KEY UNIVERSITY POLICIES
University policies can be found in the 2011-2013 Undergraduate Catalog (pp. 30-38),
2011-2013 Graduate Catalog (pp. 7-11), and the Human Resources web site at:
http://www.clarion.edu/43651

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Clarion University of Pennsylvania
COURSE SYLLABI
It is a long standing policy of Clarion University that within the first week, each student in each section
of each course be provided with a written statement explaining in specific terms the practices and
policies to be followed in relation to course requirements and evaluation. I suggest that each handout
should carry at least the following information:
1. The instructor's name, e-mail address, office phone, and scheduled office hours
2. The catalog number, title, and section number of the course
3. The time and place of class meetings
4. The titles of all texts and electronic resources/communication media to be used in the course
5. Special materials (graph paper, drawing instruments, calculators, etc.) the student is expected to have
6. A course summary which includes a content outline and indicates student learning outcomes, the
extent of the subject matter to be covered, and the goals and objectives to be assessed during the
course.
7. Course requirements
a) If possible, a listing of specific assignments
b) Specific information about special requirements such as term papers and the dates they are to
be submitted
c) Special reading requirements
d) Tests, the approximate dates they may be administered and, if possible, the types of tests to
be expected
8. Course grades
a) The contribution of each quiz, midterm, and final examination to the grade
b) The contribution of term papers, outside readings, etc., to the grade
c) The contribution of hand-in work
d) The contribution of class participation and the kind of participation expected
9. Class attendance
University policy on class attendance is stated in the catalog, and every member of the faculty is
expected to abide by the spirit of that statement. The policy states:
Clarion University of Pennsylvania regards student participation in class as essential to the
learning process. Therefore, regular classroom attendance is required of all students. Faculty
members determine the absence policies for their own classes, except that participation in
university sanctioned activities or active military service will be excused and the student will be
given reasonable assistance when class work is missed.

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It is understood that absence does not excuse the student from course work and the responsibility
to complete assignments on time. If a student knows that a class must be missed, the instructor
should be notified in advance and arrangements made to complete the work. The instructor is not
required to give make-up examinations or accept class work missed as a result of an unexcused
absence.
In the event of an unexpected prolonged absence such as serious illness or military deployment,
the Office of the Registrar should be notified as soon as possible so instructors can be informed
of the reason for student’s absence. This information is provided to the faculty as a courtesy and
does not, in and of itself, constitute a valid excuse of the student’s absence from class. A valid
excuse will be granted to a student for military deployment following receipt of a copy of the
military orders from the student’s military command (Undergraduate Catalog, 2011-2013,
pp. 33).

10. Special Services
Course syllabi should acknowledge that some students might need certain accommodations in the
course. These students very often have learning disabilities and/or hearing or visual impairments. Faculty
can demonstrate their sensitivity and concern by making the following statement on course syllabi:
“If you are a student with a documented disability and require
accommodations, you must be registered with the University's Office of
Disability Support Services (DSS). Students must provide current
documentation to DSS which identifies their disability and need for
accommodation(s). Students must meet with DSS to discuss requested
accommodations. Students must provide instructors with appropriate notification
from DSS of the approved accommodation as early in the semester as
possible. The Office of Disability Support Services can be reached by
calling (814) 393-2095 and is located in 102 Ralston Hall.”

11. Academic Honesty
Course syllabi should acknowledge the use of Turn It In, a commercial anti-plagiarism service. Faculty
members can include the following language on their course syllabi:
“Clarion University has a license agreement with Turnitin.com, a service that helps prevent
plagiarism by comparing student papers with Turnitin's database and Internet sources.
Students who take this course agree that all required papers may be submitted to Turnitin.com.
While student privacy is protected, papers submitted to Turnitin do become source documents
in Turnitin's reference database solely for the purpose of detecting plagiarism of such papers.
Use of the Turnitin service is subject to the Terms and Conditions of Use posted on Turnitin’s
website. Clarion University is committed to preserving academic integrity as defined by the
Academic Honesty Policy available at www.clarion.edu/51642
Additionally, it is strongly suggested that you include language in your syllabi that defines your policy
on academic honesty. Suggested language can be as simple as “the university’s policies regarding
academic honesty are strictly followed in this class.”
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POLICY RELATED TO FINAL EXAMINATIONS
The Office of the Registrar prepares a final examination schedule that is essentially time-driven. That is,
with few exceptions which are approved by the Provost, the specific testing days and times of final
exams are determined by the meeting times of courses throughout the semester. Below is the text of the
final examinations letter that is sent each semester to all faculty.
Final examinations for the [semester] will be administered throughout the week of [week]. The specific
testing time and day of each exam will be determined by the class meeting time of the course section
throughout the spring semester. Each exam will be one hour and fifty minutes and will be given in the
same classroom used during the semester unless noted otherwise on the exam schedule.
All departures from the conventional examination procedure must be cleared with the college
dean via the appropriate department chair before the final examination schedule is prepared and
published.
Slight modification may be made for certain large enrollment courses. Faculty members who teach two
or more large enrollment sections of the same course may request, in writing, to consolidate multiple
sections to facilitate the administration of one final exam. Requests should be sent to Deb Fleeger,
Office of the Registrar, 122 Carrier.
Consideration will be given to all such requests received by [date]. Each faculty member will be notified
as to the status of his/her request. The Dean of Venango Campus must countersign any changes for
Venango Campus.
No final examinations are to be given during the last week of classes, nor are other tests to be given
which are administered in lieu of final exams.
Final examinations are considered to be part of the evaluation process and it is expected that final
examinations will be given in almost all courses as a part of the evaluation procedure.
It is recognized that certain courses (e.g., studio performance and physical activity courses) are not
adapted to conventional final examinations and that there are other evaluation techniques which are
entirely acceptable. In a few courses, terminal evaluation may not be appropriate at all. If an instructor
believes that an alternative to the final examination is appropriate or that no final examination
should be given, the instructor must clear the alternative with the college dean and department
chair before the final examination schedule is prepared and published.
Once the final examination schedule is published, no changes in or deviations from that schedule
are to be made without prior clearance. Approval for such changes will not be given unless there
are substantial reasons for doing so.
The Office of the Registrar is receptive to specific requests for final examination locations and times,
and will make every reasonable effort to meet these requests. However, it should be understood that
some examinations will necessarily be scheduled for the last period of the last day of final examination
week, as well as of all other available periods throughout the time set aside for finals.

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Faculty should also be aware that several large classrooms are no longer available to accommodate the
administration of multiple section final exams. Therefore it is possible that faculty requesting to
administer multiple section final exams will be assigned to different classrooms and will be responsible
for making arrangements for proctoring at each testing site.
It should be understood by all faculty that if they fail to appear at the time and place an examination is
scheduled, they will be regarded as taking unauthorized leave and be treated accordingly.

GRADE APPEALS AND MAINTENANCE OF STUDENT GRADE RECORDS
At times, students may have concerns about the grade they earned in your class. If at all possible, the
student should first work with the faculty member directly to address their concerns. If concerns cannot
be resolved directly with the faculty member, students may elect to file a complaint about a grade. At
that time, the department chair and/or the Dean of the College may become involved. After a decision by
the department and/or college, if the student still seeks redress, the student may bring their complaint to
the Associate Provost for a final determination. The Provost’s Office cannot and will not change the
grade unless there is compelling evidence to do so. In the majority of complaints, no grades are changed.
If a student files a complaint about a grade, the faculty member is obligated to provide a solid,
documented explanation of the grade earned. If evidence does not defend the original grade, then there is
an obligation to change it in congruence with the evidence available. To minimize these complaints, the
Academic Affairs office, in accord with the spirit and intention of the Faculty Senate, has established the
following policy and requests that all faculty adhere strictly to it:
1. Explain to students at the beginning of the semester the basis for evaluation of achievement
and then follow the procedure so presented.
2. Maintain a complete grade book record of grades upon which the course grade is finally
based.
3. During a class session return quizzes, tests, and other evaluative papers to provide an
opportunity to clarify grading and to allow students to raise questions. At the instructor’s
discretion, tests or papers may be recollected following class discussion, or students may
retain them permanently. If a standardized test, which requires close security, is administered,
grade results should be discussed with the class and the instructor should be prepared to talk
with students individually about their responses.
4. Retain all final examinations, and retain other tests and quizzes which students have not been
permitted to keep, for a full semester following the semester in which they were
administered.
5. Retain all record books for at least one year following the latest semester in which they carry
recorded grades.
6. Expect and welcome occasional grade complaints and handle them based on an explained
grading policy and documented records. The official grade appeal policy can be found in the
Student Rights, Regulations, and Procedures Handbook, which is available on line at
www.clarion.edu/51580.pdf

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One final note: It would be helpful if faculty would make record books available to the department office
when they leave the university for an extended period, such as for sabbatical leaves or other reasons.
This, however, is a suggestion and not part of the grading policy.

POSTING TEST GRADES
Faculty are not permitted to post grades using students’ name, social security number or Clarion ID.
Also, refrain from distributing student work in a manner which identifies a student's work to others (e.g.,
leaving graded papers in a box outside of an office door). Doing so is a violation of one's personal right
to privacy and also a violation of the Family Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA), also known as
the Buckley Amendment.
It is permissible for faculty to post grades provided no personally identifiable information is used to
associate grades with specific students. Students can be assigned a random number at the beginning of
the course to use throughout the semester. Grades can be posted using this number as long as the
numbers are kept confidential and posted in a random order. Grades cannot be posted in alphabetical
order and the random number should not include any portion of a student’s social security number or
Clarion ID.

SMOKING IN CLASSROOMS
There is a long-standing university regulation against smoking in classrooms. Please refrain from
smoking in classrooms and please do not permit students to smoke in classrooms.

POLICY ON ACADEMIC HONESTY
The University's policy on Academic Honesty can be found in the undergraduate and graduate catalogs.
It is reproduced below.
Academic Honesty Policy
Students at Clarion University shall maintain a high standard of honesty in scholastic work. As members
of the university community, students have a responsibility to be familiar with the conduct regulations
found in the university catalogs, Residence Hall Handbook, Student Rights, Regulations, and Procedures
Online handbook, and other university documents. Among the conduct regulations addressed are acts of
academic dishonesty, including plagiarism or cheating on assignments, examinations, or other academic
work; or without prior approval of the instructor, submitting work already done for another course.

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Students shall avoid all forms of academic dishonesty, including, but not limited to:
1. Plagiarism–the use of another’s words without attribution or without enclosing the words in
quotation marks. Plagiarism may also be defined as the act of taking the ideas or expression of ideas
of another person and representing them as one’s own-even if the original paper has been paraphrased
or otherwise modified. A close or extended paraphrase may also be considered plagiarism even if the
source is named. Downloading partial or entire text from one or more Internet paper mills and
cutting/pasting entire and partial text from one or more Internet Web sites constitute plagiarism.
2. Collusion–collaborating with another person in the preparation of notes, themes, reports, or other
written work offered for credit, unless specifically permitted by the instructor.
3. Cheating on an examination or quiz--giving or receiving information or using prepared material on
an examination or quiz.
4. Falsification of data–manufacturing, falsification of information, including providing false or
misleading information, or selective use of data to support a particular conclusion or to avoid
conducting actual research.
Complaints of academic dishonesty may be brought against a student by any member of the academic
community. Sanctions for academic dishonesty can range from a failing grade on a particular assignment
or examination to dismissal from the university, based on the seriousness of the action and whether it is
part of a pattern of academic dishonesty. Sanctions extending beyond a particular course, such as
suspension or dismissal from an academic program or from the university can only be imposed as a
result of complaints filed under the Disciplinary Procedures Code and addressed through a formal
hearing before the Conduct Board. Instructors imposing a lowered or failing grade on an assignment or
course as a result of a charge of academic dishonesty must inform the student in writing of the charge.
Students have the right to appeal instructor decisions related to academic honesty either (1) through the
Grade Appeal Process outlined above (see section on Student Rights, page 3) or (2) directly to the
university Conduct Board by contacting the Office of Judicial and Mediation Services. A student may
not appeal through both procedures. Should a student appeal through the second option, the board will
schedule a hearing at which the faculty member will explain the charge and resultant academic action;
the student shall then have an opportunity to address the allegation. The decision of the Conduct Board
shall be final. Rather than imposing a lowered or failing grade on an assignment or for a course, an
instructor may choose to report an allegation of academic dishonesty directly to the Office of Judicial &
Mediation Services. This process automatically results in a formal hearing before the university Conduct
Board. Should the board find the student in violation of the academic honesty policy, the student may
appeal the decision and/or penalty to the university president. The decision of the president shall be final.
Sanctions extending beyond a particular course, such as suspension or dismissal from an academic
program or from the university can only be imposed as the result of complaints filed under the
Disciplinary Procedures Code and after Formal Hearings under this code.
Further information on the Academic Honesty Policy is available on the university website at
http://www.clarion.edu/51642/

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