Important Academic Deadlines, Policies, and Expectations

Faculty are expected to take attendance in class in order to be able to identify students who stop attending and who might be at significant risk. Faculty may simply circulate a sheet in order to allow students to sign in order to register their attendance, or devise their own method for monitoring attendance. If a student is listed on Canvas as enrolled in your course, you should assume that the student has NOT officially dropped the course. Faculty may determine their own attendance policy, but are strongly urged to spell this out clearly in the syllabus. In particular, faculty should specify how many absences will result in automatic failure of the course. Please utilize the Academic Caution notice as a means of underscoring your awareness with the student and also to notify the Office of Academic Affairs so they can assist if needed. Reminders to do this are circulated to faculty together with the form several times a semester.

Grades for the fall semester will be due on January 2; for the spring semester for graduating students, May 5, and other students, on May 18. It is important that grades be submitted promptly. If we expect students to take our deadlines seriously, we need to show that we, too, respect institutional deadlines. Students need to know their grades in order to make informed decisions concerning which courses to take in the coming semester, and we need to be able to identify if a student is experiencing academic difficulty.

Keep in mind that all e-mail correspondence using your yale.edu account belongs to Yale University and is not your private possession. Anything that you write about a student in an e-mail message becomes part of their official Yale record and may be subject to subpoena. Also bear in mind that information concerning student grades, religious preference, and disabilities is protected information. Exercise due caution in discussing and storing this information. In recommendation letters that you write for students, you may discuss their grades in your own courses, but if you would like to discuss grades a student has received in other courses, the student should sign a release form authorizing you to do so. This is available from the Registrar’s Office. If you have questions, please contact the Registrar’s Office.

There is a staff member at the Poorvu Center for Teaching and Learning who serves as the Writing Specialist for the Divinity School. They offer workshops as well as one-on-one consultations with students. An overview of Poorvu Center resources for Divinity students is available here.

Students in crisis can be referred to the Office of Student Affairs at any time. The Associate Dean of Student Affairs, Vicki Flippin, and other Student Affairs staff can assist students and refer them to appropriate resources. Students who consult with the Office of Student Affairs are still expected to take responsibility for making their own individual arrangements with faculty members concerning extensions, make-up assignments, and the like. Faculty members should feel free to consult with Student Affairs staff if they need additional information or context concerning a student issue. Elizabeth Burns, our embedded mental health counselor, is also available to help students find mental health support at Yale. You may send an email jointly to the student and Elizabeth (elizabeth.burns@yale.edu) to help make the connection. Note: While the Office of Student Affairs provides support for students in crisis, extensions for academic work completion beyond the end of the term are handled by the Senior Associate Dean of Academic Affairs, Joyce Mercer.

Faculty members are responsible for sending an Academic Caution Notice to any student in danger of receiving an LP, F, or NC for the course. This form must be sent to the student, copying Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Joyce Mercer, and the Registrar. Prior to the last day for dropping a course (October 8, for fall courses, and February 16, for spring courses), faculty should review their records and send out any necessary notices. A second round of Academic Caution Notices should be sent out, as appropriate, following the midterm.

Yale’s Student Accessibility Services office has the following purpose: “to facilitate individual accommodations for all students with disabilities throughout the entire University, and by so doing, work to remove physical and attitudinal barriers, which may prevent their full participation in the University community.” Please inform your students with information processing issues or other learning challenges that resources are available to them through this Yale office. Once a disability has been certified, Student Accessibility Services can provide students with a letter outlining the accommodations that should be made by individual faculty members; faculty members should not negotiate with students about appropriate accommodations. For more information: https://sas.yale.edu/. Student Accessibility Services has a helpful section for faculty.

Faculty may at their own discretion offer students extensions up to December 23 for the fall semester and May 19 for the spring semester. As the Bulletin states, extensions beyond the end of the term should be given only “in exceptional circumstances, such as illness or family crisis.” Beyond those dates, students must petition the Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs for a Dean’s Extension; students must obtain the requisite form from the Registrar’s Office and obtain a supporting signature from the faculty member. Faculty are advised to be in close communication with students who have obtained extensions, always to specify a deadline, and to work with students to define deadlines that keep students focused while also being realistic.

You should help students to understand all that is involved in preserving academic integrity. Suspected violations must be reported to the Professional Studies Committee for adjudication. Please refer to the attached statement, “Plagiarism Policy and Procedures,” which includes a clear definition of plagiarism. The Center for Teaching and Learning offers helpful resources for addressing academic integrity and plagiarism: https://poorvucenter.yale.edu/teaching/teaching-resource-library/teaching-about-academic-integrity.

As Yale policy states, “Yale University is committed to maintaining and strengthening an educational, working, and living environment founded on civility and mutual respect. Sexual misconduct is antithetical to the standards and ideals of our community and will not be tolerated. It is a matter of particular concern to an academic community in which students, faculty, and staff are related by strong bonds of intellectual dependence and trust.”

Please be aware that faculty members have reporting obligations under University policy and state law. If you learn of an allegation of sexual misconduct, you must immediately inform a Title IX coordinator and share whatever information you have. You may write or speak directly to Elizabeth Conklin, University Title IX coordinator (titleix@yale.edu) or to any of the deputy Title IX coordinators, including Alison Cunningham at the Divinity School (see the full list of coordinators at http://provost.yale.edu/title-ix/coordinators).

Here you will find updated guidance and FAQs relating to sexual misconduct and reporting. Please take time to review this document and save it for future reference.

You should also familiarize yourself with Yale’s definitions, policies, procedures, and resources for preventing and responding to sexual misconduct.

1. The Yale Sexual Misconduct Policies and Related Definitions outline the behaviors that need to be reported. If you are unsure whether an incident does (or could be perceived to) fall within the University definition of sexual misconduct, you should consult with a Title IX coordinator to make a determination.
2. The University’s Sexual Misconduct Response website summarizes options for reporting and responding to sexual misconduct and links out to more detailed information concerning rights and options for those who have experienced sexual misconduct, as well as additional guidance on effective prevention, intervention, and response.
3. The YDS teacher-student consensual relations policy (which can be found in the YDS Bulletin at http://catalog.yale.edu/div/standards-requirements/).

Please refer to the YDS Bulletin for the most up-to-date policies.