Faculty & Staff Policies - Music & Theatre

Expectations of Music & Theatre Faculty

Music and theatre are collaborative and performance driven subjects, demanding a high level of involvement with students and other faculty.

All faculty (full time and adjuncts) should

post current course syllabi by the first day of classes

ensure textbook materials are up to date with each semester's department request
be accessible and responsive to students. Due to the time-intensive and immersive nature of music and theatre coursework with faculty and students, office hours may include time in applied lessons, practicum, and rehearsals. All faculty should make every effort to respond to student correspondence within 48 hours. Full time faculty must post office hours in course syllabi and on office schedule
keep grades current in Blackboard. It is recommended that ensemble students are provided with at least one grade before mid-term if weekly grades are not posted
keep attendance records updated in the Student Engagement Portal for all MUSI and DRAM sections; attendance in this portal is recommended for MUEN and MUAP sections
submit Census Rosters and final grades by course deadlines
be punctual for private lessons, classes, and meetings
complete mandatory HR training through Tovuti by required deadlines
make efforts to be available for and attend annual Music & Theatre Department Bootcamp and department meetings (required for full time) scheduled within the academic year
read and appropriately respond to email from department admin
be proactive in scheduling facilities and responsive to scheduling updates
assist with building/equipment security (reset equipment, lock doors) and energy savings (shut down Concert Hall lightboard, turn off lights)

Departmental Communication

Communication between departmental faculty and staff should be generally in-person and via email. Texting may be appropriate in time-sensitive situations but should be kept to a minimum. School communication between faculty and staff through social platforms is not considered professional correspondence and any timeline response should not be expected.

Employees should not give out personal contact information for students or other employees. AC email and phone (if available) can be distributed.

Juries

Full time faculty are required to serve on the jury panel each semester for their program. Applied lesson faculty should make every effort to attend music and theatre juries for their student(s).

In addition to departmental events, all full-time faculty are required to participate in commencement, general assembly, ACES, and all-faculty meetings (see Academic Affairs Manual).

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.