

Students who believe that they have been unfairly dropped from a course based on alleged disruptive behavior may file a grade challenge with the department chair. This challenge will be investigated using the normal procedures. Additionally, the department chair, dean, or director may wish to interview members of the class.

FAMILY EDUCATIONAL RIGHTS AND PRIVACY ACT (FERPA)
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 imposes restrictions on the disclosure of information contained in an individual student's education records. The law also gives each student the to right to review his or her own educational records. Since most departments and offices in the University have access to some student data, even if only names and addresses, personnel having access to such data must either be familiar with, or refer all requests for student information to someone who is familiar with, the Privacy Act.

In general, all faculty members are entitled to see student academic data, and staff personnel are entitled to see student data if necessary to perform their duties; however such personnel (including student assistants) should be instructed not to release any student data unless they are sure of their authority to do so.

Student social security numbers are not part of directory information and may only be disclosed to individuals acting officially in a student's educational interest. The University will scrupulously adhere to the provisions of the Act. To ensure that social security numbers are not inadvertently disclosed, faculty may not post grades by social security number even though they have obtained prior permission from the student. Instead, faculty may use a Personal Identification Number for posting grades.

Review the current GMU Policy Statement and the Frequently Asked Questions about the Act.

OFF-CAMPUS SPEAKERS
Speakers from off-campus are frequently invited to the University. No special arrangements are necessary to invite those who address regular classes, but an individual or group of the University must sponsor other speakers. Official University-wide sponsorship is arranged through the Committee on Lecturers and Cultural Affairs. Sponsorship by the Student Government Lecture Series may also be arranged.

All non-credit educational activities for which an audience is solicited beyond the immediate University community must be coordinated through the Center for Professional Development to have official University sponsorship. The Center is responsible for collecting and reporting data on public service activities, public lectures, conferences, workshops, and institutes for use by Virginia's State Council of Higher Education.