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, this 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
• For every course taught, a member is encouraged to submit a copy of her/his syllabus to the Dean’s office during the first month of classes. This shall be done on a voluntary basis.

Liability Issues

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

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.

The following is required to be on the course outline; however any supplementary material (attendance, electronic usage, late assignments etc.) can be included at the instructor’s discretion.

Statement on Accommodation

Brandon University values diversity and inclusion, recognizing disability as an aspect of diversity. Our shared goal is to create learning environments that are accessible, equitable, and inclusive for all students. Student Accessibility Services (SAS) works with students who have permanent, chronic, or temporary disabilities. SAS supports students by developing an individualized plan of accommodation, helping students understand their learning needs, and assisting faculty with provision of accommodations for students registered with SAS.

If you have, or think you may have, a disability (e.g. mental health, attentional, learning, vision, hearing, physical, medical, or temporary), you are invited to contact Student Accessibility Services to arrange a confidential discussion at (204) 727-9759 or magnussonm@brandonu.ca.

Academic Integrity

The Brandon University Academic Integrity Policy underlines the importance of all members of the BU community respecting and upholding the fundamental values of honesty, trust, fairness, respect, responsibility, and courage (ICAI, 2014) in every academic activity. Students are responsible for ensuring they understand and adhere to these values.

Activities that depart from these values include, but are not limited to, the following: plagiarism, cheating, academic interference, falsification, and aiding others to depart from academic integrity.

Students found responsible for having departed from academic integrity will be subject to remedies and/or sanctions. Depending on the scope and impact of the departure as well as the student’s level of study and past academic integrity history, remedies and sanctions range from mandated educational activities through failure on an assignment/failure in the course to expulsion from the University and revocation of credentials/degrees granted.

All departures from academic integrity will be recorded in the BU Academic Integrity Repository, and certain sanctions will result in a notation on the student’s transcript.

The full Academic Integrity Policy, including definitions of academic integrity’s fundamental values, examples of activities that depart from academic integrity, and processes undertaken in cases of suspected departures from academic integrity, is available at www.brandonu.ca/senate-office/senate-policies

Exam dates

In-class testing and in-class final examinations shall occur in the slot for the class as established in the registration guide. NO in-class tests or final examinations shall be administered where the time established for the test or the actual duration of the test exceeds the duration of the class or laboratory as established in the registration guide. This regulation in no way limits Brandon University’s duty to ensure that reasonable academic accommodation is made available for students with disabilities. (AFC Motion, December 8, 2015)

With the exception of laboratory examinations in the Arts and Sciences, no in-class tests or final examinations that are worth more than 10% of the final grade may be held during the last 14 calendar days of classes in the Fall or Winter term. (AFC Motion, December 8, 2015)

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.

Policy approved at the November 18, 2003 AFC. Revised as noted.