{"id":3569,"date":"2026-08-26T20:02:20","date_gmt":"2026-08-26T20:02:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/serie-center\/?page_id=3569"},"modified":"2026-09-02T20:14:36","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T20:14:36","slug":"for-new-faculty","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/serie-center\/for-new-faculty\/","title":{"rendered":"Some teaching policies & practices……"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fall Break week classes:<\/strong> On the week of Fall Break in mid-October, classes are held Monday-Wednesday; during that week, TUESDAY classes and labs are on a THURSDAY schedule. This means that if you normally teach a lab on a Thursday morning, you should remind students that you will be meeting on Tuesday that week instead (new students often do not know about this practice). Some departments do not hold labs during this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No exams or major assignments due on the Monday following Fall\/Spring Break<\/strong>: It is Macalester policy that faculty do not assign important work or quizzes\/exams for the day after fall\/spring break.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

End-of-semester assignments:<\/strong> Faculty are allowed to have assignments (papers, projects) that are due at the end of the semester in addition to exams. The only exceptions are Study Days<\/a>, where there are STRICT RULES about what activities are allowed!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Final exam<\/strong> periods are set based on class dates\/times (for example, all MWF 9:40-10:40am classes have the same set 2-hour exam time during the finals). Note that if you are NOT using the final exam period for your course, it is generous to let students know at the beginning of the semester so they may make travel plans in a timely (and financially advantageous) manner. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Honor Code: <\/strong>Macalester does not have an Honor Code, but we do have an Academic Integrity Policy<\/a>. It is a really good guideline for what process to follow (and what to expect) in the event of concerns about cheating, plagarism, or unauthorized AI use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Attendance policy:<\/strong> Faculty are allowed to determine their own attendance policy for their courses; some departments have department-wide policies for attendance (check with your colleagues\/chair). However, College-authorized absences<\/a> are allowed and must be accommodated for a variety of activities. See the Macalester attendance and absences policy<\/a> for more details.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AI policy: <\/strong>There is no single AI policy at Macalester, and faculty are free to determine their own policy; note that your department may have adopted policies\/guidelines about acceptable AI use. Note that students will encounter different AI policies in every class, so clarity in your policy (for the course and for individual assignments) is critical. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Incomplete grades and grading appeals:<\/strong> There are specific policies for situations in which students may request an incomplete in a class; faculty should also be aware that students may appeal their final grade. See Grading Policies and Appeals <\/a>for more details.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Exams & activities outside of official class time:<\/strong> Faculty ARE allowed to require meetings, activities, or field trips outside of the set class times for their course, but these MUST be listed\/announced on the syllabus or on the course page (Moodle) on the first day of class. However, this option should be used sparingly, keeping in mind that some students will have College-sponsored activities <\/a>(work study, athletic competition, performances) that conflict and must be accommodated. Some departments use this option more than others, so a conversation with your department chair is worthwhile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grading and pass\/fail options:<\/strong> Macalester refers to pass\/fail as S\/SD\/N (stands for “satisfactory\/passing\/no credit”). All students at Mac can take one course every semester using this grading option, but the course will not be allowed to count for a major or minor (unless a department chair provides an exception). Students may take courses that fulfill other graduation requirements on the S\/SD\/N basis, but as of Fall 2018, they must earn an \u201cS\u201d in the course for it to meet the requirement. Some departments mandate specific courses in their curriculum that are automatically graded S\/SD\/N, and they do not count as a student’s single S\/SD\/N course. Faculty are purposefully ‘kept in the dark’ when a student decides to take a class S\/SD\/N; faculty complete grading and submit student letter grades as usual (letter grades are then transformed into S\/SD\/N on the student transcript). See the Registrar’s website<\/a> and the current college catalogue<\/a> for more details.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Class times:<\/strong> Almost all 4-credit classes as Macalester take place on the following schedule: MW 8:00-9:30am & 3:00-4:30pm; M or W 7:00-10:00 pm; MWF 8:30-9:30am, 9:40-10:40am, 10:50-11:50am, 12:00-1:00pm, 1:10-2:10pm, 2:20-3:20pm, 3:30-4:30pm; T\/TH 8:00-9:30am, 9:40-11:10am, 1:20-2:50pm, 3:00-4:30pm. Studio Arts courses and required practicum and lab days\/times and lengths vary – departments set these in partnership with the Registrar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Macronyms:<\/strong> Macalester-specific acronyms<\/a> (gdoc)!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Add\/drop:<\/strong> During registration periods,<\/em> students are free to add courses for which they have the prerequisites. As an instructor, you may approve a student to register (called a Registration Override) for your course if you deem that they have either a) fulfilled the prerequisites another way, or b) are eligible to take the course for another reason (checking with your chair on department policies and\/or guidance is recommended). To provide a registration override during registration, log into 1600grand and search for the student name or ID number, and select all relevant course sections once you’ve selected the student. Be sure to select the REASON you are allowing them to add the course! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the beginning of a new semester<\/em>, students must get the permission of the course instructor to add a course (regardless of whether they have completed the prerequisites). You cannot add students UNTIL the semester begins, and you must select “Add Okay (start of term)” as the reason for the registration override.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Note: even after you have provided a registration override, the students will still need to register for the course! NO PERMISSION IS NEEDED FOR A STUDENT TO DROP YOUR COURSE during the add\/drop period, so be sure to check registration numbers through 1600grand directly, particularly if you have a waiting list for your course. The add\/drop period lasts until the second Friday of the semester. Note that once a student has added\/dropped a class, it will take a few hours before Moodle pages are updated. Note that faculty cannot drop a student from their course.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Waiting lists for courses:<\/strong> Some departments with high enrollment pressure will create and keep waiting lists for some courses (often intro classes) that are managed collectively; other departments set strict caps on some courses while others have some flexibility on course numbers. Talk with your department chair about practices and policies! Currently you must give permission to add a course to students through 1600grand; if you grant a registration override at the start of the semester, it requires you to select “Add Okay (start of term)” as the reason.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

International travel: <\/strong>Faculty are required to register <\/a>any work-related international travel with the College. Note that faculty are covered under a health and emergency plan during the dates of travel related to work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Books\/course materials:<\/strong> Books and preselected course materials are covered financially as part of the MacBooks<\/a> program (student tuition) and should be available for them at The Highlander on Snelling. However, a significant number of students ‘opt out’ of this program and find\/rent\/purchase course materials on their own. Many faculty work with the Library to put course materials on reserve<\/a> for short check-out periods; the Macalester College Student Government (MCSG) has a purchasing program<\/a> that faculty can apply for in order to purchase copies of text books for Library Reserve for their courses. <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fall Break week classes: On the week of Fall Break in mid-October, classes are held Monday-Wednesday; during that week, TUESDAY classes and labs are on a THURSDAY schedule. This means that if you normally teach a lab on a Thursday morning, you should remind students that you will be meeting on Tuesday that week instead […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1559,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-3569","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/serie-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3569","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/serie-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/serie-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/serie-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1559"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/serie-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3569"}],"version-history":[{"count":27,"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/serie-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3569\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3837,"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/serie-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3569\/revisions\/3837"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/serie-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3569"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}