All faculty have an obligation to treat students with civility and respect and to foster a stimulating and productive learning environment. Evaluation of student work is one of the fundamental obligations of faculty. Examinations and assignments should be conscientiously designed, and all student work should be evaluated with impartiality. Grading should be done in a timely fashion and should be consistent with standards recognized as legitimate within the University and the professions. A student, who so requests, should be given an explanation of the grade assigned. Faculty should be as fair and complete as possible when communicating evaluative recommendations for students.  You may wish to include in your syllabus a statement to the effect: “contact me if you have extenuating circumstances that will make it difficult to meet the deadline.” Discriminatory conduct based on such factors as race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, disability, age, or political beliefs in unacceptable in the University. Faculty should seek to make the University a hospitable community for all students, should value diversity, and should be sensitive to the harmful consequences of professional or student conduct or comments in classroom discussions or elsewhere that perpetuate stereotypes or prejudices involving such factors. Student rights are clearly defined under the University non-discrimination policies.

Accommodation for Persons with Disabilities:

The University is committed to eliminating disability-based discrimination against qualified persons with disabilities and to making appropriate reasonable accommodation for any known disability that interferes with an applicant's ability to compete in a selection process, an employee's ability to perform the essential functions of a job, a student's ability to meet the essential requirements of an academic program, or a person's ability to benefit from a University service or participate in a University sponsored or hosted event. Students should contact: Disability Services in Room #137 Romney Hall, (406-994-2824) Email: [email protected].

A student who desires accommodation for a disability must submit appropriate documentation of the disability and request for accommodations to the above address. If a student presents the accommodation approved by the above office, you must make that accommodation. Contact the department head with any questions or concerns. If you believe that a student is disabled and could benefit from an accommodation, it is your responsibility to refer the student to the above office.

Complaints of discrimination, including harassment, on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, national origin, sex, gender, sexual orientation or preference, religion, age, disability or veteran’s status should be reported to the department head, and/or Human Resources/Affirmative Action Office. Please review policies regarding sexual harassment and sexual intimidation.

The entire MSU Schedule of Classes by semester is available through the general MyInfo link - rather than logging in, select “Schedule of Classes – find CRN here”.  Or, you can use this Schedule of Classes link. Select the term, rubric, instructor and click search class.

Also on the Faculty Services tab once you’re logged into MyInfo, you can bring up the Instructor List Report for any department/college. 

Otherwise, once you are logged in to MyInfo, you can find your own schedule laid out in several different ways under the Faculty Services tab.

The MSU Class Roll Service is an online tool for authorized instructors of record and academic office staff to complete the following tasks:

  • View and print class rolls (class rolls are updated nightly)
  • Download class roll data files (suitable for spreadsheet, database and iClicker use)
  • Submit Student Early Alert Reports

 Authorized users log in to the service using their NetID and password.

Faculty must post their office hours for each semester in Faculty Success.

Since the quality of the students’ education depends on our ability to address their individual academic needs, all faculty are expected to be available frequently and regularly for students to consult with them on a reasonable basis. All faculty are expected to publish in their syllabi a regular means for students to contact them outside of the classroom during the duration of the course. The communication may take many different forms, e.g., in person during office hours, telephone, desktop video, and or on-line exchanges. Your D2L course can provide another means of student contact.

Every EHHD student is assigned a departmental advisor whom they meet with once/semester to come up with plan of study for the following semester.  All EHHD departmentshave great advisors.  If they see fit, they mayrefer a student to a faculty member for “mentoring.” If a student approaches you with questions about classes, you should send them to the advisors, not the Senior Assistant Dean.

Per the MSU Faculty Handbook, faculty are expected to schedule and maintain regular office hours for students. Office hours should be reasonably convenient for students and the instructor, with the opportunity provided for prearranged appointments, and communicated to students in writing.  

MSU has distributed an Advising Commons syllabus to all first-year students starting in Fall 2019.

MSU provides several different sources of teaching professional development.  The primary venue is the campus Center for Faculty Excellence. They offer frequent, diverse workshops throughout the year and other faculty learning communities as well as one-on-one assistance. Workshops cover a breadth of topics, from active learning basics, to best practices for converting a face-to-face course to a blended or fully on-line one, and much, much more. You should be on the CFE's emailing list as soon as you are in the MSU system as a faculty member, but their website is informative and you will also receive regular emails from

CFE also offers Certificates of Completion  for Teaching Enhancement, Early Career Success, and Research & Creativity Leadership.  

The MSU Department of Education also offers a College Teaching Certificate, including 12 credits of coursework.

Another Dept of Education resource for your teaching is the After School Partnership, an integral part of pre-service teachers' developmental experience in schools.

Education Teaching Manipulatives:
Teaching manipulatives are available in the Science/Math Store Room Reid 109 & the Reading/Language Arts Room Reid 110. Check with the EHHD Dean’s Office staff for the key to all kinds of fun stuff (tiles, blocks, cubes, shapes, counters, games).

Library Resources: As noted under Research and Instruction Services, Librarians can give guest lectures integrated into your course, and help you educate your students about how to use Library resources.

Service Learning: As quoted in the MSU Catalog, "Students learn best when they engage with not only the material but also the broader community."  MSU has no formal guidelines for incorporating service learning in your classes, but across EHHD there is abundant experience with doing so that you can tap into.  The Center for Faculty Excellence in the Provost's office has a Service Learning Advising Committee.

Coordination of Study Abroad:

MSU-Bozeman's Office of International Programs (OIP) offers students information and assistance for how to study abroad at over 40 partner institutions overseas and many more which aren’t direct MSU partners. Partner institutions cost no more than MSU tuition, plus an airline ticket. Local housing can be often cheaper than housing in Bozeman.
OIP also works with faculty on collaborative grant writing to partner with international institutions on areas of mutual interest. Contact Eleanor Ingles for assistance: 406-994-7512; [email protected].

NOTE:

In your own efforts at differentiated instruction and effectively welcoming diversity, you might find these resources useful.

  • Indian Education for All: Montana’s constitutional requirement and duly enacted policy require recognition of the distinct and unique cultural heritage of American Indians and a commitment in the state's educational goals to  preserve their cultural heritage. Every Montanan, whether Indian or non-Indian, should be encouraged to learn about the distinct and unique heritage of American Indians in a culturally responsive manner.  Resources for implementing Indian Education for All in your own classrooms may be found at Dr. Jioanna Carjuzaa's IEFA Resources page.  In addition, the EHHD Dean requests that you complete the MUS IEFA Training Module on the Seven Essential Understandings.  You can find IEFA K-12 teaching resources from the State Historical Society's IEFA Lesson Plans, and through the Montana Office of Public Instructions' IEFA pages.

Indigenous Land Acknowledgment resources (e.g. for inclusion in syllabi):

We acknowledge and honor, with respect, the indigenous Nations on whose traditional homelands the University now stands and whose historical relationships with the land continues to this day.  We ask the spiritual ancestors to forgive our intrusion and humbly ask for their guidance.

  • Example from Christine Rogers Stanton, Department of Eduation:

Many Indigenous peoples, including the Apsáalooke (Crow), Niimiipuu (Nez Perce), Očhéthi Šakówiŋ (Lakota), Piikani (Blackfeet), Seliš (Salish), Shoshone, and Tsétsêhéstâhese (Northern Cheyenne), have traditional claims to the lands upon which Montana State University (MSU) physically sits. Indigenous histories and perspectives inform my work.

Also See:

American Indian Children's LIterature

Territory Acknowledgement

 Other resources from the EHHD Diversity and Inclusion Committee:

Advice from the Assistant Dean (6/2/2020):

Put the EHHD Diversity Statement on your syllabus and learn more about EHHD's Diversity and Inclusion Plan. 

Consider getting comfortable with being uncomfortable and learning more about your own implicit bias using Harvard's Implicit Bias tools.

Redo your D2L courses to be more accessible to people with disabilities. A recorded webinar on accessibility and universal design is available at the following link: Accessibility and Universal Design in Online Teaching

Consider joining the EHHD Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee. 

Attend a Safe Zone Training or consider completing MSU's Diversity & Inclusion Development Certificate at MSU when we are back on campus. 

Another consideration is ensuring equity in our classes. Another great webinar someone shared with me is on Equity-Minded and Culturally-Affirming Teaching and Learning Practices in Virtual Learning Communities. Watch it. It's really excellent. 

 D2L Brightspace is the learning platform used by Montana State University. All MSU courses are supported by D2L. Instructors use this to post, at the very least, the syllabus and all course readings (not a textbook). However, you can also use it as your gradebook and students can submit their assignments electronically through this platform. If you are teaching a blended course this is where you would operate the online component to the course. If you are not teaching blended or online, but would like to use the discussion posts you are welcome to do that. 

Unless, you are teaching blended or online, it is up to you how much or how little you want to use D2L.

MSU Brightspace D2L Support

The campus Brightspace team is very friendly and helpful – feel free to contact them (or take one of their courses) for any help you might need using the system.

To find your way to D2L

The MSU website is easy to navigate once you learn where to go. For all tools necessary for teaching go to the university web page.  Click on Faculty & Staff in the black bar across the top left corner.

From this page you can access your email, D2L (our learning platform), MyInfo (the portal which houses your employee information (time sheet, pay stub) as well as your faculty information (course list, course schedule, etc.), and the Schedule of Classes.

You can also log-in directly to Brightspace.

Activate Your Course

You have to activate your course before students can see it. You do this by opening up D2L, finding your course and next to it there will be a pencil symbol, click on it and it will open up an editing page. You will need to check the box that says Active (Make course active).

Course Listserv

For every course a listserv is assigned. This provides a way for you to email the students in the course. Usually, this listserv is available at least two weeks prior to the start of the semester. You can send an email using this format:

RubricNumberSectionHyphenSemesterLastTwoOfTheYear@sympa.montana.edu. 

For example, HDCO 508-001 would use:  [email protected] for spring 2018.  The abbreviations for semesters are as follows:  Fall is fa; spring, sp; summer, su.

Expectations for using D2L:

It is the college’s expectation that, at a minimum, you create a welcome message on your home page and post how students can contact you. Additionally, the college expects that you use your D2L course to provide “handouts” and supplemental materials to your class. Hard copies should be kept to an absolute minimum. An example of when to copy would be an exam. An example of when to use D2L would be an article you require the students to read.

Your D2L course can provide a primary means of student contact since the quality of the students’ education depends on our ability to address their individual academic needs.

Resources for Faculty Workshops from D2L

You are expected to register for a D2L Brightspace Faculty Workshop. These hands-on workshops cover the basics of the Brightspace (D2L) Learning Environment and tracking student grades. There are two different sessions: Basics and Grades. Basics sessions are 90-minute workshops that teach participants how to navigate the Brightspace system, post announcements and content, and gain an understanding of tools that are available for use with the platform. Grades sessions are 60 minutes and cover topics such as setting up the grades area of Brightspace, differentiating between grade categories and items, navigating grading systems, creating milestone grades and releasing final grades.  Also, individual consultations may be made by appointment. Workshops require pre-registration and are limited to 16 participants. Participants can bring their own computer or use computers available in the lab.

Academic Technology and Outreach gives additional information about Brightspace how to log-in and how to find help at its Support Webpage.  All of its training offerings may be found at ATO's Brightspace workshops page.

 Information Technology Center Helpdesk

For password help, faculty and student support

Note that the College of EHHD has a designated IT Support Specialist – Paul Lindsay

 Evaluation of student work is one of the fundamental obligations of faculty. Examinations and assignments should be conscientiously designed, and all student work should be evaluated with impartiality. Grading should be done in a timely fashion and should be consistent with standards recognized as legitimate within the University and the professions. A student, who so requests, should be given an explanation of the grade assigned. Faculty should be as fair and complete as possible when communicating evaluative recommendations for students. Discriminatory conduct based on such factors as race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, disability, age, or political beliefs in unacceptable in the University. Faculty should seek to make the University a hospitable community for all students, should value diversity, and should be sensitive to the harmful consequences of professional or student conduct or comments in classroom discussions or elsewhere that perpetuate stereotypes or prejudices involving such factors. Student rights are clearly defined under the University non-discrimination policies. There is further discussion of student rights in the EHHD Faculty Handbook section on Student Rights, Responsibilities and Opportunities.

Grades are submitted through the MyInfo portal, and are due no later than 48 hours after the scheduled final exam time.  But you can use D2L/Brightspace to keep your own grade records as well.  Just know that recording final grades in Brightspace doesn't mean you've submitted them to the Registrar!

MSU requires all courses (except labs) to use the final exam period. The final exam schedule operates on a different time table than the rest of the semester.  When composing your syllabus before the start of each semester, make sure to check the final exam time.   Here is a link to the final exam schedule.

While you may choose not to assign a final exam, you are required to be available to students at the time posted for that exam.

For more information on handling student challenges to their grade(s), see the section of this Handbook Chapter on "Student Complaints and Concerns."

An interesting resource on how to think about grading is the book, Specifications Grading: Restoring Rigor, Motivating Students, and Saving Faculty Time, recommended by Ken Silvestri, Instructional Designer with the MSU Center for Faculty Excellence.

Some useful resources on responding to students' writing are George Mason University's Writing Across the Curriculum Tips, Richard Haswell's Minimal Marking, and Nancy Sommer's Responding to Student Writing.

Incompletes - Information from the Office of the Dean of Students

The Curriculum, Enrollment and Graduation Procedures page describes criteria for an assigning an "I" for Incomplete which requires an I-Grade Authorization form.  Print and submit the hard copy.

Appeals -

The University has clearly stated policy for how students are to appeal grades. These policies are listed under the Conduct Guidelines & Grievance Procedures for Students. If a student wants to challenge you on a grade or a decision, please follow the policies as stated in section 500.00 Student Academic Grievance Procedures. You should note that the first step is that the student should attempt to resolve the matter directly with the instructor through a personal conference as soon as possible after the academic decision is known. If the matter is not resolved, the student should follow policy for filing a formal grievance. 

It is helpful to both you and the student if you can direct the student to the University policy as it allows for timely response to grievances.

MSU is using the Campus Labs data collection process with the IDEA course evaluation instrument.  Students are solicited for their evaluations electronically through their email near the end of the semester, and faculty have no role other than to encourage them to please fill them out.  (Faculty also get an automated notice that students are being asked for their evaluations.)  Reports are emailed to departments after the end of the semester.  Faculty can access their reports from the Center for Faculty Excellence webpage on electronic course evaluations.

Faculty need to collect and present their course evaluation date in their dossiers for Retention, Tenure and Promotion.  You can approach organizing your course evaluations in slightly different ways through the RTP process. A minimum suggestion is that faculty members provide a single table with their numeric evaluations in summary format as evidence of their effectiveness in teaching. You may choose to include all of your course evaluations in a separate PDF document or with other materials for a single course. Neither EHHD department specifies a single prescribed fashion for presenting this evidence in the dossier.

Enrollment, Adds/Drops:Faculty can delete a student who drops the course from D2L but that doesn’t mean the student has actually dropped the class – either adding or dropping a course requires a Registrar's form with signatures. Go to the Office of the Registrar and choose All Forms in the left-hand column in order to find this and other forms.  Print and submit the signed hard copy.
Also note the Registrar's Add/Drop Schedule

Transcripts and Grades can be viewed at the Registrar's page for Accessing Your Unofficial Transcript.  The Registrar has a separate page for students to order official transcripts.

Other Student Forms that can be found on the Office of the Registrar's website:

  • Baccalaureate Degree Application
  • Curriculum Changes
  • Enrollment or Degree Verification Request
  • I Grade Form
  • Intent to Register

 A syllabus is required to be distributed to students at the start of every semester.  At the start of each semester, please send an electronic version of your syllabus to [email protected]. 

Communicating

All faculty are expected to be available frequently and regularly for students to consult with them on a reasonable basis. As a result, all faculty are expected to publish in their syllabi a regular means for students to contact them outside of the classroom during the duration of the course. The communication may take many different forms, e.g., in person during office hours, telephone, desktop video, and/or on-line exchanges through email or D2L.

When composing your syllabus before the start of each semester, make sure to check the final exam time on the final exam schedule.

Your Commitment to Diversity & Inclusion

The campus' Diversity and Inclusion commitments also need to be reflected in syllabi, as well as ADA procedures. Examples of inclusion language for your syllabus are available from the Diversity and Inclusion Student Commons.

You may also wish to include a "Land Acknowledgement" in your syllabus.  Walter Fleming, MSU Native American Studies Department Head offers this option: "We acknowledge and honor, with respect, the indigenous Nations on whose traditional homelands the University now stands and whose historical relationships with the land continues to this day.  We ask the spiritual ancestors to forgive our intrusion and humbly ask for their guidance."

Your Expectations of Students

Your syllabus also should tell students your grading plan, and how you will handle class absences or neglect of homework assignments.  The Center for Faculty Excellence offers syllabus examples regarding attendance and participation.

The syllabus should tell students that they are to adhere to the Student Code of Conduct.  The Registrar's office offers a summary of student conduct expectations and student responsibilities for their education. The Dean of Students offers example language for addressing Academic Misconduct in your syllabus. 

The Center for Faculty Excellence provides easy access to these different elements of the syllabus.

Your Concern for Student Well-Being

EHHD has a comprehensive listing of campus-wide resources for student success which you can offer in your syllabus.

The campus counseling center offers this language as well:

MSU strives to create a culture of support and recognizes that your mental health and wellness are equally as important as your physical health. We want you to know that it’s OK if you experience difficulty, and there are several resources on campus to help you succeed emotionally, personally, and academically:

Your department’s business operations manager will send out a request via your montana.edu email to have you fill out book order forms for textbooks that need to be ordered into the bookstore.  This usually happens 2-3 months before the start of the upcoming semester. It is most likely that these emails will be sent to your montana.edu email address. It is likely a good practice to check in with the program leader of your area to ascertain whether a specific textbook is used. Please make sure to turn in your book orders by the stated deadline, otherwise, your books may not make it in time for semester start.

Please be sure to turn them in book order requests as per the stated deadline, otherwise, books may not make it in time.

Note that the MSU Library has an Open Educational Resources initiative which can link you to free materials that could be suitable for use in your courses.  The list of disciplines with relevant resources is still being more fully developed. Also they might again make grants available for MSU faculty to migrate course materials for undergraduate classes from print to online access. 

It's important for you to set your own boundaries with students, and find balance in your life. You can model boundaries for your students with such syllabus information as "I'm not going to  respond to emails in the evening because I need time with my family.” Find what fills your own well, and be accountable to yourself. Remember, "Higher education is not the emergency room"! Make use of all the myriad campus resources for struggling students (in multiple sections of this handbook chapter). One option you have for making students aware of resources available to them is to bring guest speakers into your classes, or take two minutes at the beginning or end of a class period to walk students through different web pages that list student resources. You can include in your D2L shells something like "important resources for your success," and/or send those as an email with a reminder to "save this email." The Allen Yarnell Center for Student Success has a person on call every day of the week to answer questions, within the half hour; if need help finding appropriate resources. The university has your back!

If you're not yet aware, take advantage of the MUS Wellness program which provides Wellchecks, Lifestyle Education and Support, and a great Wellness Incentives program.