Please make sure that your syllabus includes all of the following information

• • Course description   For Faith and Critical Reason, see the official course description.  You can find other course descriptions here. Your syllabus must include the standard catalog description, but you can add language specific to your section, or contact the Associate Chairs if you have suggestions for modifying the official description.

  • Learning objectives   Our accreditation requires that all syllabi include learning objectives. If you are teaching Faith and Critical Reason, these are the standard learning objectives that all sections should include (though you can add your own specific to your section). For all other courses, you can write your own learning objectives. These guidelines can help you construct your own learning objectives.

  • Required books for purchase   Please be sure to include ISBNs on your syllabus for all required books, so your students can research their most cost-effective options for purchasing materials.

  • Grading scale    All syllabi should provide your students with a percentage breakdown of how their grade will be determined. Please review these guidelines and policies for grading scale information.

  • Attendance policy   See the Fordham University policies for attendance requirements. All decisions not covered here are up to the instructor's discretion. 

  • Equal access notice   All syllabi must include the following notice: 

    • Under the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Vocational Rehabilitation Act of 1973, all students, with or without disabilities, are entitled to equal access to the programs and activities of Fordham University. If you believe that you have a disabling condition that may interfere with your ability to participate in the activities, course work, or assessment of the object of this course, you may be entitled to accommodations. Please schedule an appointment to speak with someone at the Office of Disability Services at 718-817-0655 or 212-636-6282. By email: disabilityservices@fordham.edu.

  • Schedule of class meetings   All syllabi must include a week by week (or day by day) schedule of topics, readings, and assignments. You can view Fordham academic calendars here. 

Classes for the Fall 2024 semester begin Wednesday, August 28. Fordham's website has information for all Fordham academic calendars. 

• Books   Visit the Fordham University Bookstore site for information on how to place book orders through the Faculty Enlight system. 

• Electronic Resources   

  •  Search the full library catalog here.

  • This Fordham Library Guide to Open Educational Resources contains links to a number of databases where you can search for materials available under a Creative Commons license. The library recommends the following databses, all of which are also linked from the OER guide (with thanks to our colleague Cristina Traina and Fordham librarian Tierney Gleason for organizing and sharing these resources.)

    • MERLOT uses an advanced search interface that allows you to limit searches by Discipline, Material Type, college level (Audience), peer review status, language, date submitted, and more.

    • OASIS searches many of the same repositories as MERLOT, but with additional resources and a different search interface. An advantage with OASIS is that it has more of a focus on college-level resources, adds in open access monographs from various sources, and includes open primary source collections and modules.

    • Open Textbook Library contains open textbooks in a variety of disciplines, including Religion, History, and Philosophy.

  • You can also contact the Fordham Library Liasons for Theology with specific needs and for help navigating the full list of open access resources available: Peter Patten and David Vassar.

We recommend using Blackboard for your course materials, since students are accustomed to it and it is the only way to access several valuable online tools, such as Perusall and VoiceThread. You may also wish to supplement Blackboard with other online discussion forums, blogs, etc (for which better tools exist). You can easily link external resources from your Blackboard page.

You can access all of your current and previous Blackboard sites directly from this page. If you are teaching multiple sections of the same course, you can have your course sites merged so you can manage both sites together. To merge your course sites (and for any other issues with your Blackboard sites), email blackboard@fordham.edu with your course numbers and they will set this up for you.

To import the materials from a previous Blackboard site into your current course, go to the Blackboard site for the previous course. Under "Packages and Utilities" in the lefthand navigation menu, choose "Course Copy." Here you can designate the destination course and choose which materials to import. Full instructions for copying courses are here. 

Watch this video for an introduction to the Blackboard classroom by Steve D'Agustino. See this one-page guide to adding content to your site, or this full guide to setting up your course. The Associate Chairs are always here to help as well, so don't hesitate to reach out with questions or issues anytime.

Note that when you log in to Blackboard, the main interface has been upgraded to the new "Ultra" platform. You can opt in to the new Ultra interface for your courses, or you can continue to use the Learn interface.

To find your class rosters and other course information, click here.

It's always a good idea to contact your students before the first day of class to welcome them, let them know where to find the syllabus, and set their expectations for the first day. You'll find an envelope icon at the top right of each roster. Click that to send an email to the whole class.

For printable class rosters with larger photos, read these instructions, and then select "Class List Report" from the Faculty Services Dashboard.

You can find your room assignments here. 

Each semester the deans of Fordham College Rose Hill and Fordham College Lincoln Center provide course enrichment funds to instructors to cover honoraria and other expenses for guest lecturers, field trips, museum admissions, and other classroom expenses. 

The deadline for Fall 2024 enrichment funds is October 11. For FCRH courses, please use this form. For FCLC courses, please use this form.

Check back for information about tutoring for the Fall 2024 semester.

As instructors, we have a responsibility to educate our students about the standards and value of academic integrity, communicating clearly what constitutes plagiarism and cheating, and why it is not tolerated. Please refer to Fordham's Academic Integrity Guidelines and Policies for language to include in your syllabus and to discuss with your students. Many students will be learning about university standards for academic integrity for the first time in your course, and teaching students these standards is as vital as the work of teaching them how to formulate a thesis and write clearly. 

If you discover or suspect that a student has submitted work that is not entirely their own, this, too, is a crucial teachable moment. The goal is to make sure that the student learns that cheating and plagiarism are unacceptable, so that they are less likely to resort to these tactics in the future.  The best way to do this is to follow the university's procedure for academic integrity violations. 

• First, review the policies and download the Academic Integrity Violation Report, filling out the appropriate sections.

• Next, contact the student to set up a meeting to discuss the work in question. At the meeting, reiterate the definition of plagiarism and/or cheating, and present your reasons for suspecting their work of violating the standards. Importantly, the student has the option to either accept or contest the charges. Either way, they should complete their section of the form and sign it.

• Submit the report to the appropriate dean

  • • Fordham College Rose Hill: Rachel Annunziato (annunziato@fordham.edu) 

    • Fordham College Lincoln Center: Robert Moniot (moniot@fordham.edu)

    • Gabelli School of Business: Steven Najdzionek (najdzionek@fordham.edu) 

    • School of Professional & Continuing Studies: John Bach (jbach@fordham.edu)

• If the student contests the charge, the deans will send the case to a faculty review committee. If the student accepts the charge, or if the faculty committee upholds the contested charges, you will have discretion about the appropriate penalty if this is a first time offense. Most commonly, this is a zero on the plagiarized assignment.

• The official policy is the best way to ensure that students don't fall through the cracks, and it also gives students due process if they feel the charges are unwarranted. If you have questions or concerns at any point in the process, please don't hesitate to contact the associate chairs for support.

Academic Progress   If you have concerns about a student's academic progress in your course (particularly a student who stops attending class or fails to turn in assignments), please contact the student to set up a meeting to discuss your concerns. Even before the meeting, we would encourage you to reach out the relevant dean for the student's college and class, and cc Jeannine or Karina (depending on campus). If we can provide additional support to you or your student, please let us know. 

Mental or Emotional Distress   For students in immediate danger,  see this guide. For more resources for students in emotional distress, see these resources. (These guides were created by the Faculty Senate and Office of Student Life in Fall 2022). For non-emergency situations, please contact the relevant class dean and cc Jeannine or Karina.

Sexual Harassment or Assault.  If a student reports to you that they were a victim of a sexual harassments or assault, you must report it to Fordham's Title IX office. You can consult these resources from the Title IX office. You should let your student know that you are a mandatory reporter as soon as it's appropriate. If they wish to share with you, listen sympathetically, without judgment. We recommend calling Ms. Laura Paone, Fordham's Title IX investigator, to report the incident, at 718-817-2234.

Students with Disabilities   You may have students in your classes with special learning accommodations for Students with Disabilities. Please return any requests from the Office of Disability Services promptly. Please remember that we have a legal obligation to accommodate students with documented learning and other disabilities, and that those disabilities may be invisible to instructors (and do not need to be disclosed to instructors). If you have questions about, or need help meeting, these accommodations, please reach out to the associate chairs for support.

Midterm evaluations are requested only for students in academic difficulty. Please note that Fordham no longer requests midterm grades for first-year students. You will receive an email with a link to the portal for entering these evaluations. Consult these instructions for more information. 

In order to build and maintain a vibrant undergraduate program in Theology & Religious Studies, we rely primarily on students discovering their interest in Theology through their two core classes. In order to help interested students make the connection to our program, we need your help getting information about our majors and minor to your students. Please consider setting aside time in class to discuss the discipline of Theology, why it matters, and how the study of Theology can prepare students for a meaningful life after college. 

To help you do this, we have a website with program information, career and internship ideas,  and upcoming course listings, as well as an easy way to contact the Associate Chairs to get more information. Please share this website with your students by email and/or on Blackboard. 

If a student expresses an interest in learning more about our programs, you can put them in touch with us (Jeannine at Rose Hill or Karina at Lincoln Center) and we'll take it from there. Thank you!

Please check the Final Exam Schedule to find the final exam day and time for your course block. All final exams are scheduled for a two-hour block.

You can choose to give a final project or take home exam in place of an in-class exam. If you do, you can set the due date to coincide with your scheduled exam block, or anytime after that up until the last day of exams. Do not set a due date for a take-home exam earlier that your scheduled exam block, to ensure that students aren't overloaded at the beginning of their exam period. 

Please send a copy of the final exam you are giving, or final project assignment description, to Sue Perciasepe by the end of exam period.  For a complete list of policies regarding final exams, please consult the Faculty Handbook.

• Entering Final Grades   Follow these instructions for entering final grades.  

  • ABS   If a student is absent for an in-class final exam, you can assign a grade of ABS. Students who miss an exam have five days to present documentation to their class dean supporting the absence. If the petition for ABS is accepted, the student must work with you to arrange a mutually convenient time for a make-up exam. 

  • INC   The temporary course grade of INC (incomplete) is intended to allow a student an official College extension to complete an outstanding assignment other than the final exam. If the student and instructor wish to pursue an INC, please work out with the student an itemized list of the outstanding course assignments/expectations with due dates, and email the appropriate class dean to notify them. 

• Due Dates  Semester final grades are due within three calendar days of the final examination date in the fall semester and within two calendar days of the final examination in the spring semester. 

• Changing a Grade   To change a student's grade after it has been posted in banner, follow these instructions. Contact the associate chairs if you are unable to change a grade using this method.