Responsibilities of Online Faculty
Academic departments select and appoint faculty to teach online classes regardless of whether the classes are offered for traditional or for UTEP Online programs. Faculty may be appointed to teach courses that run a full semester or a shorter part-of-term course. Most UTEP Connect courses run in accelerated formats; some are offered in semester-l;ong terms.
Faculty teaching any online class are expected to adhere to all UTEP policies regarding instruction.
Faculty new to UTEP and/or to teaching online
- For accreditation purposes, faculty must be credentialed to teach a course. Faculty credentialing is initiated by the academic department in which the instructor will teach. The instructor is required to submit a CV and all post-secondary transcripts.
- Faculty new to online teaching must complete the Teaching Online Academy (TOA). The TOA is offered three times a year (February, June, and October) through the Center for Instructional Design. This is a four-week, asynchronous, facilitated online course. Faculty will learn best practices for teaching an online class. Upon completion, faculty are approved to teach online. Click on the following link to register: Teaching Online Academy.
Preparing to teach
- When appropriate documentation is available, faculty assigned to teach a course that has already been developed for online delivery can request to have the course copied from a previous semester.An instructional designer will contact the faculty to determine if any revisions are required or if assistance is desired (Please see the Online Course Development Process section of this handbook for more information).
- Faculty requesting to develop and teach an online course for the first time will need to complete an Online Course Development Agreement. Once approved, faculty will be contacted by an instructional designer to begin the course development process. Please plan for approximately four (4) months to develop the course.
- Faculty assigned to a course should identify and select any required textbooks and/or course materials several months in advance of the course start date, when possible. Faculty should contact their department’s administrative assistant for more information about ordering textbooks from the UTEP Bookstore.
- If a course requires a faculty-authored textbook, the faculty member should obtain approval to do so from the department chair, college dean, provost, and president. The form can be accessed on the Provost's Office website.
- Pursuant to the Texas statute regarding “Public Course Information,” a course syllabus should be posted to Faculty Success no later than seven (7) days after the first day of class. More information about what should be included on the syllabus can be found in UTEP's Handbook of Operating Procedures, Section 4.8.3. Faculty Success can be found at my.utep.edu.
Teaching the online class
- When possible, faculty should email the syllabus and course calendar to students one week prior to the course start date. Faculty can open a Help Desk ticket to request assistance with a class roster and emails. More information about what should be included in the syllabus can be found in UTEP's Handbook of Operating Procedures, Section 4.8.3.
- Once the course has started, to avoid confusion for students, faculty should conduct all course-related communication within Blackboard.
- As indicated in the UTEP Handbook of Operating Procedures Section 4.8.2, faculty should post a schedule of regular office hours that is convenient to students and meets departmental requirements. Faculty are expected to be available at the times indicated. A reasonable guideline for minimum office hours is 0.7 scheduled office hours per each teaching load credit for which the faculty is formally responsible. Online students are not able to come to campus to attend office hours. Therefore, chat, email, phone, video, or some other synchronous tool should be used. Additional virtual office hours can be arranged by appointment. If office hours are canceled, students should be provided advance notice with instructions on how to contact the faculty member if needed.
- Faculty should respond to student communication as quickly as possible—ideally in no more than two working days. A statement of expectation for response time should be provided in the syllabus so that students are aware of the parameters. If a student concern requires more than two days to resolve, faculty should send an acknowledgment email.
- Faculty should log into the Blackboard course no fewer than three different days a week.
- Faculty should provide regular feedback to students in response to discussion boards, assignments, tests, and so on. Particularly in 7-week courses, students should receive feedback on their work within one week of submission.
- Faculty should regularly submit grades in the Blackboard online grade book.
- Faculty who suspect a student of plagiarism or some form of academic dishonesty must report the suspicion to the Dean of Students via The Office of Student Conduct and Conduct Resolution (OSCCR). OSCCR will investigate the allegation and determine the course of action. It is against Regents’ Rules and Regulations for faculty to make a determination independent of OSCCR. According to UTEP’s Handbook of Operating Procedures Section 4.14, “such action is a disciplinary penalty that violates the student’s right to due process and leaves the faculty member vulnerable to a student grievance petition, a civil lawsuit, and possible disciplinary action by the University.” More information is available in the HOOP.
Concluding the class
- Students will be sent a link to complete their course evaluations online approximately 10 days before a course ends. Faculty should encourage students to complete the questions by the deadline. Evaluation responses are available on my.utep.edu. The following link provides instructions on how to access results: Course Evaluations.
- Faculty should prepare grades for submission by the deadline designated by Registration and Records. If there is a concern about posting grades by the deadline, please contact the Registrar as soon as possible.
- If a student is unable to complete the coursework due to extenuating circumstances, when appropriate, faculty should follow the process of assigning a grade of “Incomplete” and later changing that grade when the work is completed. When entering grades in Goldmine, a form will be available for details related to the incomplete grade. Instructions on completing the Incomplete Grades form are located at the following link: Incomplete Grades Form. Faculty are encouraged to establish a reasonable deadline for the work to be completed so as not to impede student progress toward graduation.
- If a student either “never attended” or “stopped attending,” faculty should assign an “F” grade in Goldmine. For students that “stopped attending,” faculty should also provide the date of the last known active participation by the student in an instructional activity such as a response to discussion boards, study group, assignments, class lecture, lab, tests, etc. This does not include a student simply logging into the class as this is not considered “active participation.”
- To provide a student with access to the course materials/Blackboard shell, faculty should submit a Help Desk ticket at helpdesk@utep.edu. The request should include the student's email address, student ID number, the course name and the CRN, as well as the requested start and end date for access.
After the class
- According to UTEP's Handbook of Operating Procedures Section 4.17, academic departments should communicate to faculty the policies and procedures for retaining student records and documents (tests, assignments, etc.) used to determine course grades. Most of these items will already been retained in the Blackboard shell for the course. Policy dictates that these documents should be available for a minimum of one year after the course ends to support compliance with grade appeals. However, a three-year retention schedule is recommended.
- A student may request that a final grade be reviewed. The student should address the concern directly to the faculty member. A grade change form can be completed if a grading error was made. If the student disagrees with the faculty member’s decision, she or he may also seek assistance or intervention from the department chair or other appropriate academic administrator. Information about the grade grievance process can be found in UTEP’s Handbook of Operating Procedures, Section 4.15.
Download a PDF of the Faculty Handbook