CTL Instructor Handbook

Please complete your new-employee paperwork as designated by the dean’s office of your school. After this paperwork is processed, you will receive your UTD ID.

As soon as you receive your UTD ID, you can use it to obtain your separate UTD NetID at the NetID Self-Service Portal. NetID gives you access to your UTD computer account; it is a unique identifier (username) that also serves as your default UTD email address.

Forwarding UT Dallas emails to a personal, non-UTD email account is strongly discouraged. Doing so can expose sensitive information to security risks, including potential access by third-party email services that are not covered by a university contract or protected under UTD’s security policies. Faculty, staff and students should use UT Dallas email addresses so that UTD can protect communication through its servers. Better options exist to conduct UTD-related work, including:

• UTD’s Outlook Web Access.
• CometSpace (Box.com).
• VPN remote connection to the UT Dallas network.

For more information, visit the Atlas Service Portal.

You are required to change your password on a regular basis for UTD computer accounts. Unless done in a timely manner, access to your UTD computer account will be locked.

New employees should see the Office of Information Technology’s New to UTD page.

To request computer Tech Support, visit the Atlas Service Portal.

The UTD ID card — called the Comet Card — is a photo ID used for all identification purposes on campus, as your UTD library card, and as a key for electronic access in many buildings and labs on campus, as well as for discounts at some local businesses.

New employees must complete a Faculty/Staff Comet Card Request form and have it approved by their department. The Comet Card is issued int he Student Services Addition, SSA 12.324 (second floor).

Administrative assistant support is provided for all instructors. This includes:

• Requests for office keys and electronic access to labs and selected other rooms on campus.
• Requests for photocopying of exams (most require one-week advance notice, so please verify in advance).
• Office and classroom supplies.

Please contact your program head to identify the designated AA in your unit.

Availability of graduate TAs varies by school and by course. Instructors are responsible for adding TAs to their courses in Orion.

If you have been assigned a TA, you will be notified by your school or program head, and the TA will be asked to contact you to discuss their responsibilities. Please note: Each TA may have multiple assignments, and the claim of each instructor on a TA’s time is limited to the portion of the TA’s time assigned to that instructor. For example, a 50% TA means that the instructor can give the TA the equivalent of no more than 10 hours of work per week. Consult with your program head to identify the appropriate uses of a TA’s time in your school. Additional considerations for working effectively with TAs are indicated below.

Faculty and staff email on the Microsoft Exchange Server and Microsoft Teams

All new and rehire faculty are assigned electronic onboarding checklists in our digital platform: PeopleAdmin. System-generated emails from ted.peopleadmin.com offer guidance to log in and complete any necessary tasks. New faculty are encouraged to check out the Office of Human Resources’ New Faculty Information page. Any questions regarding HR onboarding should be directed to employmentservices@utdallas.edu.

UTD’s learning management system (LMS) is a version of Blackboard referred to as eLearning. An eLearning course shell is created automatically for every course offered each semester, which allows the integration of technology into online, hybrid and classroom-based courses.

You can edit your eLearning course shell to make announcements, post documents, host discussions and share grades (which should never be shared in unencrypted email – see Information Security and FERPA) with students.

• The eLearning Team, part of Education Technology Services, provides the University’s faculty, staff and students with resources to facilitate a successful online learning experience. The team’s focus is to assist with the integration of technology into online, hybrid and classroom-based courses. Services for faculty and staff include instructional design, training, and support, please see the eLearning support website for more information.
• Additional support is found on the eLearning for Instructors page. Scroll down to eLearning Procedures and select “Course Access Policy” to add user such as an undergraduate teaching intern (UGTI) to your course in eLearning.
• Please make sure to specify that your UGTI is not a TA, as these are separate roles with different levels of access to protected information.

Additional information about eLearning appears below.

Required: Faculty Compliance Training in eLearning

The Office of Institutional Compliance oversees the training of all new employees in understanding laws and policies appropriate to the employees’ positions such as FERPA and research ethics. For more information, visit the Education & Outreach page. Please be sure to log in to eLearning to complete Compliance Training within 30 days of hire. Call 972-883-2306 or email compliance@utdallas.edu if you run into any difficulties.

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is a federal law enacted in 1974 to protect the privacy of student education records. For more information, visit the Posting Confidential Student Information page.

As a course instructor, you must be aware of the regulations regarding information security and protection of confidential student information.

Reporting a FERPA Violation.

Under FERPA, students have five primary rights:

1. To inspect and review their education records.
2. To seek to amend those education records they believe to be inaccurate or misleading.
3. To have some control over the disclosure of information from those education records.
4. To file a complaint concerning alleged failures by an institution to comply with FERPA regulations within 180 days.
5. To be notified of the student’s privacy rights under FERPA.

For more information, see the FERPA policies and procedures pages for undergraduate students and graduate students.

UTD CourseBook provides detailed course information. CourseBook Help includes instructions for uploading required documents.

CourseBook is a publicly accessible source for course schedules, room locations and instruction modalities, syllabi, textbook information, textbook adoption, student ratings of the learning experience (formerly referred to as course evaluations), and instruction information.

Use your NetID and password to log in using the “my classes” link in the menu at the top of the page to download a photo roster or class roster, email class members, upload your syllabus and public CV, and view a map of your classroom location. You also can use CourseBook to view syllabi for classes similar to yours offered in previous semesters.

New faculty members should be sure to review the Syllabus Templates and Syllabus Policies available through CourseBook or on the Provost’s Syllabus Templates page.

1. Course Syllabus: Syllabus requirements and best practices are described in greater detail below.
2. Public Curriculum Vita (CV) or Public Resume: Course instructors must post public CVs (or resume, as appropriate) on the UTD website per the Texas Legislature (Texas HB 2504). Public CVs or resumes should be up-to-date for each year. The public document must meet the UTD Provost’s requirements; it may not include any personal information, including the instructor’s home address or home telephone number. For additional information, see the Curriculum Vitae (Public CV) Templates page.

Public CVs or Resumes should include:

• All institutions of higher education attended, with degrees earned.
• All previous teaching positions, including names of the institutions, the positions, beginning and ending dates, and a list of significant professional publications relevant to the academic positions held, including full citation data for each entry.

This link, under “Toolbox” in Galaxy, is where you will find information and a link to purchase your permit for the current year. There is also an online Parking Portal to manage your parking information. There is no free parking on campus. Visitors may obtain a temporary pass at the Visitor Center (VCB 1.101).

This is the place to update personal information and view paychecks and benefits. Go to Galaxy and select either Orion or Gemini then select the Self-Service option and follow online instructions, within “Personal Details,” to update your information.

Visit the how to use Galaxy and PeopleSoft Fluid UX page for more information.

The official UTD Academic Calendar provides information regarding semester start and stop dates, drop dates, reading days, final exam week, midterm and final grade due dates, and holidays.

UT Dallas textbook policy is Textbooks and Other Materials Prescribed for the Use of Students – UTDPP1005

Faculty must inform the UTD Bookstore of any textbooks that students will need for their courses by one of two ways:

1. Discovery: A textbook adoption tool you can access through eLearning. Once you are logged in to eLearning, simply go to Tools, Follett Discover and click the “Follett Discover” link. This information is quickly submitted to the bookstore adoption software.
2. Email: You can directly email p.godfrey@follett.com with the course information and ISBN/Author/Title/Edition as well as if there are any access codes required for the course along with these materials.

This should be done several months in advance and not later than 30 days before the term starts for all enrolled courses. Log in to the Office of the Registrar’s Intranet for Faculty and look for “Submission opens for Book/Course Material for all enrolled courses” for submission deadlines.

If the displayed textbook (which is provided by the UTD Bookstore) is incorrect in CourseBook, please report and submit the “CourseBook TextBook Issue” eform.

All instructors (i.e., faculty of any rank) are responsible for ordering any instructor or “desk” copies that they need (typically provided for free by the textbook publisher). Check with your course coordinator or associate dean for common textbooks.

Students purchase textbooks on campus or from bookstores located near campus. You may notify the off-campus bookstores of your textbook requirements.

The UTD Bookstore is located in the Visitor Center and University Bookstore building (VCB 1.110). Email utd@bkstr.com or call 972-883-2665.

UTD policy requires a syllabus for each undergraduate and graduate course and must be posted and available to students within 7 days of the first day of class, preferably at least 7 days before classes begin. Faculty should upload their course syllabi to CourseBook, even if they are also posted in eLearning. Additional templates and requirements can be accessed n the Provost’s website. Syllabus samples are available in CourseBook. Your program head can answer questions about expected learning outcomes of your course and its place in the school curriculum.

All syllabi for organized undergraduate and graduate courses must have (1) a brief description of each major course requirement, including each major assignment and examination (2) measurable student learning outcomes (3) a general description of the subject matter of each lecture or discussion and (4) list of any required or recommended readings. For more information, see the Syllabus Policy – UTDPP1111.

To teach a course that gives credit at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, you must complete a Concurrent Course Approval Form, which requires approval by your associate dean or school dean, the Provost’s Office, the Office of Undergraduate Education, and the Office of Graduate Education. The Concurrent Courses Approval Form also includes Concurrent Course Guidelines. The syllabi for these courses must indicate different learning outcomes and assignments that are appropriate for the level of credit awarded to students.

Please use one of the approved templates and follow the guidelines on these pages:

• Syllabus templates.
• Syllabus policies.
• Syllabus submission.

As stated above, you must upload your syllabus to the University CourseBook website, which requires NetID and password to log in. Log in to CourseBook, choose “my classes” and your course. Click on the “Syllabus” tab to upload syllabi to your classes.

Establish office hours and communicate them to students by the first week of classes. Provide office hours to the department administrative assistant for inclusion in departmental communications.

To reserve classroom equipment that is not permanently installed, please contact UTD Media Services before the semester begins at media@utdallas.edu or 972-883-4900. Prior arrangement ensures that staff are available on call if you need immediate assistance before or during class. Service personnel typically arrive within 10-15 minutes. Please be prepared to provide your building and classroom number, your name, and if leaving a message, the information about your request. Media services personnel are available prior to your first class to show you how to operate or log on to the equipment and verify that everything you need is working properly. Some classrooms require access codes to use the computer and related equipment. This access code may be obtained from Media Services.

If you’ve never used the A/V equipment in the classrooms, or you are teaching in an unfamiliar room, Media Services encourages you to schedule a training session before the semester begins to maximize your time to learn. If you’re using the microphone, please let Media Services know so they can change the batteries for your use.

Most classrooms no longer have VHS players, but VHS tapes may be transferred to a digital format by Media Services on request and may incur a charge (see Video Services web page). Contact media@utdallas.edu for additional information. Please allow ample time for processing.

Online Resources

As a reminder, there are numerous online resources available to support virtual teaching and instruction. Preferred platforms are those already in use at UT Dallas, including eLearning (along with Blackboard Collaborate) and Microsoft Teams conferencing. Other technologies that faculty members already use for their courses may continue to be used, but faculty should not try to acquire new technologies.

The eLearning support team offers training and support for faculty and staff, as well as tutorials and handouts.

To contact the eLearning support team, please email elearning@utdallas.edu (please do not share this with students).

Accessibility Requirements

Course materials should be accessible to all students, regardless of disability. A text equivalent for every non-text element should be included for all course materials. This includes images, graphics, video and audio.

Text-Based Course Materials

Text-based course materials — such as syllabi and readings — must be made available in an accessible format. Detailed instructions are available from Microsoft on how to make Word documents accessible and how those can be saved as accessible PDFs.

Documents should:

• Include alternative text with all visuals.
• Use meaningful hyperlink text rather than URLs.
• Ensure that color is not the only means of conveying information.
• Use sufficient contrast for text and background colors.
• Use a simple table structure and specify column header information.

PDFs from external sources can be checked for accessibility and made accessible. Adobe Acrobat allows users to create and verify PDF accessibility.

Live Virtual Classes

• Subtitles must be made available during live virtual lectures or class meetings.
• Microsoft Teams provides automatic real-time closed captioning, which can be turned on by participants (please note that captioning will not appear on iPhones or iPads). Teams meetings that are recorded may be uploaded to Microsoft Stream to create automatically generated captions. See instructions below.
• PowerPoint for Microsoft 365 can transcribe your words as you present and display them on-screen as captions in the same language you are speaking, or as subtitles translated to another language. Instructions for setting up PowerPoint captions and subtitles.
• Instructors who choose to use another platform are responsible for ensuring that captioning is available to all students.

Pre-Recorded Lectures

If lectures are prerecorded, a text alternative must be made available, either as open or closed captions, or as a separate transcript file. Videos published in Microsoft Stream will have automatically generated captions. Any on-screen graphics should be described audibly in the lecture or in the transcription to make that content available to students with low or no vision.

When uploading pre-recorded videos to Stream, follow these steps to trigger Stream’s production of closed captions:

1. Open the video playback page in your browser.
2. In the Details pane, select the ellipsis (“More”) button, and then select Edit.
3. Under Details, specify the Video Language. Currently, auto-generated caption files can be created for English- and Spanish-language videos in MP4 and WMV formats.Next, in the Options window on the right, select Autogenerate a caption file.
4. Select Apply at the top of the page to save these settings.

Note: Automatic captions generally take 1-2 times the video’s duration to finish processing (that is, expect to wait roughly two hours for the creation of captions for a one-hour video). Instructors may need to edit the captions for accuracy.

Blackboard Ally

Blackboard Ally provides guidance on how to correct accessibility issues with your digital course content, which means your learning materials will work better on mobile phones and tablets as well as with assistive technologies. Ally is now available in eLearning courses.

Resources for Course Accessibility

• OIT: Accessibility Resources for Microsoft Office 365.
• eLearning: Training and Support for Faculty and Staff, including a new course on lecture delivery and recording.
• CTL: Webinar, Best Practices in Online Teaching.
• ETS: Blackboard Ally.

Registrar’s Intranet

Information that faculty need about grading, scheduling and other essential responsibilities related to teaching are made available and updated regularly in the Registrar’s Intranet. This source of information can be accessed only by logging in with your NetID and password. Many faculty questions are answered in this site and all faculty members are expected to know and understand this information.

Although not required, a good way to let students know you care about their learning and want them to come prepared for the first class is to send a brief “welcome” email introducing yourself and the course before class begins. This can be done via CourseBook or eLearning. A few items that you may include in this email are:

• Any pre-class assignment.
• Textbook information (many students like to buy their textbooks online).
• Course syllabus.
• Start dates of labs, if applicable (which typically are not the first week of class).
• Any room changes that may have occurred.
• Any pre-class assignment.

It is not unusual for students to contact the course instructor prior to the beginning of the semester with questions about course prerequisites, permission to enroll in the class if it is full, and so forth. It is important to note that instructors do not have the authority to override prerequisites. The program head may do so under very limited circumstances. Instructors also do not have the authority to allow a student to enroll in a class that is full. In either case, please refer students to an undergraduate or graduate advisor. 

• Students in UTD varsity sports or participating in other University-sponsored events may present at the beginning of the year a note from their coach, athletic director or faculty sponsor; this constitutes an allowable absence. Any midterms on such dates must be made up for these students. Athletic events do not occur during the final exam week.
• At the instructor’s discretion, students may be allowed to make up missed exams based on allowable excuses. Allowable and documented excuses, such as observance of religious holy days, must be honored according to UTD rules and as indicated in the course syllabus. Instructors must be consistent across all students to avoid any appearance of impropriety and are encouraged not to stray far from the school norms.  Please consult with your associate dean or program head when deciding your exam policies.

By UTD policy, grading of exams and other assignments are the responsibility of the instructor of record. Any grading completed by TAs requires close supervision and final approval by the instructor. 

Website: Graduation Help Desk

Email: graduationhelpdesk@utdallas.edu

In-person, Virtual or Phone Appointments: Graduation Help Desk Bookings

Faculty are also encouraged to consult with the Office of Undergraduate Education or the Office of Graduate Education for additional support, including guidance on academic policies, access to data, and information on campus resources.

Faculty also can engage with students through various programs, such as undergraduate research initiatives, mentorship opportunities, and events focused on supporting minority and first-generation student success.

Website: Comet Cupboard

Email: cupboard@utdallas.edu

Call: 972-883-6613

Website: Office of Graduate Education

Email: gradeducation@utdallas.edu

Call: 972-883-2234

For Faculty: Faculty Resources Page

• Visit the Faculty Resources and Guidelines page for information about completing the online Request Form. See the Faculty Exam Request Information on that page, which includes details about creating a RegisterBlast account and the faculty memorandum shown on the website.
• When completing the form, please include all your specifications about exam conditions or restrictions. Be sure to include the students’ names and the deadline that you chose for when they must have completed the exam or make-up exam. You can upload or send the make-up exam or other exam through eLearning for students to submit their answers via Blue Book. If you require students to submit answers on documents you provide, all exams and materials must be assembled and dropped off at the Testing Center at least seven business days prior to the exam start date per the faculty memorandum instructions. Students are not allowed to bring any personal belongings into the Testing Center and are monitored closely while they complete their exams. 
• Testing Center requests should be submitted a minimum of 10 business days prior to your quiz/exam time.
• See the Faculty Resources and Guidelines page for more information about scheduling whole-class exams, makeup exams, information needed by students, policies, and hours of operation.
• Faculty may consult with Testing Center staff about remote exam proctoring services, such as Honorlock.
• eLearning Tutorials — Training for setting up online quizzes and exams in eLearning is available via organized sessions and individual requests. Visit eLearning Training and Support Resources and click on the eLearning Training Request Form to arrange an in-person tutorial or sign up for TA/RA training sessions. For more information about all tutorials, visit the eLearning Tutorials & Handouts page. 
• You may find that the Testing Center is particularly helpful for scheduling and administering make-up exams that can take up so much time each semester. See the Testing Center site for more information about policies and procedures.

Final exam dates are scheduled by the Office of the Registrar. These dates can be found by logging in to Orion and are determined shortly after Census Day, which occurs approximately two weeks after the start of each semester.

Students who have more than three final exams scheduled in one day may petition to take the additional final exams on different days. A student who has two or three exams on the same day does not have a right to a separate exam, but you may allow a separate exam in these cases if you wish to do so provided you offer the same accommodation to all students in similar circumstances.

All final exams must take place during the final exam week. You may plan and conduct an examination in any regular class period as part of your overall evaluation of the students, including the last class period. Any exam conducted outside the final exam week, however, cannot be treated as or announced under the title of “final exam.” If an instructor does not wish to take advantage of the time allocated in the final exam week, for official purposes this means the course does not have a final exam.

Please note that you can NOT change the time of your final exam even if all your students agree. Changes can only be made with a request to scheduling@utdallas.edu. Faculty should NOT:

• Reschedule a final exam outside the approved meeting times — even if all students agree — without approval. This also means there can be NO cumulative final exams on the last day of class.
• Give a final exam after the final exam period has ended.
• Ask students to stay longer than the 2 hours and 45 minutes allotted for a final exam.
• Schedule final exams during Reading Days. Reading days are scheduled between the last day of classes and the first day of the final exam period for the semester.

Designated Reading Days are indicated in the Academic Calendar. Reading Days are designed to provide students with a study day prior to final exams. Study days do not include University activities or any course activity, including early final exams.

Activities allowed on Reading Days:

• Optional student and class review sessions.

Activities NOT allowed on Reading Days:

• Any gatherings not specifically for review or study of the semester’s academic work.
• Required class review session.
• Early final examinations.
• Required presentation session.
• Student club or group meetings/activities.
• Any gatherings not specifically for review or study of the semester’s academic work.

Very important items to know before final grading:

• Orion will attempt to log you off after a period of inactivity (about 20 minutes). This is a security action. The amount of time cannot be changed.
• You must enter all grades on a Final Grade Roster before approving the grade roster.
• You must save after entering grades before performing any additional actions like “notification to all or selected students” or exiting the grade roster or while entering grades for large rosters (periodically save to avoid loss of work).
• There are two Grade Roster Actions you can take to indicate Approval Status: 
  • Not Approved – Initial step when grades are entered.
  • Approved – Final step once ALL grades are entered.
• Orion provides the appropriate grade options for the student in the drop-down menu.  For example, if your course is taught as an undergraduate course, but you have a student in your course taking the course credit/no credit, the drop-down menu will contain the grades for Credit/No Credit (CR, NC, X, I, NR).
• Explanation of administrative grades follows for undergraduate grading scale and graduate grades and GPA:
  • I = Incomplete, which may be used only when a student has completed at least 70% of the required course material but cannot complete all requirements by the end of the semester. Course work must be completed within the time period set by the instructor, not to exceed eight weeks from the first day of the subsequent long semester.
  • Special note: If an Incomplete grade is assigned to a student, the faculty member must complete a Petition/Documentation Form provided by the school’s associate dean of undergraduate education or associate dean of graduate education. The form must be signed by both the student and the instructor and appropriate associate dean, advisor, or department/program head, and must be retained with the student’s academic record. Details of what coursework must completed and the date by which it must be completed are required on the form and must be shared with the student in writing.NR = Non-recorded, used for only grades that indicate the student grade awaits review from the OCSC. Instructors may assign this grade if a case is or will be with the OCSC.  Please consult with that office for guidance.
  • Midterm Grades: Undergraduate students are issued midterm grades to apprise them of their progress within the semester; they are important for advising and retention purposes. These grades are not part of the student’s permanent record and will not appear on academic transcripts. Some classes will issue a grade of credit or no credit at midterm.
  • If you do not know which grade to record for a student due to a missed final exam or other missing information, please follow the guidelines in the appropriate undergraduate or graduate course catalog for an incomplete or consult your program head or associate dean. You must assign a grade to every student on your roster.

• The Office of the Registrar updates posting of final grades twice daily after all final exams are completed for the term. Students will be able to see the final grade online after the grades are posted.
• If you need instructions on how to upload grades, please email grading@utdallas.edu.
• For questions, comments, concerns, feedback — during normal workdays and business hours (this does not include University holidays) — please email grading@utdallas.edu (24- to 48-hour response) or call 972-883-2342. Designated staff in the Office of the Registrar will be available to provide support during the winter break, especially if the grading deadline falls during the same period.

After a final grade has been recorded by the Office of the Registrar, faculty may change grades only to correct a clerical error or replace a grade of “incomplete” or “NR.” A faculty-initiated change of a final grade may be submitted in Orion and will be forwarded to the department or program head, associate dean of undergraduate education or associate dean of graduate education, and the school dean for written approval.

Grade changes must be submitted by the end of the eighth week of the following long semester after the grade was awarded. Any grade change initiated after the eighth week of the long semester requires the written approval of the instructor, the department or program head, associate dean of undergraduate education or the associate dean of graduate education, the school dean, and the dean of undergraduate education or the dean of graduate education.

• The only grounds for considering a grade to be incorrect are either clerical error or that the grade is arbitrary or capricious. Examples of clerical error would include, but are not limited to, a mistake in adding component grades, a mistake in recording grades, or attributing a paper or examination to the wrong student. “Arbitrary or capricious” means that the grade cannot be considered reasonable given the material of the course, the overall performance of the class, and the individual performance of the student. The University assumes that coursework is best evaluated by the instructor in the immediate context of the course activity. Requests for reconsideration must show with clear and convincing evidence why this assumption should be set aside.
• If a student believes he or she has been assigned a grade because of a clerical error or that the grade is arbitrary or capricious, the student should first seek to discuss the grade with the instructor within 60 calendar days after the course grade posting in Orion. If this does not lead to satisfactory understanding, the student may file a formal appeal following the procedures described for academic grievances in the Rules, Regulations, and Statutory Requirements Section C. (See Student Grievances).
• Sometimes, a student may ask you to change a grade without academic merit. Such a request may come with a wide range of comments involving the student’s emotional or financial state, their academic or nonacademic workload, how well the student is doing in other courses, and the ramifications of the grade to the student’s GPA or scholarship. Additional arguments may be raised involving any number of perceived shortcomings in the textbook, the classroom, the classmates, the instructor, etc. None of these constitutes an acceptable basis for changing a grade that has been accurately delivered according to the actual performance of the student subject to the course guidelines.
• In responding to a student’s request for a higher grade, it is recommended that you be firm but kind. Avoid blaming a student at a time of distress, even if you feel the blame has been earned. It is reasonable, however, to say that the grade reflects the work that was delivered, and that is the only basis that exists for grading at UTD. At the same time, it is appropriate to sympathize with the student’s situation, and you can recommend what can be done for better results next time, i.e., change the focus from negative (bad grade) to positive (future improvement).
• Although mistakes sometimes happen and must be corrected, please be aware that grade changes are especially scrutinized. Improper grade changes can reflect badly on not only the instructor, but also the school and the University as a whole.