All School of Dance (SOD) instructors are expected to comply with University of Utah, College of Fine Arts, and School of Dance policies, including the School of Dance Shared Values & Community Agreements. Information specific to the SOD can be found on the SOD Website and on the SOD Faculty & Staff shared server. (To access the server on a Mac: from the top navigation bar, click Go -> Connect to Server -> afp://fs.fa.utah.edu - > Groups -> SOD_FacultyStaff. To request access to the folder, please contact the SOD Front Office.)

Important Contact Information:

• SOD Front Office: info@dance.utah.edu, 801.581.7327

• SOD Administrative Assistant, Sheridan Hutchinson: sheridan.hutchinson@utah.edu, 801.587.9457

• SOD Administrative Manager, Will Maguire: william.maguire@utah.edu, 801.585.5527

• SOD Director, Melonie Murray: melonie.murray@utah.edu, 801.585.3335

All SOD instructors are responsible for the following information:

Communication

• Canvas

  • Canvas is the University’s Learning Management System. All courses are required to have a Canvas page that includes, at the very least: the course syllabus, attendance records, grades, assignments, and class calendar / schedule.

  • All communication specific to a class should go through Canvas rather than email.

  • For training on how to set up a course in Canvas, click here.

• Email / uMail

  • All University of Utah instructors are required to use uMail, rather than personal email or texting, for University business.

  • SOD instructors are expected to check uMail regularly and respond as needed within 48 hours (2 business days).

  • All correspondence between faculty and students that is specific to a course should occur via Canvas rather than uMail.

• Weekly Announcements

  • To reduce the number of emails our SOD community receives, we consolidate information into a weekly announcement. Please skim through these weekly, as this is the only way to get up-to-date information about SOD happenings.

  • For an announcement to be included in the weekly announcement newsletter, send the announcement to the Administrative Assistant and it will be considered for inclusion. The deadline to submit an announcement is the Friday prior to the Tuesday announcement.

  • SOD instructors are not permitted to send emails to entire list serves of students, alumni, nor patrons. All announcements must be approved by the Front Office and disseminated through the weekly announcements.

• Outlook Calendar

  • Outlook calendars are part of the University’s uMail platform and the SOD uses Outlook calendars to track events and plan meetings. All instructors should be familiar with Outlook calendars and are encouraged to use it as an organizational tool.

  • Instructors can access calendars by logging into their uMail and clicking the calendar icon on the left side of the window.

  • UofU School of Dance Calendar - The SOD hosts various Outlook calendars to help instructors stay organized. The most important calendar for all SOD instructors is the UofU School of Dance calendar. This calendar includes School-wide events, including performances, master classes, auditions, etc. It also includes events that impact SOD business, such as University Closure Days and home football games. For help accessing the UofU School of Dance calendar in Outlook, reach out to the SOD Front Office.

• Faculty & Staff Meetings

  • The SOD holds regular Faculty & Staff meetings. Attendance for fulltime faculty is required. On occasion, part-time faculty may be invited.

• Addressing Students

  • To support a welcoming and inclusive environment, we ask that faculty attempt to use gender-neutral language whenever possible. An individual's personal identity may not match their outward appearance, and gender-neutral language can help avoid misunderstanding and/or inadvertently misgendering a member of our community. Faculty and all in our community are welcome to share their own personal pronouns if they choose, but this is not required and should not be expected.

• Questions

  • If you have questions or need support for any reason, please reach out to the SOD Front Office, and we will help direct you to the appropriate resource.

Instructor Absences

• Request & Reporting

  • For instructor absences from class, planned or not, instructors must complete the SOD Absence Request & Reporting Form. Planned absences must be requested in advance and must have prior approval from the Director and the Administrative Manager. When possible, please complete the form at least 2 weeks prior. In cases of unforeseen absences, absence reporting must be completed within 3 days of the absence.

• Substitutes

  • To find a sub for a class, the first step is to reach out to other SOD instructors (full-time, parttime, or graduate student, as appropriate) to try to arrange a trade. If this is not an option, notify the SOD Front Office, and administration will arrange for a sub from a list of approved instructors.

• Emergency / Unplanned Absences

  • For last minute, emergency absences, contact the SOD Front Office and Director immediately for support.

Grading

• Grading Scale is defined by University Policy 6-100 and the SOD Grading Policy.

• Mid-Term Feedback / Grades

  • At mid-term students should be able to easily assess their standing in a course. All courses should include mid-term grades communicated via Canvas. Mid-term feedback may take various forms in different types of courses, including written comments via Canvas. In-person, mid-term and/or end-of-term meetings are also a common practice and particularly meaningful in activity-based courses.

• Course Credit Reduction

  • On occasion, and for only some SOD studio courses, students may request to reduce credit. For a request to be formally reviewed for approval, students must complete the Course Credit Reduction Request Form. The SOD policy and process for course credit reductions can be found here. For questions about the process and approvals, please contact the SOD Front Office.

• Final Grades

  • Final grades must be submitted at the end of term in compliance with SOD deadlines. The University will send instructions for entering grades online via uMail.

  • Incomplete Grades – Incompletes should be given on rare occasions and with caution. The grade “I” may be given for work not completed due to circumstances beyond the student’s control, providing the student is passing the course and has completed at least 80 percent of the work required for the course. Arrangements must be made between the student and the instructor concerning completion of the work, and the agreement should be documented in writing. Copies of the agreement are kept by the instructor and the academic department. If a new grade is not submitted within 1 year, the I grade reverts to a failing E grade. See the CFA’s Guide to “Incompletes”.

Primary Instructors & Co-Taught Courses

• For courses taught by more than two instructors:

  • The Director will assign a “primary instructor” for each course. If you are unsure who the primary instructor is for your course, please contact the SOD Front Office.

• For courses taught by two instructors:

  • If both instructors are fulltime faculty members, no primary instructor is assigned. Instructors are expected to collaborate equally on responsibilities.

  • If one instructor is part-time and the other full-time, the full-time faculty member will be the primary instructor by default.

  • If both instructors are part-time, they are expected to collaborate equally on responsibilities and will be assigned a full-time faculty mentor for support.

• Primary instructors are responsible for the following, in collaboration with co-instructors:

  • Setting up the course’s Canvas page

  • Finalizing and posting syllabi

  • Tracking/consolidating attendance records

  • Scheduling mid-term and end-of-term meetings, etc.

  • Entering final grades

Syllabi

• The University expects syllabi to be posted on Canvas prior to the start of the semester. For accreditation needs, the SOD also requires that all syllabi be sent to the SOD Front Office within two weeks of the start of the semester.

• Syllabi must be in Canvas. Guidance on setting up a syllabus in Canvas can be found here.

• To request course syllabi from previous semesters, reach out to the SOD Front Office.

• The Center for Teaching Excellence offers lots of helpful information, including guidance on Syllabus Design.

• Instructors are asked to refer to the University’s Academic Calendar as they prepare their syllabus and class schedule.

• If a class meeting is held during Finals Week, it must comply with the University’s finals week schedule. Each semester’s finals week schedule is available on the Office of the Registrar website.

Student Attendance

• Instructors must check their official class rosters in CIS (not the Canvas page) to ensure students are appropriately registered. The first two weeks of the semester is the add/drop period in which students can shift their schedules for full-term classes.

• Per the University Attendance Policy, students not enrolled in the course are not permitted to attend after the add/drop deadline. If a student is not showing on your official class roster after the add/drop deadline, they may not attend class.

• The SOD has a departmental attendance policy that is reviewed and updated at least annually, and on occasion mid-year between Fall and Spring semesters. The most up-to-date policy can always be found on the SOD website here.

• Attendance must be recorded in Canvas and updated at least weekly.

• If a student misses two weeks’ worth of classes and has not communicated with the instructor, please reach out to them via uMail and Canvas. If they do not reply within one week, please notify the Director and complete a Student of Concern/CARE Report through the Dean of Students Office.

Student Concerns

• Any academic or behavioral misconduct should be reported to the Director immediately.

• For students with questions regarding registration and academic advising, direct them to the CFA Academic Advising team. Also, see the CFA’s Faculty Guide to Advising.

• All University of Utah instructors should be familiar with University Policy 6-400: Student Rights and Responsibilities (the “Student Code”)

• Office of the Dean of Students – Many student concerns can be addressed through this office. Instructors can report cases or academic or behavioral misconduct, racism and/or bias incidents, sexual misconduct, and student concern reports.

• Student Course Feedback– The University assesses courses and instruction by soliciting student feedback through an online system at the end of each course. Collected data is available to course instructors and the Director of the SOD at the end of each semester. Student Course Feedback data is also reviewed by fulltime faculty as part of the University’s faculty review processes.

Faculty Code

• All University of Utah instructors should be familiar with University Policy 6-316: Code of Faculty Rights and Responsibilities (the “Faculty Code”)

• Of particular note from the Faculty Code:

  University teaching should reflect consideration for the dignity of students and their rights as persons. Students as well as faculty are entitled to academic freedom and autonomy in their intellectual pursuits and development. Teachers must therefore treat students with courtesy and respect. They must not require students to accept their personal beliefs or opinions and must strive in the classroom to maintain a climate conducive to thinking and learning. They must not misuse their position, authority, or relationship with students. (Policy 6-316, 3.B)

  Faculty members must conduct themselves, in their interactions with other faculty members, administrators, staff members, students, and participants in accordance with reasonable standards of professionalism. Examples of inappropriate behavior include but are not limited to requiring the performance of inappropriate personal services; assigning tasks for punishment rather than for educational or job-related reasons; intentional disruption of teaching, research or administrative activities; and intentional neglect of necessary communications. (Policy 6-316, 4.A.1)

  Faculty members must not discriminate against, harass, or impose prejudicial treatment upon other faculty members, staff members, students, or participants because of race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, country of citizenship, age, political beliefs, or status as a person with a disability, protected veteran, or because of any other criterion or characteristic that is an impermissible basis, under applicable constitutional or statutory provisions. This injunction includes decisions or recommendations concerning admissions, employment, promotion, retention, tenure, grading, and other professional matters. (Policy 6- 316, 4.A.2)

  Duties to Students (Policy 6-316, 4.B)

1. Faculty members are expected to meet their regularly scheduled classes. Failure to meet scheduled classes without prior notice to students is excusable only for reasons beyond the control of faculty members. Alteration of schedules, cancellation or rescheduling of classes may be done only for valid reasons and after adequate notice to students.

2. Faculty members shall engage in reasonable and substantial preparation for the teaching of courses assigned to them, consistent with their scope and nature and appropriate to the educational objectives sought to be achieved.

3. Faculty members must maintain regular office hours during which they are available for consultation with students or otherwise assure their accessibility to students.

4. Faculty members must, at the beginning of a course, give reasonable notice to students of the general content of the course, what will be required of the students, and the criteria upon which their performance will be evaluated. Evaluations must be performed promptly, conscientiously, without prejudice or favoritism, and consistently with the criteria stated at the beginning of the course. The criteria for evaluating student performance must relate to the legitimate academic purposes of the course. Grade appeals submitted by students are not considered charges of misconduct under this code. [For the appeals procedure, see the student code, Policy 6-400.]

5. Faculty members must not misuse the classroom by preempting substantial portions of class time for the presentation of their own views on topics unrelated to the subject matter of the course. Where faculty members find it pedagogically useful to advocate a position on controversial matters, they must exercise care to assure that opportunities exist for students to consider other views. Faculty members must not reward agreement or penalize disagreement with their views on controversial topics.

6. Faculty members must not use their position, authority, or relationship with students to obtain uncompensated labor for their own personal or pecuniary gain. They may not ask students to perform services unrelated to legitimate academic requirements of a course unless the student is adequately compensated for such services. Faculty members must not solicit gifts or favors from students. They must not accept gifts or favors where they have reason to believe that such gift or favor is motivated by a desire to secure some academic advantage.

7. Faculty members must not plagiarize the work of a student. Where a faculty member and a student work together, appropriate credit must be given to the student. Faculty members may not limit or curtail the right of a student to publish or otherwise communicate the result of the student's own scholarly activities.

8. Faculty members shall not reveal matters related in explicit confidence by a student to any person, except as required by law or permitted according to this policy. Faculty members may, report their assessment of a student's academic performance and ability to persons making legitimate inquiry provided such disclosure is in accordance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act ("FERPA"). Faculty members should report to the Dean of Students Office any information regarding the behavior of a student that raises concerns regarding the student's health or safety or the health or safety of others. Faculty members must report to the Department of Public Safety (585-COPS) the behavior of any student or other individual that poses an imminent risk to the health or safety of the student or other individuals.

9. Faculty members have the same duties to students in clinical and research settings, in distance learning, and in other nontraditional settings as they do in the traditional classroom.

10. Any faculty member or employee of the University of Utah with authority to assign or recommend course materials for any course offered by the university shall do so based on sound academic values, without any prospect of personal financial gain.