Academic Policies, Procedures and Guidance

This page contains links to academic policies related to instruction and curriculum approval. Where the establishing legislation or source is known, that is cited at the bottom of each policy. In some cases, the legislation or source cannot be located but the policies exist as longstanding practice.

If you do not find a policy you are looking for on this page, please check the following places: 

Instructional policies

These are policies, procedures and guidance related to managing and teaching courses, and working with students.

Academic Extra Benefits for Student-athletes (policy and guidance) Describes NCAA rule on “academic extra benefits” involving student athletes and provides guidance for instructors in working with student-athletes
Accessible Education Center (AEC) Accommodations (policy and guidance) Briefly describes instructor responsibilities in working with students who are approved for AEC accommodations. See AEC Website for complete information
Canvas Use (policy) Prescribes the use of Canvas in most courses and defines minimum required content for each Canvas site
Course Attendance and Engagement (policy) Describes university policy that governs course attendance and engagement policies for all undergraduate courses.
Cultural Competency Courses – syllabi requirement (policy) Provides statements that are required on syllabi for all courses that meet the “Difference, Inequality and Agency” or “Global Perspectives” core education requirement
Dead Week (policy) Defines policy on final examinations and projects assigned for the final week of regular classes
Final Exams (policy) Defines required parameters for final exams
Grades – Changing Grades after submission to Duckweb (procedure) Describes how and when instructors can change a grade in Duckweb after submission
Grades – Incompletes (policy) Defines Incomplete policy and when it is appropriate to assign an “Incomplete”
Grades – Recording Final Grades in Duckweb (policy) Requires instructors to record letter grades for all students in graded and grade-optional courses
Grades – Recording Last Date of Attendance/Participation in Duckweb (policy) Describes policy for recording last date of attendance or participation for students who receive an F or N grade to comply with Federal financial aid regulations
Grades – Thesis and dissertation (503/603) (policy) Defines policy that grades should be assigned for students making satisfactory progress in thesis or dissertation courses instead of an “I”
Instructor of Record (policy) Defines who can be designated as an Instructor of Record on courses
Instructor Availability and Office Hours (guidance) Provides guidance for instructors in setting office hours and general availability for students
Mandatory First-class attendance (policy) Defines conditions under which attendance can be required on the first day of classes and relevant procedures
Midterm Exams (policy) Defines required parameters for midterm exams
Religious Observance accommodations Defines university policy on accommodating student absences due to religious observance
Student Attendance and University-sponsored events (policy) Defines what accommodations can be made for students who miss class due to a university-sponsored event
Student Experience Surveys (policy) Describes policy for end-of-term Student Experience Surveys and provides resources
Student Records Privacy Policy for Faculty and Staff (FERPA) (policy) Describes university employee responsibilities in handling information that is considered part of a student record
Standard University Syllabus Language Standard language required on all syllabi, updated annually
Syllabus (policy) Requires instructors to provide syllabi in most courses and defines syllabi contents and which courses must provide syllabi
Unregistered students attendance in courses and using Canvas (policy) Defines when it is appropriate to allow unregistered students to attend classes or use Canvas

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Curriculum Approval POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

These are policies, procedures and guidance that govern the approval of new and revised courses and programs.

Courses
Common Course Numbering Describes state-level common course numbering legislation
Consultations with Other Units Describes policy for consulting with other units on course proposals and how content duplication is determined and managed
Core Education - Areas of Inquiry Criteria Defines the criteria for courses to meet the Area of Inquiry requirement
Core Education - Cultural Literacy Course Criteria Defines the criteria that must be met by Difference, Inequality & Agency (DIA) courses and Global Perspectives (GP) courses
Core Education - Methods of Inquiry Criteria Defines the criteria for Methods of Inquiry, required in Area of Inquiry courses
Corequisites Defines corequisites
Course Descriptions Describes purpose and format of course descriptions
Courses Not Taught Defines process for dropping courses not taught withing specified period and reinstating courses
Course Titles Describes criteria for course titles
Credit and Student Time Commitment Describes requirements for student time commitment and interactions between instructors and students for each credit hour of a course
Course Numbers Defines parameters for determining course numbers and levels (e.g. 100, 200, etc.)
Credit Hour and Student Workload Defines credit hours and relationship to student workload for graduate and undergraduate courses
Effective Date Defines cycle for approved new and revised courses
Expanded Course Descriptions Describes purpose of expanded course descriptions and guidance for writing them
Experimental Courses Describes experimental courses and associated course numbers, use of courses
Generic Courses Describes generic courses, lists available numbers, and appropriate use
Grading Options Describes available grading options and their applications
Guest Lecturers in Courses Defines role of guest lecturers in courses
Honors Course Criteria Defines UOCC criteria for a course to be granted the "H" suffix indicating it is an "Honors" course
Instructional Modalities Defines UO policy and U.S. Department of Education requirements for online courses
IRB or RCS Review Defines role of IRB and RCS in course activities   
Multi-listing Courses Describes use of subject codes for multi-listed courses and lists requirements
Prerequisites Describes requirements and limitations
Repeatability Describes conditions and limitations of repeatability 
Revision (minor, major) Defines conditions for major or minor revision categories
Sequence Defines use of sequence for courses taken in a particular order
Statistics Courses Describes due diligence requirements for statistics courses
Topics Courses Describes procedure for naming topics courses and eligibility requirements in Area of Inquiry and Cultural Literacy courses
Subject Codes Defines subject code parameters and process for approval of new codes or changing existing codes
Variable Credit Courses Describes ranges of credits and how to determine hours for which students register

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Programs
Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) code (procedure) Describes procedure for changing a program’s CIP code
Honors Program Guidelines (policy) Defines requirements and approval process for program-level honors programs
Overlap of courses between two or more programs (policy) Delegates authority to individual units to determine the amount of allowed course overlap between two or more programs
Premajor (policy) Describes policy and procedure for establishing a premajor

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