Faculty and Strategic Initiatives
Curriculum and Classroom Policies, Procedures and Guidelines
FACULTY HANDBOOK
MTSU Mission, Vision and Organization
Academic Freedom and Responsibilities
Appointment, Renewal, Tenure, and Promotion Policies
Curriculum and Teaching Policies, Procedures and Guidelines
Faculty Development, Recognition and Information
Finance-Related and Travel Policies and Procedures
Hiring, Employment and Personnel Policies
Research and Graduate Faculty Resources
Curriculum and Teaching Policies, Procedures, and Guidelines
This section of the handbook is divided into Curriculum and Teaching and includes policies, procedures and guidelines as well as resources related to both.
Curriculum: This section is divided into changes to curriculum, general education and catalogs, textbooks and course materials, and general information.
Teaching: This section is divided into course outline/syllabus, policies and procedures, reporting obligations, supporting students in the classroom, and related information. Faculty may find the Course Outline/Syllabus examples (linked below under Teaching) which includes suggested syllabus statements helpful.
I. Curriculum
Changes to Curriculum
- Undergraduate Curriculum Change Forms and Information
General Education & Catalogs
Textbooks and Course Materials
- Textbook Ordering, Faculty–Adoptions can be emailed to the bookstore at store8348@bncollege.com or entered through the Adoptions and Insights Portal (AIP) available through the Faculty Pipeline page under Resources. Your sign-on is the same as your MTSU SSP.
General Information
- Academic Program Coordinators (undergraduate and graduate)
- Education Abroad Proposal
- Honors Course Development
II. Teaching
Course Outline/Syllabus
- Course Outline/ Syllabus Templates
- Suggested Syllabus Statements pertaining to effective classroom accommodations, Lottery Scholarship, guests, animals and emergencies in classroom)
Policies and Procedures
- Academic/Instructional Continuity (Inclement Weather)
- Cancelling Classes, Faculty Due to Illness – Faculty should make every effort to cover classes (or at least provide alternative assignments or other activities) to maintain instructional continuity. The leave policy section III.C.5 outlines faculty responsibilities for notifying their supervisor and submitting leave reports when absent for sickness.
- Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act FERPA and FERPA Training Information
- Graduate Faculty Membership- Faculty must apply for Graduate Faculty Membership prior to teaching a graduate-level course
- Grades and Grade Appeals
- Purged Classes – If students do not pay by a specified date, they will be removed or “purged” from their registered classes, and will have to register again. Their seats will be opened up to other students or students on the waitlist. Deadlines to pay/confirm can be found on the tuition website.
- Safety-Related Policies and Procedures (Alert4U)
- Student Evaluations of Teaching, Faculty Access—SETs can be accessed in Faculty Success.
- Technology- A spreadsheet on each classroom and the technology available is maintained. The Instructional Space Standards provide the specific equipment in standard classrooms in the Appendices. The ITD service portal Knowledge Base has step by step instructions for Classroom Touch Panels and lecture capture control. The Jones College of Business IT Services has created several guides for D2L, Zoom, Microsoft 365, and Master Classrooms that faculty may find helpful.
Reporting Obligations
Supporting Students in the Classroom
- Drop / Add Deadlines
- Disability and Access Center
- Effective Management of Student Behavior
- Responding to Grief and Loss Guide
- Student Classroom Misconduct
- Student Grade Appeals and Grade Appeal Form
- Student Resources
- Tutoring
- University Writing Center
Related Information
- Academic Calendar
- American Democracy Project at MTSU
- Desire 2 Learn (D2L) Support through the ITD Service Portal
- Employee Attendance during Inclement Weather
- EXL at MTSU – Faculty interested in teaching an EXL should reach out to the EXL office. EXL provides faculty with an opportunity to incorporate hands-on learning in their classes. It also helps to provide students with EXL credits where faculty are already involved in service learning or experiential learning activities. EXL activities can attract grants for course development and garner awards for faculty who are willing to innovate.
- International Education
- Library Instruction
- MT Engage – Faculty interested in teaching an MT Engage course should reach out to the MTE office. Every MT Engage course shares four components: high impact educational practices (HIPs), a beyond the classroom experience, a signature assignment including reflection that faculty assess using the MT Engage Rubric, submission of the signature assignment to OneDrive OR the creation of an ePortfolio presentation as the signature assignment.
- Online Teaching Resources including D2L help
- PipelineMT – Classes are listed in PipelineMT as well as class lists with preferred name, student details, etc.
- University Writing Center – Review the Resources for Instructors link
- Use of Campus Property and Facilities Scheduling
Contact Us
Faculty and Strategic Initiatives
111 Cope Administration Building
(615) 898-5941
Angie.Price@mtsu.edu