Arts Policy and Procedures on Course Outlines

The Faculty of Arts requires that the following information be provided on all course outlines within the Faculty:

• Course name, number, university name, faculty member(s), faculty member contact information, term and year of offering
• Course objectives and/or description
• All assignments – due dates, percentage weighting relative to final grade
• All course requirements
• A clear statement as to how course work combines to determine final letter grades; as a minimum, students shall be referred to the appropriate academic regulations

Where the faculty member elects to include the following in his or her course, the following information shall be provided on the course outline:

• Penalties for lateness
• Additional penalties (such as automatic failure) if specific assignments are not completed. Where the faculty member reserves the right to impose a penalty greater than the weighting of the course component, such additional penalties must be clearly articulated in the course outline.
• Participation requirements
• Scheduled events or activities outside of class/lab time

Procedures:

• Course outlines shall normally be distributed at the first meeting of each course or shall be included in materials required for the course and in every case shall be available to students by the completion of three contact hours of instruction.
• The department Chair shall maintain a copy of course outlines for his or her program(s)
• Faculty members shall provide the Chair(s) with a copy of course outlines normally at least one week prior to the commencement of the course and at least by the end of the first week of class in all cases. It is the responsibility of the Chair to ensure that the department records are current and complete. While responsibility for ensuring adherence of course design with the academic regulations of the University rests with the faculty member.
• Where required for the purposes of administering the academic regulations of the university (e.g. grade appeals) the Department shall provide a copy of the course outline to the Dean of Arts and/or the University Registrar/Associate Registrar.

Liability Issues:

Issues pertaining to course outlines have proven to be sources of litigation on Canadian campuses. Reflecting our institutional obligations to students it is advised that faculty members include versions of the following statements on their course outlines as applicable.

Academic Integrity:

Students are specifically referred to the policy on academic integrity Section 4.2.2 of the General Calendar. Violations of this policy, including all forms of plagiarism, will not be tolerated.

Human Rights Compliance:

Brandon University is committed to providing reasonable accommodation for individuals with disabilities. If you need such accommodation (i.e. classroom or testing accommodations), please inform the instructor at the beginning of the course. For more information about accommodations for students with disabilities, contact the Disability Services Coordinator located in the Accessible Learning Centre, Room 106 A.E. McKenzie Bldg or call 727-9759.

Ethics Compliance

Human subjects research required for this course is conducted in compliance with the Tri-Council Policy for Research Involving Humans. The Brandon University Research Ethics Committee has issued an ethics certificate for this course. All student research must be conducted in accordance with these guidelines and requires approval by the faculty member.

Protections Pertaining to Teaching in Controversial Areas: (Such statements should be customized for each course – what follows is an example only)

Statement of “Fair Warning”: In this course students examine self/other identities from an interactionist perspective. As a part of this work students will be asked to examine their own identities and their relations to others. Topics will include (but are not limited to) chronic illness, divorce, sexual orientation, relationships to community, stigma, and impression management. Students may find the worldviews and/or practices discussed in class, required readings, or required research personally offensive, disturbing or otherwise troubling. Any student not wishing to undertake this work should contact the instructor immediately so that enrollment in an alternative course more in keeping with the student’s interest can be facilitated.

Statement of Limit

This policy is limited by Article 5 (Academic Freedom) of the Collective Agreement, as it may be amended from time to time and the Academic Regulations of Brandon University, as amended by Senate from time to time.

Approved at the November 18, 2003 AFC
Murray/Faculty of Arts/Policy and Procedures on Course Outlines.doc