CHSS Policies for Instructors

Updated Fall 2007


In this document:


1.  Instructors should hand out a paper syllabus on the first day of class. The provost has provided funds for every department to cover this cost so that students will not be required to access the syllabi on the web or through email accounts.


2.  Classes need to meet in the times and places that have been scheduled by the Office of the Registrar, except for occasional alternative arrangements (such as one-on-one or small group consultations or where project work legitimately interrupts regular class sessions). In any case, faculty are expected to be available to students on campus throughout the entire semester.

Instructors cannot require additional course meetings beyond those officially listed in the Schedule of Classes.  In the event of cancelled classes, the Office of the Provost will notify faculty about any changes to the schedule to compensate for missed class time.


3.  Faculty who plan to miss more than one scheduled class need prior permission of the chair and should make alternative arrangements for the class that are approved by the chair.


4.  Instructors should periodically remind students that they are responsible for the accuracy of their own schedules. Students need to be reminded to check PatriotWeb regularly to verify that they are registered for the classes that they think they are. This is particularly important since students are no longer dropped for nonpayment. Faculty should not allow a student who is not registered to continue to attend class and should not grade the work of students who do not appear on the official class roster.


5.  Instructors should note the add and drop deadlines for classes on their syllabus. The deadlines for courses that last the whole semester are given below. These dates differ for courses that meet less than the full semester. See the Schedule of Classes for those dates.

Last Day to Add (Full-Semester Course)          September 11, 2007

Last Day to Drop (Full-Semester Course)        September 28, 2007

Elective Withdrawal Period (Full-Semester Course) September 29 – October 26, 2007

Once the add and drop deadlines have passed, instructors do not have the authority to approve requests from students to add or drop/withdraw late. Late adds (up until the last day of classes are reviewed and approved by the department chair of the course being offered. These should generally be approved only in the case of a documented university error (such as a problem with financial aid being processed). Requests for non-elective withdrawals and retroactive adds (adds after the last day of classes) must be approved by the student’s academic dean. In the case of students whose major is in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, this is the office of Undergraduate Academic Affairs (Enterprise 316; 703.993.8725; chssdean@gmu.edu; chssdean.gmu.edu).


6.  The provost has requested that instructors include on their syllabi the following statement about accommodations for students with disabilities:

If you are a student with a disability and you need academic accommodations, please see me and contact the Office of Disability Resources at 703.993.2474. All academic accommodations must be arranged through that office.

Instructors should inform students that the need for accommodations should be identified at the beginning of the semester and that the specific accommodation has to be arranged through the Office of Disability Resources. Faculty should not provide accommodations to students on their own (e.g. allowing a student extra time to complete an exam because the student reports having a disability). If they are pressured by a student or parent to do so, they should contact the Office of Disability Resources or Ruth J. Townsend, the ADA Coordinator for George Mason (703.993.8730).


7. If instructors give a final exam, they must give it at the time and place published in the Schedule of Classes.  This time is set by the Registrar, and instructors are not free to change it. Students plan their schedules around the published dates, and it is important to follow them. Exams should not be given during the final week of classes. This reduces instructional time and the time students have been given for review. If an exam time for a particular class is not printed in the Schedule of Classes, the instructor should contact the Registrar at the start of the semester to schedule one. Instructors should allow students the entire scheduled exam time to complete the exam unless they give advance notice that less time will be allowed.


8.  Grading reminders:  Once final grades have been recorded, instructors should never accept any work to change a grade. Grade changes can only be approved when they are due to a calculation or recording error on the part of the instructor.

An incomplete grade (IN) should be used only if the student requests it in writing. An IN counts as a failing grade until completed, and it automatically turns into an F if a grade is not turned in by the deadline in the Schedule of Classes. Some students may prefer a C or D to an IN, and instructors shouldn’t assume that the student wants an IN rather than a grade or that it is in the student’s best interest to get an IN.

In addition, instructors should assign an IN only if the student has a very limited amount of work to complete and there is a non academic reason they can’t do so within the semester and if, in their best judgment, the student actually stands a good chance of passing the course by finishing the work satisfactorily. Typical situations for giving incompletes involve a final exam (missed due to illness) or a final paper (not completed because of a family emergency). Instructors shouldn’t assign incompletes if the student has missed a substantial portion of the work of the semester and wants extra time to do it; they shouldn’t assign incompletes to give a student time to improve on work already completed. 

Instructors shouldn’t agree to give incompletes unless they will be available to grade the work and submit a grade by the official due date. If the instructor will be going on leave or leaving George Mason, this might not be possible. Instructors may set an earlier due date for the unfinished work; it is best to have in writing a description of the work that is outstanding and the date by which it is due. Instructors are not ever obligated to give an IN.

9.  Federal law (a law known as FERPA) requires us to protect the privacy of student information. Instructors should not speak about a student’s record with anyone other than the student. The record includes how a student is doing in a course, whether a student has attended class, information about performance or grades, whether a paper has been turned in, etc. This prohibition includes parents, siblings, spouses, anyone. If instructors have questions about whether to respond to an inquiry about a student or about FERPA in general, they should contact Dr. Doris Bitler in the Undergraduate Academic Affairs Office (dbitler@gmu.edu; 703.993.8725).

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