Faculty members at the University are expected to be experts in their disciplines, to be effective teachers, and to be accessible and helpful to their students. These general responsibilities are inherent in the student-faculty relationship and pertain to all who conduct classes at the University; meeting them requires the type of research and scholarship, teaching, and good academic citizenship which are emphasized in the faculty personnel policies of the University.

The Statement on Professional Ethics approved by the Council of the American Association of University Professors (see Chapter Three, Section II) states that as teachers "professors encourage the free pursuit of learning in their students. They hold before them the best scholarly standards of their discipline. They demonstrate respect for the student as an individual, and adhere to their proper role as intellectual guide and counselor. They make every reasonable effort to foster honest academic conduct and to assure that their evaluation of students reflects their true merit. They respect the confidential nature of the relationship between professor and student. They avoid exploitation of students for their private advantage and acknowledge significant assistance from them. They protect their academic freedom."

Students are partners in the teaching-learning experience. Their active participation in class discussions, and effective use of the faculty member's time during office hours, can help the faculty member adjust to special needs of the class. Regular class attendance is essential.

Grades are an integral part of academic evaluation and fairness in grading requires the detection and suppression of dishonesty in academic work. The University policy on academic misconduct describes the process to be followed when misconduct appears to have occurred (see Appendix C); the academic grievance policy describes the process to be followed by students who believe they have been treated unfairly (see Appendix D).

The University of Alabama is committed to maintaining equal opportunities in education and employment. It supports an environment of ethnic, religious, and cultural diversity and provides facility and program accessibility to disabled persons. It is incumbent upon faculty to provide a learning environment free from discrimination and sexual harassment. The policy on sexual harassment is in Appendix I.

A. Academic Advising

Faculty members are expected to be available to students to provide academic advice. Faculty members should be aware of curricular and degree requirements pertinent to their discipline.

B. Office Hours

All faculty members must maintain regular and reasonably convenient office hours to answer questions from students and to advise students. In addition, faculty members are expected to schedule individual appointments as needed. The schedule of office hours must be posted and must be available in the departmental/program office.

C. Registration

Faculty members may be required to assist in the registration process. Assignments of registration duties are made by departmental chairpersons and by academic deans or directors.

D. Advising Student Organizations

Student organizations are an important part of the co-curricular activities of The University of Alabama. They can contribute to the personal development of students within the context of the University's teaching, research, and service missions. To the extent that they fulfill these missions, faculty are encouraged to support student organizations by serving as advisors, as guest speakers, and in other roles as appropriate.

E. Tutoring

Persons on the payroll of the University may not tutor a student in the University for compensation if they have any direct connection with the course in which the student desires tutoring. 

A. Class Schedule

Normally, classes can be held only at the time and in the place specified in the printed Schedule of Classes. The only exceptions to this policy occur when the academic dean or designee approves a change in time and/or location and these changes are subsequently communicated to the appropriate offices.

B. Faculty Class Attendance

Faculty members are expected to conduct their classes as scheduled. A faculty member normally must receive prior approval from the department chairperson before missing or rescheduling classes. The faculty member must arrange for a suitable substitute for missed classroom time and must discuss such arrangements with the department chairperson to ensure that the plan is acceptable.

C. Student Attendance

Students are expected to attend classes as scheduled. Attendance policies must be provided to each student at the beginning of the semester. These policies must allow for the possibility that students may experience difficulties beyond their control which result in failure to attend class or failure to complete an assignment on time. See also Part V, D below.

A. Accurate Course Descriptions and Syllabi

Faculty members are required at the beginning of each course to provide their students with an accurate syllabus. Items to be covered in the course syllabus include: prerequisites, course description, objectives, outline of topics covered during the semester, attendance policy, the planned number and timing of major examinations and assignments, grading policy, the policy for making up missed course work (including examinations), and required texts and other course material. Students will be given timely notice of any changes in the syllabus. Any special considerations (e.g., opportunities to earn extra credit) offered to a student shall be available to all students in the class.

Faculty members must provide the departmental chairperson with a current syllabus for each course they teach. The chairperson is responsible for maintaining a file of current course syllabi, for monitoring the syllabi with regard to the above requirements, and for ensuring that the official course descriptions published in University catalogs agree with the syllabi and give an adequate summary of the material to be covered and the prerequisites and co-requisites needed to complete the course successfully.

B. Textbooks

Individual academic units have differing processes for selecting textbooks. The books selected must be reported on the textbook information forms supplied by the University.

C. Distribution of Materials in Class Subject to Copyright Policy

Faculty are expected to abide by federal copyright laws. For scholarly research or teaching purposes, a single copy may be made of a chapter from a book; an article from a periodical or newspaper; a short story, short essay, or short poem; or a chart, graph, diagram, drawing, cartoon, or picture from a book, periodical, or newspaper.

The guidelines for multiple copying are more complex. Multiple copies may be made for classroom use, but the making of such copies must meet rigorous criteria. Each copy must include a notice of copyright. Under no circumstances may more than one copy per pupil be made. Multiple copies must also meet tests of brevity, spontaneity, and cumulative effect. See Appendix H and Chapter Three, Section XIII.
 
D. Academic Honor Code

All students in attendance at The University of Alabama are expected to be honorable and to observe standards of conduct appropriate to a community of scholars. The University of Alabama expects from its students a higher standard of conduct than the minimum required to avoid discipline. At the beginning of each semester and on examinations and projects, the professor, department, or division may require that each student sign the following Academic Honor Pledge: "I promise or affirm that I will not at any time be involved with cheating, plagiarism, fabrication, or misrepresentation while enrolled as a student at The University of Alabama. I have read the Academic Honor Code, which explains disciplinary procedure resulting from the aforementioned. I understand that violation of this code will result in penalties as severe as indefinite suspension from the University."

E. Collection of Student Fees

The University of Alabama has established administrative procedures for approving and collecting student fees. The procedures preclude faculty from imposing student fees or collecting money from students for any reason. 

A. Assignments and Evaluations

Faculty members are required to make appropriate assignments, and to make periodic assessments of the progress of their students. Systematic evaluation of students' work is an important part of the teaching-learning process. Evaluations may take many forms, and may vary in number and scope, depending on the objectives and purpose of the course. Faculty members must inform their classes in writing at the beginning of the semester as to the nature and timing of major evaluations, including the final evaluation. Faculty members must give students timely information about the results of evaluations, and must give students an opportunity to review their progress and to discuss their evaluations.

B. Study Week

The week immediately preceding the final examination period each semester is reserved as a time in which students may concentrate on completing course work and preparing for final examinations. Only laboratory examinations omitted from the Final Examination Schedule are permitted during Study Week. The University prohibits all other examinations and extended assignments during Study Week.

C. Final Examinations and Evaluations

While evaluation details are properly left to individual faculty members and their departments, it is the responsibility of each faculty member to conduct a final evaluation for each student in each undergraduate course for which the faculty member is responsible. All undergraduate courses will be assumed to require a final evaluation unless a petition for variance is included as part of the course proposal or is granted prior to the start of the semester. It is the chairperson's responsibility, in consultation with the departmental faculty as necessary, to ensure that proper evaluations are conducted.

A time for each final examination or evaluation is specified in the printed Schedule of Classes, and again in the Final Examination Schedule which is distributed shortly before the end of the semester. Normally, final examinations can be held only at the assigned time. The only exceptions to this policy occur when the academic dean approves a change in time before the semester begins and students are informed of this decision at the beginning of the course; where time conflicts result from such a change, priority shall be given to examinations which comply with the printed Final Examination Schedule.

D. Opportunities for Making Up Examinations and Assignments

Students should be given the opportunity to hand in assignments and to make up work missed due to legitimate circumstances beyond the students' control. Methods for making up missed assignments may vary from course to course, and from discipline to discipline but normally should be the same from student to student within the same course. The appropriate method(s) used for each course must be stated in the course policy provided each student at the start of the semester. 

Faculty members are expected to maintain grade records for all registered students. Faculty members may use any system they choose for keeping such records. The University expects each faculty member to leave all grade records with the department chairperson or dean at the end of employment at the University

B. Student Records

The University's policy on confidentiality of student academic records is based on the statement of ethical principles of the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers and on the requirements of the Family Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, as amended. The policy is published each year in the class schedule for spring semester and is available on request from the Office of Records.

Official academic records of students are maintained in the Office of Records. Student information useful in academic counseling and advising is also maintained in some divisional and departmental offices and is accessible to authorized University personnel through an electronic student records system. Only faculty, administrators, and staff with a legitimate need for information from student records are permitted access to such records. Faculty, administrators, and staff dealing with student records are expected to know the University's policy on confidentiality of student academic records and to observe appropriate precautions when handling student information (e.g., letters of recommendation, grade reports, computer terminal screen display information, grade point average, quality points earned).

C. Reporting Grades

The Records Office distributes forms for reporting final course grades a few days prior to the final examination period. These forms must be returned to the Records Office by the deadline with the final grades listed. The faculty member should arrange to have the grade report delivered to the Records Office to guard against loss or delay.

D. Posting Grades

A faculty member who chooses to post grades must do so in a way that maintains student confidentiality as required by the Family Rights and Privacy Act of 1974. Grades cannot be posted by social security number or in a list that is in alphabetical order; rather, the faculty member or department must devise a unique code for each student and must ensure its confidentiality.

E. Changing Grades

The assignment of course grades is a primary part of the academic responsibility of the faculty members to whom a course has been assigned. Changes in course grades are normally to be made only by such faculty member. Faculty members may change grades they have assigned only because of error in fact or error in judgment.

The faculty within a department or discipline may, following procedures adopted by that faculty, authorize the change of course grade when they believe a faculty member has failed to discharge his or her academic duties in a responsible manner, or where there is an uncorrected error, or where other factors of equity and professional judgment persuade the faculty to take such an extraordinary step.

University policy may authorize other grade changes, such as the W, N, and I grading rules or the Academic Bankruptcy provisions.