IUPUI Policies and Procedures

Important campus policies and procedures

IUPUI faculty handbook

If you want to know when IUPUI was founded, then the IUPUI faculty handbook is the place to find it. You can also get the lay of the land on the administrative structure of the university as well as details about Faculty Council at IUPUI and how our council works with IU Bloomington.

This guide is a treasure trove of information that is worth reading. If you are full-time faculty, then you will want to see the most up-to-date information on promotion and tenure. You will also find information about salaries, teaching load, and reappointment recommendations.

Handbook on student policies

As a faculty member, you should make yourself aware of student policies and procedures. In fact, you will probably need these in your wheelhouse for regular use. You can find finance information from the Office of the Bursar. You will be surprised at how many students ask about money. Must we know it? No, but it is great to be able to point students in the right direction. The Office of the Registrar also shares links for students to find the academic calendar, course policies, eDrop-add, grade change policies, and more.

IUPUI policies

If you get a call or email from a student’s parent who wants to know how her daughter is doing in your class, what do you say? The answer to that is “nothing” because of FERPA, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. You cannot discuss your students' progress without signed permission from them. This type of situation is why you need to give this FERPA website a look.

Everyone wants to know when things start and stop, so take a look at the academic calendar. You can also find the long-term calendar that looks forward 10 years or more and your final exam schedule. University policy prohibits more than two final exams being given on a particular day. This can be problematic if faculty fail to schedule during the time allotted by the registrar. Please follow the stated time and date for your class. The format is easy to read and you can look up your final exam time and put it on your schedule for the first day of class to avoid surprises.

We know from gateway faculty research that we can predict with significance which students will get a D, F, or (W) withdraw from the course by the third week of class. How do we know? We based this on whether a student came to class and had one graded assignment completed. So if you do not take attendance, how will you know who is engaged and who is not? By taking attendance and looking at this graded assignment, you will know who needs your attention the most. Sometimes it is only an email or conversation after class that puts the student back on track.

You may think you know everything about this topic, but you may be surprised. It is your responsibility as a faculty member to know the boundaries established by the university. In the Code of Academic Ethics, you’ll find this policy, along with other policies about relations with colleagues, scholarship, teaching, relation to the community, your responsibilities, and personal misconduct.

You can find the list of official holidays online. Please keep in mind that students observe many different religious holidays, including some that may not be familiar to you. The university supports students’ rights to observe their religious holidays and allows for accommodations. Students need to submit a request for course accommodation in writing by the end of the second week of the semester. No penalty can be assessed if students follow the proper procedures in making their requests.

Consult the final exam schedule before you begin your syllabus. Exam times are set for you by the university, and you are asked not to deviate from this schedule. This schedule prevents students from having more than two exams on any one day. If you find that your students are asking for a change of time for their exam, you may want to reach out to the other professor and make sure they are following the guidelines. Beware of the student who wants to make their own schedule and asks for exemptions or different dates to accommodate their own personal schedules. The easiest way to prevent issues is to follow the registrar’s dates for your class.

The best information on copyright can be found on the IU Copyright website. You should also be familiar with fair use. University Library maintains a robust website about copyright and fair use and how they interface with IU’s own policies.

IUPUI procedures

Do I have to order from IUPUI Barnes & Noble? Can I use an e-text if I want? Who can tell me about Courseload, an IU e-text platform? Which person in my department is the best person to talk to about this?

These are all good questions, but the answers cannot be found in one place. So, let’s attempt to answer them one by one.

About using the campus bookstore, there is an expectation that you will place your order with Barnes & Noble first, but that is not to say that students will not find their texts on Ebay, Chegg, Amazon, or a host of others. The price is the driving force behind our students’ decisions, so keep that in mind as you make your decisions. For some of you, the decision has already been made for you by your course coordinator or department chair.

If you are thinking about an e-text, then you should think about using IU eTexts. Indiana University has a contract with a number of publishers directly so that you can order your e-text through them at a substantial reduction in price. The best part of IU eTexts is that when the student registers for class, a book fee is assessed and the book is available to them in Canvas on the first day of class. Check out the Courseload link for more information.

Unsure what your options are as a new faculty member? Faculty Enlight is the program you can use to submit your book orders for upcoming semesters.

The typical rule of thumb is to have one hour of time for office hours per 3 credit hour class. Saying that, some departments have their own guidelines, so be sure to check with your gateway coordinator or department chair.

If you know that you cannot make class and do not have someone stepping in for you, let your students know as soon as possible through Canvas. Let them know early in the day, if at all possible, because so many of our students drive an hour or more to get to campus. Arrange for students to make good use of their time by providing an alternate assignment via our learning management system. Also, make sure you contact your department so they can post a sign.

You can always find the most up-to-date information on campus closings on the Protect IU website, but before you will even think to look it up, your phone should notify you of a text or email message. If you have signed up for IU Notify, the university will let you know about closings as soon as they are announced. Remember that even if classes are canceled, students have the capability of continuing their work through Canvas. So be sure that you let them know beforehand what is expected of them if the campus is closed. Virtually, we are still in session!

What to do in an emergency

If you want to know what to do in an active shooter situation, then this is the office that handles it. What if there is a tornado warning or fire drill while you are in class? This office sends out the guidelines of where to go in each building on campus. What if you have a very disruptive student and you need the police to come and remove her? This is the office for that as well. Every emergency situation or possible disaster is handled by IUEMC.

If you have a disruptive student who does not respond to your request for order, then you can call campus police to have that student removed. If a student becomes violent, then this is the course of action to take (call 317-274-7911). You should also be familiar with the behavioral consultation team and campus safety procedures.

The Protect IU (IU Emergency Management and Continuity Team) have a wonderful website that can give you guidance on all kinds of situations—from tornadoes and what to do with your class to what your responsibilities are in response to student sexual assault. With the passing of the Jeanne Clery Act, it is a federal law to disclose information about crime on campus and in or on off-campus buildings. As a faculty member, you need to take this responsibility seriously.

Example: A student tells you that he or she was raped in high school. Do you have the responsibility to report this to the Office of Student Conduct?

Answer: YES! If you are made aware of such a crime, then it is your responsibility to report it so that this office can reach out to the student to provide services such as counseling. Faculty often think that if it isn’t directly related to their class then they do not have an obligation, but you do!

Other topics covered on the website protect.iu.edu include:

Building and facility safety
Annual security reports
Personal preparedness, including active shooter training
IU Notify—a service that keeps you updated on what is happening on our campus
Closures
Crime alerts
Online safety

There are too many topics to mention here, but every faculty member should take the time to look at the website to become familiar with where to go when you have any kind of incident where you need help.

IUPUI Policies and Procedures

Important campus policies and procedures

IUPUI faculty handbook

Handbook on student policies

IUPUI policies

FERPA and student privacy

Academic calendar

Attendance

Faculty-student relationships

Religious holidays

Final exam policy

Copyright regulations and course materials

IUPUI procedures

Textbooks

Office hours

Class cancellation

Campus closure

What to do in an emergency

IU Emergency Management and Continuity

Classroom security and safety

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