We hope that you enjoyed the summer and are looking forward to the start of the academic year! In support of your efforts to prepare for the fall semester, we have compiled some resources and guidance across the following categories—Class Operations, Student Support and Accommodations, University Policies and Procedures, and AU Library and CTRL Resources. Washington College of Law (WCL) faculty follow policies of their Office of Academic Affairs.

Class Operations

Academic Calendar and Deadlines 

You can find the standard Academic Calendar for 2023–2024 as well as other academic calendars on the Office of the University Registrar website. Please note that the last day for students to add a fall semester course or drop a course for a 100% refund and without a “W” recorded is Monday, September 11. Students taking courses that do not follow standard fall semester dates should review the Course Drop and Withdrawal Refund Schedule for the last day to drop a course for a 100% refund. The academic calendar and key dates for WCL are found on the WCL Registrar’s website. 

As we implemented last year, faculty are encouraged to hold classes scheduled to meet on Monday and Tuesday during the week of Thanksgiving remotely moving forward (with the exception of those teaching at WCL and in programs with special calendars). Please provide notice to your students for your class schedule and modality that week so they can plan for their holiday travel.

We also ask that you pay special attention to the recent message outlining the major religious holy days and accommodate students accordingly.

Class Schedules and Rosters

Please review your class schedule information and classroom assignments. There have been and will continue to be classroom assignment changes as needed. You should double check this information to make sure you arrive at the correct location on the first day of class. 

All students in your course must be listed on the official roster. Students who are not on the roster should consult with their academic advisors to determine whether they can register for the course. You will receive a request from the Office of the University Registrar to confirm your roster for each course. It is very important that you complete this confirmation, as course registration has significant implications for a student’s financial aid award and other academic requirements. 

Syllabus Collection

After your syllabus has been distributed to students in your course (whether in hard copy or through Canvas), please also upload it to the syllabus collection (login required) for the purpose of institutional record-keeping. The collection stores a single file that an instructor (or departmental support staff) uploads for each term of a course for each instructor, which is stored—and easily searchable—for a period of seven years. This approach saves time and reduces the need for units to create their own solutions. It also better supports various university processes (such as transfer articulation, assessment, and academic integrity). Should you have any questions, please contact Brad Knight, Senior Director of AU Core and University College, at bradly@american.edu.

Managing Student Absences

Please remind your students to avoid coming to class while they are sick and support them in making up work missed during health-related absences by sharing notes, slides, assignments, and/or creating audio/video recordings of class meetings. According to the updated undergraduate regulation related to class attendance (see below), you have the discretion as an instructor to determine whether to excuse short-term absences and should not involve the Office of the Dean of Students or Student Health Center. If a student is experiencing a significant or lengthy personal or medical event that may affect academic progress or result in prolonged absences, they should work directly with the Office of the Dean of Students. In these cases, the Office of the Dean of Students will communicate with the student’s faculty and advisor. Please do not request or accept medical, mental health, or other documentation from students. 

Student Support and Accommodations

Academic Support and Wellness

We have many resources available to support both undergraduate and graduate students:  

• Academic Coaching provides learning strategies for task management, habit building, test prep, and more. Please encourage students, both undergraduate and graduate, who might benefit from coaching to attend a meeting or check out the academic resource library. 
• Consultants in the Writing Center help students to organize, sharpen, and refine a paper or writing project at the undergraduate and graduate level. 
• Students can work on quantitative concepts with tutors specializing in Quantitative Support for undergraduate and graduate students.
• Tutoring is available for specific undergraduate courses via the Peer-Assisted Student Support (PASS) program.  

Academic Alerts

If there is a student in your course whose academic performance is causing concern (e.g., poor quality of work, incomplete assignments, inconsistent attendance, or a combination of these factors) please consider submitting an Academic Alert at any point in the semester. The Academic Alert will be sent to the student and the student’s academic advisor. The Academic Alert system is a way for you to offer support to your student and for us to know when we should connect students with academic resources across the university. It is not punitive in nature and the alert does not appear on the student’s transcript or academic record. Academic difficulty is not uncommon; these interventions can help students improve their performance. You can access the Academic Alert system on the portal by clicking the “Eagle Service–Academic Alerts” link and then the “Academic Alert (formerly Early Warning)” button on the Eagle Service homepage.

Disability-Related Accommodations

The Disability Support Team in the Academic Support and Access Center (ASAC) supports AU students’ academic development and education goals through the provision of reasonable disability-related accommodations. Students who receive accommodations are responsible for providing their instructors with written notice from ASAC of their approved accommodations. For questions or concerns regarding accommodations, please call 202-885-3360 or email asac@american.edu.

On AU’s main campus, ASAC coordinates and implements exam accommodations for students with scheduled in-person exams. To ensure that exams are administered effectively and accurately, it is important the faculty provide the exam (and instructions for the exam) to ASAC at least three business days in advance. For exams that are scheduled to be taken remotely, faculty will continue to be responsible for ensuring students’ exam accommodations are implemented in accordance with their ASAC letter. Students have been guided to provide their instructors with at least 7 days’ notice if they are planning to use their accommodations on an upcoming exam. If you have any questions about testing arrangements, please contact the Exams Office at 202-885-3489 or exams@american.edu. 

WCL faculty should work with WCL Disability Support (disability@wcl.american.edu) to ensure that student accommodations are met.

Selected Campus Resources

Care Network. The Care Network should be used by faculty and staff to share concerns about a particular student with the Office of the Dean of Students. Often, these concerns arise from observed disruptive behaviors, a change in demeanor or performance, or from a disturbing interaction with a student. Expressing concern shortly after an issue or incident has occurred can help with early intervention and success. The Care Network can be accessed directly through the portal under the link “Life at AU” and then “Care Network: Express Concern About a Student.” The Office of the Dean of Students will conduct appropriate follow-up with the student on each report. Please note that the anonymity of the faculty or staff reporter cannot be guaranteed as Care reports are considered part of a student’s educational record. Care reports are not the appropriate way to report emergency situations that should be reported to AUPD. Care reports can be filed in conjunction with reporting emergencies to AUPD to connect students to longer-term support.

The Center for Well-Being Programs and Psychological Services (the Well-Being Center). The Well-Being Center has a range of resources for students and is also available to consult with faculty, should you have concerns about a student’s well-being. Faculty and staff can also use AU ProtoCall services for a consultation on urgent student concerns, 24 hours a day, at this number: 202-885-7979. The Well-Being Center houses the university’s Victim Support Advocate, who is available to meet with students who have been impacted by interpersonal violence or sexual assault and can be reached at 202-885-3276.

Help@American. Help@American is a self-service library of knowledge articles about technology and student services in the areas of financial aid, billing, registration, housing, One Card, and dining. This service is available to all students, parents, and other AU community members and can be accessed via the AU portal and at https://help.american.edu (login required). Students can also chat with AU Central if they are not sure where to go for assistance with their concern. 

Veterans Services Support Network (VSSN). The Division of Student Affairs initiated the Veterans Services Support Network (VSSN) to provide AU's military connected student population (Veterans, current Service-members, and dependents) with the necessary resources and support to achieve their educational goals. Network members will be the principal contacts for these students in their respective departments and will collaborate with one another to ensure that military connected students’ needs are being met and that problems are addressed quickly and effectively. The university recognizes the unique service and sacrifice of our military-connected community and is committed to working together to best serve these students through continued initiatives including the Veterans Services Support Network. For questions, please email veterans@american.edu.

Name and Gender Identity Technology 

One of the best ways to build students’ sense of belonging in our classrooms is to address them correctly on the first day of class and beyond. Students have the opportunity to designate their chosen name and pronouns (if desired) in Eagle Service. Within approximately 48 hours, the information that they have entered is reflected in Canvas, on course rosters, and in a variety of other systems, although some (e.g., payroll and financial aid) are required to use legal names. Please note that some students may not feel comfortable having their (chosen) name and pronouns displayed across AU systems and may prefer to share them with you directly.

In addition, students, faculty, and staff have the option in Canvas to easily record the pronunciation of their name as well as hear how others’ names should be pronounced. Simply click on the link in the left navigation bar labeled “Record Your Name with NameCoach” (towards the bottom) to record your name and listen to your students’ recordings. If you would like to include a link to the pronunciation of your name outside of Canvas (such as in your email signature), you can also visit: https://go.american.edu/RecordMyName (login required). 

University Policies and Procedures

Recent Changes to Undergraduate Regulations and Transfer Requirements

Undergraduate Regulation 3.5 (Incompletes). Please note that undergraduate regulation 3.5 was modified to clarify that a faculty member can elect to enter an Incomplete grade if the student was otherwise “receiving a passing grade (“C” or better) in the course based on work due and evaluated by the instructor at the time of the request. 

Undergraduate Regulation 4.1 (Class Attendance). As mentioned above, undergraduate regulation 4.1 was updated to memorialize the authority faculty have to excuse short-term absences and to better explain when a student should seek documentation from the Office of the Dean of Students. The changes also clarify that absences for academic competitions are excused, as are absences during the add/drop period (for students who added the course). The new language also indicates that students should be provided with an opportunity to make up missed work from an excused absence.

Removal of Internal Transfer Cumulative GPA Requirements Above 2.0. All undergraduate units have now set internal transfer cumulative GPA requirements for their majors at a 2.0 cumulative GPA. This means that any undergraduate student, so long as they have achieved a 2.0 cumulative GPA, may freely transfer to another major or academic unit at AU. Students who internally transfer will be responsible for meeting the requirements of the new major (as well as all degree requirements). 

Academic Integrity

Faculty should include a link to the Academic Integrity Code on syllabi and highlight academic integrity-related skills in course assignments (for example, paraphrasing, proper attribution, etc.). Generative AI tools may require particular attention: give clear guidelines on all projects about appropriate sources of help, indicating that students should be able to talk about work they submit and about their process for creating it. Students are expected to do their own work, indicate sources of information and help, and ask questions about the specific academic integrity expectations in each course.

The new Office of Academic Integrity (OAI) aims to support all academic integrity work across the university (with the exception of WCL). With the goals of fairness and consistency, the OAI will adjudicate all academic integrity cases to determine responsibility and possible outcomes. Faculty with specific concerns about a potential violation should contact academicintegrity@american.edu. Please note that students are entitled to due process in AIC cases. Faculty may not unilaterally penalize a student’s grade for what they may see as a code violation and may be subject to grievance if they do so. 

The OAI also provides support, guidance, and resources to faculty, students, and staff throughout the year. Feel free to reach out for more information or consult the OAI resource pages on SharePoint. 

Office of Equity and Title IX 

The Office of Equity and Title IX works to support American University’s commitment to guarantee equitable treatment and a welcoming working and learning environment for all. The Office of Equity and Title IX is committed to fairness and trauma-informed practices for all students, staff and faculty, and to ensuring a transparent and equitable process for addressing and resolving matters of discrimination, harassment and sexual violence. The office is responsible for the implementation of the following two university policies: Discrimination and Non-Title IX Sexual Misconduct Policy and the Title IX and Sexual Harassment Policy. For questions or concerns, you can contact the Office of Equity and Title IX by email at equityoffice@american.edu or by phone at 202-885-8080. Reports and complaints should be submitted on the website using the online reporting form. All AU employees are required to make a report to the Office of Equity and Title IX if they learn about an allegation of discrimination, harassment or sexual misconduct.

AU Library and CTRL Resources

AU Library Updates

Research Support. Research librarians are available to assist you or your students on chat 24/7 or by appointment. Visit the Ask a Librarian website. Librarians are also happy to speak to your class and you are welcome to schedule an instruction session. Please make sure struggling students know the librarians are here to help.

Geospatial Research Lab. The Geospatial Research Lab, located on the lower level of the library, supports learning and research at AU by providing access to geospatial software and data, as well as technical support and training opportunities.

24/7 Bender Library Building Access. The main floor of the Bender Library is open 24/7 to provide a safe and convenient study space for all students, faculty, and staff. 

Archives & Special Collections. Archives & Special Collections, located in the Spring Valley Building, holds rare books, university archives, and special collections on various subject areas. They are available to speak to your class and are open by appointment Monday through Thursday from 10 am to 4 pm. Contact archives@american.edu to learn more.

Canvas Workshops and Support. AU Academic Technology is offering a range of Canvas workshops between August through October to help get you acquainted with Canvas, the university’s learning management system. See the entire list of fall 2023 Canvas workshops offered and sign up. You can also take advantage of additional Canvas support resources.

Integrate LibGuides into Canvas Course. If you are a faculty member interested in embedding E-reserves and library guides into your Canvas course, now you can do so by seamlessly integrating LibGuide content in the Assignments and/or Modules section of your Canvas course. If you need assistance, please feel free to contact AU Canvas Support at canvas@american.edu or call 202-885-3904.

Center for Teaching, Research & Learning

You are encouraged to take advantage of teaching and research support offered through the Center for Teaching, Research & Learning (CTRL) throughout the semester. For example, you may consider:

• Attending the August Faculty Workshops, which continue today and on August 23.
• Scheduling a consultation to discuss an aspect of your teaching or research.
• Checking out CTRL's updated syllabus guide and downloading the syllabus template.
• Following the Coloring Outside the Memos Podcast on qualitative research.
• Reading the newest issue of the CTRL Beat with articles from faculty, staff, and students.
• Applying for a Green Teaching Certificate.

We wish you all the best for fall 2023!