Faculty Affairs

Duties and Responsibilities

The following are general guidelines regarding your duties and responsibilities as a part-time single term instructor. Colleges and departments/schools may have additional requirements.

Course Syllabi:

  • At the first-class period of the term, you should provide students with a complete syllabus. The purpose is to give students the information they need. All syllabi should include:
    • title of the course and number of semester credits;
    • instructor’s name, office room number, office hours, and office telephone number;
    • statement of course goals;
    • required course material;
    • a course calendar, indicating lecture/discussion topics of assignments, due dates for exams, quizzes, papers, etc.;
    • methods used to determine the final course grade and any special attendance requirements.
  • The Office of Disability Services http://www.csuohio.edu/disability/information-for-faculty recommends inclusion of the following statement:

In accordance with federal law, if you have a documented disability, you may be eligible to request accommodations from The Office of Disability and Testing Services.

For more information regarding available accommodations and registration, please call 216.687.2015 or stop by their office in Rhodes West 210. Please keep in mind that accommodations are not retroactive.

Course Content:

Course content should be consistent with the department/school course descriptions.

Course material adoption requests should be submitted to the department/school office. Note that different departments/schools have different policies on textbook orders. You should check with your department chair/school director. Information needed to order textbooks must be submitted well in advance of the forthcoming semester. For summer and fall terms, the information is needed by the Bookstore by April 15th. For spring semester, course material information is needed by the Bookstore on or before October 31st. Text requests must be made each semester for each course.

You should provide the department/school with a copy of your syllabus, all class handout materials, and tests used during the semester. Your department/school may help with copying course materials. Please allow sufficient time for these services. A week or more is generally preferred. Check with the department/school office for specific procedures.

Classroom Requirements:

You are required to meet for all your classes at scheduled times. In case of illness or any other emergency, you must notify the department chair/school director as soon as possible so that an appropriate substitute may be provided.

You are expected to schedule time for office hours/student conferences, either prior to or following the regular class period or at other times arranged by appointment with the students.

You have been assigned a specific classroom. Please do not move your class to another location. This creates problems with scheduling and with locating students and instructors in case of an emergency. If you have any problems related to your assigned room, please discuss it with your chairperson/school director.

Systems and Resources:

Class rosters for your courses can be downloaded from CampusNet. Midterm grades are required for first – year students. Both mid-term and final grades have to be submitted through CampusNet in a timely manner. Final grades are due within forty-eight hours after your scheduled final exam, but no later than the Tuesday following the week of final examinations. Please provide your department/school office with a printed hard copy of your final grade report.

CSU uses a student/advisor/faculty communication system called Starfish, which can be accessed through the advisor tab on CampusNet and through Blackboard. All faculty have access to this system. Faculty can use this system to communicate with students and advisors, to allow students to sign up for appointments, and to raise concerns about students who are not attending or doing poorly in class. When an instructor raises a concern through Starfish, an advisor will contact the student and try to address the problem. The student is also alerted that a problem exists. If you encounter students in need of any type of support services (e.g. tutoring, coaching, food assistance, etc.) and you are unsure how to help, please refer them to their assigned advisor. CSU offers comprehensive student support, and advisors are intimately familiar with all services provided on campus. To get more information about using Starfish, contact the Director of Student Success Programs, Heike Heinrich: h.heinrich@csuohio.edu.

CSU uses Blackboard for online and traditional courses. If you are teaching online, you must use Blackboard to deliver course content. If you are teaching a traditional course, you may choose to place materials and/or assignments on Blackboard. Blackboard courses are automatically populated from the registration system. Login to Blackboard using your CSU credentials. Contact the Center for eLearning for information, training opportunities and consultation, elearning@csuohio.edu.

Grades and Exams:

Graded examinations and papers should be returned promptly to students.

Final examinations must be administered during the period assigned and must follow the approved time schedule. The schedule is listed at http://www.csuohio.edu/enrollmentservices/registrar/calendar/.

At the end of the semester, please provide your department/school office with hard copies of documentation concerning student grades. This would include your grade book (either electronic or paper) and your final grade report. This will facilitate the disposition of any grade disputes that may arise in the future.