COEHD Faculty,

Spring Semester Information for your review.  Thank you.

Best Regards,

Karen

Karen P. Hoskins

College of Education and Human Development

Office of the Dean

T: 210.458.4480

Subject: Important Dates and Information for Spring Semester 2014

Please make sure ALL faculty receive the following information, please note **NEW** items:

Important Dates and Information for Spring Semester 2014

Verification of Class Rosters

In order to help the university reduce the number of requests by students to add classes late into the semester, faculty members should verify that the name of each student attending and participating in a class appears on the class roster.  An effective way to verify a class roster is not to accept assignments or examinations from students whose names do not appear on the official class roster, which can be accessed by faculty through Banner ASAP.   Students who are attending a class but whose names do not appear on the roster should be notified so that they can rectify the problem.  Note that the names of students who are auditing courses do not appear on class rosters.

Too often faculty members attempt to assign a course grade to a student who has attended and participated in a class the entire semester, but whose name is not on the final grade roster.  The verification of class rosters by faculty members should eliminate this problem.

Since students are dropped from classes at the end of the 20^th class day for nonpayment, faculty members should review their official class rosters in ASAP at least once after this date.  For Spring Semester 2014, the 20^th class day is February 10, 2014.

Course Syllabus

General guidelines for course syllabus preparation may be found on the Provost’s Course Syllabus Instructions web site at http://provost.utsa.edu/home/syllabi_instructions.asp.  Faculty should also place in their course syllabus the common information link (http://utsa.edu/syllabus) to UTSA policies and services regarding disabilities, dishonesty, counseling and tutoring, plus the Roadrunner Creed. To help the university comply with the provisions of HB 2504 passed by the 81^st Texas State Legislature, the course syllabus for each undergraduate course needs to be posted to the UTSA Bluebook website.  You or your department may be responsible for uploading a version of your course syllabus to Bluebook depending on departmental policy.  Also consider adding to your course syllabus some information about the Tomás Rivera Center academic support services.  (See the attached message from the  Tomás Rivera Center.)

**NEW** Student Course Evaluation Completion Rate

Please see the attached memo from the Provost regarding strategies to increase the student course evaluation completion rate.

**NEW** Handling and Storage of Student Course Grade Records

Please see the attached e-mail message from the Provost regarding new policies for the storage and handling of student grade records. In particular, beginning Spring Semester 2014, all faculty are required to keep course grade records in Blackboard Learn.

**NEW** Student Disability Services                         

Please see the attached memo from the Provost on Student Disability Services in regard to providing accommodations for students with disabilities.

Short Notice Class Cancellations by Faculty Members

Occasionally, because of unforeseen circumstances, a faculty member may find it necessary to cancel a meeting of one of his or her classes on a short notice.  During the university’s normal business hours (M thru F 8:00 a.m.- 5:00 p.m.), the faculty member can notify his or her academic department about a short notice class cancellation, and the department will send someone to the classroom to place a notice on the door or otherwise inform the students of the class cancellation.  Outside of the university’s normal business hours, the faculty member can notify the UTSA Police Department by telephone at 458-4242 about any short notice class cancellations.  The UTSA Police Department will dispatch an officer to the classroom to notify the students.  This outside of the normal business hours notification procedure will prevent our evening and weekend students from having to wait unnecessarily when a faculty member finds that he or she will not be able to meet a class as planned.

Student Study Days

At the end of each Fall and Spring Semester, two days prior to the beginning of the final examination period are designated as Student Study Days.  Classes do not meet during Student Study Days.  Furthermore, Student Study Days are not to be used as dates on which papers are to be turned in, examinations are to be given, quizzes to be scheduled, review sessions to be held, or for any other class related activities, other than office hours. For Spring Semester 2014, the Student Study Days are Thursday, May 1^st and Friday, May 2^nd.

Drop Dates

Recall that a student who drops an individual course after Census Date and on or before the Drop Date (Automatic “W” Date) will automatically receive a grade of “W” in the course.  Also the Drop Date is the last date that a student is permitted to drop an individual course.  For Spring Semester 2014, according to a new university policy, the Drop Date for undergraduates is Monday, April 28^th, and the Drop Date for graduate students is Tuesday, March 25^th.

**NEW** Students Who Stop Attending or Never Attended a Class

Federal regulations regarding financial aid require that a student’s financial aid award be partially based on the percent of the semester that the student actually attended classes.  In order to assist the Office of Student Financial Aid in remaining compliant with Federal regulations, please pay special attention to those students who stop attending your class or who never attend the class.  When reporting Midterm and Final Grades in ASAP for student who stopped attending the class and did not drop the class, please give the approximate date the student last completed any coursework or last attended the class in the “Last Attend Date” column and select Grade Comment #02 – Stopped Attending.  For students who never attended the class and did not drop the class, no last attended date is needed; however, please select Grade Comment #01 – Never Attended. For students who earned an F through poor academic performance, select Grade Comment #03.

NOTE:  Faculty members are required to select one of the above three grade comments when assigning a grade of “F” in ASAP.

Faculty members’ assistance with this important matter is critical and very much appreciated.

UTSA Definition of a Semester Credit Hour

The above mentioned Federal regulations regarding student financial aid also required the university to adopt an official definition of a semester credit hour.  See the following link for this definition:  http://utsa.edu/success/The%20UTSA%20Definition%20of%20a%20Semester%20Credit%20Hour.pdf

ADD FORMS

To reduce the number of requests to add classes late into the semester, the absolute deadline for students to add a class for Spring 2014 will be 5:00 p.m. on Monday, March 3^rd.  The college deans and Dean of University College will not sign any add forms after March 3, 2014, unless there was a university error.  Please make your students aware of this important date.

Midterm Grades

Faculty members are required to report midterm grades for all freshmen, and for all other undergraduates whose course performance at the time midterm grades are submitted is at the level of a grade of “D” or “F.”  Midterm grades will be due Monday, March 3^rd at 2:00 p.m.

Final Examinations

****Please see the attached memo sent to the faculty by the Provost on April 16, 2010 for information regarding end of semester assignments.****

The time and place of final examinations for organized courses are given in the University's Final Examination Schedule.  The schedule is to be followed as announced, with final examinations given on the dates and at the times when they are scheduled and in the places where they are scheduled.  For Spring Semester 2014, the Final Examination Period is Saturday, May 3^rd to Friday, May 9^th .

***** ALL classes are expected to meet during the assigned final examination time, whether a final exam is to be given or not.  This is necessary to ensure that we provide sufficient contact hours in each class to satisfy accreditation standards and expectations.*****

Final Grade Reports

The final grade report for each course is due 48 hours after the final examination is given, and no later than Tuesday, May 13^th at 2:00 p.m.