Instructors’ Responsibilities

Class Meetings

Instructors are expected to arrive on time for every class meeting. In the event of illness or emergency, the instructor will (1) post an announcement on the class Blackboard site as soon as possible and (2) notify the English Department secretary so that a note can be posted on the door.

When instructors schedule conferences, they sometimes cancel class for one or two class periods. In this case, the students are advised of the class cancellation when they sign up for conferences.

Office Hours

Instructors are required to schedule one office hour per week for every course they teach. If an illness or emergency makes it impossible to be present for office hours, the instructor will notify students and the English Department secretary.

Communication with Students

Every UNO instructor has a mailbox in ASH 192 and a Lotus Notes email account. Instructors will provide their email address on the course syllabus and will check both their departmental mailbox and their email regularly (at least once before every class meeting). 

Blackboard

The course syllabus should be posted on Blackboard.  Instructors may use other Blackboard features such as online discussion and grading or not, as they prefer.

Grading

Instructors are responsible for returning graded papers in a timely manner and for keeping students informed of their progress in the course. Graded papers should be returned to students before the next paper is due.

Policies covering any matter that might affect a student’s grade—attendance, penalties for late papers, rewriting papers—should be spelled out on the syllabus and uniformly enforced.

Academic Integrity Policy

Instructors in composition courses play an important role in supporting UNO’s policy on academic integrity: in both Composition I and Composition II, the course curriculum includes instruction in using and citing sources. Students who know how to cite sources correctly are not at risk of unintentionally plagiarizing.

When students plagiarize knowingly and deliberately, the instructor should record the evidence of academic dishonesty, review the “procedures and sanctions” outlined in the Undergraduate Catalog, and consult with the Writing Program Administrator about appropriate disciplinary steps.