Class Cancellation Policy

 

The GMU Faculty Handbook and the GMU Part-Time Faculty Handbook state that

Except for illnesses and other emergencies, faculty members should arrange in advance for absences and notify their local unit administrator. Faculty members should arrange for qualified colleagues to assume their duties temporarily and/or leave appropriate assignments for their students. In emergencies they should make every effort to notify class members and the local unit or program office as soon as practicable.

If you need to cancel class for an emergency, please contact Valerie Inglis in the main office (703-993-1160; vinglis@gmu.edu). If you have a class email list, contact your students as well. If you are cancelling a once-per-week class, you should try if possible to make up some of the missed time with your students, via email, conferences, online work, or other interaction.

Aside from the exception noted below, instructors should not simply plan to cancel classes for any reason.

If sufficient advance notice is available, instructors should find a qualified substitute instructor.  If one is not available, you may design a specific assignment for students that (a) will require them to invest time equivalent to the class being missed, and (b) will result in peer- and/or instructor-feedback along the lines of what might be given in the equivalent class period. ("Go to the library and research your paper" is not an appropriately specific substitute assignment.) 

If you'd like to schedule an online class session to replace your face-to-face class meeting, please see the Online Class Policy.

Conferencing Exception: The Composition Program, in its support of one-on-one conferencing as one valuable method of writing instruction, allows teachers who require their students to attend such conferences to cancel some class time. We ask that instructors who trade class time for conference-time

  • cancel not more than one week's worth of class meetings for each set of required 15-20 minute individual conferences (shorter conferences or group conferences should allow the cancellation of less class time), and
  • cancel not more than two weeks' worth of classes total for conferencing with a class per semester, and
  • require students to complete one or more short, possibly conference-related assignments when classes are canceled for conferencing -- preparing conference questions, writing a brief reflection on the conference, devising a revision plan, posting to an online discussion, revising a draft, etc. -- to reinforce the concept that conferencing requires the input of both parties, and reinforce the idea that the work of a writing class continues even during the conference-week.

Questions about finding substitute teachers, designing appropriate compensatory assignments, or scheduling individual conferences should be directed to the Director or Assistant Director of Composition.