Faculty Policies Committee Minutes

February 9, 2009

Members present: Ted Atkinson, Rob Bledsoe, Tom Crute, Paula Dohoney, Wally Evans, Mark Fissell, Wayne Mixon, Jana Sandarg, Bruce Saul, Mike Searles, Robert Smalley, Steve Weis.

1) Tom called the FPC Committee to order at 2:35pm.

2) Minutes from 12January were approved. They will be posted soon.

3) Mark noted that the Student Code of Conduct Subcommittee will meet again this week. He has made extensive corrections and modifications that he wants his committee to approve before submitting to the FPC. He plans to link student documents to the Faculty Handbook in order to clarify some procedural changes. Recommendations will be discussed at our next meeting.

4) Tom circulated suggested corrections to the Academic Honesty Procedures that were recommended at the last FPC meeting. Topics covered included: suggested wording, timing of procedures, paperwork filing, timeline of notifications, process streamlining, order of appeals, and faculty/student rights. After an extensive discourse, the new document was unanimously accepted as the final version. See ”a” below.

5) The FPC reviewed the Intellectual Diversity Statement that was prepared by Wally’s subcommittee. After some wording changes, the committee voted unanimously to accept this final version. See ”b” below.

6) The Study Abroad Procedures Subcommittee met to review policies reflected in the procedures manual. Suggestions were compiled and shared with the committee. The FPC will review these recommendations next week.

7) Other items will be moved to the meeting on 2February09.

Adjourned at 4:10 pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Bruce Saul

a. Proposed- page 42 of 2008-09 ASU catalog

Procedures upon encountering a violation of academic honesty by a student:

For all incidents the faculty member should first discuss the matter with the chair and then must:

1. Confront the student and make the charges known.
2. Discuss the matter thoroughly with the student so that each position is clearly delineated.
3. Decide upon the action that is appropriate to the incident. The instructor may request informal consultation with the chair and/or dean when making this decision.
4. Remind the student to refer to the Student Academic Appeals and Student Academic Grievances procedures outlined below.
5. Summarize the incident in writing with a brief rationale for the action taken. Materials relevant to the incident such as copies of papers or exams must be included.
6. Submit this report to the Chair of the department in which the incident occurred, who will then report the matter to the Dean of that college.

If the action is less severe than a WF for the course, the faculty member must decide whether the incident shall be made part of the academic dishonesty file in the office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs.

If the action is WF for the course the following procedure applies:

1. The faculty member initiates a WF withdrawal form to accompany the report of the incident.
2. The Dean shall send the withdrawal form to the Registrar and request that the Vice President for Academic Affairs enter the violation in the academic dishonesty file.
3. The Dean shall (a) notify the student in writing via certified mail with return receipt of the action taken, (b) remind the student of his/her right to appeal as outlined below, and (c) inform the student that if he/she plans to appeal, the appeal must be filed within five calendar days of receipt.
4. The Dean shall provide the faculty member and the dean of the college that houses the student’s major a written report of the action taken. The student’s dean may choose to put the report into the student’s file in that college.
5. The Vice President for Academic Affairs shall, upon a student’s second offense requiring a WF for a course, expel the student from Augusta State University and direct the Registrar to enter the phrase “Ineligible to Register” on the student’s permanent record.
6. The Vice President for Academic Affairs shall maintain the academic dishonesty file so that all appropriate administrators have access to the record of violations but also so that the student’s rights to limited access shall be safe-guarded.

Should the student desire to appeal the decision that a violation of academic honesty occurred, he or she may appeal that finding via the academic grievance process. A student who wishes to appeal shall submit a written grievance (as defined in stage two of the Student Academic Grievance policy) to the appropriate dean. The dean will provide copies of the written grievance to the instructor, the department chair, and the Academic Policies Committee and will ask the Academic Policies Committee to arrange a hearing in the manner set forth in this catalog under stage three of Student Academic Grievances. The grievance will proceed beginning at stage three, section A of the grievance process. In the event of a hearing, the dean shall notify all parties of the outcome.

b. Intellectual Diversity and Critical Thinking

ASU is committed to nurturing intellectual diversity on the campus. While faculty members have the responsibility to present in the classroom their understanding of current scholarship in their fields, and at appropriate times should feel free to express their personal opinions, they should create an atmosphere where students feel free to retain their own beliefs, and should treat with respect dissenting opinions which are civilly and sincerely expressed. However, faculty bear responsibility for managing the classroom and are under no obligation to ensure that all opinions are expressed or that opposing opinions receive equal class time; faculty members may determine that some opinions or subjects—which might be maintained and discussed elsewhere on campus—are inappropriate for individual classrooms.
Students should not be rewarded or assessed according to whether they as individuals share their professors’ personal opinions; students should be appropriately assessed on their understanding of generally accepted theories and ideas current in the field.