Curricular Policies and Procedures

In addition to the Kent campus, the School also offers courses at off-site locations, such as Florence, Paris, New York, and regional campuses.

Courses offered on any campus need to be reviewed and approved by the School Curriculum Committee and Faculty Advisory Committee (FAC) with recommendations going forth to the Director.  As such, it is essential that the same learning material and content is provided across campuses whenever the same course is offered in multiple locations.  The course syllabus, textbook, and grading criteria need to be consistent.  Faculty teaching such courses is expected to communicate regularly throughout the semester to facilitate consistency.

Course offerings and subsequent scheduling is complex and involves serving students with courses they both need and want as well as meeting faculty desires to teach both required and elective classes.  In all of this, the School recognizes the tenure track faculty as charged with the responsibility of planning the overall curriculum and maintaining the relationship amongst required and elective courses to the curriculum.  The tenure track faculty are responsible through the Kent campus School Curriculum Committee and FAC to advise the Director on class schedules as well as on which faculty is qualified for teaching courses, workshops, study tours, and other special topics courses.

Curricular changes may be proposed by any faculty member for consideration by the School Curriculum Committee.  The proposal must be submitted to the committee at least five (5) working days prior to a vote by the FAC.  If the recommendation from either committee is not unanimous, a minority report may be submitted with the recommendation.  If recommended by a majority, the proposal is forwarded to the Director whose recommendation is sent to the College Curriculum Committee for consideration.

For any course proposal that is submitted for a special topic, study tour, or any other subject without an existing basic data sheet, the proposal must be accompanied by a complete course syllabus, fees to students (if any), and a CV/resume of the faculty member who is proposing the course.

For planning purposes, the FAC requires that issues concerning any course offerings be communicated in a timely manner, preferably one year in advance.  Whenever possible, the next academic year’s course offerings need to be scheduled at one time so that faculty and students alike are able to plan ahead.

Final examinations in all courses must be offered at the time and date specified in the University’s schedule of final examinations.  Changes of the time and/or date of a final examination require prior approval of the Director and the Dean, but in any case, the exam must also be offered at the time scheduled and publicized by the University for those students who desire to take the exam at that time.

Faculty members must inform students of their progress throughout the semester.  Grades are a faculty member's responsibility and should be assigned fairly and objectively.  Submission of final grades must comply with University Policy, including but not limited to the deadline for the timely submission of grades.  Failure of faculty members to provide grades in compliance with University Policy will be taken into consideration in reappointment, promotion, tenure and merit decisions. 

Materials used in computing grades (i.e., exams, papers, reports, etc.) should be retained by the faculty member for five (5) years after final grades are submitted.  Students have a right to inspect the written work performed during a course and discuss the grade with the faculty member.

Students may audit without credit any course subject to space availability and departmental  approval. An audited course is not counted as part of the course load, but students must go through registration procedures and pay the normal registration fees. An instructor may impose whatever attendance requirements deemed necessary. The students must be informed of these requirements at the beginning of the semester. Failure to meet such attendance requirements subjects the students to being withdrawn from the course by the instructor. This will be accomplished by the instructor’s insertion of the mark W at the time of final grades.  Faculty members have the discretion to determine conditions and requirements for the audit.