IV. Instructional Staff Personnel Policies and Procedures

The Miami University Policy and Information Manual ( www.muohio.edu/mupim) is the university’s governing document when it comes to any issue of academic freedom and responsibility. You may want to familiarize yourself with some of its policies and guidelines. Some of the major issues are summarized below:

Attendance

Instructional Staff
One of the primary obligations of each member of the instructional staff is to meet all class engagements for which he or she is scheduled. Class absences by instructors are normally justified on professional, medical, or bona fide emergency grounds.

Faculty who anticipate being absent should plan ways of providing relevant educational experiences during such absence.

Members of the instructional staff shall conduct the entire meeting of each class before and after each vacation period unless excused by the Chair or the Dean. (University Senate regulations, June 8, 1950; amended by University Senate April 28, 1987).

NOTE: Under normal circumstances authorization should first be obtained from the Academic Coordinator or Campus Department Chair who will then forward the authorization request to the Dean.

Students
Miami University does not have a general class attendance regulation. Every student is expected to attend every class session of the courses for which he or she is registered. The determination of individual class attendance requirements and their enforcement rest with each individual instructor. Instructors are expected to inform their classes of the attendance requirements, and of the circumstances or conditions under which absences will be excused. This is what the Student Handbook says about dropping students for attendance:

“Whenever a student is absent from class to such an extent as to make the student's work inefficient or to impair the morale of the class, after the first 20 percent of the course the instructor may direct the University Registrar to drop the student from that course with a grade of W if before 60 percent of the course is complete, and with a grade of F if during the last 40 percent of the course. The instructor shall notify the student of this action no later than the time he or she notifies the Registrar.”

To satisfy the last requirement, you need to notify the student of the “drop” by using his or her Miami email account and simultaneously copy midrecreg@muohio.edu (Records & Registration). If this occurs during the last 40 percent of course, the course stays on his or her schedule and a final grade of “F” will be posted, but as far as the instructor is concerned, the student has been “dropped.”

Class Meeting Expectations and Regulations

At the beginning of a semester you should prepare and distribute to class members a syllabus (or use the syllabus provided to them by their chair or coordinator). The syllabus should include contact information and office hours for the faculty member and a semester schedule of class meetings, course objectives and content, examination procedures and method for determining final grades in the course.

Classes are to be held per published schedule. The first class meeting is not to be an abbreviated session and faculty members should make a special effort to assure that there is full student attendance immediately prior to vacation breaks or holidays.

If a faculty member must miss a class meeting because of a professional meeting, appropriate coverage must be made, usually by a Middletown or an Oxford colleague. The Chair or Coordinator shall be informed of substitute plans.

Class Cancellation Due to Inclement Weather

It is Miami's policy to hold classes as scheduled, except during emergency situations. In the event of severe weather, the University Provost, in consultation with appropriate personnel on each campus, decides whether classes will be held or canceled. If classes are to be canceled, a decision will be made by 6 a.m. for daytime classes and 3 p.m. for evening classes.



• If you carry a cell phone with text-messaging capacity, probably the best way to stay informed is the Miami Emergency Text Messaging System. You will receive a message as soon as there is any decision affecting campus operations. To register your cell phone number in order to receive emergency text alerts, go to muohio.edu/police, click on the Emergency Text Message icon, and follow the instructions.
• You can also check the MUM Web site (www.mid.muohio.edu). We post closings, cancellations and late starts on this web page. Click on “Weather Update” under the News column (far left) for the latest information.
• Also, our weather phone line is 727-3477. This phone line lists cancellations by morning, afternoon and evening classes.
• Finally, we supply closure information to radio stations including WMOH(1450), WLW(700), WPFB(910) and WHIO(1290) AM; and WMUB(88.5), and WPFB(105.9) FM. We also notify most Cincinnati and Dayton television stations.

Final Examinations

Semester examinations are required to be given during the scheduled examination week at the end of the term. During the regular academic year, no hourly exams or quizzes are to be scheduled during the week preceding the final examination week. Final examinations are expected in all undergraduate courses except where other evaluative substitute procedures have been approved by the department chair or dean of the division. Final examinations or duly approved substitutions may be completed during the final examination week. Neither final examinations nor tests of fifty (50) minutes or of greater length shall be given during the seven calendar days preceding the first study day of the final examination period. The above regulations do not apply to laboratory final examinations. No final examination, including a laboratory final examination, may be given during study days. Final examinations in accelerated or sprint courses that end with the last week of classes must be given during the final examination week. Exceptions to these rules require the approval of the Chair or Coordinator, Dean, and the Provost.

Mid-semester Grades
Mid-semester grades are a vehicle for giving timely feedback on academic performance to first-year students during their initial semester at Miami. Mid-semester grades provide students with an opportunity to assess their performance while there is time to improve before receiving official grades that will remain permanently on their records. Mid-semester grades are not recorded on the student's academic record. The Registrar will distribute mid-semester grades to students and the Coordinator of Retention Services. The Coordinator of Retention Services will contact students with grades below "C" to discuss the grade and to describe the services available in the Office of Learning Assistance.

Sick Leave and Emergencies

1. Sick leave is the authorized absence of an employee from regular duties because of illness, injury, pregnancy, exposure to contagious disease, family health situations requiring attendance of the employee, health care appointments or death in the immediate family. Leave for the non-medical care of a new born child must be requested and will be approved without pay for up to six months, during which time the University will continue to provide applicable benefits.
2. Each full-time unclassified administrative or instructional staff member who works nine or more months per year earns fifteen days of sick leave per contract year. Staff members who work less than nine months earn sick leave at a rate of 1 1/2 days per month. Staff members who work less than full time earn sick leave on a pro rated basis. Unused sick leave entitlement is cumulative without limit.
3. Staff member is expected to report an absence promptly when normal duties cannot be performed and sick leave is being used. A consecutive period of sick leave use includes all days an individual is normally expected to work, whether or not the individual has scheduled responsibilities.

   a. When a member of the unclassified administrative or instructional staff uses sick leave, the department/office supervisor or chair is responsible for maintaining records and reporting this information to the appropriate personnel unit by the following July 1. The Dean is responsible for keeping appropriate records and making the annual report for all persons working at the Middletown Campus.

b. If a member of the instructional staff makes arrangements acceptable to the department chair or other supervisor for a colleague (without additional expense to Miami University) to perform the staff member's duties during an absence, this absence will not be charged against the individual's accumulated sick leave; in no case, however, will such an arrangement exceed one month or the remainder of the then current semester, whichever is greater.

4. The University may require appropriate evidence for the use of sick leave.

Office Hours for Instructional Staff

Each faculty member is expected to establish and maintain regular office hours in order to be readily available to students and other staff. On or near the beginning of the semester a form will be circulated by the Faculty Support office on which each individual's office hours can be indicated.

The Faculty Support office will then compile a master list of office hours and:

1. Send a copy to the Dean and members of all faculty and staff.

2. Post these schedules outside the secretarial pool offices.

   Anyone teaching three classes or more should have a minimum of seven hours spread throughout the academic week. The number of hours may be proportionally less for lower teaching loads, but every faculty member should make time available to meet with students outside of class.

Teacher/Course Evaluation Process

According to university policy, all faculty are required to have all courses evaluated by students in a formal manner at the end of the term. The only exceptions are independent studies and courses with enrollments of fewer than 5 students. Evaluation forms, which vary from department to department, should be available in the faculty support offices. A couple of other reminders:

* You should not be in the classroom (or even visible) during the evaluation process. Please ask a student or a colleague to distribute, collect, and submit your evaluations to the coordinator or chair. They should be in a sealed envelope when they are submitted. The envelope will then be sent to the Computer Center in Oxford. After scoring, the Computer Center will forward the scores to the Chair. Information normally is also shared with the Dean. Forms and information are returned to the faculty member by the Chair after final grades for the semester are submitted.

* Give your students ample time to complete their evaluations thoughtfully. The best practice is to have students fill them out at the beginning of class, and not during finals week. If you wish to do some type of additional evaluations to be used exclusively for faculty self-improvement, the faculty member may administer his or her own evaluation instruments and utilize the results before final grades are submitted.

If you have questions about the process, please check with your coordinator or chair.

Policy Prohibiting Harassment and Discrimination

See Miami University Policy and Information Manual, Section 3.6