Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost

Iowa State University has a strong commitment to excellence in its teaching activities, and quality of teaching is a major concern in evaluating an individual's performance for renewal of appointment, for promotion and tenure, and for merit salary increases. Teaching at Iowa State encompasses a wide range of activities, including not only instruction in regularly scheduled courses, but also the supervision of independent study projects, the conducting of seminars and workshops, participation in off-campus course offerings, and providing instruction as part of noncredit extension activities. In all areas for which the faculty member has instructional responsibilities, high quality of performance is expected.

Good teachers are made, not born. Acquiring the skills to be a good teacher is a developmental process, and the university recognizes that many new faculty members can benefit from the guidance of more experienced persons in developing these skills. Faculty members are therefore encouraged to seek help in their departments, to request frequent evaluation, to obtain feedback from students, and in general to make every effort to meet the criteria of performance expected at a major university.

For information on the Center for Teaching Excellence at Iowa State University.

Academic Policies

The academic policies of Iowa State University are published biennially in the General Catalog. Policies that have particular relevance for the faculty are summarized here, but the General Catalog should be consulted for detailed statements on policies and procedures.

To be admitted to Iowa State University directly from high school, an applicant must (1) have graduated in the upper half of his or her high school class, and (2) have completed four years of English/language arts, three years of mathematics, three years of science, and two years of social studies. (Admission to the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences also requires two years of a foreign language and a third year of social studies.)

Applicants who do not meet these requirements, but who otherwise demonstrate potential for successful academic performance at Iowa State, may be admitted by the Director of Admissions. When deciding whether to admit an applicant who does not meet the regular admissions standards, the Director of Admissions shall use the following guidelines:

• Applicants who rank in the top half of their high school class, but who have not yet completed all the specified high school courses, may be admitted if they have a total of no more than two unmet requirements.*
• Applicants who do not rank within the top half of their high school class, and who have no more than two unmet high school requirements, may be admitted if they (a) obtain a composite score of 24 or higher on the enhanced ACT or (b) attain the following combination of High School Rank and ACT scores. Comparable SAT scores can be substituted for the enhanced ACT scores.

  HSR**	ACT
  51	20
  52	20
  53	20
  54	21
  55	21
  56	22
  57	22
  58	22
  59	23
  60	23
  61	23
  62	24

  * The means of fulfilling unmet high school course requirements will be communicated to students by college advisers.

  **The scale for HSR (high school rank) ranges from 1 to 100 with 1 being high. The highest possible ACT composite score is 36.

• Applicants from disadvantaged educational backgrounds who do not rank in the top half of their high school class, and who have no more than two unmet high school course requirements, may be admitted if they attain a composite score of 20 or higher on the ACT.
• Applicants presenting special circumstances (e.g., adult students, GED holders) may be admitted by the Director of Admissions.
• Extremely able students may be admitted prior to completion of high school with the approval of the director of admissions, the dean of the college in which the student plans to enroll, and the Faculty Senate Academic Standards and Admissions Committee.

Applicants who do not qualify for regular admissions and who would not be admitted under one of the above provisions, but who rank in the upper 80% of their high school class and have no more than two unmet high school course requirements, will be offered enrollment in the summer session on a trial basis. Students who successfully complete this summer trial enrollment will be allowed to continue in the fall term.

Applicants applying directly from high school include all applicants presenting less than 24 hours of transferable college credits.

Students transferring from another college or university, including area and community colleges, will be admitted if their grade average at the previous institution(s) was at least 2.00. Persons with grade averages below 2.00 may be accepted on probation, but will be expected to make up the deficiency in quality points accumulated previously.

Credits presented from another institution are evaluated initially by the Admissions Office to determine whether the courses in which they were earned are acceptable for transfer credit. The application of these credits toward graduation will be determined by the student's department or college.

Evaluation of Student Performance

Grading

Iowa State operates on a 4.00 grading system, with the usual letter grades of A, B, C, D and F, as well as plus and minus grades. Other grades that may be given, when appropriate, include S (for satisfactory performance in a course offered on an S-F grading basis only) and T (for satisfactory performance in a special examination for academic credit). Students in good standing are permitted to apply up to nine credits of work on a Pass-Not Pass basis. If a student who is doing passing work has been unable to complete the work in a course due to circumstances beyond the student's control, the instructor may submit an Incomplete (I) along with a form explaining the reason and indicating the date by which the work must be completed. All unremoved Incompletes for undergraduates are automatically changed to F's by the registrar after one calendar year or just prior to graduation, whichever is earlier.

Grades in a course must be submitted to the Registrar's Office within 48 hours after the time at which the final examination is scheduled. This is necessary because of the large number of grades the registrar must process in a short period of time. Grades are recorded by the instructor on a class list distributed during final exam week by the registrar and are submitted through the department executive officer.

If an error is made in reporting a student's grade, the instructor can correct it by submitting a card entitled "Grade Report to the Registrar," available in the departmental office. This card should also be used to remove an Incomplete or to report a late grade.

Midterm grades of C-, D, and F are reported to the registrar in the middle of the semester as a warning to the student and the student's adviser.

Student course grades, as well as test scores, may be posted in public locations to inform students of their performance provided that the information is presented in such a way as not to reveal the names or entire Social Security numbers of specific individuals.

Examinations

Examinations are used both to assess the student's learning in a course and to provide students with feedback concerning their progress. To meet the latter objective, examinations should be evaluated as soon as possible after they are given, and the results should be made available to the students. The instructor is expected to explain the evaluation procedure to be used at the beginning of the course. Examinations are to be given only during regularly scheduled class periods or during a specially arranged time announced in the Schedule of Classes; in the latter case, the special exam time shall substitute for a regular class period.

The last week of the semester is set aside for final examinations or other term evaluations, with a period of two hours scheduled for each course. Specific policies governing final examinations are presented in the General Catalog. All classes of two credits or more must meet during the time scheduled for the final examination, and no final examination may be given at a time other than that for which the exam is scheduled except by permission of the dean of the college. The instructor may, at his or her discretion, arrange an exam at another time for an individual student. All faculty members are considered to be on duty throughout the entire final examination week and are expected to be available to students during that week for discussion of any matters pertaining to the final examination and final grade or to other aspects of the course.

Unsatisfactory Academic Progress

Students who are not making satisfactory academic progress, as determined primarily by their cumulative quality-point deficiency, are reviewed at the end of each term by the academic standards committee of their college. For an explanation of the specific policies and procedures that apply to such students, see the General Catalog.

Special GPA Requirements
(approved by Faculty Senate 10/14/97)

A program is required to seek approval if it wishes to establish a minimum GPA requirement for admission, continuation, or graduation that exceeds the university requirement. In its request, the program must provide (1) a rationale for the special requirement, and (2) an equitable, rational, purposeful way that the requirement will be established, implemented, and evaluated. The Faculty Senate Academic Standards and Admissions Committee (FSASAC) is responsible for approving special requirement requests and for reviewing existing requirements on a six-year cycle.

Graduation

Requirements

In order to graduate from Iowa State University, a student must have completed all curriculum requirements, achieved a grade average of at least 2.00, made up any quality-point deficiencies transferred from another institution, and taken at least the last 32 credits in residence. Specific requirements of each curriculum are presented in the General Catalog.

Commencement

Iowa State University graduates students three times a year--at the end of the fall and spring semesters, and at the end of the summer session. At all graduations, faculty representing the various colleges take part in the academic procession.

Academic Advising

Many faculty members have as one of their responsibilities the advising of undergraduate students, usually students majoring in their academic discipline. The adviser meets at least once each semester with the student to discuss the student's progress and to plan the schedule for the next semester. The adviser is also responsible for guiding the student in the development of an academic program that meets his or her educational objectives as well as the requirements of the curriculum.

Each college structures its advising system according to what best fits its programs and students. The college is responsible for the competence of its advisers and for the periodic evaluation of their performance.

Student Registration

Registration is the process by which students become officially enrolled in the university for a given term. It involves selecting courses in consultation with the adviser or major professor, enrolling in the courses by means of touch-tone registration or walk-through registration, processing schedule changes, and paying fees. Registration for the next term takes place in the middle of the semester and lasts about four weeks. Registration for summer session should be completed during the previous spring at the same time as registration for fall semester. Dates for registration are included in the University Calendar in the Schedule of Classes, are published in the Iowa State Daily, and are posted on departmental bulletin boards.

All students are encouraged to register for courses through the touch-tone registration system. Students who are unable to or choose not to register through the touch-tone system may use a walk through registration procedure. Students who do not register by the published deadline for initiation of a schedule through the touch-tone system must use the walk through procedure for registration.

More specific information on registration is available in the Schedule of Classes.

Periodically, during and after the registration period, the registrar distributes course enrollment tallies to all departments. In addition, current course enrollment data are available from the Registrar's Office and, in many cases, in departmental offices. Requests for names of students in a section prior to the start of a semester should be directed to the Registrar's Student Scheduling Office.

On the first day of classes the registrar distributes a class list for each section. These lists are distributed to the departments and, by them, to the instructors. The lists are updated periodically as students add and drop courses after the term has begun.

Enforcement of Course Prerequisites

Many courses have prerequisites that the students are expected to have completed before enrollment. An instructor may, at his or her discretion, direct students who lack a prerequisite stated in the General Catalog to drop the course, provided that this action is taken at the beginning of the course.

Validation of Enrollment

If a student who is enrolled in a course fails to attend at least one of the first two class meetings without informing the instructor of the reason for the absence, the instructor may direct the student to drop the course in order to make room for another student wishing to take it. The same policy applies to the first class meeting following the adding of a course after the term begins. The instructor cannot initiate the drop, nor will the student be dropped automatically; this must be done by the student.

Dropping and Adding Courses

Students are allowed to change their schedules, including adding and dropping courses, with no penalty during the first five class days after classes begin. From the end of that period until the eighth class day following the day midterm grades are due, students may drop courses according to the procedures described in the General Catalog. The total number of courses that students may drop during their undergraduate careers at Iowa State is, however, limited. Students who enter as freshmen are allowed to drop a maximum of five courses, while students entering at a level above freshman classification or in the College of Veterinary Medicine are allowed to drop a maximum of four courses. These limits do not apply to courses dropped during the student's first term at Iowa State nor to courses dropped during the first five class days after classes begin. Details concerning this policy are presented in the General Catalog.

Instructors shall provide information regarding course content, objectives, and procedures to students during the first week of each course. The information shall include a course syllabus or schedule of proposed topics, readings, and course materials or other description of the course content. The evaluation procedures to be used, as well as expectations for attendance and assignments, shall also be included.

For sound pedagogical reasons, a faculty member may decide to use course materials that include explicit visual representations of human sexual acts. The faculty member has an obligation to inform students at the beginning of the course about the nature of that material. If a student chooses not to view the presentation(s) and the faculty member determines that alternative assignment(s) are not feasible, the student shall be permitted to drop the course without penalty (as an administrative drop) within seven calendar days of the class being so informed.

Faculty should notify students at the beginning of the course that the class will be recorded or transmitted to distant sites. Faculty whose classes involve interaction through electronic means should notify their students if comments or submissions are private between instructor and student, available to other students in the class, or available to others outside the class.

Course-related presentations are owned by the presenter. Individuals may take written notes or make other recordings of the presentations for educational purposes, but specific written permission to sell the notes or recordings must be obtained from the presenter.

Attendance Policies

Class Attendance
(revised by Faculty Senate, 2/15/94)

Students are expected to attend class meetings as scheduled. Each instructor sets his or her policy with respect to class attendance, and excuses for absence from class are handled between the student and the instructor. In order to attend a given class, a student must be registered for that class. Exceptions to this policy are at the discretion of the instructor.

Field Trips
Trips away from campus as part of a course are often appropriate educational experiences. They may not, however, take place during the first or last week of the semester, nor may they extend over more than two consecutive class days (Monday through Friday); these regulations may be waived only by special permission of the dean of the college in which the course is offered. To go on a field trip, the student must obtain permission from the instructors whose classes will be missed. If permission to miss a class is not granted, the student cannot be required to go on the field trip nor be penalized for missing the trip.

Student Records

Iowa State University maintains various records concerning students to document their academic progress, as well as to record their interactions with university staff and officials. In order to preserve students' rights to privacy, as well as to provide students with access to those records that concern them, the university has established certain policies to govern the handling of students' records. These policies are detailed in the General Catalog and must be followed by all university employees, including faculty members. Questions concerning the release of information from student records should be directed to the office of the provost.

Procedures for Responding to Requests for Accommodations by Students with a Disability

Iowa State University seeks to provide a supportive environment for students with disabilities, which includes insuring that instructors respond appropriately to requests for accommodations for their special needs. These accommodations are intended to enable disabled students to meet the course requirements through an alternative path, with no reduction in standards or quality expected. Financial responsibility for the accommodation will be met through university procedures administered by the Disability Resources Office.

1. The student is responsible for initiating a request for an accommodation in a specific course. This should be done prior to or early in the term, to allow time for plans to be made and carried out. If the teacher is a graduate teaching assistant, the request should be referred to the faculty member in charge of the course.
2. The instructor should arrange a meeting with the student to discuss the request. The student should be asked to bring his or her copy of the Student Academic Accommodation Request (SAAR) to that meeting. The SAAR describes the types of accommodation that have been recommended for that student by the university's Disability Resources Office. If the student doesn't have the completed form, he or she should obtain it from the Disability Resources Office prior to the meeting.
3. In preparing for the meeting, the instructor may wish to consult with his or her college's disability liaison, whose names are published in the ISU Directory, or with staff members in the Disability Resources Office (515-294-1020). Information regarding the student's disability is confidential.
4. The meeting of the instructor and the student should focus on the kinds of accommodations that the student needs and that have been recommended on the SAAR. The instructor should not inquire about the nature of the disability itself, since the student is not legally required to explain it.
5. The instructor and the student should be able to reach an agreement as to the accommodations that will be made. If the instructor disagrees with a recommendation made on the SAAR, or if the instructor believes that the student is requesting an accommodation that goes beyond the SAAR's recommendations, he or she should discuss those concerns with a staff member in the Disability Resources Office. If the instructor and the staff member are unable to reach an agreement, the issue should be discussed with the instructor's department executive officer and, if still unresolved, should be referred to the college liaison for resolution. The college liaison will in turn consult with the Affirmative Action Office to insure that whatever action is taken is in compliance with the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

Required Readings

Textbook Selection

Prior to the beginning of each term, departments are asked to provide local bookstores with lists of required textbooks for their courses. Although the selection of textbooks is basically the responsibility of individual faculty members, each department is expected to have established a democratic procedure for reviewing the selection of required textbooks and other resource materials for (a) multi-section courses, (b) courses in which an unusually large number of textbooks is required, (c) instances in which the instructor of the course is author of a book required for that course, and (d) instances in which questions are raised by students or other faculty members concerning selection of any text. For more information on policies governing instances for which the instructor of the course is the author of the book required for the course, see Royalties for Instructional Materials.

Library Reserve

Books and other materials may be placed on reserve in the Parks Library for use by students in specified classes.

Revising Courses and Curricula

The General Catalog describes the curricula, majors, and courses offered by the university. The preparation of a new catalog, which occurs biennially, provides an opportunity for the revision of existing offerings as well as the addition of new curricula, majors, and courses.

A new course, curriculum, or major must first be approved by the department or college that initiates it. Information regarding the proposal is then distributed to all departments on the campus, to the college curriculum committees and to the Graduate Curriculum Committee if graduate credit is involved. All proposed changes from a given college must then be approved by the college curriculum committee, the college faculty, the Faculty Senate Curriculum Committee, the Faculty Senate, and the State Board of Regents.

Prior to proposing a new course for inclusion in the catalog, the department is encouraged to offer the course on an experimental basis. An experimental offering must be announced by a form submitted to the registrar. Copies of this form may be obtained from the department office.

Academic Dishonesty

Academic dishonesty is considered to be a violation of the behavior expected of a student in an academic setting, as well as a student conduct violation. A student found guilty of academic dishonesty is, therefore, subject to appropriate academic penalty to be determined by the instructor, as well as to penalty under the university student conduct regulations.

If an instructor believes that a student has behaved dishonestly in a course, or has been informed of such behavior by others, these steps are to be followed:

1. The instructor should confront the student with the charge of dishonesty and arrange a meeting with the student to discuss the charge and to hear the student's explanation.
2. If the student admits guilt, the instructor shall determine the appropriate grade for the work in which the dishonesty occurred and inform the student of how the incident will affect subsequent evaluation and the final grade. The instructor shall also report the incident in writing to the head of his or her department and to the dean of students, who will counsel with the student and may, at his or her discretion, refer the case to the All-University Judiciary Committee for disciplinary action.
3. If the student claims to be innocent of the charge, no grade for the work in question shall be assigned until the issue of guilt is resolved. The instructor shall report the incident in writing to his or her department head and to the dean of students, who will schedule a hearing before the All- University Judiciary Committee. If the judiciary committee finds the student guilty of the charge, the instructor will determine the appropriate grade for the work in question and inform the student of how the incident will affect subsequent evaluation and the final grade. The committee will determine the appropriate disciplinary action. If the judiciary committee finds the student innocent, the instructor will grade the student accordingly on the work in question, and the student's grade in the course will not be adversely affected.

Further details concerning the procedure for handling instances of known or suspected academic dishonesty are presented in the General Catalog.

Appeal of Academic Grievances

Students who feel they have been treated unfairly by a faculty member with respect to grading or other course-related issues may appeal the faculty member's action through the following channels: consultation with the instructor, with the department head or chair, with the dean of the college, and with the provost. If the appeal reaches the provost, it will be referred to the Committee to Review Student Grievances, composed of students and faculty, which will hold a hearing and make a recommendation to the provost. A detailed explanation of the procedures to be followed is presented in the General Catalog.

University Honors Program

Iowa State University offers undergraduates with high ability and clear educational objectives an opportunity to individualize their education by becoming members of the University Honors Program. This program operates under authority from the General Faculty, which has approved its basic guidelines. The University Honors Program Committee is responsible for the administration of the program, for setting policies, and for developing activities to enhance the educational experience of students in the program.

Each undergraduate college operates its own honors program under the general supervision of the university committee. The college honors program committees are responsible for admitting students to the program and for approving their programs of study.

Students may apply for admission to the Honors Program during their second semester in residence and at any time thereafter until the student is within 48 credits of graduation. Application should be made to the honors program committee of the college in which the student is enrolled. Criteria for admission in all colleges include a 3.35 cumulative quality-point average, as well as a defined academic objective that can best be met through the Honors Program. Students are admitted for a brief period as associate members for the purpose of developing a program of study; approval of this program admits them to full membership.

Students in the Honors Program are eligible to enroll in honors courses and seminars, to take other courses for honors credit, to request the waiver of certain requirements, to develop an honors project, to utilize the facilities of Osborn Cottage, and to participate in a variety of educational activities, both on and off campus. Each student is guided by an honors adviser and, in some colleges, by a special advisory committee as well.

A select group of entering freshmen is admitted each fall into the Freshman Honors Program. These students enroll in an honors section of freshman English and a Freshman Honors Seminar; honors sections of several other freshman courses are also available to them. They must, however, go through the normal application and review procedure at the end of their freshman year if they wish to be admitted to a regular college honors program.

The Honors Program is housed in Osborn Cottage. Requests for information and application materials should be directed there. The chairs of the college honors program committees can also furnish information concerning the honors programs in their colleges. Faculty members interested in offering honors seminars or otherwise becoming involved in the program should contact the Honors Program office.

Computer Fee

All students are charged a special computer fee each term, to help defray the university's expenses in expanding and maintaining instructional computing facilities in classroom buildings throughout the campus as well as in locations such as the residence halls. Income from the fee is allocated by the Computation Center Advisory Committee, composed of an equal representation of faculty and students. Specific information concerning instructional computing at Iowa State is presented in the publication, Computing Resources for Students at Iowa State University, available at the Durham Center.

Special Fees Charged for Courses

University policy permits a special fee to be charged to students in a specific course to defray expenses connected with that course that are beyond those that the department would normally be expected to cover. Examples include charges for consumable materials, field trips, and the maintenance and replacement of equipment. University policy also requires that, except in emergency situations, a special course fee must be included in the description of that course in the General Catalog and noted in the Schedule of Classes, to alert students registering for the course that a fee will be charged for it.

The Iowa State Board of Regents' Policy on Oral Communication Competence mandates that all faculty and teaching assistants who provide instruction to students during each relevant academic period will be evaluated for oral communication competence. In the context of this policy, oral communication competence is understood to be the ability to communicate appropriately in the language of instruction. The nature and scope of the evaluation of oral communication competence may vary with the discipline, instructional setting, and material being communicated.

Written standards and procedures for making the determination of oral communication competence will be developed at the departmental or program level in a collegial manner and will incorporate a mechanism for evaluation of instructors by students. Departments will complete such evaluations within the time frame designated by the Regents' policy, i.e., "by the end of each academic period in which [the instructor] has sufficient direct contact with students to render such evaluation meaningful." Procedures developed within departments must be written and implemented cooperatively by the teaching faculty and the departmental administration. The evaluation of oral competence need not function separately from other evaluation procedures as long as such established procedures meet the Regents' requirements for timeliness and student input, and they explicitly address the matter of oral communication.

The departmental executive officers and program directors, college deans, and the Provost are responsible for the implementation of this policy and for ensuring that adequate standards of oral communication competence are maintained.

Student Outcomes Assessment

For information regarding student outcomes assessment, see Policy and Procedures for Student Outcomes Assessment, Appendix H.

Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost, 1550 Beardshear Hall, Ames, Iowa 50011-2021
Phone 515-294-9591, Fax: 515-294-8844