Resources for
Teaching &
Assessment

Academic Learning Compact

Core Humanities w. Writing Assessment

History UCC Gordon Rule Student Outcomes

2000-level Competencies

Gordon Rule w. Writing Policies

University Policy on Incompletes

Guide to Teaching in the Department of History
Spring 2008

Introduction

The Department of History makes no distinctions among its instructional staff members when it comes to the application of its teaching and learning standards. Whether the Instructor of Record holds the rank of Professor, Teaching Assistant, or Adjunct, every student is expected to be the beneficiary of the Department's rigorous standards of performance, as reflected in its grading practices, the quality of writing and argumentation, instructors' mastery of the material, currency of the material, and teaching/learning methodologies. 

Furthermore, each member of the Department's instructional staff is expected to follow the University's policies and procedures, in addition to those of the College of Arts and Sciences, with regard to course administration and assessment of learning objectives. The information presented in this document is gathered from various sources ranging from the Department of History to the College of Arts and Sciences and to the University's Office of Academic Affairs. The information has been summarized here for the convenience of the Department's instructional staff. Comprehensive information is found in the University's Faculty Handbook, which is available at: http://academic.fiu.edu/.

Location and Contact Information

At University Park, the Department's offices are located in DM 397. The main office number is 305-348-2328.

Contacts:

At Biscayne Bay, the office staff members in support of departments in the College of Arts & Sciences are located in Academic Center I.

Contacts:

Mailboxes are made available by the support staff of each campus.

Neither Adjunct Faculty nor Graduate Assistants are expected to be confidently knowledgeable regarding graduation requirements. Please refer those cases to the Undergraduate Advisor.

The course syllabus

The syllabus is expected to include guidelines aimed at informing students on the objectives of the course, grading policies, attendance policies, if any, and other requirements. In addition, contact information and guidelines regarding access to the instructor -- live, if possible, otherwise through electronic communications -- are expected to be included.

Send your syllabus, preferably as an RTF or PDF document to the Department's Web Administrator for posting on the Department's website. You will find the Wed Admin's email at the bottom of each web page in the Department's website.  In order for your students to have immediate access to the syllabus, you will have to send it as an attachment well before the start of the semester, and no later than seven days before the first meeting of class. The syllabus will be posted on the Department's website at: http://www.fiu.edu/~history/syllabi08c.htm. You will want to inform your students of this location because we do not photocopy syllabi. We expect the syllabus to be printed by the individual students and not at the Department's expense.

University Syllabus Requirements

The University Faculty Senate has established, with Provost support, a series of expectations regarding the content of a course syllabus. All instructors of record are required to provide students with a printed or published on-line syllabus for any course in which students receive academic credit and for non-credit courses required for a degree or academic certificate.

Students should receive or have access to the course syllabus no later than the first class meeting for lecture and lab courses, not later than the first day of the semester for on-line courses, and not later than the end of the first week of the semester for internships, practicum, independent study, readings, or any other courses. Exceptions to the time constraints of this policy may be made on a case-by-case basis by department chairpersons or school directors when instructors are assigned in an untimely manner. Each department or school will maintain a file of current course syllabi either on-line or in printed copy throughout the semester, which will be available for public examination.

Every syllabus is expected to contain:

The name of the course, course and section numbers, course description, course objectives and learning outcomes, prerequisites and corequisites (if any), and semester and year offered;
The instructor's name, telephone number, e-mail address, department or school, office location and office hours;
Required purchases including texts, lab supplies, artistic supplies, professional and ancillary items;
A tentative outline that includes major topics, anticipated dates of assignments, performances, artistic submissions, and/or examinations;
Performance measures that will be considered for evaluation in awarding final grades;
Any policies of the instructor and/or department that may impact a student's enrollment or final grade;
Grading standards to be used in calculating final grades;
Attendance standards, if required;
The University drop date;
Policy on make-up examinations, assignments or performance measures;
Recommended purchases including supplemental texts, lab supplies, artistic supplies, professional and ancillary items;
The University's Code of Academic Integrity;
Reference to University policies on academic misconduct (see below), sexual harassment, and religious holidays, and information on services for students with disabilities.

Instructors may modify the course syllabus provided that:

Sitting in on classes (unofficial auditing)

Course Assignments
The Department of History expects significant amounts of weekly reading from students in its courses. Skimpy amounts of reading are frowned upon.  Most members of the Department frown on over-reliance on textbooks, and we particularly frown on assigning a textbook as the only reading in the course. A reasonable mix of secondary and primary sources is the common required reading.

The Department also has an expectation of writing assignments in addition to written examinations. Writing assignments can take on different formats ranging from formal term papers to response papers to assigned readings. You should refer students with significant problems with writing to the Writing Lab at either campus within the University Learning Center available in both campuses.

It is recommended that at least one graded assignment be returned to students before the course drop date.

Grading
The Department's grade distribution has historically illustrated its expectations of high standards. At FIU, grades range from A through F; note that the University employs pluses and minuses in in grades A through D.

You are expected to conform to the Department's grading practices in lower-division courses, which have tended toward the following distribution: A's: 10-20%; B's: 30-35%; C's: 30%; D's: 5-6%; F's: 10-13%. The percent of F's includes students who, for whatever reason, fail to submit their required work for the course, yet fail also to drop the course.  The Office of the Registrar recommends that the grade of F be given to students who appear on the grade rolls but have not turned in their work. Support staff at either campus can provide you with gradebooks, although many members of the faculty employ the advantages of spreadsheets for grade entries and calculations. Examination bluebooks are available for purchase by students at each campus's bookstore.

Because office support staff are prohibited from providing grades over the telephone, please refrain from referring students to the Department unless they are alerted to come in person with photo identification available. Students should also make arrangements to have their final exams or projects returned. The departmental staff cannot be responsible for distributing that work, nor can students' work be left outside the office for students to pick up, as this violates federal and University privacy regulations..

Federal laws protect students' privacy: posting grades in a manner which identifies the students is illegal. This includes posting grades using the student's social security number or any other means through which the student may be identified.

The University has adopted the following grade definitions:

~ F0 should be given to those who: (a) fail to complete a minimum of 60% of the required work and have earned a failing grade on the work completed, or (b) fail to attend a minimum of 60% of the class meetings. An F0 is a permanent grade. Students who complete at least 60% of the required work with failing grades or attend a minimum of 60% of class meetings should be a regular F, not an F0. Students who fulfill the criteria for an earned F may be subject to the University's "forgiveness policy."

* Pass (P) indicates that the student met the requirements of the course. This grade can be assigned only in following courses:

those designated as having pass/fail grading option;
those with optional grading when the student has chosen pass/fail option.

+ Incomplete (IN) is a temporary grade symbol given because the course work was not completed because of serious interruption not caused by the student's own negligence (see University Policy on Incompletes).

Archiving students' work and grades
Chairpersons are called upon to adjudicate cases involving grievances between faculty and students. Frequently, resolving a grievance is hampered, if not made impossible, by the absence of complete records. Without syllabi, course descriptions, examinations, and grade records, evaluating a grievance becomes an exercise in intuition and guesswork. The problem is even more acute when the grievance involves adjunct faculty, some of whom may no longer be employed by the department when the grievance surfaces. For these reasons, the College of Arts and Sciences expects its faculty members to follow these policies:

All faculty must make available copy of the syllabi to the chairperson. Faculty are required to save for at least one semester copies of examinations and all work produced by students that was not returned. Adjunct faculty must discuss with the chairperson the departmental policy on turning in copies of grade books or spreadsheets containing grades.

Returning Students’ Works
To protect student's privacy, assignments should not be left out in boxes in a public place like the departmental office or a hallway. If students wish to have their assignments returned, they should provide instructors with self-addressed and stamped envelopes.

Photocopying
Photocopying of course materials, including the final examination must be requested through the support staff at least 24 hours before they are needed. Make-up exams should be consistent with policies provided for in the course syllabus. If make-up exams are necessary, make arrangements with the help of the support staff.

Electronic Course Management
Campus Edition (CE, formerly WebCT) is the University's course management software. Training is available through University Technology Services. Check the UTS website for information: http://www.peopleware.net/index.cfm?siteCode=2898&.

Academic Dishonesty
The University maintains a contract with Turnitin.com. You can set up your course with Turnitin.com; for information, contact the Office of the Provost at 305-348-2168. Academic dishonesty cases are referred to the Office of the Provost for disciplinary hearings and possible action. Click on http://www.fiu.edu/~oabp/misconductweb/unitinstructions.htm or call the Office of the Provost at 305-348-2168 for additional information not covered here (see below).

These are your instructions regarding the inclusion of information of academic integrity and procedures to follow when an infraction is alleged to have taken place.

Libraries

The Reserve Desk is on the second floor of the Green Library at University Park and at the main desk of the BBC Library. You may place books on reserve for the students in your classes. Articles placed on reserve will be scanned into PDF files and placed on line by the libraries once completed copyright clearance forms are on file. Ask the libraries' personnel for assistance and further information.

Final Examination

The University's Final Examination period is also expected to be strictly applied. No final exam may be given outside of the assigned date and time. Academic calendar dates of significance are given at: http://www.fiu.edu/~register/index.htm and then click on the Space and Scheduling link.

Course Evaluations

Students must be given the opportunity to evaluate every course they take. The University has adopted a uniform course evaluation instrument for students to complete. The results (as expressed in percentages) of 8 of the questions become public record and are published. Faculty should read carefully the results of the evaluations to ascertain how their students perceive their teaching and use the results as a tool for improving it.

Faculty are asked to observe the following guidelines:

Faculty member must not be present while students are filling out the evaluations.
The evaluation must not be done on a day when an exam is scheduled.
Faculty must allow for adequate time for students to complete the evaluation.
Faculty have no access to the results of evaluations until after the grade reporting period is over.
Evaluations are anonymous; faculty cannot retaliate against students they suspect gave him/her a bad evaluation.

Adjunct faculty and graduate assistants who are Instructors of Record should discuss with the Department’s office staff as to the procedures for distributing and collecting student evaluations.

Media and Classrooms

Florida International University Department of History • DM 397 • University Park • Miami • FL • 33199
Tel: 305-348-2328 • FAX: 305-348-3561

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