Faculty Handbook
Students are required to be honest in all of their university class work. Faculty members have a duty to promote ethical behavior and avoid practices and environments that foster cheating. Faculty should encourage students to bring incidents of dishonesty to their attention. A faculty member, in certain circumstances, can resolve an academic dishonesty matter without a student disciplinary hearing. The procedures and guidelines are available from Student Conduct and Conflict Resolution. Learn more about Student Rights & Responsibilities.
The Honor Code: We, the members of the University of Florida community, pledge to hold ourselves and our peers to the highest standards of honesty and integrity by abiding by the Honor Code.
On all work submitted for credit by students at the University of Florida, the following pledge is either required or implied:
"On my honor, I have neither given nor received unauthorized aid in doing this assignment."
Support services for students with disabilities are coordinated by the Disability Resource Center in the Dean of Students Office. All support services provided for University of Florida students are individualized to meet the needs of students with disabilities. To obtain individual support services, each student must meet with one of the support coordinators in the Disability Resources Program and collaboratively develop appropriate support strategies. Appropriate documentation regarding the student's disability is necessary to obtain any reasonable accommodation or support service.
Turnitin is an internet-based anti-plagiarism technology that enables faculty members to determine if research papers have been plagiarized.
The Office of Academic Technology has licensed Turnitin.com for the use of University of Florida faculty and students. Turnitin's web-based program searches out matching and even partially altered phrases from web content and Turnitin databases. The software then provides to the instructor a color-coded "originality report" with links to similarities in submitted text. This allows the instructor to carefully evaluate suspect papers for proper and improper citation as well as for dishonest plagiarism.
Instructors set the specific attendance policies for their courses. Students enrolled in a course are responsible for satisfying all academic objectives as defined by the instructor.
Students may not attend a class unless they are officially registered or approved to audit with evidence of having paid audit fees. Students who do not attend at least one of the first two class meetings of a course or laboratory in which they are registered, and who have not contacted the department to indicate their intent, may be dropped from the course. However, students should not assume they have been dropped from a course if they fail to attend the first few days of class.
Students may audit courses on a space-available basis. Students must obtain approvals of the course instructor and the dean of the college offering the course and pay course fees.
The syllabus for a course is a written record of the instructor's plan for the organization and management of the course, and his or her expectations of the students. The UF Policy on Course Syllabi outlines the information that must appear in all course syllabi, independent of course level or discipline. Instructional faculty are expected to post their course syllabi to a student accessible website and submit copies of course syllabi to the departmental office to document compliance with this policy.
During term examinations may be held during the regular class time or evening assembly exams may be arranged for Monday-Friday from 8:20-10:10 p.m. (periods E2-E3) for the fall and spring terms and Monday-Friday from 7:00-9:25 (periods E1-E2) for the summer terms. If other classes are scheduled during an exam time, instructors must provide make-up class work for students who miss class because of an assembly exam.
Final examinations are determined by course meeting times except for certain large courses. Final examination times are published in the Schedule of Courses. No student is required to take more than three final exams in one day. If two exams are scheduled at the same time, assembly exams take priority over time-of-class exams. When two assembly exams or two time-of-class exams conflict, the course with the higher number will take priority.
Instructors are responsible for setting the grading scale in their courses. There is no standard grading scale at UF. For general purposes, passing grades are A, B+, B, B-, C+, C, C-, D+, D, D- and S. Failing grades are E and U. However, note that C- is not a passing grade for General Education and the Writing Requirement. In addition, many undergraduate majors require a C or better in major coursework if specified in the college policies or curriculum for the majors found in the undergraduate catalog. Learn more about UF writing and math requirements (formerly Gordon Rule) and the use of grades and grading policies.
Instructors submit grades to the Office of the University Registrar at the end of the semester using the UF Grade-A-Gator system. Grade-a-Gator can be found in myUFL under '''My Self Service>Enter Grades'''. Make sure that you contact your faculty liaison for Grade-a-Gator in order to get further assistance in grade submissions. If you are unsure of who your faculty liaison for Grade-a-Gator is, ask your Department Office Manager or contact the Computing Help Desk.
An incomplete grade (I) may be assigned at the discretion of the instructor as an interim grade for a course in which a student has completed the major portion of the course with a passing grade but is unable to complete course requirements before the end of the term because of extenuating circumstances. Instructors are not required to assign incomplete grades. The instructor and student determine an appropriate plan and deadline for completing the course. Instructors should create a contract with the student, in writing, with copies for both the student and instructor. It is useful to use an example when creating the contract (See the Incomplete Grade Contract CLAS Example), but faculty should contact their department's undergraduate or graduate coordinator or college's associate dean to obtain their college's template and best practices. If completion of the course requirements requires classroom or laboratory attendance in a subsequent term, the student should not register for the course again; instead, the student must audit the course and pay course fees. When all course requirements have been completed, the instructor will submit a change of grade to the Office of the University Registrar. An I grade should not be assigned to a student who never attended class; instead, instructors may assign a failing grade or no grade at all.
Grade changes will be accepted and processed by the Office of the University Registrar (OUR) for a period of one calendar year after the term in which the course was attempted. This policy does not apply to grades of I or I*, which designate a grade of incomplete. Any grade changes submitted after the deadline must be accompanied by additional supporting information or documentation justifying the extension and submitted to the appropriate college dean. If the dean approves the exception, he or she will forward it to the OUR for processing. Learn more about Grading Policies for Faculty.
Subject to college degree program and department guidelines, students may take elective course work and earn grades of S (Satisfactory) or U (Unsatisfactory). S-U grades do not carry grade point values and are not computed in the UF GPA. Such grades are included in a student's permanent record and are reflected on the transcript.
Students must obtain approval for the S-U option and may elect the S-U option for only one course each term. Courses taken to fulfill the Writing and Math Requirement (Gordon Rule) may not be taken S-U. For fall, spring, and summer C terms, the deadline for filing an S-U option is Friday of the third week of classes. For summer A and B terms, the deadline is Wednesday of the second week of classes. The specific dates are listed in the Critical Dates by Term.
Public posting of student grades using complete social security numbers or university student identification numbers (e.g., the UF ID number), or any portion thereof, violates the Federal Educational Rights and Privacy Act. Consequently, faculty should not post student grades in this manner.
For the purpose of posting grades, faculty may assign, or allow students to choose, a unique and confidential identifier (e.g., a 4-digit number) and then post grades using that number provided that the posted list is not in alphabetical order. Alternatively, faculty may institute a web-based system that allows students to look-up grades. The system should be secured by Gatorlink username and password. This function is available in the e-Learning course management system.
Students should have predictable access to faculty time outside of class. To facilitate that access, faculty must schedule a reasonable number of face-to-face office hours when residential students may either make an appointment or simply drop in. Faculty who are teaching fully on-line courses to non-residential students must also maintain an appropriate schedule of predictable available times for student access. Office hours may not be only “By Appointment”; however, this means of access should also be available to all residential students.
Courses may be dropped or added during the Drop/Add period without penalty. The Drop/Add period is the first 4 days of classes during fall or spring semester, and the first 2 days of classes for summer terms. The specific dates are listed in the Critical Dates by Term.
After Drop/Add, students may withdraw from a course up to the date established in the university calendar. A grade of W will appear on the transcript, and students will be held liable for course fees. All drops after the Drop/Add period must be submitted to the Office of the Registrar by the deadline.
The two days before the start of examinations in the fall and spring semesters (generally a Thursday and Friday) are designated reading days. No classes or exams are held on these days.
The university calendar does not include observance of any religious holidays. The Florida Board of Governors and state law govern university policy regarding observance of religious holidays. Students shall be excused from class or other scheduled academic activity to observe a religious holy day of their faith with prior notification to the instructor. Students shall be permitted a reasonable amount of time to make up the material or activities covered in their absence. Students shall not be penalized due to absence from class or other scheduled academic activity because of religious observances.
The State University System Student Assessment of Instruction (SUSSAI) was implemented in 1995. Its purpose is to provide for student assessment of instruction based on eight criteria common to all SUS institutions. Evaluations are administered through departmental and college offices for all scheduled undergraduate and graduate courses and are conducted online at gatorevals.aa.ufl.edu. Evaluations are typically open during the last two or three weeks of the semester. Summary results of these assessments are available gatorevals.aa.ufl.edu/public-results. Summary results for the faculty, departments, and colleges are distributed online at gatorevals.aa.ufl.edu/instructors. Results of course and instructor evaluations are used as part of individual faculty evaluations and in consideration for tenure and promotion. The GatorEvals site also has information on "best practices" for administering the evaluation process.
Students who are absent from classes or examinations because of illness should contact their instructors. The Student Health Care Center (SHCC) can provide a medical excuse note only if their providers are involved in the medical care of a student who must be absent from class for three or more days for medical reasons. A student who has a medical reason that results in fewer than three days of absence from class should talk with his/her professor rather than ask for an excuse note from the SHCC. If a professor subsequently requires a note for a medical absence of fewer than three days, then the professor must provide the SHCC with a written request on UF departmental letterhead.
Textbook adoptions must be submitted online. Faculty and staff are strongly encouraged to submit course adoption information in a timely manner. This helps to ensure that students know about required materials at the time of course registration and that books are available to students before classes begin. General information about Textbook Adoption.
The Twelve-Day Rule Policy is posted online at aa.ufl.edu/media/aaufledu/policies/Twelve-Day-Rule-March-2018.pdf
For more information on policies regarding student athletes, consult UF Rule 6C1-7.058 (pdf), and/or the Office of Student Life, a part of the University Athletic Association (UAA).