Eastfield College -- Faculty Handbook

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Instructional Policies and Procedures

Textbooks

Adjunct instructors should check with their division dean or subject area coordinator for information about the textbook(s) currently being used for a particular course. Instructors are expected to use all textbooks selected for the course. Any exceptions to this policy must be cleared through the division dean or subject-area coordinator. No books or materials are to be ordered and sold directly by faculty members to students. Following is a list of the available bookstores:

Follet Bookstore
Eastfield Campus, room N-100
972-279-3660

Textbooks are generally adopted for a minimum of two years. When a new textbook is to be chosen, all faculty members teaching a given course should be involved in the selection process.

Need for Evaluation of Student Achievement

Throughout the semester, instructors are expected to track the degree to which their students are attaining the goals of the course. This may be done by performance examinations or other appropriate means (papers, projects, reports, etc.). Students should be kept informed of their standing throughout the semester.

Examinations

Instructors are encouraged to construct tests to accomplish the following:

Cover the important aspects of the course in relative proportion to the emphasis in instruction.
Measure the important outcomes of the course.
Assist the students to organize and synthesize their learning experience in class.
Provide a range in question difficulty to differentiate among the various levels of student achievement.
Avoid the use of ambiguous questions and include a variety of test items.
Provide clear, complete and concise directions.
Indicate to students the relative importance or weight associated with each item.
Promote development of writing skills through written response to questions.
Approach testing as a positive learning experience.

Cheating and Plagiarism

Each faculty member is expected to maintain procedures to prevent cheating and plagiarism. Students often receive very little information about what constitutes plagiarism and why it is unacceptable, so it is helpful if instructors go over specific examples of acceptable and unacceptable uses of outside sources. Instructors should also realize that definitions of cheating vary among cultures, so some students may be unaware that their previously routine practices are not acceptable in the Western academic tradition.

Procedures for initiating student dismissals for cheating and plagiarism are to be worked out on an individual basis with the Instructional Division Dean and Vice President of Student Services administrator. (See Student Code of Conduct in the Eastfield College Catalog for a complete discussion of “scholastic dishonesty”.)

Guest Lecturers

In the instructional areas, guest lecturers must be approved in advance by the division dean. Requests to utilize guest lecturers should be sent to the division dean at least one week prior to the requested date. If a speaker is to be reimbursed, a “Request for Approval/Payment for Consultant or Guest Lecturer” form must be approved by the division dean and the Vice President of Instruction prior to the date the speaker is on campus.

Field Trips

Instructors are encouraged to utilize the resources of the community through appropriate field trips. Field trips should be developed to assist in meeting the specified objectives of a particular course. Requests for field trips should be forwarded to the division deans. A properly completed field trip packet would include:

Field Trip Approval Request
A list of student participants
Waiver of Liability/Participation Consent for each student
Health History Form for each student
Driver's Proof of Insurance (if applicable)

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