Faculty & Staff Policies - Music & Theatre

Academic References

Student Engagement Portal (Watermark)

Basic Navigation video: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TFGDF6HwIRZrHzROonB3myRXnYcz7i5D/view?usp=sharing

Taking attendance in Watermark video: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1b4J0bAVuS3w04ZmC5TMUwQ0S8Np6pgwO/view?usp=sharing

Watermark attendance is mandatory for all MUSI and DRAM sections.

MUAP and MUEN will not have mandatory attendance in Watermark, but it is considered good practice to keep these records updated. When continued absences in your applied lessons and/or ensembles occur, log into the class in Watermark, select the appropriate student(s) and create an alert for Poor Attendance and indicate the date missed. Please note: Even though CE sections show up in the faculty courses, students who are registered through CE will not appear in those rosters. Only students who are ALSO registered for something academically this semester will appear in your Watermark CE sections.

Course Section Semester & Weekly Checklist

Course Section Checklist (links found in AC Connect)

Each 8-week/16-week semester:

Update syllabi for each section currently being taught (full-time faculty must include office hours in each syllabus) at https://www.actx.edu/syllabus/ (log in next to search bar)

In the Blackboard shell for each section currently being taught:
- Ensure current syllabus is linked
- Copy content from previous section or set up from scratch:
- Gradebook - make sure it is set up as stated in your syllabus
  - Check the Overall Grade Column is set to percentages
  - Call your final grade schema "Letter"
  - Delete any unnecessary gradebook columns
- Include instructor contact information

Each class meeting or weekly:

In Blackboard:
- Update gradebook
- Enter zeroes in a timely manner for unsubmitted work. You may also set the gradebook to give automatic zeroes for unsubmitted work and change it later if you wish.

In Student Engagement Portal:
- Courses - Update attendance
- Alerts:
  1. Close mandatory tutoring alerts when appropriate. The best practice is to check alerts after you grade a set of assignments because some students may have done well enough to raise their current grade above the 75% mandatory tutoring threshold. Add a message in the box to let the Success Team know why the alert is no longer necessary.
  2. Don’t close automatic alerts for poor attendance until after the course has ended OR if the student returns to class.
- Tasks:
  1. Although Watermark generates mandatory tutoring alerts automatically when the Overall Grade column drops below 75%, faculty should go into the program to start a task because the alert alone does not notify the appropriate tutoring center. It merely tells students what their grade is, that they need to get mandatory tutoring, and that they should reach out to their instructor for more information.
  2. Write a description of what the student needs to work on in a task. The task should be assigned to the student. The amount of required tutoring is at your discretion and may vary from student to student. If the student is not submitting work, you may refer the student to the Ware Success Center for help with time management.
  3. When creating the task, use the box in Watermark to notify the appropriate tutoring center, designated tutor, or SI leader as well as the student. Skip this step if you plan to tutor the student yourself.
  4. The person who provides the tutoring should close the task when the obligation is fulfilled or when the due date for the tutoring has passed. However, if the task has not been closed and you know the tutoring was fulfilled, you may close the task yourself.
  5. The instructor decides the penalty for students who do not complete the mandatory tutoring.

All faculty (full-time and adjunct) are expected to keep up with important class dates and to submit census rosters and final grades by the posted deadlines.

Census Roster, withdrawal deadlines and other course dates, class rosters, etc. are found at AC Connect > Self Service (left hand column) > For Faculty by clicking on each class section title. Each semester, most ensembles will have one for academic freshman level, one for academic sophomore level, and one for CE enrollment. These rosters are tied directly to registration and will be the most current at all times.

ADJUNCTS: If you do not see a “Faculty Overview” page in the self-service dropdown, click on Employee Overview then once in self-service select Daily Work then Faculty Overview.

If you do not have access to the self-service faculty overview from the “Daily Work” icons, contact Terry Kleffman at terry.kleffman@actx.edu

Registrar Portal

sites.google.com/amarillocollege.com/registrarportal/

Current academic calendar and upcoming academic year annual dates, due dates for current census rosters and withdrawal dates by section, lock-unlock reports, and CE portal.

In Resources
* Census Roster submission guide
* Grade Submission guide
* Registrar contact emails

Noteworthy Items:

Census rosters are due by noon the day following the census date. Students have up through the entire census date to attend a course (unless specified sooner in the syllabus) or to actively participate in the class. Financial aid is release based on census markings so accuracy is important. Marking them present and then later indicating they did not every attend/participate could result in overpayment to the student and then they will owe money back.
Withdrawal forms can be found on the Registrar’s Web site or as a hyperlink within each course syllabi. The student and instructor should discuss if withdrawing is in the student’s best interest and then both parties must sign the form. Then, the student should submit the form to the Registrar’s Office by the end of the withdrawal deadline date. With some browsers, the form can be fully, digitally signed. Withdrawal forms can also be sent via email to registrar@actx.edu
Note: If the student is administratively dropped or requests to drop the course prior to the census date, a withdrawal form is not needed.
Grades* are typically due by noon the day following the course end date and all Summer courses that end on 8/8 are due by noon on 8/8.
Note: Grade due dates have been determined so that financial aid and registrar have adequate time to run end-of-term processes, to set standing, and to communicate next-term enrollment or financial aid eligibility to students. Programs also run pre-requisite checks prior to the fall term. Finally, several health science programs need their graduates to have access to completed transcripts (showing final grades and graduation status) as soon as the term ends so the student can submit them to the licensing boards.
Other forms such as Incomplete Forms, Change of Grade Forms, etc. can be located by logging into the Employee Forms link: https://www.actx.edu/forms/list.php . Incomplete and Change of Grade forms can be sent to the Registrar’s Office. As a reminder, Incomplete Forms must be signed by the student/instructor and submitted by the instructor to the Registrar’s Office prior to the grade submission deadline. Note: Please do not request the student deliver the incomplete, change of grade, etc. form to our office. We keep these forms in a password protected area to make sure that student’s don’t have access to copy the form and create their own incomplete, change of grade, etc. requests. The instructor can submit these forms via hand delivery, campus mail, via emailing after completing digital signature, or by scanning/sending hand-signed items to registrar@actx.edu

Census Rosters and Administrative Drop

Administrative Drop Policy: Students who do not attend class on or prior to the census date will be administratively dropped. Effective Fall, 2016

Census Roster Guidance for Faculty:

When: rosters are due on the census date or by noon the day following the census date.
- Students have up through the entire census date to attend a course or to actively participate in the class.
- Students marked “present” at the beginning of class should not be marked “non-attending” at the end of class when grades are turned in.
- Note: If you attempt to submit the roster too soon, your students may not appear on the census roster and/or the system may not allow you to submit.
Why: Accurate and timely Census Roster submission affects the accuracy of the state reporting sent to the state throughout the semester. The state reporting is required and how the state determines funding for AC.
What: What is considered “present/participating” you ask? Students have up through the entire census date to attend class. “Participation” varies depending on instruction method discussed below. Census requirements must be posted in the course syllabus. For Web courses, having a census assignment helps eliminate the some of the ambiguity.
- Lecture: (in person or tech supported) student must attend a class meeting by census.
- Hybrid/EOL: student must attend class or complete an assignment by census.
- Web: student must complete an assignment by census. *Note: A student’s intent to attend class or merely logging into Blackboard cannot be used to mark a student as present and a student marked present at the census date should not be reported with the grade submission as non-attending.
- Co-Req’d Dev-Ed: Students must attend both sections to be considered present at census. If they are NA in 1, they must be marked NA in both.

Submitting Census Rosters

1. Login to AC Connect>Self-Service for Employees>Employee Overview> Home (icon) Click on the “Faculty” option.

2. Click on the section that you want to certify. The sections with dates under the “Census Dates” column have not been certified. The sections where the “Census Dates” column is blank have already been certified.

3. From the next window, select the “Census” tab above the list of students.

4. If you have students that did not attend class by census date, mark the “Never Attended” check box beside the student’s information.

No action is need for students who have been attending.

See Census Roster Guidelines for submission of census roster.

If all students have attended, then just click the Certify button.

Note: The “Certify” button will remain gray until the actual census date so you will not be able to submit your roster early.

5. Click the “Certify” button and you will get the popup to the right.

Click Submit. A popup will display stating “Certifying”.

Grades of Incomplete

Grade of Incomplete: Review the Incomplete Contract for information on when assigning a grade of "I" is appropriate. Students who do not complete the Incomplete Contract terms automatically receive an "F," so consider if a change of grade may be more appropriate. This should all be determined before the last day of class. See department chair for assistance.

Instructors should submit Incomplete Contract, and Change of Grade forms personally via hand delivery, campus mail, via emailing after completing digital signature, or by scanning/sending hand-signed forms directly to tdoneal@actx.edu - these forms are kept in a password protected area to ensure students do not have access to copy and create their own requests..

Submitting Final Grades

All faculty (full time and adjuncts) must have current syllabi posted by the first day of classes.

Syllabi and Textbook Information on Syllabi

https://www.actx.edu/syllabus/ (or linked in AC Connect)

All online syllabi include auto-populated policies that state AC's automatic Administrative Drop Policy: Students who do not attend class on or prior to the census date will be administratively dropped. Effective Fall, 2016

There are several other auto-populated areas of the syllabus that offer links to college and departmental information. Please look these over so you can refer students to them. Discuss any questions regarding syllabus content or policies with the department chair or administrative assistant.

Check to make sure that textbook information on all course syllabi directs students to purchase textbooks or ebooks from the AC Bookstore. The AC Bookstore is negatively impacted when students are directed away from purchasing textbooks from them (i.e. directing students to buy a book cheaper on Amazon). The AC Bookstore profits provide scholarships for AC faculty and staff, and we must support them.

Ensure the textbook listed with the AC Bookstore is the textbook listed on your syllabi. It is a struggle for both the students and the AC Bookstore when the textbook information is incorrect. The AC bookstore loses money when mistakes are made and textbooks have to be shipped back.

Human Resources

www.actx.edu/hr

Faculty Handbook

Employee Handbook

Training Required for all AC Employees is done through Tovuti in AC Connect.

Faculty Responsibilities for Students with a Disability

https://www.actx.edu/disability/faculty-responsibilities

IDS Data for Faculty & Course Evaluation:

iresearch.actx.edu:3838/

Accessing Transcript for Performance Evaluation

Need your transcript? Here you can find instructions with visuals on how to access your Faculty transcript within the AC Connect Portal.

If you need further assistance, contact Victor Favela.

Instructions for forwarding your @amarillocollege.com email:

Follow this video tutorial or the following instructions:

Click on the gear icon (settings) in the top right corner. Select "Show all settings":

Click on "Forwarding and POP/MAP". Select "Forward a copy of incoming mail to" and insert your preferred email address (not mine or I will hunt you down while you sleep):

Click on the Save Changes button at the bottom of the window.

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