Academic Freedom and Professional Responsibility
Individual course instructors enjoy academic freedom in evaluation of student performance. The faculty also has a collective "stake in promoting the adherence to norms essential to the academic enterprise" (from the 1970 AAUP Statement on Freedom and Responsibility). Faculty governance bodies adopt rules and procedures to foster professional evaluation of student performance and to provide remedies in cases of arbitrary and capricious grading.
University Governance
The Board of Trustees exercises ultimate authority over all University policies, but has delegated to the President, to the All-University Faculty and Senate, and to the College faculties considerable discretionary authority. In March 1998, Faculty Senate and the Academic and Administrative Council (AAC) approved the following governance resolutions:
- Faculty Senate has responsibility for university-wide undergraduate registration and grading policies and procedures in conjunction with review by the Academic and Administrative Council consistent with Articles 27.2.1. and 27.2.4 of the collective bargaining agreement with the University of Cincinnati and the AAUP, University of Cincinnati Chapter and Faculty Senate Bylaws found in Board of Trustees Rule 3361:50-03-02 (B)(9)(c).
- College governance committees have authority for registration and grading policies and procedures in each degree-granting unit under Article 27.2 and Board of Trustees Rule 3361:50-01-03.
Faculty Senate and AAC also recommended adoption of the university-wide undergraduate reforms of 1998 that appeared in the 1998 version and this revised Handbook. Based on authority granted to him by the Trustees under 3361:10-5-01, the President then approved the policies. In addition, the Graduate Faculty adopted several recommended changes from the 1998 reforms, and other College governance committees began reviewing proposals that required action at the unit level. The separate grading systems in the Colleges of Law (JD) and Medicine (MD) were not affected. Further, the actions approved by Faculty Senate in May 2003 affect only the undergraduate students and courses represented in the revisions.
Although rules are not made to be broken, occasionally exceptions are appropriate for unanticipated situations such as personal injury. Mercy is proper in genuine hardship cases, but excess compassion for one student may deny justice to others who played by the rules. Equal treatment should be the norm, favoritism studiously avoided. Within limits set by faculty governance bodies, instructors exercise broad discretion to waive course requirements. Administrative officers should only approve exceptions to College and university-wide rules in accord with established guidelines such as this Handbook. Faculty Senate has resolved that all course instructors have a professional responsibility to submit a grade for every student using only the approved UC grades.
Grading Sub-Committee of the Faculty Senate Academic Affairs Committee (replaces University Grading Advisory Committee)
- The Grading Sub-Committee of the Faculty Senate Academic Affairs Committee shall have five (5) members serving staggered, two-year terms. The Academic Affairs Committee chair serves on the Sub-Committee and appoints the remaining members and alternates-a faculty representative to chair the Sub-Committee and representatives of student government and administrators from the College Liaison Committee. There shall be no more than one (1) individual from any College unit. The Sub-Committee shall be convened initially by the Chair of the Faculty Senate Academic Affairs Committee.
- The University Registrar serves ex officio and provides staff support. The Grading Sub-Committee assists the University Registrar with updates to the Registration and Grading Handbook for Faculty and other publications, including periodic newsletters as needed.
- The Grading Sub-Committee monitors grading concerns and recommends new policies and procedures as needed to governance bodies with authority to act—reporting quarterly through the Academic Affairs Committee to Faculty Senate for university-wide undergraduate policies and to Graduate Council and College committees for other policies. The Sub-Committee oversees the process of regularly updating the Registration and Grading Handbook when revisions and/or new policies are approved.
Any member of the UC community with a grading concern may contact the committee through the University Registrar or the Director of Student Records.
Grading Appeals Process
A university grading appeals process assures uniform administration of university-wide rules in accord with the following 1998 decisions of Faculty Senate and the Academic and Administrative Council.
- The Faculty Senate Academic Affairs Committee prepares a roster to include one (1) faculty member from each degree-granting unit. The Student Government President appoints to the roster six (6) students from different Colleges.
- The Faculty Senate Academic Affairs Committee chair appoints from the roster at least five (5) members to an ad hoc University Grading Appeals Panel-including at least one (1) student and four (4) faculty members (with a faculty member from the student's College).
- Students may petition the ad hoc University Grading Appeals Panel to permit exceptions to the minimum criteria under Fresh Start requirements or to the deadline for a late grade change.
- The ad hoc University Grading Appeals Panel proceeds in accordance with approved hearing procedures and then reports a final decision to the Faculty Senate Academic Affairs Committee. The student is notified of the decision by the Director of Student Records.
The University Registrar provides an application form that may be submitted by the student with or without College support. Appeals panels hold one (1) hearing per quarter (implemented Summer 1998).
Administrative Responsibilities of the Office of the Registrar
Unit Organization
The Office of the Registrar, part of the Division of Student Affairs and Services, is a unit within the Enrollment Management Department. Located on the 5th floor of the University Pavilion, it is divided into two primary offices: 1) Registration and Scheduling; and 2) Student Records. Some of the general responsibilities of the staff reporting directly to the Registrar are:
- Ohio Board of Regents Enrollment Reporting (courses, classes including faculty assigned and location taught, students enrolled, degrees conferred);
- Liaison with University of Cincinnati Office of Information Technologies (UCit) regarding programming requirements and enhancements; and
- Documentation, training, and access for Registrar's modules in the student information system, UniverSIS.
Registration and Scheduling Office
The Registration and Scheduling Office oversees the following activities:
- Preparation of the Registrar's Working Calendar;
- Course approval; class ordering;
- Classroom scheduling;
- Publication of Learning Opportunities Schedule of Classes;
- Registration and add/drops through Calendar Day 21;
- Consortium registration; and
- Enrollment and degree verification;
Student Records Office
The Student Records Office oversees the following activities:
- Late registrations and late adds after Calendar Day 21;
- Drops after Calendar Day 21;
- Complete withdrawals and refund processing;
- Residency determination for student fee purposes;
- Maintenance of student demographic and academic information;
- Veterans' certification for educational benefits;
- Grade processing;
- Grade reports and transcripts; and
- Commencement support and diploma preparation.
- Office of the Registrar e-mail: registrar.info@uc.edu
Students' Privacy Rights
FERPA & the "Need to Know" In addition to their right to fair and impartial academic evaluation, students enjoy privacy rights protected by federal law. The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, also known as FERPA or the Buckley Amendment, protects the privacy of educational records, establishes the rights of students to inspect and review their educational records, and provides guidelines for the correction of inaccurate or misleading data through informal hearings. The act restricts access to students' educational records to:
- the students themselves;
- persons that students authorize; and
- administrators and faculty who "need to know" for legitimate educational interests.
The last category—"persons who have an educational need to know"—-requires further discussion. For example, an undergraduate program director who certifies students for graduation or prepares departmental nominations for academic awards needs to review students' educational records such as quarterly grade reports and degree progress audits. College officers responsible for advising or notifying students about academic standing—probation, suspension, and/or dismissal—also have a similar "need to know." Neither faculty status nor administrative rank grants University of Cincinnati employees the right to access students' records.
FERPA requires each institution to determine what is to be considered "Directory Information" and provide students with an opportunity to withhold disclosure. The University of Cincinnati categorizes Directory Information as follows:
- CATEGORY I: Dates of attendance, enrollment status, degrees conferred and dates, honors and awards, College, class year, major field of study.
- CATEGORY II: Address, telephone number.
Requests to withhold disclosure can be made at any time to the Student Records Office online at www.onestop.uc.edu under the link "change my privacy code." To prevent "Directory Information" from appearing in the published Student Directory, requests for nondisclosure must be submitted to the Student Records Office no later than the second Friday of the Autumn Quarter.
The University maintains that the failure on the part of any student to specifically request the withholding of either or both categories of "Directory Information" indicates approval for disclosure.
Students' Right to Review
Students enrolled at the University of Cincinnati have the right to review all of their educational records except those excluded by law. Students may review their records by contacting the Student Records Office. Students may challenge the contents of their records or address any problems they encounter with their right to review the record by appealing to the UC Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) Committee for a hearing. To make a formal appeal, students must send a written request to the Office of the Registrar.
Course Instructors' Right to Access
Course instructors have limited access to students' educational records. Even when students are enrolled in their classes, faculty members are not permitted access to students' complete educational records. For example, faculty members are not permitted to know how students performed in other courses. If a prerequisite is required for course enrollment, faculty members are entitled to know only whether students satisfied that requirement.
Individuals writing letters of recommendation may not review academic records unless students provide copies or authorize access. It is a FERPA violation for faculty members to access students' transcripts or electronic academic records without students' written permission.
Grade Posting
A common violation of privacy occurs in the practice of posting grades. It is a FERPA violation to post grades by Social Security Numbers (SSNs). Although SSNs may be used as Student ID numbers, they may not be used by instructors to report information in a public forum. Posting grades by SSN not only reveals the students' SSNs but also private information about their grades. Even if instructors remove names from the class list before posting the grades, it is still a violation because students are listed alphabetically and again, students' identities can easily be determined.
While grade posting is a convenient practice for both students and instructors, alternative methods of communicating student information must be used to protect students' privacy. One alternative to posting grades by SSNs is to assign unique, random ID numbers to class members, which instructors then use to post grades. Another option—if the list of names is presented in a random rather than an alphabetical order—is to post grades by the last four digits of students' Social Security numbers. A third option, which accommodates students eager to learn grade information, is to ask class participants to submit stamped, self-addressed envelopes to their course instructors. After assigning grades, instructors mail final grade information in the envelopes provided by the students.
It is also a FERPA violation for instructors to share student information with another student. Instructors should not give one class member a graded paper or project for return to another student who has been absent from class.
|
