Faculty Manual - COST Home Page - Texas Southern University

Each department shall insure that office hours are kept and appropriate for meeting the needs of
students.
5.6 Academic Counseling
Each academic unit shall establish a system of student advisement. Faculty members are
expected to discuss academic problems with students, but such discussions should be predicated
on the teacher’s thorough knowledge of University regulations and policies, as set forth in
official catalogs and other authoritative sources. Faculty with strong dedication to students
should be chosen as academic advisors. Thus, student advising is one element in assessing
faculty professional performance.
5.7 Syllabus
A course prospectus or a course outline must be filed with the department chairperson and dean
prior to the beginning of the given course.
5.8 Teaching Practices
Texas Southern University uses a semester calendar, each semester lasting for up to eighteen
class weeks. Ordinarily, lecture classes meet for fifty minutes per credit hour per week. For
laboratories, there are two contact hours for each credit hour. A small number of courses vary
from this pattern. So, too, do summer courses.
a) Faculty Class-Meeting Responsibility
Faculty members are obligated to meet all classes and laboratories at the time they are
scheduled. Changes in class schedules may not be made without prior official approval.
When there are valid reasons for being absent from class (e.g. illness, emergencies, travel
on university business), the faculty member should notify the class in advance, whenever
possible. Substitute arrangements such as, substitute teachers, library assignments, or
other appropriate arrangements shall be used. If no advance arrangements are made,
students are authorized to leave after waiting for the period of time specified by the
teacher in the course syllabus. If none, the student may leave after 20 minutes of a 1hour
class. Faculty members are expected to help to insure student attendance.
Smoking in the classroom is prohibited by law, and drinking and eating are strongly
discouraged.
b) Class Attendance Regulation
All students are expected to attend their classes on a regular basis. Freshmen,
sophomores and students on academic probation are required to do so. Students who
miss their classes are responsible for all course requirements, i.e., all tests, examinations,
laboratory work, reports, lectures, and other assignments. The University faculty and
officers of the academic administration believe strongly that the presence of the student
in the classroom, laboratory, studio or other class location, enhances the learning process,
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