3 Section 3: AI Teaching Information

Section 3

AI Teaching Information

Important Course Procedures for All Music Instructors

Course Procedures

Syllabus
It is important that every faculty member and instructor put in writing for students what is expected in the course for the semester. Students have particularly requested these documents from all faculty; these guidelines will protect both you and your students and will help to avoid later disputes over grades and policies.

Accommodating Religious Holidays
Note the dates for 2024 at https://diversity.iu.edu/cultural-involvement/holiday-religious-observances/index.html. Also check the hotlinks for the Religious Observances Calendar 2024-2027 and the student accommodation request form.

Academic Misconduct

It is helpful to include information in your syllabus about the definition of academic misconduct and the procedures to be followed in case a problem occurs. See https://intranet.music.indiana.edu/faculty/faculty-resources/faculty-responsibilities/teaching/academic-misconduct.shtml. Reporting forms for academic misconduct are available at https://studentaffairs.indiana.edu/student-conduct/index.html. Before filing a form, you must meet with the student. Note that grade penalties, including an F in the course, may be assigned before the automatic W deadline.

Disabilities

Students requesting accommodations for various types of disabilities should be referred to the Office of Disability Services for Students (Herman B Wells Library W302, 1320 E. Tenth Street, 855-7578, https://studentaffairs.indiana.edu/disability-services-students/index.shtml. Faculty members should not make adjustments in course requirements until receiving a written evaluation of the student from this office and should not attempt to evaluate the student themselves.

Privacy of Student Records

See the detailed FERPA information for faculty (https://registrar.indiana.edu/policies/student-privacy-ferpa.shtml).

Other important web sites

Sites for the Vice Provost for Faculty and Academic Affairs (VPFAA), https://vpfaa.indiana.edu/, and the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education (OVPUE), https://ovpue.indiana.edu/, contain a great deal of important information and valuable links. The most recent Bulletin for the Jacobs School of Music is online at https://bulletins.iu.edu/iub/music/2023-2024/.

Please contact Music Department Chair Peter Miksza (pmiksza@indiana.edu), Associate Dean for Instruction Ryan Kelly (kellyrs@iu.edu), Director of Undergraduate Studies Kyle Adams (musug@indiana.edu), or Director of Graduate Studies David Cartledge (musicdgs@indiana.edu) if you have questions about academic matters.

Approved Curricular and Extracurricular Activities

From the Vice-Provost for Student Affairs and Dean of Students:

The BFC Student Affairs Committee and the Athletics Committee developed this policy in 2015 and we continue to support this document for our students.

“University-sanctioned curricular and extracurricular activities play an important role in the broad education of our students. These include, but are not restricted to, such activities as travel to and performance in concerts, artistic presentation, athletics events, speech team competition, and participation in workshops and conferences. Students should not be penalized for these activities, but should be permitted to complete their normal academic work, including the taking of missed examinations at another time or some alternative method of grade evaluation by course instructors. At the same time, ultimate responsibility for the integrity of the instruction, evaluation of student assignments, and determination of course grade rest with the faculty.

“At the beginning of each academic year, the Vice Provost for Student Affairs and Dean of Students will recommend to the faculty that they provide reasonable opportunity for students’ participation in university-sanctioned curricular and extracurricular activities and allow students who miss class time to submit missed assignments and take missed examinations at another time (or equivalent arrangements) without penalty. Responsibility will rest with the student to inform the instructor (in writing or e-mail) in advance of the missed class or classes so that these arrangements can be made. This should be at the beginning of the semester or at least two weeks in advance of the absence. Furthermore, the student will be responsible for any material missed and for providing all necessary documentation for the excuse. As with class absences of all types (including illness, religious holy days, deaths in the family, etc.), the instructor has the right to evaluate the authenticity of the excuse.”

Suggestions for Course Syllabi

Performance and individual studio classes

Information to include on a syllabus:

1. Teacher contact information
2. Policy for scheduling lessons
   a. What constitutes an excused absence
   b. How missed lessons by the student will affect the semester grade
   c. How makeup lessons are scheduled
   d. Faculty schedule of lessons for the semester (including any times away from campus)
   Students can expect 13-14 lessons during the semester, given at regular intervals (usually once a week).
3. Expectations of (the kinds and quantity of) repertoire to be learned during the semester, or compositions to be written
4. Any other factors which will affect grading

Additional performance considerations:

Department chairs should make sure all faculty and students know department guidelines and expectations, such as specific sorts of repertoire necessary for upper divisional or recital hearings, dates of hearings and juries and how scheduling works, etc.

Students should expect to continue study with one teacher throughout a semester; if a change is necessary for a subsequent semester, the student should receive adequate notification and help in obtaining a new teacher. If discussions between a faculty member and a student do not solve difficulties which may arise in lessons, the department chair, the directors of undergraduate/graduate studies, and the associate dean for instruction are all available for consultation.

Note: it is school policy that students may not be auditors, either formally or informally, in any class that involves class participation. Only students enrolled for credit in such a course (including courses such as conducting, ballet, instrumental techniques, and performance lessons) should be allowed to attend and participate in the activities of the class.

Academic courses

Information to include on a syllabus:

1. Teacher’s name and contact information (including office hours)
2. Description of the goals of the course and prerequisites
3. Class schedule: daily or weekly sequence of topics
4. Required texts, reserved readings/recordings, and other appropriate items
5. Grading criteria: include attendance policy, dates of tests/quizzes and due dates of assignments/papers, procedures/penalties for missed assignments and exams, and other appropriate items.
6. Information about items affecting students in the class: religious holiday conflicts, disabilities, academic misconduct, incompletes/withdrawals, etc. It is especially important to reference information, including penalties, about academic misconduct (plagiarism, cheating, violation of course rules, etc.) as well as a policy about circumstances under which artificial intelligence is both allowed and prohibited. See the Code of Student Rights, Responsibilities and Conduct and the IU Bloomington Procedures: https://studentaffairs.indiana.edu/student-conduct/index.html.

IU HEALTH CENTER EXCUSE POLICY

The Indiana University Health Center (IUHC) does not provide excuses for students who miss classes, assignments, or tests secondary to short-term illness, injury, or mental health problems. This is a revised policy as of August 2019 and is consistent with the policies of our peer institutions regarding medical/psychological excuse notes.

The IUHC is willing to work with students who have ongoing or serious illness, injury, or disability to provide care and documentation as necessary. If students need help navigating their health and attendance, they can contact the Student Advocates Office. The Office of Disability Services for Students also specializes in assisting students with various disabilities to achieve their academic goals.

Often students seek care at the IUHC “to get a note” for illnesses and problems that do not otherwise require professional attention, such as viral upper respiratory infections and self-limited gastrointestinal illnesses. This is problematic for many reasons:

• It creates a financial hardship on students who have to use insurance coverage or pay the out-of-pocket $45 for a medical office visit in order to obtain a note. It penalizes students who do not have insurance coverage that we accept or are unable to afford the fee in order to stay on par with their peers who are able to afford this charge.
• It creates an overload on our services and we cannot see all the patients who need to be seen for other reasons.
• It can increase the spread of communicable illnesses.
• Often these students come in to be seen after the illness or problem and the provider has no verifiable way to know if the student was actually ill or incapacitated, relying solely on the student’s history. As medical and mental health professionals, we take the student’s report as the truth.
• The student may fabricate illnesses or exaggerate symptoms in order to obtain a note and then that report becomes a permanent part of their medical or mental health record.
• Requiring a visit to the IUHC is a time burden on the student.
• Many students state that an instructor requires written or specific medical/psychological information to be excused from a class. Requiring a student to share this private information compromises patient confidentiality and creates a problem with how that information may be shared with others.
• Most importantly, it is counter to our mission of educating our students to be wise consumers of health care when we require them to seek out professional medical or psychological care when self-care is sufficient.

For these reasons, we feel the decision to excuse a student from class should be based on a conversation between the student and the instructor, without requiring a medical or mental health provider to become involved.