New Faculty Handbook 2015-2016

UWG New Faculty

Handbook 2015-2016

University of West Georgia New Faculty Handbook 2015-2016

Created by UWG’s Center for Teaching & Learning

Contributors Cher Hendricks, Director of the UWG Center for Teaching & Learning Keith Pacholl, Associate Professor of History and CTL Faculty Fellow

T. Randahl Morris, Assistant Professor of Mass Communications and CTL Faculty Fellow Carrie Carmack, Mathematics Instructor and CTL Faculty Fellow

Acknowledgements Many thanks to our colleagues who provided resources for this handbook:

Charla Campbell Sally Roberts Carol Goodson Beth Rene’ Roepnack Danny Gourley Jane Simpson

Denise Overfield Francie Taylor

and their colleagues in the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs, Ingram Library, Academic Advising, Publications & Printing, Online Faculty Development

Center, University General Counsel, and Academic Testing Services

Photo Credits Photos are from the UWG website (www.westga.edu), President Marrero’s UWG flickr

site (www.flickr.com/photos/128938273@N08/albums),UWG’s flickr site (https://www.flickr.com/photos/westga/sets/), and Special Collections at Ingram

Library. One photo was taken by Cher Hendricks. All photo sources are provided.

TABLE OF CONTENTS I. University of West Georgia: Who We Are, Where We’re Headed 1

History 1

UWG Vision, Mission, Core Values 2

Strategic Plan and Imperatives 3

Engage West 3

Our Students 4

Our Faculty 6

2. Planning for Teaching & Learning: The Basics 7

Basic Expectations for All Faculty 7

Establishing Class Policies 9

Course Syllabus 10

Choosing Materials 11

Publications & Printing, Information Technology Services, and UWG | Online 12

3. Course Design to Support Student Learning 13

Designing Your Course 13

Student Learning Outcomes 14

Assessment and Feedback 15

Teaching and Learning Activities 19

Remember: It’s All about Alignment 20

The First Day of Class 21

4. Supporting Student Success 23

Engaging Students 23

Getting Students to Read Course Materials 25

Effective Questioning Strategies 26

Resources for At-Risk Students 27

Accessibility Services 29

Counseling Center 29

5. Documenting Your Success 31

Creating Your Plan 31

Keeping Track of Your Progress 33

Appendices

1. Academic Affairs procedure Reporting and Incident of Student Academic Dishonesty 35

2. Title IX Policies 39

3. Legal Topics I Should Know 41

4. FERPA Statement of Understanding 43

5. Common Language for Course Syllabi 49

6. Fair Use Checklist and Course Pack Preparation from Publications & Printing 51

7. Classroom Assessment Techniques 55

8. GradesFirst Guide for UWG Faculty 61

9. Accessibility Services Faculty Handbook 79

10. Academic Testing: Five Facts 83

11. UWG | Online Who We Are and What We Do and Policies, Procedures, & Tips 85

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Chapter 1. University of West Georgia: Who We Are, Where We’re Headed History . UWG has a rich history in the West Georgia community. From the UWG website1:

From its humble beginnings as an agricultural and mechanical school in 1906 to a leading university, the University of West Georgia’s history is rich with knowledge and growth. The Fourth District Agricultural and Mechanical School in Carrollton opened its doors in response to a call for “more realistic educational programs for rural youth” aged 13 to 21. The site of the former Bonner Plantation was chosen as a location and 110 pupils enrolled in 1908.

Students of the 1910-1911 class at the Fourth District A&M School examining farming implements. Source:

Special Collections at UWG’s Ingram Library. As society changed, so did the educational priorities of Georgia and the nation. By 1933, seven of the A&M schools had abandoned their missions and a decision was made to abolish the remaining A&M schools. Despite the change, the Fourth District Agricultural and Mechanical School was chosen later that

1 Source: http://www.westga.edu/index_history.php

year to become West Georgia College, a two-year institution of higher learning. The evolution continued when West Georgia became a four-year institution in 1957. At that time, 589 students were enrolled. By 1971, enrollment had increased to more than 6,000 students. In fall 1996, the college became a university, the State University of West Georgia. It became simply the University of West Georgia in 2005 and conferred its first Ph.D. in 2012. Today, UWG enrolls more than 12,000 students and offers more than 85 programs of study through the College of Arts and Humanities, the College of Social Sciences, the College of Science and Mathematics, the Richards College of Business, the College of Education, and the School of Nursing. The Honors College continues to provide intensive study options for high-achieving students. The Advanced Academy of Georgia allows exceptional high school juniors and seniors to live and study on campus while completing their high school graduation requirements. UWG Newnan offers core classes, full bachelor’s degrees, and graduate study. Graduate study in business is available in Douglasville. Courses are also available for students near and far through UWG Online. The university grants degrees at the bachelor’s, master’s, specialist and doctoral levels.

UWG’s Tanner Health System School of Nursing

Source: UWG website.

The past few years have seen major changes at UWG. President Kyle Marrero became 7th president of the University in July 2013, and that same month, a team of UWG faculty, staff, and university administrators began the process of

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updating the University’s vision, mission, and strategic plan. They engaged the UWG campus community as well as external constituents throughout the process to ensure broad participation. After several iterations, the University System of Georgia’s (USG) Board of Regents approved the strategic plan on August 20, 2014.

UWG Vision. The University of West Georgia aspires to be the best comprehensive university in America—sought after as the best place to work, learn, and succeed. UWG Mission. The mission of the University of West Georgia is to enable students, faculty, and staff to realize their full potential through academic engagement, supportive services, professional development, and a caring, student-centered community. UWG is committed to academic excellence and to community engagement, offering high-quality undergraduate, graduate, and community programs on-campus, off-campus, and online.

UWG, a charter member of the University System of Georgia, is a comprehensive, SACS-COC level VI, public university, based in West Georgia with multiple instructional sites and a strong virtual presence. UWG supports students in their efforts to complete degrees in relevant programs, valuing liberal arts and professional preparation. Through effective and innovative teaching, experiential learning, scholarship, research, creative endeavor, and public service, UWG equips graduates to engage with and

discover knowledge. UWG is dedicated to building on existing strengths and developing distinctive academic, research, and co-curricular programs and services that respond to economic development and identified regional, state and global needs, thus empowering alumni to contribute responsibly and creatively to a complex 21st Century global society.

UWG Core Values. The institutional mission and daily operations of the University of West Georgia are guided by our values that support our vision to be the best place to work, learn, and succeed. The value of achievement is evident in our commitment to the academic and social success of our students, staff, and faculty.

The value of caring is evident in our consistent concern and regard for our students, staff, and faculty as well as the larger communities where we live and whom we serve.

The value of collaboration is evident in our commitment to shared governance, teamwork, and a cooperative spirit that shape our interactions with students, staff, and faculty, and the communities we serve. The value of inclusiveness is

evident in our commitment to celebrating our diversity, our collaborative

spirit, and creating a welcoming campus that is emotionally and physically safe for all.

The value of innovation is evident in our commitment to fostering a learning atmosphere in which new methods and


ideas consistent with our vision and mission are respected and rewarded.

The value of integrity is evident in our commitment to rigorous ethical standards in our classrooms and offices, in our conduct toward each other, and in service to our communities. The value of sustainability is evident in our obligation to maintaining ecological balance in our planning and operations that make possible for future generations the same or better quality of opportunities for success available to present employees and students.

The value of wisdom is evident in our commitment to teaching and learning that emphasizes knowledge for the purpose of positively transforming the lives of our employees and students, as well as improving the world in which we live.

Strategic Plan and Imperatives. UWG’s Strategic Plan includes four key imperatives:

Strategic Imperative 1. Student Success: Enhanced Learning, Access, Progression & Development. Strategic Imperative 2. Academic Success: Academic Programming & Faculty Support. Strategic Imperative 3: Successful Partnerships: Building Engaged, Mutually Beneficial Collaborations. Strategic Imperative 4: Operational Success: Effectiveness & Sustainability.

All faculty are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the strategic plan, imperatives, and goals. (Visit the site http://www.westga.edu/engagewest/ ). All

departments, colleges, and units at UWG have annual goals aligned with the strategic imperatives, and progress toward these goals is measured each year.

Engage West! When we talk about Engage West!, we are referring to the exiting initiatives taking place on our campus that help us reach our vision of being “sought after to be the best place to work, learn, and succeed.” From our Engage West! Faculty Edition to our quarterly Leadership Development Institutes, Engage West! encompasses various projects and activities we invest in as a campus to work toward reaching our vision. These include:

Engage West! Faculty Edition. This Provost’s initiative ensures broad, campus-wide support for faculty engagement in teaching, scholarship, creative and artistic expression, community engagement, and service. http://www.westga.edu/engagewest/fe

Employee Engagement Survey. The survey is extended to all staff, faculty, and administrators each year to assess existing conditions, help identify areas in which our communications, leadership, procedures, and/or policies need revision or improvement, and provide information to map a route toward institutional success. http://www.westga.edu/engagewest/1078.php

Presidential Committee on Campus Inclusion. Through thoughtful, deliberate, and inclusive assessment of current efforts and resources, dialogue, and research, the committee provides the President


recommendations to improve diversity and inclusiveness at UWG. http://www.westga.edu/engagewest/1826.php

Leadership Development Institutes. LDIs are a vital part of our Engage West! initiative. Held every 90 days, each LDI focuses on learning critical to the growth and effectiveness of UWG’s leaders. http://www.westga.edu/engagewest/1447.php

Leadership Development Institute, November 2014. Source: Office of the President on flickr

Quality Enhancement Plan. Our QEP focuses on improving undergraduate writing by integrating writing across Core courses. The QEP is part of our SACS-COC accreditation process. http://www.westga.edu/qep/ Barriers Team. The Barriers Team identifies, assesses, and provides recommendations for improving operational processes, policies, and practices with the goal of eliminating barriers of inefficiency. With a culture of problem solving, the team aligns identified barriers with efficient solutions through the lens of mandated statutes, governing policies, and system shared services. http://www.westga.edu/engagewest/1749.php

Economic Development. UWG is committed to being the hub of economic growth in the region. UWG serves as an economic growth engine for the entire state of Georgia. In collaboration with leaders in areas like health care, business, technology, agriculture, government, media, performing arts, libraries, cultural heritage and preservation, military, non-profit organizations, and P-12 and other educational institutions, UWG cultivates a

strong network of partners dedicated to making the region a better place to live, work, learn, and play. http://www.westga.edu/economicdevelopment

Complete College Georgia. CCG is part of a statewide project coordinated by the University System of Georgia to improve student access to college and increase retention and graduation rates among the system’s institutions. http://www.westga.edu/vpaa/index_22540.php The Center for Sustainability. The Center’s mission is to promote sustainability initiatives on campus and the community with a longer term vision of making UWG one of the most recognized sustainable campuses in Georgia. http://www.westga.edu/green/

Another important campus initiative is LEAP: Liberal Education and America’s Promise. LEAP “is a national advocacy, campus action, and research initiative that champions the importance of a twenty-first century liberal education—for individuals and for a nation dependent on economic creativity and democratic vitality.”1

Our Students. Students at UWG are a diverse group. Many are the first in their family to attend college, and a large number work full-time jobs to pay for their education. You will find hard workers who want to succeed, and they will look to you for a roadmap.

1 From AAC&U’s website: https://www.aacu.org/leap


Just the Facts. According to UWG’s 2014 Fact Book, there were 9886 undergraduate and 1957 graduate students enrolled at UWG during the Fall 2014 semester. Our total enrollment was 12,206, which included students who were joint enrolled. Approximately 65% of UWG students are female.

Over half of all UWG students are Caucasian/ white, 35% are African-American, 4% are Hispanic, 3% identify as two or more races, and just under 2% are Asian. More than half of our students (54%) are eligible for the Pell Grant, and 49% receive Pell Grant support. Our large number of Pell Grant recipients affects the number of students who are able to enroll in summer courses. About 75% of our undergrads are full-time students, and on average, students enroll for about 13 hours per semester1.

Each year, Student Services creates a New Student Profile based on data they collect from incoming freshman at orientation. For our freshman class of Fall 2014, 43% of our incoming students reported their intention to

1 These data were provided by UWG’s Office of Institutional

Effectiveness and Assessment.

work between 6 and 20 hours per week. About 11% planned to work more than 20 hours per week. Incoming freshman have a number of concerns as they begin their college careers2. When asked what barriers they expect, students responded:

• Lack of study skills (46%) • Lack of time management skills (34%) • Difficulty of courses (31%) • Financial difficulties (26%)

Students were also asked what areas of concern or difficulty they thought they would experience. Students were most concerned about their:

• Study skills/habits (44%) • Math skills (38%) • Test-taking skills (35%) • Writing skills (32%) • Reading speed (20%) • Reading comprehension (19%)

Forty-six percent of our incoming freshman in Fall 2014 were the first in their family to attend college. If you are working with freshman, they may need a little extra help from you to learn how to be successful college students. Later in this handbook, you’ll find suggestions about how to help your students develop the skills they need to be successful as well as campus resources students can access.

Students on Campus. Source: UWG Student Life on flickr 2 Source: 2014 New Student Profile from Strategic Planning

Office, Student Affairs and Enrollment Management.

Figure 1. Percentage Female and Male UWG Students, Fal l 2014

Figure 2. UWG Students' Ethnicity , Fal l 2014


Our Faculty. At UWG you’ll find passionate colleagues who are committed to student learning and success, contribute to their disciplines through scholarship and through their art, and engage in the life of the university and community through their service. Our faculty enjoy crossing disciplinary boundaries to share their work with their UWG peers, and you will find a number of ways to take part through the Center for Teaching & Learning (CTL), the Office of Research and Sponsored Projects (ORSP), Ingram Library, Center for Community Engagement, UWG | Online, and a number of other offices and centers. Just the Facts. According to the Office of Institutional Effectiveness and Assessment, in Fall 2014, UWG employed 415 full-time faculty and 104 part-time faculty. Of these 519 total faculty, one-third held the rank of instructor. Of our full-time faculty, 37% are tenured, 21% are tenure-track, and 41% are non-tenure track.

Of our full-time faculty, 57% are female; 61% of our part-time faculty are female. There are slightly more males (53%) in administrative roles than there are females. Of our full-time faculty 70% hold doctorate degrees.

Faculty Grant Work. Each year, a number of UWG faculty apply for internal and external grant funding to support both their research and their teaching. Examples of recent faculty grants include: • National Science Foundation Research

Experience for Undergraduates Program: Expanding the Atomic Database for Nebular and Stellar Neutron-Capture Element Abundance Determinations. Total funded: $320,399

• 6 grants from the Improving Teacher Quality Program for strengthening and deepening teachers’ content knowledge in their academic subjects (math, language arts, social studies, science). Total funded: $267,785 total,

• NSF Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority

Participation Grant program to increase the quality and quantity of students successfully completing science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) baccalaureate degree programs. Total funded: $49,758

• Center for Public History projects to support

student research experiences. Total funded: $367,989

• U.S. Department of Education Math Science

Partnership to improve teacher quality through partnerships between state education agencies, institutions of higher education, high-need local education agencies, and schools to increase the academic achievement of students in mathematics and science. Total funded: $306,269

Professor Samples (Art) and Students Source: UWG Academics on flickr

Figure 3. UWG Faculty, by Rank, Fa ll 2014


Chapter 2. Planning for Teaching and Learning: The Basics This chapter focuses on the basic information you need to know as you plan your classes, including expectations for teaching faculty, syllabus requirements, class policies, course materials, and services such as Publications and Printing, Instructional Technology Services, and the Faculty Development Center (for online/blended courses).

Basic Expectations for All Faculty. UWG has basic teaching expectations for all faculty:

CourseDen/D2L: CourseDen is UWG’s learning management system. It provides tools to allow you to create materials and content for your courses. CourseDen can be used to deliver fully online or blended courses, and it can be used to supplement face-to-face classes. Find more information at UWG | Online: http://uwgonline.westga.edu/student_getting_started.php

Office Hours. Post and keep regular office hours. The Faculty Handbook (section 209) specifies a minimum of 10 office hours per week. Check with your chair for specific requirements. Book Orders. Process book orders on time, spare students as much cost as possible, and follow departmental policy for textbooks. Some programs require a common text across all sections of the same course. If you are interested in using

open educational resources (OERs), which are free for students, contact the Center for Teaching & Learning. Textbook requisitions are made online at https://www.bookstore.westga.edu/

UWG Bookstore. Source: UWG Student Life on flickr

Class Sessions & Credit Hour Policy. Meet with classes on time and use the full time period. This applies to online courses as well. Also adhere to limits for work outside of class. In both cases, follow the UWG Credit Hour Policy:

The University of West Georgia grants one semester hour of credit for work equivalent to a minimum of one hour (50 minutes) of in-class or other direct faculty instruction AND two hours of student work outside of class per week for approximately fifteen weeks. For each course, the course syllabus will document the amount of in-class (or other direct faculty instruction) and out-of-class work required to earn the credit hour(s) assigned to the course. Out-of-class work will include all forms of credit-bearing activity, including but not limited to assignments, readings, observations, and musical practice.1

Final Exams. Conduct final exams as scheduled during the regular exam period2. The examination schedule can be found in The Scoop (http://www.westga.edu/registrar/766.php)

1 Source: http://www.westga.edu/assets/docs/catalogs/UG-

full-current/1769.htm 2 Beginning in AY 2016-2017, the exam period will be

optional.


Roster Verification. Check class rosters carefully and report discrepancies to the Registrar’s Office during roster verification period. Make sure Banner and CourseDen rosters match. Dates are provided in The Scoop. Also, don’t ignore emails from the Registrar regarding roster verification. Roster verification is required for federal student aid reporting purposes.

UWG Campus Center. Source: UWG Student Life on flickr

Grade Submission. Ensure your grades are in on-time and don’t ignore emails about due dates. UWG is serious about on-time grade submission. For Fall 2015, grades are due by noon on December 14th.

Notify your Department Chair. Always notify your department chair and get approval when:

• You are unable to meet your class due to an emergency

• You are going to be absent from campus for conference travel or other reasons during your contract period

• You want to change your classroom

• You are taking students on a field trip

• You plan to engage in outside employment or consulting. UWG and the USG Board of Regents have strict policies regarding this. Refer to the Faculty Handbook (Section 114).

Academic Dishonesty. Familiarize yourself with the instructions for reporting students for academic dishonesty. These are described in the Academic Affairs procedure Reporting and Incident of Student Academic Dishonesty (included in Appendix 1). If you’re looking for a good resource specifically on plagiarism, Ingram Library has a number of helpful materials: http://libguides.westga.edu/content.php?pid=16314&sid=109878 Relationships with Students and Supervisees. Practice good judgment regarding relationships with students and employees that may be directly or indirectly under your supervision. Educate yourself on Title IX policies (see Appendix 2) as well as sexual harassment policies found in the Faculty Handbook (Sections 121-123).

Programs and Policies. Be acquainted with the Graduate Catalog, Undergraduate Catalog, The Scoop, and The Faculty Handbook. These are available online:

Graduate Catalog http://www.westga.edu/registrar/catalogs.php

Undergraduate Catalog http://www.westga.edu/registrar/catalogs.php

The Scoop http://www.westga.edu/registrar/766.php

Faculty Handbook http://www.westga.edu/assetsDept/vpaa/FacultyHandbook.pdf

Legal issues. It’s important to be aware of legal issues related to open records law, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), civil rights, fair use/copyright, and contracts.


• Open Records: emails, personnel files, evaluations, or anything else that is created, received, or maintained during the course of business at UWG is subject to open records law.

• FERPA: grants students certain rights related to their educational records and requires permission for sharing student information.

• Civil Rights: defined by federal law, state law, USG board policy, UWG policy, and “reasonable man” standard.

• Copyright/Fair Use: guidelines exist for using works protected by copyright. Follow guidelines for fair use.

• Contracts: Only designated university officials may sign contracts.

Additional information is provided in Appendices 3 (Legal Topics I Should Know) and 4 (FERPA Statement of Understanding). Consult University General Counsel for additional information at 9-5306.

Student Studying. Source: UWG Academics on flickr

Establishing Class Policies. As an instructor, you’ll need to make decisions about whether attendance is required, if there will be a class policy for late arrivals, staying for class the whole time, and make-up work. You need to clearly lay out your policies in your syllabus and then stick to them.

Attendance. It’s no secret there’s a positive correlation between class attendance and success, but some instructors believe the decision to attend class should be the student’s. Your attendance policy is up to you, but you do need to establish one.

Even with a relaxed attendance policy, there are strategies you can use to get students to show up. In addition to engaging classes that encourage active participation to keep students interested and motivated, here are some other strategies:

• Make graded work a part of class time

• Give unscheduled quizzes or other assessments

• Contact students who skip class

• Take roll

• Use an attendance prompt (Instead of saying “here” name the concept you find most confusing from reading)

• Use a “ticket out the door” exercise where students write their name on a sheet of paper with a short sentence about what they’re confused about from the lesson or reading

Late Assignments. It’s important to establish a policy for late assignments. Will you have an absolute policy whereby you accept no late assignments? What counts as late? How will you deal with excuses related to technical issues (the internet went down!)? Consider whether you want to create a flexible policy that allows students to drop their lowest grade.

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Extra Credit. Instructors tend to have strong convictions about allowing extra credit—some believe that extra credit provides students with yet another opportunity to learn, and others feel that students have enough opportunities to demonstrate their learning by completing the course activities and assessments. Wherever you fall in this debate, make sure to include an extra credit policy on your syllabus, even if your policy is that there will be no extra credit in your class.

In addition to policy decisions, there are also decisions you need to make about how you’ll engage students in learning, what your expectations are in terms of their participation and their effort, and what you are willing to do to help them succeed. Chapter 4 provides a wealth of information on these topics.

UWG Marching Band Source: UWG Student Life on flickr

Course Syllabus. Before you create a course syllabus, check with your Department Chair and find out if there is a common syllabus for the course you’re teaching.

Whether you will be using a common syllabus or creating one, keep in mind that all syllabi should include the following information: • Instructor’s name, office hours, office

location, and contact information

• Course title, number, section, term, credit hours, including in- and out-of-class time requirements to earn course credit

• Method and mode of delivery (percentage of online/face-to-face)

• Course description

• Student learning outcomes (SLOs)

• Required and recommended texts and readings

• Assessments and tests used to measure SLOs

• Grading breakdown and extra credit policy

• Technology requirements (if necessary)

• Policies for attendance and late assignments

• Topics covered and learning activities. It is strongly recommended that you include a schedule of assignments and assessments

• The URL for Common Language for Course Syllabi (see Appendix 5), which includes information about disability services, official UWG communications, workload expectations and academic credit, and the UWG Honor Code. http://www.westga.edu/assetsDept/vpaa/Common_Language_for_Course_Syllabi.pdf

UWG President & Provost at Graduation Source: UWG President’s Office on flickr

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Choosing Materials. As you plan your course, you want to choose materials that will help your students learn content. Check with your Department Chair to see if any courses you’re teaching require a common textbook or other materials. If so, be sure to use them.

Textbooks. If you are choosing a textbook for a course, you can request a desk copy from a publisher, and there is usually an online process for this. Many publishers will provide you with a free copy, but others will require payment, though it may be at a reduced rate or the fee may be waived after you adopt a text. Consider checking with a colleague in your department who may be able to lend you a copy of a textbook for you to review. Also remember that if you do receive a desk copy from a publisher, you may not resell the book.

Textbooks. Source: C. Hendricks

If you use a textbook, students have the option of purchasing the text—or in some cases, renting a book—through the bookstore. Textbook requisitions are made online at https://www.bookstore.westga.edu/.

Be sure to make your request well in advance of the semester, and check with the bookstore a few weeks before the semester starts to ensure the book has been received and is labeled correctly with your course’s CRN number.

Another option is to have students purchase or rent the book through another source. Always check options as a way of ensuring students have access to affordable textbooks and course materials.

OERs. If you are teaching a course that does not require a common textbook, consider using an open educational resource (OER). The Center for Teaching and Learning as well as faculty at Ingram Library can help you find OERs. To start, check out Affordable Learning Georgia at: http://www.affordablelearninggeorgia.org/ Here you’ll find resources on the following:

MERLOT: OERs from the California State University System. http://www.affordablelearninggeorgia.org/open_resources/merlot

OpenStax College: Rice University’s initiative to create free OER, peer-reviewed textbooks. Textbooks are available or are under development for most core courses. https://openstaxcollege.org/about

MIT Open Courseware: An initiative at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to provide online all available course materials to the public. http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/

The Affordable Learning Georgia website has a number of additional resources, materials, and tutorials for getting started with OERs.

Library Reserves. You can reserve materials through Ingram Library for your students. Students can access reserves at the library or online. Learn more at: http://libguides.westga.edu/reserves


Course Packets. If you wish to create a course packet for your class, be sure to follow copyright and Fair Use guidelines. Work with the bookstore and Publications and Printing. Appendix 6 includes a Fair Use checklist you can use as well as information from Publications & Printing about how to order course packs. There are also online services that provide copyright clearance services for course pack creation.

Publications & Printing. Make your life easier by using P&P (Your On-Campus Copy Center) to print materials for your courses (copyright restrictions apply!). You can visit P&P near East Commons dining hall or order online at their website: http://www.westga.edu/pubprint/

Be sure to check with your department chair about using P&P, billing, and departmental

procedures. UWG Publications and Printing. Source: UWG P&P website Information Technology Services (ITS). ITS has a number of technology resources and support services. Classroom Technology. If you are teaching on-campus, ITS can help with immediate classroom problems related to technology (computers, AV equipment). Each classroom that is technology-enabled will have posted a How To manual or checklist on the wall or near the computer. Be sure to take some time to learn how the

technology works in your classroom before the first day of classes. And if you need assistance, call the helpdesk at 9-6587. Equipment. ITS offers audio/visual equipment for checkout (microphones, speakers, voice recorders, laptops, presentation clickers, projectors, video cameras, etc.). You can make a request online at: http://www.westga.edu/its/

570_circulation_equipment.php or call 9-6459. Software. ITS can provide and install Microsoft Office on your home computer at a significantly discounted price as part of the Work at Home program. ITS also provides free antivirus software. Request software at: http://www.westga.edu/its/570_2945.php Other services. ITS can also help you with email, logon issues, BanWeb, and phone services. Visit their website: http://www.westga.edu/its/index.php

Online Faculty Development Center. If you are teaching a fully online, blended course, or a face-to-face (f2f) course that is heavily supported by D2L—our course management system—you will want to get to know the amazing faculty developers, instructional designers, and support staff at OFDC. They can help with course development as well as provide training on D2L. See Appendix 11 for more information as well as policies, procedures, and tips for online instruction. http://uwgonline.westga.edu/d2l.php


Chapter 3. Course Design to Support Student Learning Designing Your Course. The most important decision you make when teaching is how you will design your course. A successful course goes beyond conveying content to students and focuses instead on student learning rather than on the content itself. To put it another way, if the course is not designed to facilitate student learning, then the opportunity for students to successfully master course content and achieve learning objectives is minimal. This section will assist you in making important decision about how to successfully design your courses at UWG. There are four key elements to consider when designing a course:

• Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs). When creating a course, one of the first questions you should ask is “By the end of the course, what do I want my students to be able to do?” Your answer to that question will help you establish the goals of your course, which we’ll refer to as Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs). Don’t be confused by the use of the words “goal” or “outcome”—they mean the same thing. The learning outcomes (or goals) for a course should reflect the most important skills students should achieve by completing the course. Some departments have mandatory SLOs that must be included

for particular courses, so be sure to include these in addition to your own outcomes.

• Assessment and Feedback. How do you know if students have reached the goals you set for the course? To achieve this, you must find ways to evaluate student learning throughout the course. This is what assessment is all about—creating ways to measure learning to ensure that students are successfully achieving the SLOs you have set for them. A crucial part of assessment is offering feedback to students to indicate where they are successful and where they can improve.

• Teaching and Learning Activities. Once SLOs and assessments are in place, your final task is to create learning activities so that students can successfully achieve the goals you have set. Will you primarily lecture? Assign readings? Hold discussions? Engage in hands-on activities? Every class should be geared toward providing information and experiences that contribute to the overall goals of the course.

• Alignment. The process of designing a course based on how you want students to demonstrate achievement of SLOs is called backward design. When you use backward design, you plan a course by focusing on the goals you want students to achieve rather than on the content or information you want to convey. Part of backward design is ensuring that goals, assessments, and activities all relate to one another. All assessments and activities, for example, should relate to one or more learning outcomes for the course.


These four elements are not separate and distinct, but rather work together to form an integrated approach to designing a course. We’ll look at each in a bit more detail in this chapter. Your chances of designing a strong course increase significantly when you thoughtfully address each of these elements.

Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs). Student Learning Outcomes describe what students should be able to do after they have completed your course. SLOs are an important component of a syllabus, and students need to have a clear understanding of what you expect them to know and be able to do when they complete the class.

It is one thing to state a goal for the course, but it is another thing to assess it. When creating SLOs, they must be very clear and measurable; that is, you must have a specific way of assessing whether or not students have attained the outcomes. For example, this would not be a measurable:

Students will appreciate art of the 20th century.

How does one assess something as subjective as “appreciation”? The following, however, would be a more effective outcome because it is measurable:

Students will identify the basic features of each of the 20th-century art styles and discuss the main contributions that these styles made to the development of visual arts.

It is possible to measure whether students can identify and discuss, but it would be difficult, if not impossible, to measure how much they appreciate something.

Notice how important verbs are in the creation of a learning outcome. They indicate the level and sophistication of the specific outcome you have included in the course. Do you want students to simply memorize facts? Do you want them to analyze readings? Or is it important for them to evaluate various theories in a field? How you word a particular outcome is important. As you develop course SLOs, think about what you consider to be most critical in terms of what students should know and be able to do once they’ve completed your course.

From the University of Arkansas' Office of Teaching Innovation & Pedagogical Support1

Consider using the revised Bloom’s Taxonomy as you write SLOs. Blooms Taxonomy is a breakdown of different forms of student learning, ranging from very basic forms of learning to higher levels of cognition (thinking). As illustrated in Figure 4, Bloom’s Taxonomy includes six types of learning: remembering, understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating, and creating. In this hierarchy, remembering (recalling facts) is the lowest

1 Used with permission from http://tips.uark.edu/using-

blooms-taxonomy/

Figure 4. Revised Bloom's Taxonomy


level of learning. Having students create new work based on what they have learned is the highest form of learning.

Bloom’s Taxonomy is helpful when considering the different levels of courses that you will be teaching. For example, if you are teaching an introductory-level course, many of your SLOs may emphasize the need learn basic knowledge in your field and would focus on Bloom’s concepts of remembering and applying. For an upper division course, SLOs may emphasize higher order skills such as analyzing, applying, and creating. Table 1 lists verbs associated for each level of Bloom’s Taxonomy that might prove helpful as you create your own SLOs. Iowa State University’s Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching also provides a Model of Learning Objectives based on Bloom’s Taxonomy: http://www.celt.iastate.edu/teaching-resources/effective-practice/revised-blooms-taxonomy/

Assessment and Feedback. How many times have we heard another faculty member say “I hate grading”? Or better yet, how many times have we said it ourselves? If assessment is approached as more than just grading, our perspective might change toward the assessment process. One way to change our mindset—as well as the mindset of our students—is to re-imagine assessment as a method of providing feedback on a student’s progress toward achieving SLOs rather than simply an exercise in assigning a grade to work.

Table 1. Behavioral Objectives Aligned to Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy


As Dee Fink has pointed out in Creating Significant Learning Experiences, assessment has normally been viewed as backward-looking where students are generally tested on information they learned in the past to see if they “got it.” Backward-looking assessment becomes a type of audit where students are assessed based on what they were taught rather than on their ability to apply what they have learned.

Fink suggests that significant learning is best achieved with forward-looking assessments that emphasize application of learning rather than just memorizing details.1 In the case of Chemistry, for example, memorizing the periodic table might have its merits, but applying the knowledge gained from the periodic table in a chemistry lab will have a greater impact on student learning, especially at higher levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy.

Assessments should provide opportunities for students to demonstrate their progress toward achieving SLOs as well as their achievement of the SLO. As you create assessments for your course, consider using both formative and summative assessments.

Formative assessments are used throughout the course to determine whether students are making progress toward meeting course objectives. They help students determine whether they are on-track, and they can help you discern the effectiveness of your instruction and course activities toward student learning.

1 Fink, D. (2013). Creating significant learning Experiences.

San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Formative assessments can be graded or non-graded, though feedback should always be given. Non-graded assignments have the value of allowing students to focus on the actual work rather than on the grade. Some faculty also allow rewrites or multiples chances to turn in a particular assignment to help achieve greater competency. Formative assessments might include quizzes, clicker quizzes, concept maps, minute papers, muddiest point papers, and other classroom assessment techniques2 (CATs). Appendix 7 provides more information on CATs.

Summative assessments are used to measure whether students have achieved a particular SLO. Summative assessments might include tests and exams, papers and projects, and performances. These assessments are generally assigned at the end of a section after students have had the opportunity to engage with the material (often in the form of smaller formative assessments) related to a specific learning outcome.

Tanner Health System School of Nursing Students.

Source: UWG THS-SON website A significant component of assessment is instructor feedback. Truly effective feedback goes beyond assigning a grade and offers constructive comments for each assessment. Feedback should address not only successful achievement but also areas for improvement. Let’s say, for example, a

2 Angelo, T.A., & Cross, K.P. (1993). Classroom assessment

techniques (2nd ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.


student receives a 76% on a writing assignment. If one of the learning outcomes for the course is to improve student writing, then feedback should be provided that indicate why the grade was assigned and constructive criticism on how to improve the student’s writing on future assignments. According to Fink1, feedback should be “frequent, immediate, discriminating (based on criteria and standards),” and delivered in a supportive manner (p. 106). Timely feedback is critically important to support student learning. Students need sufficient time to look at and learn from your feedback so that they have a reasonable chance of improving. They also may need to consult with you about the feedback you provide, and in some cases, students may benefit from other campus resources—such as The Center for Academic Success or The Writing Center—to increase their chance of success in your course. Be sure to give detailed feedback and provide it in a timely manner so students derive the greatest benefit from it. As you create assessments for your courses, keep in mind these best practices for different types of assessments. Additional strategies are available from the CTL. Exams and Tests. If you will assess student learning with exams or tests, be sure to use best practices for test construction. First, ensure that the test items you create are a valid measure of whether students have reached course or module/unit/section SLOs. Next, be sure that test items measure student learning at the appropriate level of Bloom’s Taxonomy

1 Fink, D. (2013). Creating significant learning Experiences.

San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

(or other taxonomy you may be using). For example, it’s difficult—if not impossible—to measure higher order skills with matching or true-false items, which tend to measure things like remembering or understanding. It is possible to measure higher order skills with multiple choice items, though it can be challenging to write these type of items. Short response and essay questions can be used to measure higher order skills, but it’s important to create a set of grading criteria (rubric) to evaluate responses. Papers, Projects, Debates, Discussions, and Other Assessments. If you will assess students on assignments that require writing, communicating, or creating something, you need to have a standard way to assess students. A widely used tool is a rubric, defined by Walvoord and Anderson (2010) as “a format in which traits of the student’s work are separately named, and each trait is evaluated according to a scale from high to low”2 (p. 39). Two rubric examples are provided in Figures 5 and 6. One is for evaluating a QEP writing assignment and the other is for evaluating online discussions. If you are looking for information on ways to grade group work, check out these great resources from Carnegie Mellon: http://www.cmu.edu/teaching/assessment/howto/assesslearning/groupWorkGradingMethods.html and https://www.cmu.edu/teaching /designteach/design/instructionalstrategies/groupprojects/assess.html The CTL has additional resources on rubrics and evaluating group work.

2 Walvoord, B.E., & Anderson, V.J. (2010). Effective grading:

A tool for learning and assessment in college (2nd ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.


Figure 5. QEP Writing Assignment Rubric

Figure 6. Online Discussion Rubric


Teaching and Learning Activities. It’s important to ensure that assignments and activities for your course are designed with the goal of achieving learning outcomes. Best practices for teaching suggest that various types of instruction should be used when designing a course. Traditionally, college instructors have relied on lectures to convey information in a course, but technology and new pedagogies have offered additional forms of instruction.

Encourage active learning in your classes by providing students multiple opportunities to engage with the material beyond the lecture. Use strategies such as class discussions, group work, debates, case studies, student response systems (clickers), and brief, in-class writing assignments to encourage active learning. Setting aside regular chunks of class time for questions and active participation encourages students to think and apply what they have learned and become active, rather than passive, learners.

Consider using technology to encourage active learning. For example, Padlet.com and PollEverywhere.com can be used to facilitate student participation in class discussions and are helpful for ensuring all students—even the ones who are typically quiet—participate and engage in class.

As you create activities for your course, it is helpful to recall Bloom’s Taxonomy, focusing on the levels of learning you want students to achieve. At the lowest level of Bloom’s—which requires students to remember information and that you will likely measure by having students recall, define, name, list, or identify information—course activities may center around having students read the text, attend lectures, and/or complete course modules (perhaps in the online environment or flipped class).

At higher levels of Bloom’s—for example, if you expect students to design a business model—activities that occur in and out of class need to help students develop various skills required to meet that objective. This would involve not only knowing the elements of a good business model but also knowing how to make good decisions in areas such as a plan to acquire customers and charge customers.

Whatever activity you include, be sure that you are specific with your expectations, open to student questions to clarify your expectations, and willing to get students actively involved wherever possible. Table 2 provides active learning strategies that can be used across the various levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy.

Table 2. Active Learning Strategies Aligned to Bloom's Taxonomy


Remember—It’s All about Alignment. The key to a well-designed course is alignment. As you develop your course, be sure that student learning objectives are closely aligned to course assessments and course activities. It is generally easier to align class assessments to SLOs and then determine what activities will be necessary for students to complete to meet course goals.

Students Studying Source: UWG Student Life on flickr

If your courses are out of alignment, students may find it difficult to successfully meet the objectives you set. Other negative outcomes include:

• A perception by students that the course is fragmented

• Confusion by students regarding what they should learn

• Students wasting time on activities that don’t support their success

• Uncertainty about how effective instruction is1

1 Source: University of Colorado Online Tutorial for Faculty.

Available at: http://www.ucdenver.edu/ faculty_staff/ faculty/center-for-faculty-development/ Documents/Tutorials/Assessment/module1/course_ alignment.htm

Course alignment may initially be a confusing concept to understand, but keep in mind that every aspect of the course needs to work together. If you don’t have specific goals stated for the course, then what can you assess? What kind of activities can you create if there is no assessment plan in place? Notice how it all starts with the learning outcomes you create for a course; once you have measureable SLOs, assessments and activities begin to fall into place. As long SLOs, assessment process, and class activities connect to one another (see Figure 7), students should have a clear understanding that everything they do is for a purpose. A course that is closely aligned is primed for success.

If you are interested in learning more about course design, student learning outcomes, assessment, activities, and alignment, please contact UWG’s Center for Teaching and Learning. The CTL provides resources including books such as Creating Significant Learning Experiences (Fink), Classroom Assessment Techniques (Angelo & Cross), Assessment Clear and Simple (Walvoord), and Effective Grading (Walvoord & Anderson). The CTL also offers workshops throughout the year on subjects related to teaching and course design. Take part!

Figure 7. Al ignment in Course Design


The First Day of Class. The first day of class can be exciting and terrifying, even if you’ve taught before. But Day One sets the stage for the course, and given the fact that most instructors find they don’t have enough time in the semester to “cover” their course, you will want to do more than just go over your syllabus and let students leave early. The first day is a great opportunity for your students to get to know you, discover why they should care about the course, and get a sense of the ground rules for being a student in your class. Here are some suggestions for getting off to a great start on the first day:

• Well before the start of the class, think about why your students should care about your course. How will you express this to students in terms that will be meaningful to them as well as inspiring?

• Review your class roster and be prepared to call on students by name. If you come across a name you can’t pronounce, ask for help. You might ask students to create a name tent to put on their desk or table for the first day—and even each class period after that—so you get to know students and they get to know each other.

• Even if you don’t plan to take roll each class session, take roll the first day or, for a large class, have students fill out an information card with their name, major, contact information, and any other information you’d like to know. Consider asking students to write (or talk about) the best teacher or course they had in high school and what made the teacher/course stand out.

• Discuss your group norms or have students develop them as a class. Group norms cover appropriate behavior (not interrupting the instructor or another student) and inappropriate behavior (keeping your headphones on during class).

• Teach class on Day One. Be sure to go over the syllabus, but use that time meaningfully so students understand what they’ll learn, how you and the course materials support that learning, and how students will be assessed. Talk about how much time students should plan on devoting to preparing for class (and stick to the credit hour policy). Then teach a lesson and get students engaged in learning. Keep students until the end of the class period so they’ll understand this is your standard operating procedure.

• Give students a ticket-out-the door assignment before they leave. This might be simply handing in the information card they created for you, or you might ask students to write down one thing from class they’re confused about (or something they’d like to know more about). If you didn’t take roll, have them write their name on their ticket. Review responses and be ready to talk about them when the class meets next.



Chapter 4. Supporting Student Success At UWG, we are committed to helping our students succeed. Did you know that if we can help 75 freshman successfully complete their first year, we can increase our freshman retention rate by 5%? 75 students! That’s about how many students will be in line at Starbucks on Monday morning at 10:00 am.

Students at Football Game Source: UWG Student Life on flickr

An attitude that is pervasive at UWG is that we all are responsible for helping students succeed. From our colleagues in facilities who keep our campus beautiful and functioning to our staff who are the heart and soul of campus operations to our faculty who challenge, inspire, and motivate students, all of us have a role in reaching UWG’s vision of being the best place to work, learn, and succeed. In this section, you’ll find information on steps you can take to help students be successful in your course as well as where to find campus resources students can benefit from outside of your class.

Engaging Students. Finding ways to increase students’ engagement will pay dividends, not only for your students, but for you. Engaged learners are active learners. A key to facilitating student engagement is in creating the right classroom atmosphere. Palmer (2009)1 suggests the following: • Convey your passion for your discipline.

If it’s clear that you care about your subject, it’s more likely that your students will care about it.

• Make your classroom a space where students feel welcome and where they feel they belong and are respected. Your classroom should feel like a safe space that is inclusive and where students feel their participation is valued.

• Set high, attainable expectations for all students. Students will typically work hard to live up to your expectations, even if they’re really low. Make your classroom a place where students are challenged but also one where students can succeed with hard work.

In lecture courses, including large sections, try these strategies to increase engagement: • Break a long lecture into mini-lectures.

In between mini-lectures, have students discuss or apply their learning.

1 Palmer, C. (2009). Six opportunities for building student

engagement (pp. 19-22). In M. Weimer (Ed.), Building student engagement: 15 strategies for the college classroom. Madison, WI: Magna Publications. Available: http://www.facultyfocus.com/wp-content/uploads/images/ Building-Student-Engagement_15-Strategies.pdf


• Be an active listener during discussions. Make eye contact, repeat what students say, and make at least one positive comment about what students offer. Give critical, respectful feedback.

• Ask questions throughout the lecture, calling students by name to respond. Ask questions that require students to explain something rather than respond with yes/no or provide a one-word response.

• Use think-pair-share (t-p-s) or write-pair-share activities that require students to think about and discuss information from the lecture. Use pairs to encourage all students to participate (it’s easy to get lost in groups of more than three).

• Use clickers or polls to check for understanding (and reteach when necessary). Connect clicker “quizzes” to t-p-s activities or group discussion to increase engagement. Consider using a second round so students can modify their responses based on a larger class discussion.

If you are working with underprepared or unprepared students, one effective strategy for increasing engagement is increasing the relevance of the course content. Alford and Griffin1 suggest the following strategies to increase relevance:

1 Alford, K.L., & Griffin, T.J. (November, 2013). Teaching

unprepared students: The importance of increasing relevance. Online at Faculty Focus: http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/effective-teaching-strategies/teaching-unprepared-students-the-importance-of-increasing-relevance/

• Have students respond in writing to So what? questions on each major course topic.

• Facilitate class discussions about why the course should matter to students, taking an opposite position to students’ suggestions.

Also consider asking students on the first day of class to write their own learning goals for the course Here are some additional strategies you can use to increase student engagement. Social Media. A few of your UWG colleagues use social media (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest) to increase student engagement. For example, a UWG economics instructor has students post ECONselfies (pictures) of themselves connected to a concept from their economics courses (see picture below).

UWG Student’s ECONselfie2

2 Available at: https://www.pinterest.com/cubegrl/econ102-

econselfie/


Case Studies. Case studies and simulations are great tools for getting students to apply their learning in meaningful, real-world contexts. Case studies can be used to facilitate discussion, critical thinking, problem-solving, and analysis. Debates. Having students debate issues in class requires them to apply, analyze, and evaluate information. Engaging in debates helps students think critically, hone their communication skills, and consider multiple viewpoints1. Minute Papers. Minute papers are short writing assignments, completed in class, that require students to respond to a prompt within one minute. Typically completed at the end of class, students respond to prompts such as:

• What are the most important things you learned in today’s class?

• What questions do you have about what you learned today?

• What are important questions still remain unanswered?

Minute papers can also be used at the beginning of the class (What questions do you have about the readings you did for today’s class?) or during class (Based on our discussion of the financial repercussions of the events of 9/11, which do you consider to have the most long-lasting effects on the U.S. economy?).

1 Kennedy, R. (2007). In-class debates: Fertile ground for

active learning and the cultivation of critical thinking and oral communication skills. International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 19(2), 183-190.

Getting Students to Read Course Material. A common complaint faculty have is that students do not come to class well-prepared and do not do assigned readings. A number of factors may affect student reading. In some cases, students may not buy the book or other materials, or they may attempt to share them with other students. Students also may believe that there’s no benefit in completing reading assignments, and that they can get all the information they need in class. Other students may feel that they don’t have strong enough reading skills to read and understand course materials.

UWG Students at Graduation Source: UWG Graduation Days on flickr

A great resource on this subject is Chapter 4 of McKeachie’s Teaching Tips2. Here are some tips for getting students to read course materials: • Use information from reading

assignments for in-class exercises. The minute-paper can be used in this case to have students write a response to the reading.

• Use frequent quizzes on reading assignments. This strategy can be

2 Svinicki, M.D., & McKeachie, W.J. (2014). McKeachie’s

teaching tips: Strategies, research, and theory for college and university teachers (14th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.


modified by having students turn in learning logs that require them to respond to a set of questions as they are reading course material.

• Using team-based learning. To use this strategy, have students take a quiz on the readings independently at the beginning of class. After they turn in the quiz, they are allowed to work with a small group to re-take the quiz. The final quiz grade includes both the independent and group quiz grades. This can be followed with a class discussion of some or all quiz questions.

Wolfie at UWG Bookstore Source: UWG Campus Events on flickr

As you choose course materials and texts, make sure they are well-aligned with your course assignments and activities. Explain to students that reading the text is expected and required for students to be successful in the course. If you find that students don’t need a text to be successful, you may need to re-think your course materials. Also, if you find that students just can’t afford the text but they can’t be successful without it, look for OERs or cheaper alternatives.

A fifth of our entering freshman are concerned about their reading ability and over 40% have concerns about their study skills. Don’t assume students know how to read or use a textbook, find the most

important information in it, or take notes on their reading. You may need to help students develop these skills, particularly students who are just entering college.

The CTL has additional resources on ways to get students to read course materials.

Effective Questioning Strategies. Asking good questions and using effective questioning strategies can have a positive effect on student engagement and learning. Question Types. There are two basic types of questions. Closed-ended questions tend to focus on remembering and recall (What does mitosis mean?). Open-ended questions provide students an opportunity to demonstrate their understanding (Describe the process of cell division), apply their learning (How could the design process be used to create a widget?), make an analysis (What are the primary ways operant and classical conditioning differ? What do they have in common?) or evaluate something (What’s confusing about the term ‘negative reinforcement’? What would you rename it?). Asking open-ended questions is a good way to extend student learning and get students to work at higher levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy. Reflective Questions. Reflective questions can be used to help students think deeply about what they’re learning. Weimer1 (2014) provides four reflective question prompts:

1 Weimer, M. (August, 2013). Prompts that get students to analyze, reflect, relate, and question. Available online from Faculty Focus: http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/


(1) Identify one important concept,

research finding, theory, or idea that you learned while completing this activity.

(2) Why do you believe this concept, research finding, theory, or idea is important?

(3) Apply what you’ve learned from this activity to some aspect of your life.

(4) What questions has this activity raised for you? What are you still wondering about?

Wait Time. Wait time refers to the time period just after you ask a question. Often, if there’s more than a second or two of silence, an instructor will jump in and answer the question. Don’t fear the silence. If you wait long enough, a student will respond. Longer wait times are positively correlated with length of student response, number of questions students ask, number of exchanges between students, increased student participation, and student achievement.1 If students are responding right away with correct answers, ask questions at a higher level and provide plenty of wait time to allow them to think and share.

Redirecting and Probing. Sometimes student responses will be off-topic or just plain wrong. When students answer a question that isn’t quite satisfactory, use probing techniques so students can clarify or elaborate their responses. Good probing questions include:

teaching-professor-blog/prompts-that-get-students-to-analyze-reflect-relate-and-question/ 1 Rowe, M.B. (1986). Wait time: Slowing down may be a way

of speeding up! Journal of Teacher Education, 37, 43-50.

• Tell me more about that.

• What exactly do you mean by …..?

• How might you support that with evidence?

• Is there more to it than what you’ve said?

• What helped you reach that conclusion?

• What’s another way we could think about this?

Student Studying on Campus Source: UWG Campus/Fall on flickr

Resources for At-Risk Students. At-risk students may face challenges or exhibit behaviors that cause concern, such as poor academic performance, changes in attitude/behavior, learning difficulties/ disabilities, or other issues.

If you have students who are having academic difficulty, UWG offers a number of support services such as The Center for Academic Success and The Writing Center.

Center for Academic Success. CAS offers students free tutoring in all core classes, academic coaching, and help with study skills and computer basics. If you have students who are struggling with time management, basic study skills, or goal setting, CAS is a great resource.


Students can also go to CAS for supplemental instruction (SI) in any course using SI. The SI schedule can be found online: http://www.westga.edu/cas/6083.php. Learn more about SI and how it can support students in your courses by contacting CAS at 9-6280. Free tutoring is also available, and students can make appointments online through GradesFirst. http://www.westga.edu/cas/index.php

University Writing Center. The UWC offers free tutoring in writing for any course and at any level (including graduate). Online writing assistance is also available. Find information online: http://www.westga.edu/writing/

Student Reading Source: UWG Academics on flickr

If your students need additional assistance, or if you have concerns in an area such as academics, behavior, personal issues, financial concerns, or housing, start with the Faculty Toolkit.

Faculty Toolkit. The Faculty Toolkit is a convenient online site faculty can use to navigate the many resources UWG has available to help students. Use the Toolkit to locate the relevant issue a student is facing, and then click the corresponding link to help that student access the resource(s) to resolve the issue.

To access the Faculty Toolkit: Click on Faculty and Staff on UWG main web page – then click Faculty Toolkit from the drop-down menu. Or, use this link: www.westga.edu/toolkit GradesFirst. GradesFirst is a web-based retention and advising solution that can be used by both faculty and students. It allows faculty to:

• Schedule appointments and communicate with students

• Generate alerts

• Track student usage of assessment services

• Report attendance issues

• Report poor academic performance

Once a student is reported in GradesFirst due to attendance or academic performance, the student is referred to the appropriate department so that an intervention can take place. Students are encouraged to use GradesFirst to schedule appointments, request tutors, email professors, and request help related to study skills and overcoming test anxiety. To access GradesFirst: Log in to myUWG – Click on the tab External Resources – then click the link Gradesfirst SSO. The GradesFirst Guide for UWG Faculty is provided in Appendix 8. Maxient. Maxient is an online form used to report any incident or concern related to a UWG student. Forms can be submitted by faculty, students, staff, and parents and once submitted, the issue will be referred to the appropriate department so intervention can take place. Forms may be submitted when a student displays:


• Academic dishonesty/plagiarism

• Classroom Disruption

• Threatening behavior or abusive language

• Homeless or homesick behavior

• Alcohol/drug abuse

• Drastic changes in behavior

• Sexual assault

• A need for counseling

• Any behavior that causes concern To access Maxient: Click on Faculty and Staff on UWG main web page – then click Faculty Toolkit from the drop-down menu – click the correct topic that describes the current issue – click on Maxient once the topic has been found. Accessibility Services. Students with a documented disability may work with UWG Accessibility Services to receive essential services specific to their disability. All entitlements to accommodations are based on documentation and USG Board of Regents standards. If a student needs course adaptations or accommodations because of a disability or chronic illness, or if he/she needs to make special arrangements in case the building must be evacuated, the student should notify his/her instructor in writing and provide a copy of his/her Student Accommodations Report (SAR), which is available only from Accessibility Services. Faculty cannot offer accommodations without timely receipt of the SAR; further, no retroactive accommodations will be given.

Additional information on accessibility services is provided in the Accessibility Services Faculty Handbook (Appendix 9) and Academic Testing: Five Facts (Appendix 10). Also find additional information on the website: http://www.westga.edu/counseling/4486.php

UWG Campus Source: UWG Campus/Spring on flickr

Counseling Center. The UWG Counseling Center provides free, confidential counseling and support services to all enrolled UWG students. In addition to housing Accessibility Services, the Counseling Center offers personal counseling, academic counseling, and substance abuse counseling. There are also resources for student athletes and online students. The Counseling Center provides programs on mental health, stress, dating and relationships, test anxiety, and time management. For faculty, the Counseling Center provides training opportunities in the following:

• Working with students with disabilities

• Helping distressed students

• Suicide prevention

Find more information online at: http://www.westga.edu/counseling/index.php



Chapter 5. Documenting Your Success As you begin your first year at UWG, it’s important to put a plan in place to document your success, particularly in the areas of teaching, professional growth and development, and service. An important first step is to meet with your Department Chair early in the semester to learn about specific expectations for faculty at your rank and in your department. Expectations vary across ranks (e.g., lecturer, senior lecturer, instructor, assistant professor, etc.), departments, and colleges. Review the Faculty Handbook (Section 100) to learn about basic policies and procedures for faculty. Here you’ll find information on appointment, tenure and promotion, evaluation, and other important information. The Faculty Handbook lists evidentiary sources for teaching, service to the institution, and professional growth and development. As explained in the handbook,

Each department, school, college, or the library must specify acceptable additional evidentiary sources for teaching, service, and professional growth and development. Additional evidentiary sources must be approved by the faculty and the Dean of the respective school or college, the Vice President for Academic Affairs/Provost, and must be published in the academic unit’s respective promotion and tenure documents. (p. 18)

Professor Chowns (Geosciences) in the Lab Source: UWG Academics on flickr

Creating Your Plan. Once you’ve talked to your Department Chair, follow departmental procedures for creating your annual goals. If you are on the tenure track, ensure that you have goals for teaching, service, and professional growth and development, and that these goals are in line with departmental expectations. For faculty not on the tenure track, work with your chair to determine departmental expectations for service and professional growth and development based on your rank and your future goals. Once you have a good sense of your department’s expectations and after you’ve created your annual goals, be sure to stay focused on your goals. Each year you will be asked to created an annual report that documents your progress toward meeting the goals you set. Here are some strategies that can help:


• Stay organized. You’ll want to keep a record of your progress toward your annual goals. This means keeping track of how you’re doing in teaching, service, and professional growth and development. Consider setting up a filing system to keep up with relevant documents.

• Set aside time on your calendar for course prep and maintenance (grading, responding to students) and for your scholarship activities. Many faculty find it useful to block off large chunks of their calendar for writing.

• Find the right balance, particularly in the area of service. It’s easy to say yes to every opportunity that comes your way to serve on a committee. Try to be strategic in this area. Make sure you understand expectations for your department and in your college, and then commit to serving on a reasonable number of committees. Also, look for ways to connect your service, teaching, and professional growth and development.

• Keep up with your SEIs (Student Evaluations of Teaching). These are the evaluations you give in all your courses at the end of each semester. Always follow the proper procedure for disseminating and collecting SEIs. When your results are returned, read them carefully, focusing on both the quantitative and qualitative data. Come up with a plan for improvement, write up the plan, and then follow through with it. Keep all documentation to show ways you engage in continuous improvement.

• Have at least one peer evaluation each year. You may ask your mentor or another colleague in your department or college to observe and evaluate your teaching. Check with your Chair to determine if your department has a specific process or peer evaluation form.

• Take advantage of any opportunity you have to show your commitment to becoming the best teacher you can be. Attend CTL events, join SoTL groups, and attend meetings, functions, and conferences on- and off-campus that focus in teaching and learning. Document your attendance and keep a written record of what you learned, how you used what you learned, and what impact the learning had on your teaching and your students’ learning.

• If you are required to document professional growth and development, start working immediately. All faculty on the tenure track are expected to document their professional growth and development, typically through scholarly publications or creative works and presentations. This is one area that varies significantly across departments and colleges. Be sure you understand expectations that are specific to your department, college/school, and rank within your department.

It’s a good idea to ask your Department Chair to assign you a faculty mentor. Also attend college sessions (when available) on tenure and promotion or other campus events such as the Library’s Good Librations session on tenure and promotion.


Keeping Track of Your Progress. Don’t wait until the end of the year to try to put all your materials together for annual review. You’ll save a significant amount of time if you keep track of your work as you go. Provided in Figure 8 is an example of how you might document your activities. You’ll also want to keep records and documents to accompany annual reports and—for those on the tenure track—the tenure and promotion dossier. Be sure to keep:

• Syllabi from all courses you teach

• SEIs (both the printed report and each SEI completed by a student)

• Peer evaluations that include your reflection of the evaluation

• Flyers, handouts, or other documents (letters, certificates) from teaching professional development meetings or workshops

• Copies of publications and works-in-progress, letters to and from journal editors showing status of manuscripts

• Conference Program information showing your presentation title and time

• Evidence of grant submission and outcome (funding status)

• Letters of thanks/emails documenting service

Also, don’t be shy about asking for letters from colleagues or supervisors that you can include in annual reports or your dossier.

Figure 8. Documenting Teaching, Professional Growth and Development, and Service

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Appendix 1 Reporting an Incident of Academic Dishonesty





Appendix 2. Title IX Compliance at UWG ( http://www.westga.edu/titlenine/index.php)

Title IX Compliance at UWG Sex Discrimination, Harassment, and Assault

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 is a federal law that prohibits sex discrimination in education. It reads: "No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance." --Legal Citation: Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, and its implementing regulation at 34 C.F.R. Part 106 (Title IX)

Notice of Non-Discrimination under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972

The University of West Georgia does not discriminate on the basis of sex in its educational programs, activities, employment or admissions and prohibits such discrimination by students, faculty and staff. Non-discrimination on the basis of sex is mandated by Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.). Prohibited sex discrimination covers sexual harassment, including sexual misconduct, intimate partner violence and stalking.

Sexual harassment is unwelcome, gender-based verbal or physical conduct that is sufficiently severe, persistent or pervasive that it has the effect of interfering with, denying or limiting someone’s ability to participate in a or benefit from the university’s educational program and/or activities, and is based on power differential (quid pro quo), the creation of a hostile environment, or retaliation.

Sexual misconduct is a form of sexual harassment prohibited by Title IX. Sexual misconduct refers to “physical sexual acts perpetrated against a person’s will or where a person is incapable of giving consent due to the victim’s use or drugs or alcohol. An individual also may be unable to give consent due to an intellectual or other disability.” Sexual misconduct includes rape, sexual assault, sexual battery, and sexual coercion.

Complaints regarding sex discrimination, sexual harassment or sexual misconduct can be reported to any of the following individuals:

Willie Black Social Equity Officer and Title IX Coordinator Aycock Hall, Room 301 678-839-5344 Juanita Hicks Director of Human Resources and Title IX Deputy Coordinator for Faculty, Staff and Visitors Aycock Hall, Room 301 678-839-6424 Melissa DeGrandis Student Conduct Specialist and Title IX Deputy Coordinator for Students Parker Hall, Room 271 678-839-4733 Laura Clayton Eady Assistant Athletics Director and Title IX Deputy Coordinator for Gender Equity in Athletics Athletic Operation Building, Room 242 678-839-9364 Report sexual misconduct or harassment online: https://publicdocs.maxient.com/reportingform.php?UnivofWestGeorgia&layout_id=2



Appendix 3. Legal Topics I Should Know



Appendix 4. FERPA Statement of Understanding







Appendix 5. Common Language for Course Syllabi



Appendix 6. Fair Use Checklist




Course Pack Ordering from Publications & Printing Course packs that you may prepare for your classes are printed at Publications & Printing, off Back Campus Drive across from the East Commons dining hall, and are generally sold at the campus bookstore. Quantities are approved by the bookstore before printing, based on class size and the instructor’s request. Begin by e-mailing Amy G. Morris ([email protected]) at the bookstore and give her your department name, course name and number, the semester you plan to use the material, and the quantity you need for each class section. Copy [email protected] so that Jeff Marlow, Sr. Coordinator for Digital Production, will expect the job. Once your quantity has been approved by the bookstore, send your course pack file to [email protected] as a pdf attachment to your e-mail. Include any special instructions (tabs, various color sections, etc.) You may provide a CD or USB drive instead if you prefer. For questions, feel free to contact Marlow at 9-4081. For fastest turnaround, a single print-ready pdf file is best. If you send multiple files that must be combined by the print staff, the process may take longer and there may be some risk of error. For larger course packs, please allow two weeks production time. While production is usually faster, at certain times such as just prior to fall semester, there may be a backlog of printing in the queue. It is the goal of Pub & Print to accommodate your needs and to have your course pack on the shelves of the bookstore before the first day of class. Pub & Print will also work closely with you to have your other printing such as lab materials, course syllabus, handouts, lecture outlines, sample class projects, and other teaching materials ready when you need them. The most common paper choice is 20-pound copy paper, the least expensive. For choice of colors, see www.westga.edu/pubprint, under Paper. Binding choices include 3-hole punch for student notebooks, the most common and least expensive. Other options are staple, stitch, coil or comb binding. You will also have a choice of covers - a heavy cover-weight paper, a clear or frosted see-through plastic protector front and back, or no cover. You will need a cover page designating instructor, name and course number, section, and semester. Concerning copyright, instructors are responsible. Fair Use allows a number of exceptions for educational use. If you have concerns, you may download a fillable (PDF) Fair Use Checklist provided by the USG at http://www.usg.edu/copyright/fair_use_checklist.


Appendix 7. Classroom Assessment Techniques







Appendix 8. GradesFirst Guide for UWG Faculty

GradesFirst Guide for University of West Georgia Faculty

Prepared by

Danny Gourley | Associate Director, Advising Center | [email protected]

Edited by Dawn Liverman | Academic Advisor, Advising Center | [email protected]

Updated July 2015



















Appendix 9. Accessibility Services Faculty Handbook





Appendix 10. Academic Testing: Five Fast Facts



Appendix 11. UWG | Online Who We Are and What We Do and Policies, Procedures, & Tips




