Information about Your Classes, Syllabus & Teaching Resources

Once you’ve completed your syllabus, you must email a copy to your faculty area coordinator, or directly to the Chair if you don’t work with a coordinator.  There’ll be a reminder from the department; it’s important that we have on file a copy of all course syllabi every semester. 

You must have each of your classes complete student evaluations every semester, and do take time to review them once you’ve submitted grades.

• Office & Printing:  See the Assistant to the Chair in Dekalb 322 for a key to your office.  Offices are both shared and secure: please keep workspaces clean, and there should be bookshelf & file storage available for you.  Store any food in Tupperware or similar containers. Printing is available in each office; print cartridges and paper are available in the department office.  Get in touch with the technology Help Desk directly if you have a technical issue: (718) 636-3765, techsupport@pratt.edu

• Photocopiers & Mailboxes:  Photocopiers with scanners are available on the 2nd floor of Dekalb Hall.  Use the last four digits of your SSN.  If a photocopier isn’t working, try the student worker at the desk first, then ask Sincere Brooks, Assistant to the Dean, down the hall.  You’ll also find your faculty mailbox on the 2nd floor, as well as a waterfountain & fridge.

• Copy Center:  The Copy Center is located on the ground floor of the ISC building, and can prepare course readers for your class; your copy is free.  It’s open M-F 9-5. 

• Online Bookstore:  Pratt uses the eCampus online bookstore.  They often need book orders a month or so before the semester starts.  You can order your textbooks through eCampus here: https://pratt.ecampus.com/, or have your students buy at your or their preferred local or online store.  

• Associate Professor Holly Wilson is our department’s library liaison:  hwilson5@pratt.edu

• Being, of course, excellent at organizing information, our Library colleagues prepared a “New Faculty Library Guide,” here: http://libguides.pratt.edu/faculty.  For teaching, take particular note of the “Course Reserves” tab and the “Library Instruction” tab.  Librarians will work with you to customize instruction sessions to your courses’ needs, a terrific resource.

• For your own research as well as teaching, the Pratt Library offers a fairly robust set of online databases; Kanopy streaming video, ArtSTOR, and the OED might be of particular interest for teaching.  We belong to several consortia including ConnectNY, Academic Libraries of Brooklyn, and METRO. ConnectNY is especially easy to use, extensive, and swift. Finally, you can “Suggest a Purchase” through the library, as the librarians are always working to build our collections and welcome faculty and student requests.

• The faculty coordinator for your area, as well as colleagues within the same program, can be a great resource for informal conversations, swapping tips, exercises and assignment ideas, and for troubleshooting.  Often, your office-mates work in the same program as you.

• Keep an eye out for In the Circle lunches. In the Circle is an initiative designed to support part-time faculty at Pratt, give them an informal chance to meet their colleagues, feel a greater sense of community, and chat about teaching. (How much homework should we give our students? How should we deal with grading students with English as a second language? What tips can we share about how to keep students engaged—and awake!—in our classrooms?) Full-time faculty are also welcome. Lunch provided. Email Adjunct Assistant Professor Gabriel Cohen for more information at gcohen2@pratt.edu .

• Pratt’s Center for Teaching and Learning is on the 2nd floor of the Library.  The CTL hosts an annual Fall Forum, organizes workshops throughout the year, supports faculty learning communities, and offers great resources in-person and online for faculty—including support for new faculty.  https://commons.pratt.edu/ctl/

• If the swipecard access to your classroom isn’t working, call Security to let you in to your classroom.  They’ll be there shortly. 

Security: (718) 636-3540

• If the Technology set up in your classroom isn’t working, please call or email the Help Desk.  If you call, they may be able to send someone by immediately. Otherwise, keep in mind that they won’t know there’s a problem until you report it, and it’s probably best not to assume the faculty using the room before you have already done so.      

Help Desk: (718) 636-3765   Email: techsupport@pratt.edu

Refer to the second part of the Academic Integrity Code for Adjudication Procedures.  All instances of plagiarism should be reported through “Starfish” (more about that in the second part of this document).  The Adjudication Procedures underscore that the process is “educational in nature” while “protecting the rights of individuals.” A first infraction in a student’s academic career does not go on their transcript, and faculty should respond to an infraction as they see fit in their classroom.  At the same time, reporting the infraction will insure that a member of the Academic Integrity Standing Committee will follow up on first infractions with educational support and resources. For support on handling instances of plagiarism in the classroom, speak with the Assistant Chair. For more context on the policy and procedures, speak with the department’s current member of the Academic Integrity Standing Committee, Associate Prof. Kathryn Cullen-DuPont.  https://www.pratt.edu/uploads/academic_integrity_standards_spring_2017.pdf

You have the discretion to grant a student an “Incomplete,”generally when a student has not completed their work because of illness or other circumstances beyond their control.    If you decide to do this, there are TWO steps: first, complete this form in conversation with the student, which will support you in setting deadlines and making clear what work you will need from the student.  https://www.pratt.edu/uploads/1541-incomplete_form.pdf

And second, submit a “Change of Grade” form once the student has completed the work (more on that below).  If you’re unsure about when and whether to grant an incomplete, please contact the Assistant Chair.

Once you’ve submitted final grades via “Academic Tools,” the only way to change that grade is by completing a “Change of Grade” form.  Please get in touch with the Assistant to the Chair to get a form or click here to download; carefully complete it, making sure to include the student’s ID number & email address (in lieu of mailing address).  Once completed and signed, return it to the Assistant to the Chair. 

Here’s the policy/process for when a student has a grade dispute, from the Undergraduate Bulletin:

All grades are final as assigned by the Instructor.  If a student feels that a grade received is an error, or that she or he was graded unfairly, it is the student’s responsibility to make prompt inquiry of the instructor after the grade has been issued.  Should this procedure not prove to be an adequate resolution, the student should contact the chair of the department in which the grade was taken to arrange a meeting and appeal the grade. If this appeal is unsuccessful, a further and final appeal can be made to the dean of the school in which the course was taken.  It is important to note that the faculty member who issued the grade holds the authority to change the grade except in cases of appealed grades. If a grade is to be changed, the student must be sure that the change is submitted within the following semester. Petitions of change of any grade will be accepted only up to the last day of the semester following the one in which the grade was given.  Other than resolution of an initially assigned incomplete grade or of a final grade reported in error, no letter grade may be changed following graduation. 

Though infrequent, students might approach you about taking a course of Independent Study.  If you want to take this on, you should be aware that there are requirements a student must meet to be eligible for Independent Study, and a process and deadline for getting approval.  For those reasons, you’re encouraged to talk to the Chair about it; you can read more about Independent Study below. The pay rate for independent study is currently $200 for each credit worth of study, for each student.  E.g. for an Independent Study equivalent to 3 credits of course work for one student, the compensation is $600. For two students, $1,200. https://www.pratt.edu/uploads/independent_study_policiesprocedures_and_form_%28final%29_%282016-09-01%29.pdf