Dear COEHD Faculty and Staff, Please review the attached information regarding important dates for the Fall semester from Dr. Williams. Please note the NEW items. Thank you! Department Admins, please share with new faculty who may not be on the COEHD List Serv. Karen P. Hoskins College of Education and Human Development Office of the Dean 210-458-4480 From: Linda Mahoney On Behalf Of Lawrence Williams Subject: Important Dates and Information for Fall Semester 2013 Please make sure ALL faculty receive the following information, please note **NEW** items: Important Dates and Information for Fall Semester 2013 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 20th class day for nonpayment, faculty members should review their official class rosters in ASAP at least once after this date. For Fall Semester 2013, the 20th class day is September 25, 2013. Course Syllabus Please see the attached memo sent to the faculty by the Provost on March 2, 2009 for information about the course syllabus. To help the university comply with the provisions of HB 2504 passed by the 81st 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.) Also the Provost has requested that faculty members incorporate the Roadrunner Creed into their course syllabi. The Roadrunner Creed may be found at the following link: www.utsa.edu/about/creed<http://www.utsa.edu/about/creed>;. Note that the UTSA Academic Honor Code no longer exists. Its principles are found in the Roadrunner Creed. Additionally, see the attached memo sent to the faculty by the Provost on August 21, 2013 concerning Student Course Evaluation Completion Rate which strongly encourages faculty to include information in the course syllabus regarding the course evaluations. 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 Fall Semester 2013, the Student Study Days are Monday, December 9th and Tuesday, December 10th . 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 Fall Semester 2013, the Drop Date for undergraduates is Wednesday, December 4th, and the Drop Date for graduate students is Thursday, October 31st. **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. Recall that University policy states that when a student fails to drop a course, even if the student does not attend the course, he/she will receive a grade of "F" in the class. In order to assist the Office of Student Financial Aid in remaining compliant with Federal regulations, a new process has been established for assigning grades of "F" in ASAP. When assigning a student a grade of "F" in ASAP, faculty are now required to enter a "last attend date." For a student earning a grade of "F" because he or she stopped attending the class, select Grade Comment #02 - Stopped Attending and enter the approximate date the student last completed any coursework or last attended class in the "last attended date" column, If the student NEVER came at all to the class, select Grade Comment #01 - Never Attended and enter the first day of the term, August 28, 2013 in the "last attend date:" column. If the student completed the class earning a grade of "F", enter the last day of the term, December 20, 2013 in the "last attend date" column. 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%20Cre... **NEW** 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 Fall 2013 will be 5:00 p.m. on Monday, October 14th . The college deans and Dean of University College will not sign any add forms after October 14, 2013, unless there was a university error. Moreover, the Enrollment Services Center will not accept any add forms for processing after this date. 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 Friday, October 18th 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 Fall Semester 2013, the Final Examination Period is Wednesday, December 11th to Thursday, December 17th. ***** 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 Friday, December 20th at 2:00 p.m.