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Writing Program Faculty Policies

Attendance / Incompletes / Religious Holidays / Returning Graded Work

Attendance

The Writing Coordinating Committee believes that classroom attendance is vital to succeeding in any writing course. Classroom activities that contribute to the process of students’ writing are a central part of students’ portfolios; students who do not come to class will find it difficult to put together portfolios that will earn grades as high as those put together by students who have attended regularly. If responsible students miss class from time to time, they can find ways to work outside of class that are in line with the goals for that particular class period. Students who miss a reader response activity in class might work with a classmate outside of class, for instance. Still, what goes on in our writing classrooms is the heart of the course, and students who are present and participating are best able to learn.

Students who are regularly in class, prepared, and participating, also are in the best position to demonstrate what they’ve learned about responding in their portfolios. 

The best way to encourage students to attend class is to demonstrate the value of class work, not by threatening to impose grade penalties at the end of the semester. Students’ grades are based entirely on the work they do, rather than on their physical presence in class. Although you may not lower semester grades because of excessive absence, you are free to discuss the impact of attendance on student learning. Your syllabus should include a statement about the importance of participation in workshop and class activities.  

Most of the introductory writing courses leave some portion of the semester grade up to the instructor to determine. Instructors who devise systems for calculating this portion of the semester grade should explain this method clearly on their syllabi.

The Writing Program follows the IUPUI Administrative Withdrawal Policy for students who miss more than 50% of classes during the first four weeks of the semester. Read the policy and see a sample paragraph for your syllabus here.

Incompletes

Eligibility: Incompletes are appropriate only when exceptional circumstances prevent students from finishing all course requirements by the end of the semester. Exceptional circumstances can include the serious illness of the student, spouse or partner, child, or parent; or a fire or accident that interrupts the end of the semester - circumstances which would cause the student to suffer a hardship if held to the previously established course deadlines.

A grade of Incomplete should be awarded only if the work is mostly complete, generally 75 to 80 percent, and of passing quality. A student who needs to retake the entire course is NOT ELIGIBLE for an incomplete. Neither is a student who has fallen behind due to procrastination.

Course coordinators can help faculty decide whether an incomplete is warranted. Basic guidelines for 75-80% of the work completed for each core writing course are:

• W130: Student has handed in all formal essays and needs only to prepare the final portfolio (which may involve some final revising as well as the composing of the portfolio retrospective)
• W131: Student has handed in all formal essays and needs only to prepare the final portfolio (which may involve some final revising as well as the composing of the portfolio retrospective). If the midterm portfolio grade was below a C, the work after midterm needs to have been of solid quality and the student should have attended the class regularly.
• W132: Student has handed in the first two portfolios and the researched argument is well in hand, with a good revision plan developed.
• W231: Student has completed all work through the selection and administration of the primary research tool. Student needs to complete the recommendation report, oral presentation, and final project portfolio.

Instructor Responsibilities:

• Give the student an "I" on the official grade report.
• Download the SLA Incomplete form (PDF). This form is to be printed, filled out by instructor, and signed by both instructor and student. A copy is to be given to the Writing Program secretary and to the School of Liberal Arts - Office of Student Affairs, CA 401. The form asks instructors to record what work has been finished and what work remains, along with the assignment grades the student has received so far. The above course requirements should be stated on the form, plus any other work or conditions the instructors wants to be met.
• Choose a realistic date for completion of the work. Students may be offered up to one year to finish the course, but instructors are under no obligation to allow that much time; usually an earlier deadline is appropriate.

• Plan to work with the student while he or she is completing the course requirements.
• Instructors must give the student a reliable means of contacting them, which may mean giving a home phone number or address (especially if they do not plan to return to IUPUI).
• The instructor is responsible for the grade even if he or she leaves IUPUI.

Removal of Incomplete: In order to award the grade, instructors must submit a Removal of Incomplete form.

If the work has not been completed and a grade assigned within a year from the end of the semester in which the Incomplete was awarded, the Office of the Registrar will automatically change the grade to an F. Both the student and the faculty member will receive notification that this change is pending and should take steps immediately to resolve the Incomplete.

In rare cases at the end of the initial one year period, the student may ask the instructor to extend the Incomplete for an additional fixed period of time. If the instructor agrees, he or she should submit a grade of IX on the Removal of Incomplete form. This action will block the automatic change to F after one year.

In rare cases, instructors may opt to recommend or require students to attend another term of the course (or a portion thereof) in order to remove the Incomplete. In such cases, students should NOT re-enroll in the course. Instead, the student should make the necessary arrangements with the original instructor to sit in on the required class sessions. At the end of the term, the instructor would file the Removal of Incomplete with the Office of the Registrar. A student who is required to attend the course in a subsequent semester should understand that sitting in on the course or otherwise making up the Incomplete does not count as part of the student’s full-time or part-time load for financial aid purposes or for loan deferments.

In some cases, after receiving an Incomplete, the student may wish to withdraw from the course. This requires the signatures of the instructor and the student’s dean on a Removal of Incomplete form.

End of Semester Procedures: Returning Graded Work

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is a Federal law that protects the privacy of student records. FERPA regulations prohibit faculty from leaving graded student papers in unsecured areas for students to pick up at their convenience (in front of their doors or in their cubicles, for example). 

SLA rules require all student work not returned to a student be kept until the student retrieves it or a year passes, whichever comes first. Our departmental secretaries will not be responsible for storing or returning students’ final papers. Therefore, as a semester is coming to an end, please choose one of the following options:

• Have students provide postage-paid envelopes with their final papers so you can mail them back.
• Ask students to submit their work electronically. (Evaluation sheets and other commentary can be sent to students electronically as well.)
• Set a date during finals week to be available in your office so students can pick up their graded work.
• Inform students of your office hours for the following semester so that they can come by to pick up papers from you in person.

If you are not returning to teach with us, please contact your course coordinator to make arrangements regarding any unreturned student work.

Religious Holidays 

The Writing Program supports the Indiana University policy that calls on faculty to make reasonable accommodations for students who may need to be excused from classes due to religious observances. Many students in writing classes are new to college, and they may not realize what policies exist. We encourage faculty, particularly in the fall semester when there are many religious holidays and many new students, to refer to this policy either in class or on the syllabus. Program administrators are available to help faculty or students interpret and apply this policy.

The full text of the IU policy about religious holidays and academic obligations follows:

On occasion conflicts may occur between a student’s obligations in a course and the student’s obligations in observing major religious holidays. Indiana University respects the right of all students to observe their religious holidays and will make reasonable accommodation, upon request, for such observances. A student may ask to be excused from classes, examinations, or other scheduled assignments, such as laboratories, in order to observe these religious holidays. By action of the University Faculty Council, individual faculty are to make reasonable accommodation, upon request, for such observances. Dates and times for examinations and other major course obligations should be announced at the beginning of the semester and appear on the course syllabus. It is the student’s responsibility to inform instructors of conflicts no later than the second week of the semester so that reasonable accommodations may be provided. When possible, faculty should avoid scheduling examinations or other major academic occasions on these holidays.

This policy can be viewed on the Office of the Registrar’s website, which also lists major religious holidays for two calendar years to assist students and faculty in planning. A calendar and the campus implementation plan for enforcing the policy on religious holidays may be found here.

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