Policies and procedures

Douments & policies for department members
Department procedures, policies, and practices

In order to help you with your planning for classes here is some information about procedures, policies, and practices in the department. If you have any further questions, do not hesitate to contact your assigned support staff member, your mentor (for new instructors) or your Chair (for one and all).

Cancopy

Cash deposits

Any money collected from students for photocopying, art supplies etc. can be submitted to the Chair's Assistant, Christie McAlister in A547.


Class list

You can access your class list by logging in to UVic and view My Page with following the links: FAST > student > course info > class lists.

When you want to add students from the waitlist to your class, be certain to contact your department secretary with the student's name, course and section number (CRN). Department staff members are not authorized to add students to a class unless they receive explicit direction from the instructor.

Computer assistance

Initial connection and software downloading will be facilitated by the Faculty of Education computer techs.


Faculty

For computer tech help can access http://dcst.uvic.ca/rt/ directly and fill out a DCST Job Request Form.

Sessional Instructors

Computer and network problems should be reported to the Department's designated contact, Michele Armstrong . Difficulties with programs (Word, Excel etc.) should be reported to UVic's computer helpdesk, ext. 4545 or . Other computer resources can be found at: University Systems.

Course evaluations (CES)

Instructors are required to ensure a course evaluation is conducted for each of their courses. Evaluations are usually done during the last 2 weeks of class.  Students will receive email notification to submit anonymous evaluations for each course.

Course outlines

The University Calendar lists several requirements for a course outline. The outline frames the instructor's plans and expectations for the course. Your secretary has access to the Department course outline template and will assist you with the needed details. Your outline should address the following:

  • Your full name; means of contact (e-mail and phone), office hours.
  • The title, unit value, and description of the course from the official University Calendar.
  • The course purposes/objective/learning goals.
  • Required textbook(s) or coursepack, as well as recommended material.
  • A list of assignments, the % value for grading purposes, the due date for each, as well as an indication of expectations, standards and parameters for assignments.
  • There are suggestions for wording on the Department course outline template with respect to general expectations, e.g. attendance, extensions, late penalties, and so forth.

REMINDER: Attendance on its own cannot be used as a basis for assigning grades.

  • Grading Scales: a copy of the Department grading scale must be included (see no. 5 below).
  • Please include the following statement regarding academic integrity in your outline:

Students must abide by academic regulations as set out in the university calendar, and must observe standards of "academic integrity" especially with regards to plagiarism and cheating.

Several weeks before the term begins, please forward a copy of each new course outline to the staff member assigned to assist you, via e-mail attachment; they will submit a printed copy to the Chair for review. Please wait for approval before submitting it for the final printing and copying; a class set will be put in your assigned mailbox prior to the first day of classes; each student in your class must receive a copy during the first week of classes. If this is not the first time you have taught the course at UVic, please provide the Dept. Office with an electronic copy of your course outline by e-mailing it as an attachment to your secretary/assistant. A copy of each course outline must be held in the Department Office.

Department staff workloads

You have been assigned a staff member in the Department Office to assist you in administrative tasks, and they will contact you by email prior to the beginning of the term. The Dept. Office is located in the MacLaurin Bldg., Room A541; the telephone number is (250) 721-7808.

It is important to provide several days' turnaround time for larger projects, as department staff have a number of assigned instructors and other duties. Large copying jobs should be sent across campus to Printing & Duplicating.

Grading

The University Calendar lists examples of assessment techniques that are permitted. The Department has approved Graduate and Undergraduate Grading Scales. A copy of the pertinent grading scale must be attached to all Dept. course outlines or included within the text of the outline. Printed copies are available from the Dept. Office.

Click on Undergraduate or Graduate to download an electronic copy of Grading Scale.


Library privileges

Library privileges can be obtained by taking your appointment form to the University Centre Info booth where they will take your photo for the required ID card.


Mail

Mail is delivered to Mac A543, the copyroom/workroom next to the Department Office, and then distributed to the mailboxes located there. Mailboxes for sessional instructors are shared. Please check for mail regularly as important information will be distributed there.


NetLink ID

In order to operate online grading and class lists you will need your NetLink id. If you do not have a NetLink id you can get one from this web site: http://NetLink.uvic.ca/

You will need your employee number (available from your secretary or the department Adminstrative Officer) in order to get a NetLink id.

As part of the new online grading and class lists functions that the UVic NOVA System provides, please check FAST Student Report Tutorials or email stutrain@uvic.ca to request FAST training.

Office keys

Please contact Christie McAlister 721-7886 in the Chair's office (MacLaurin A547) regarding office keys and office allocation.


Photocopying

  • Moderate amounts of photocopying may be done in Mac A543, adjacent to the Dept. Office, A541. Any large quantities of copying are to be sent to Printing and Duplicating, which maintains a one to two day turnaround time upon receipt.
  • Our copiers are coded and you will receive a memo noting your course code(s).
  • The Dept. budget for copying for classes is limited to $2.00 per student per term (for a 1.5 unit course). This allocation is meant to cover the course outline and any exams, as well as a moderate amount of presentational material for the instructor. Copying in excess of this amount will be calculated by staff and an invoice will be placed in your mailbox showing the amount to be collected from each student and then deposited to the Department Office.
  • If you plan to do a lot of copying throughout the term, please let the students know on the first day of classes that they will have to pay extra and collect early in the course (based on your estimate at .05 per page, or .13 per page if copyrighted - see Cancopy below). Cheques should be made payable to the University of Victoria.
  • Alternately, you may place 2 copies of handouts on reserve, in the curriculum lab for students to copy on their own.

Posting of grades

Grades and Student Identification numbers are personal and confidential. Posting of grades by the instructor is discouraged and unnecessary, as students can look up their own grades via uSource. Final grades are available within 2-3 days of the submission of the grades. Please note that the grades are not final until approved by the Chair.

Now that electronic submission of grades is in effect, you are advised to keep a copy of your grades.

Submission and return of assignments

Please do not direct students to submit assignments via your mailbox. Errors have occurred where assignments were placed in the wrong box, or assignments have "disappeared", or students have submitted assignments to the wrong department mailroom etc. Assignments should be submitted either in class or during office hours.

Due to confidentiality of marks, assignments MUST BE returned by the instructor directly to the student either in class or during office hours. Leaving assignments in sealed envelopes in your department mailboxes? particularly shared mailboxes? is not acceptable. It is not appropriate for students to be rummaging through material in faculty mailboxes as this compromises the privacy of correspondence for other department members.

Prior arrangements may be made to mail the assignments to students when they supply a stamped, self-addressed envelope. Due to concern for the protection of privacy of grades assignments are NOT to be left outside a faculty office or in the Department Office.

Textbooks and coursepacks

You will be sent a reminder from the Department office regarding your textbook request prior to the Bookstore due dates. If you are not contacted please e-mail Michele Armstrong in the Dept. Office, at edci5@uvic.ca , 721-7808. Please advise us if you will not be using textbooks or if you plan to use a coursepack, so that we can notify the Bookstore, which keeps updated postings for the students. Coursepacks are recommended if you plan a large number of handouts for the term/year; these need to be submitted to the Dept. Office approx. 3 months before the start of classes, for copyright clearance and duplicating by the Bookstore. For further information about coursepacks, please check the Bookstore's website at the UVic Bookstore.