Dear Faculty,
As we approach the start of a new academic year, it is time to review the policies and procedures that apply to courses, classrooms, and syllabi. The list below (ordered alphabetically) provides a concise overview for your reference. For the most detailed information, please refer directly to the Faculty Handbook, the Course Catalog, and the Student Handbook. For full guidance on the required and optional components of the syllabus for any course, faculty should consult the Anatomy of a Syllabus. It is important to note that all syllabi should include, at minimum, the required components as specified in this resource. Among these components, please give particular attention to the required weighting of class assignments in relation to assigned grades and consistent feedback on satisfactory progress.
ACCESSIBILITY AND ACCOMMODATIONS: Instructors partner with the office of SASS (Student Accessibility and Support Services) to ensure that all course materials are accessible to all students in the class and that students with documented disabilities be granted reasonable accommodations. Instructors will receive a notification letter for each student in their class approved for accommodations, and these students should initiate a discussion with the instructor to determine, in consultation with SASS, how their needs can be met in the context of the course. To this end, timely and consistent communication between students, faculty, and SASS staff is essential. The course syllabus must also include an Accessibility Accommodations statement for students who may need accommodations, directing them to consult with SASS. Examples are available in the Anatomy of a Syllabus.
CANCELED CLASSES: If an emergency makes it necessary for an instructor to cancel a class, they must notify the class, the department administrative assistant, and the department chair. In cases of extended interruptions, instructors may teach remotely for no more than one week, and if circumstances require more than a week, they must provide an update to their department chair and inform the Provost’s Office directly in order to make alternative arrangements for classes to be made up or otherwise covered.
CLASS ATTENDANCE: Faculty members must articulate their attendance policy at the first meeting of the course and include the policy in the course syllabus. Faculty may find additional guidance for determining this policy based on the Class Attendance and Absences section of the Course Catalog and models from the Anatomy of a Syllabus.
Excessive absence (> 25% of class meetings, or an alternative threshold set by the instructor) is a valid reason for an instructor to expel a student from a course. If the instructor chooses another threshold absence level, they need to communicate it clearly in the syllabus. Any expulsion must be preceded by a progress report that includes an expulsion warning, and it is recommended that faculty follow up with the Dean of Academic Advising as needed.
Faculty members are expected to monitor the regular attendance of their students, and they should pay careful attention to first-year students and those on conditional enrollment. Patterns of regular or repeated absence should be the subject of a progress report, and at a minimum, progress reports must be submitted (as specified) for students on conditional enrollment and for any who risk failing at any point in the semester.
Instructors will receive notification of student absence due to the following reasons:
- Curricular or extracurricular activities sanctioned in advance by the College
- Infirmity as determined by the College Health and Counseling Center
- Compelling and unavoidable personal circumstances as determined by the Dean of Student Development or the Dean for Academic Advising
- Chronic illness or disability as determined by the Director of Student Accessibility and Support Services
The College also supports students who observe religious and faith holidays. At the start of each semester, students should notify faculty members of any scheduled class meetings, assignments, or examinations that may conflict with their religious observances.
In all of these cases, students may not be penalized for their absence, but they should be held responsible for all course assignments. The rescheduling of examinations or assigned work must be initiated by the student.
CLASS MEETING TIMES: All classes and laboratory sessions are scheduled both in hours and rooms by the Registrar. Instructors wishing to arrange special times or places must receive the approval of the Registrar. Once the schedules of class meetings have been announced, no change in official times may be made without the approval of the Registrar.
COURSE SYLLABI: To allow students to plan their work for each semester, instructors should provide at an early class meeting a syllabus articulating the learning goals of the course and its requirements, the assignments and the attendance policy of the instructor, and advance notice of due dates for all exams and major assignments.
The syllabus must explain how final grades will be determined, specifying the relative value of performance on all assignments, and class participation. The syllabus must also include policy statements on late work, academic honesty, and accommodations for students with disabilities.
Any significant change to the original syllabus (including new assignments, changes in due dates, or revisions to the grading criteria or the weighted percentage of assignments), must be communicated to the students in a timely manner and in writing.
A full description of syllabus requirements and recommendations can be found in the Anatomy of a Syllabus. Note that a Statement on AI is now required per recent CAS legislation, even as some updates to the available Kenyon webpage resources are still being updated.
FINAL EXAMS: Final examination periods are three hours in length, and whether the instructor is giving a timed exam, a take-home exam, or an alternative capstone assignment (e.g., a paper, project, or presentation), that work must be due in accordance with the scheduled exam time set by the Registrar’s Office. For timed exams, please keep in mind that students may need testing accommodations for extended time.
Cancellation and rescheduling of the scheduled exam time requires the permission of an Associate Provost, even if the entire class agrees to the change. Instructors may schedule an additional alternative final examination time for the entire class as long as both times are available to all students in the course. If the additional times are needed to accommodate assignments like presentations, oral exams, or critiques, care should be taken to avoid conflicts with the scheduled exams of students in the class. Alternative exam times may not be scheduled during grace periods or on reading days.
In some cases (e.g., more than two exams on one day, health problems, or a personal crisis) the Dean for Academic Advising and Support, in consultation with the instructor, may give the student permission to take an exam at an irregular time. In these cases, there is no obligation to offer an alternative time to the entire class.
The final exam schedule is set by the Registrar for December 15-19 in the fall and for May 4-8 in the spring. Any exceptions to the final exam schedule as provided by the Registrar must be approved by an Associate Provost. Please note that we do not consider student work or travel plans as appropriate reasons for rescheduling final exams. Full policies on final exams are in the Faculty Handbook.
GRACE PERIODS: The College provides grace periods during the year to ensure that:
- Students have adequate time, free from extraordinary pressures, to prepare for final examinations.
- Students have winter and spring breaks free from substantial assignments.
- The routine work in classes during the final week of the semester is not disrupted.
During grace periods, instructors may not offer final examinations, and they should not require assignments beyond what is necessary for normal daily participation in class. Instructors may only schedule more ambitious assignments during grace periods if there is a pedagogical rationale for scheduling the assignment at that time, and they must inform the class of these assignments in the syllabus at the beginning of the semester.
The grace periods for the current academic year are December 8-14, January 12-13, March 16-17, and April 27-May 3. Students and faculty with questions concerning Grace Periods should contact an Associate Provost.
INCOMPLETES: Instructors may not accept for credit any work submitted after the end of the semester unless the student has been granted permission by the Dean for Academic Advising and Support for an incomplete. The end of the fall semester is December 19 at 4:30 p.m. and the end of the spring semester is May 8 at 4:30 p.m.
OFFICE HOURS: Full-time instructors are expected to maintain open office hours five hours per week, typically spread out across the week. Part-time faculty may pro-rate their hours based on this standard. Office hours should be posted on your door and entered on the web through the Personal Access pages, accessible via the Registrar’s webpage. Occasionally, office hours may be conducted online, but normally they are held in-person, either by appointment or drop-in meetings.
PLAGIARISM, INAPPROPRIATE COLLABORATION AND ACADEMIC INFRACTIONS: In the first week of classes and throughout the semester, articulating clear course-specific (and even assignment-specific) expectations regarding Academic Integrity is the best way to avoid the academic infractions process. To this end, faculty should:
- Include an explicit statement on Academic Integrity in their syllabus (required).
- Talk about why Academic Integrity matters in terms of ownership of one’s learning and the contract of trust between faculty and students.
- Discuss specific policies with the class, be responsive to students seeking clarity, provide model examples when possible.
- State/repeat expectations when making an assignment or starting an exam.
- Follow the appropriate AIB procedure if you suspect violations.
Do not assume that your students already understand “academic integrity.” This is significant because rules for things like appropriate collaboration may be different from assignment to assignment and course to course.
A violation of academic honesty is a collegiate issue and may not be handled independently by an individual instructor. An instructor who suspects a student of academic dishonesty is required to present the evidence to their department chair. Key resources include the AIB Flow Chart, as well as the forms and links on the Provost’s page.
Full policies can be found in the Course Catalog and procedures for faculty who suspect a violation is in the Faculty Handbook. Sample syllabus statements can be found in the Anatomy of a Syllabus.
PROGRESS REPORTS: Progress reports are a means to engage support for students who are experiencing challenges in their classes as well to recognize improvement or outstanding work.
Instructors are required to submit progress reports throughout each semester for students with excessive absences, delinquent/unsatisfactory work, and/or academic deficiencies (performance at C- or below). Progress reports are also submitted after the first four weeks for students on Conditional Enrollment to provide regular feedback on academic progress, even when academic performance is not deficient. Improvement and exceptional work by any student can also be reported.
Progress reports are sent to the student's advisor, the academic advising office, the registrar's office and additional sources of support on campus. The advisor and/or dean for academic advising use these reports to counsel the student on appropriate next steps. Progress reports for students on Conditional Enrollment are reviewed by the Committee on Academic Standards and considered in its deliberations at the end of each semester. They are crucial for ensuring student success and retention, as well as for documenting concerns well in advance of more serious consequences for academic standing.
READING PERIODS: The College provides reading periods at the end of each semester to provide time for preparation for final examinations or work on alternative final assignments. Instructors may not hold required meetings of classes, give tests, assign work, or schedule alternative final examination times during these periods. An exception is made in the case of honors examinations, which may be scheduled during reading periods. Reading Days for the current academic year are December 13-14, Saturday-Sunday, and December 15 day (exam evening) for the fall semester and May 2-3, Saturday-Sunday, and May 4 day (exam evening) for the spring semester.