We appreciate your continued efforts to support the academic success of ASU’s students in a safe and healthy community.
Faculty and instructors are encouraged to review these learning expectations in preparation for the academic year. These practices are updated every semester.
ASU has an abundance of learning technology tools and support available to faculty and instructors. A full guide of back-to-school teaching resources for technical help can be found here.
24/7 support from the ASU Experience Center
The ASU Experience Center is open 24/7, 365 days a year. If you have questions or need support, get in touch now.
There are a number of faculty workshops and engagement opportunities planned to orient faculty members to digital tools for use in teaching including Zoom, Canvas, Slack, Adobe Creative Cloud, PlayPosit and much more. You can browse and register for workshops through this training calendar. Workshops are offered throughout the year. Instructors can also schedule consultations with learning designers to assist with course design.
To orient yourself to the technology available in the classroom you can schedule a Faculty Technology Orientation for a one-on-one consultation. The ASU Experience Center is open 24/7, 365 days a year. If you have questions or need support, get in touch now.
Classroom technology orientations can be scheduled before or after the start of classes for an in-person overview of your classroom’s capabilities. Some classroom computers have changed. Check the list of impacted classrooms.
Classroom technology support is available for in-person assistance by texting or calling 1-855-ASU-5082. For questions, comments or feedback, please email classroom.support@asu.edu.
The Department of Education has implemented a new standard for students receiving federal financial aid. Students must demonstrate participation in their courses by the 21st day of classes in order to maintain their federal financial aid eligibility. While nothing is required of faculty and course instructors to verify students’ participation, you may receive questions from students. Please learn more about this change in policy and ASU’s plans for meeting compliance.
Instructors of record will have access to view Confirmation of Participation reports for students enrolled in their course who have completed the survey. Students are notified their instructors will have access to their responses at the time they complete the survey.
To access the survey reports, follow the two steps outlined below.
ASU will continue to use the EN grade: Failing Never Participated (EN) for tracking course participation. The grade of "EN" denotes failure due to the student never participating in a course and is treated the same as an "E" for the purposes of GPA, course repeatability, and academic standing determination. The "EN" grade assists ASU in determining a student's financial aid eligibility. For federal aid purposes, we must determine if a student participated in all courses for which they received federal aid. When a student does not participate, the financial aid office must recalculate the student's eligibility. A grade of "EN" began displaying on students’ transcripts in fall 2016. Please review the "Grades and Grade Selection" section of the Grade Posting FAQs page for more information about the "EN" grade.
Academic Status Reports are a way for faculty to provide students early, personalized feedback regarding their course progress and the encouragement to take appropriate actions that will improve their academic performance.
Academic Status Reports are also the university’s system for identifying students in real-time who may be in need of support. Early and timely support for a student can be the difference between a student passing and failing a course. For our most vulnerable students, one failed class could lead to financial hardship, a decision to stop-out of college, and other roadblocks to achieving their goals.
Use of Academic Status Reports by all faculty and instructors throughout the semester is highly encouraged. Instructors teaching 100 and 200-level courses are expected to generate ASRs early and often.
For more information on using ASRs, please review these FAQs.
ASU is here to support all Sun Devils anytime, anywhere. We encourage instructors to share the free ASU Counseling Services with students. Health and wellness resources include telehealth sessions, Open Call and Open Chat. Students can connect with someone 24/7/365.
Instructors may be the first to notice a student in crisis. Please consult this student crisis to learn what options are available. For more information, call 480-965-6146.
ASU Counseling Services offers emotional health and well-being support. All Open Call and Open Chat services are free of charge and confidential. Call and chat services are available in English, Arabic, Chinese, French, Korean and Spanish. For immediate assistance, call 1-877-258-7429.
ASU Health Services offers in person and telehealth appointments.
All classes should be taught in the mode of instruction listed in the course schedule at the indicated times. Modifications to the delivery mode of a course require provost approval. Contact your chair, director or dean if you believe you need to change the delivery mode of your course.
No. Instructors may choose whether to offer office hours in-person or virtually, and you may change the format during the semester. Office hours do not have to take place in an office. You can hold office hours in a classroom, other department space, or even outside. Define the time and place of your office hours clearly and clearly inform students of any changes as necessary.
Instructors have full authority to decide whether class attendance is required. Although students should be strongly encouraged to attend and engage in class regularly to enhance learning, that need should be balanced against public health concerns associated with sick students attending classes. In crafting an attendance policy, consider approaches that do not encourage students who are sick to come to class. For example, assigning a portion of the course grade strictly based on attendance may not be as effective in promoting student learning and community health as determining grades using assessments, engagement, and participation. Similarly, setting a limit on the number of classes students can miss may inadvertently encourage sick students to come to class rather than promoting the desired academic engagement.
For most courses, faculty can provide an option for sick students to attend remotely via Zoom. To facilitate that, include syllabus language informing students how to obtain access to the course via Zoom if they are unable to attend class in person. Alternatively, many course meetings can be recorded and posted to a class website. Instructions for recording class and other technical considerations can be found here. If Zoom attendance or class recordings are not possible in your course, you should provide alternative make-up opportunities for students.
Sample resources for constructing attendance policies and language to use in syllabi can be found here.
Students should not be penalized for missing class as a result of illness. Please note that the period a student may be unable to attend classes is variable and depends on personal circumstances. Consult your chair, director or dean to find out whether there is unit-specific guidance about providing accommodations to students.
Syllabi should indicate clear expectations for students who may be absent due to illness including the mechanism to contact faculty and request an accommodation. More detailed information regarding questions to consider in developing policies and sample language to include in your syllabus can be found here.
Be ready to accommodate absences from the first day of class. Know what kinds of accommodations you will offer and have necessary technology in place for the accommodations. Since students may become sick at any time, faculty are encouraged, when possible, to have Zoom enabled for students to attend class remotely or to record all class sessions for distribution as necessary. Alert students that sessions will be recorded and either posted regularly for class use or will be available upon request. Consider that regular posting of recordings has both advantages and disadvantages in terms of encouraging student attendance and promoting student learning. When recording classes is not practical, alternative activities or materials may be provided to students. Where appropriate, communicate with students the pedagogical reasons for your choices in accommodations.
You may accommodate students who are ill by allowing them to attend class via Zoom. Instructions for how to record your class using Zoom and post recordings in Canvas can be found here.If your classroom does not have ASU Sync capabilities and you would like to record one or more class sessions, please email classroom.support@asu.edu.
The capabilities of the classroom you are teaching in can be found here. To orient yourself to the technology available in the classroom you can also schedule a Faculty Technology Orientation for a one-on-one consultation.
Make up classwork is not possible in some lab, studio, and field-based classes. These situations should be handled on a case-by-case basis by the instructor. If you have concerns about how to accommodate a student in one of these circumstances, consult your chair or director or contact provost@asu.edu.
No. Blanket opportunities for extra credit can inadvertently encourage sick students to attend class so that they are not disadvantaged relative to other students. Students who come to class have the opportunity to earn an A+ while those who become sick lose that opportunity.
This may be a reasonable accommodation if it is only available to students who miss an exam as a result of an excused absence. If the option to replace a low grade is available to all students, then those who are sick would be disadvantaged. This accommodation may be most useful in courses that have a comprehensive final examination, ensuring students are still assessed on material covered on the missed exam.
Individual courses should be taught in the mode of instruction listed on the university class schedule. The mode of instruction for each class is determined by the university and subject to change at the discretion of the university. Modification of the course modality from the published course schedule requires provost approval.
Faculty who cannot attend an in-person class under any circumstance should contact their chair, director or dean as soon as possible to discuss alternative arrangements for the course.
Faculty are encouraged to identify a back-up instructor who could teach their class if necessary and share materials regularly throughout the semester. For example, if the course is in Canvas, give your back-up access to the Canvas site and copies of course materials. Academic units are encouraged to keep copies of contingency teaching arrangements available.
If faculty expect to be unable to teach an in-person class on campus and a back-up instructor will also not be teaching in person, the chair or director should consult the dean regarding alternative arrangements for course delivery. Permanently changing the modality of a course requires provost approval.
In case you cannot attend class in person as a result of illness, you may participate in this class remotely via Zoom. To participate remotely, [include procedures on whether students should notify you to receive a Zoom link to attend class live.]
In case you cannot attend class in person as a result of illness, you may request from the instructor a digital recording of the class sessions you are unable to attend. To request recordings,[include procedures on how to request recordings.]
Faculty may record class meetings to make an archived recording available to enrolled students, instructors, or support personnel. Creation of recordings for groups beyond these requires consent from students who are recorded.
If you intend to record class meetings, the syllabus should (1) notify students that you may record and (2) indicate how recordings may be used.
Sample 1:Note that class sessions may be recorded and recordings provided to enrolled students, instructors or instructional support personnel. If you have concerns about being recorded, please contact the course instructor.
Sample 2a: Recordings may be used to accommodate student absences.
Sample 2b: Recordings of all class sessions will be posted in Canvas for all students to access for reviewing course materials.
In case you cannot attend class in person as a result of illness, you may request make-up work from the instructor by[outline procedures here. How should students contact you? Should they provide documentation?]
Attendance and participation in class activities is an essential part of the learning process, and students are expected to attend class regularly. Some absences are, however, unavoidable. Excused absences for classes will be given without penalty to the grade in the case of (1) a university-sanctioned event [ACD 304-02]; (2) religious holidays [ACD 304-04; a list can be found here https://eoss.asu.edu/cora/holidays ]; (3) work performed in the line-of-duty according [SSM 201-18]; and (4) illness as documented by a health professional.
Anticipated absences for university-sanctioned events, religious holidays, or line-of-duty activity should be communicated to the instructor by [indicate the means of communication] at least [X days]before the expected absence.
Absences related to illness should be documented by a health professional and communicated to the instructor as soon as possible by [indicate the means of communication].
Excused absences do not relieve students from responsibility for any part of the course work required during the period of absence. Faculty will provide accommodations that may include participation in classes remotely, access to recordings of class activities, and make-up work.
If there is a disagreement as to whether an absence should be accommodated, the instructor and student should contact the academic unit chair immediately for resolution.