COURSE STANDARDS - FALL 2021

In order to offer our students with the highest quality education in accordance with the principles and ethics of our profession and the legal and accreditation standards that govern our institution, and to support our students' academic success and well-being by providing a consistent and equitable learning environment, we, the faculty of Champlain College, agree that we will:

1. Hold all TRAD/UG courses in person, unless courses are approved for another mode of delivery (fully virtual or flex-hybrid) by the Provost, with ongoing and meaningful consultation with the Officers, the Academic Affairs Committee, and the Welfare Committee of the Faculty Senate. Courses may be approved by the Provost for flex-hybrid or remote delivery due to a public health, weather, or other emergency; because of the specific nature of the course; and/or on account of the particular medical or personal circumstances of a faculty member. Additionally, we may respond individually, as we deem appropriate, to circumstances in our own or students' lives by making a short-term transition to remote instruction in a course, or to remote attendance for some students in a course. We will notify our academic unit supervisor and operations manager if we will be teaching a class remotely.
2. Include Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion statements in all our syllabi.
3. Meet NECHE, ADA, and FERPA standards in our courses and assist the College in complying with federal financial aid laws by using College processes to verify enrollment.
4. Fill out the "Student Success Nudge" forms sent out by the Provost's Office to flag any students whose academic performance is a matter of concern so that they can be connected with support resources as early in the semester as possible. To maximize the benefit of our work in completing the form, we expect that academic unit administrators will make sure that the information collected via the form is communicated to students and advisors in a timely manner. 
5. Use Canvas to post course syllabi, assignment due dates, and assignment grades; and record all assignment submissions in Canvas, either by collecting the assignment itself, asking students to type in a link to the assignment, or noting that the assignment has been submitted via an alternate format or platform.
6. Not require students to submit graded assignments on or before the first day a course meets; however, we ask the College to communicate clearly to students our expectation that they will check their Champlain College email regularly during the week before classes begin in case instructors wish to provide general information about a course to students before the start of the semester.
7. Post all new graded assignments in Canvas at least 48 hours before work is due, except for pop quizzes on readings already assigned. (This commitment is for standard 15-week semesters only and does not apply to summer courses or other courses offered in a more compressed time frame.) If we plan to administer pop quizzes at any time during a course, we will state our intention to do so in the course syllabus. 
8. State clearly, either in the syllabus or during the course of the semester, the grading time for assignments, and communicate promptly any alterations to the stated grading time for assignments. 
9. Use Google/G-Suite products via our own and our students' Champlain institutional accounts.
10. Respect students' personal space and circumstances by not requiring the use of a camera or an identifying photo on virtual meeting platforms.
11. Not require our students to use a communication platform for which they must pay a license fee or subscription, except for textbook publishers' platforms, streaming platforms with course-specific content, or other communication channels that are inherent to the actual course content; and clearly communicate in the course syllabus any requirement to pay additional fees or subscriptions.
12. Seek expert institutional guidance to ensure that students' privacy is protected when using any communication platforms, paid or unpaid, other than Meet, Zoom, or InSpace.

In addition to agreeing collectively to follow the above course standards, the faculty acknowledge that Canvas course shells are not private and may be inspected by academic unit administrators and others to ensure that appropriate quality standards are being met, and/or to support students by reviewing grades and academic work submitted to Canvas. However,in accordance with AAUP principles and established College policy, the faculty expect that the contents of Canvas course shells will be covered by academic freedom and intellectual property protections.