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.)

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 available course modalities at UO

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

Online Course Requirements

Defines UO policy and U.S. Department of Education requirements for online courses

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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