Faculty Resources
English Department Policies
The English department has a general policy of discouraging the classroom use of laptops and hand-held computing or electronic devices, including cell phones, subject to the discretion of the individual instructor.
(rev. 2/10)
The English department has a general policy that attendance begins the first day of class, subject to the discretion of the individual instructor. Students who enroll in a course after the first day may be counted absent for initial classes missed.
(rev. 2/10)
The English department’s policy in assigning classes for summer teaching is:
1) Everyone who has received a satisfactory evaluation in teaching and who submits a request by the deadline will be assigned to teach one course, when courses are available, before any instructor is assigned two courses. On-going full-time faculty have priority over part-time faculty.
2) Course assignments are determined by seniority (primarily based on the number of years an instructor has taught in the IU South Bend English department, but also including factors such as Senior Lecturer status and, for part-time faculty, Associate Faculty Merit Status) and expertise in particular subject material; this is true for the assignment of a first course and of second courses.
3) Instructors who taught two courses the previous summer will be less likely to receive a second summer course the following summer, except in the case of classes which require a particular expertise.
(rev. 3/10)
The English Department expects that its faculty make reasonable efforts to attend every class meeting of the semester. In the event of instructor absence, suitable arrangements should be made in advance to ensure that students receive meaningful class time. This includes developing reciprocal relationships with colleagues, such as those provided by cluster groups, who will cover classes on short notice based on lessons provided by the instructor of record, and notifying the department in advance. The success at covering classes is part of the evaluation process.
(rev. 1/2011)
Federal law requires universities to notify instructors if they have a student in class who is on the Sex Offender Registry. You will be notified if you have such a student. Ordinarily this information will not include the name of the student, although you may request it if you believe it is necessary. Since the Sex Offender Registry is a matter of public record, available on the internet, this policy of confidentiality is a matter of professional discretion.
The reason instructors are notified is that registered sexual offenders may not be in contact with children sixteen years old or younger. If, for example, students in your children's literature class are required to read to a class of young children, it will be necessary for you to find an alternative assignment for that student. Some community projects that might be associated with, say, a professional writing class may also be affected. If another student in the class brings a child to class unexpectedly, it is the responsibility of the student on the Sex Offender Registry to let the faculty member know that s/he cannot be in class with a child, at which point it becomes the responsibility of the faculty member to create a classroom without children for the student on the Sex Offender Registry to attend. (This means that you will need to ask the student with the child to leave class.)
It is important to realize that the range of offenses for which people are placed on the list varies widely. The list is imperfect and includes people who have been involved in consensual activities; it is by no means restricted to violent predators. Therefore, whenever possible, we should exercise substantial discretion in our communication with the students and certainly avoid publicizing the information unnecessarily.
(rev. 1/2012)