Information on Teaching a Course at EuNC

 

A. General Information

 

Persons teaching a course for EuNC on the campus or in one of the learning centres need to comply with the guidelines of the school. Because all courses offered could potentially become part of the BA curriculum of a student, it is of extreme importance that teachers understand the criteria, which they need to fulfil in teaching for EuNC.

1. Categories
Those teaching on the campus or in the learning centres will fall into one of these six categories: Full Time Faculty; Part Time Faculty; Adjunct Faculty; Local Faculty; Guest Lecturer; Visiting Lecturer. The EuNC Academic Catalogue contains the details of these designations.

 

2. Qualifications

EuNC lecturers need to have at least an M.A. degree, or its equivalent, in the field in which they teach. In some circumstances it is possible that a course is taught by a person who is experienced in this field, but who does not have an M.A. Degree. Such occasional exceptions are made on an individual basis, and requests need to be submitted to EuNC prior to the planning of the course. These persons will always work under the supervision of an approved faculty person, and will be considered assistants to these faculty members.

 

3. Approval

All lecturers need to be approved by the Academic Dean of EuNC with consent of the Overall Academic Council. All Lecturers need to submit the EuNC Teacher Information Sheet, a recent picture (ideally in electronic format), a Curriculum Vitae or Resume, and their transcripts. If a transcript is not available, copies of the highest degree or diploma obtained may be sent instead. They will receive approval for certain specific courses or certain academic areas, according to their qualifications and experience. Persons who are faculty members at an accredited school need to submit the EuNC Lecturer Resume only.

 

B. Course Syllabus

1. General Syllabus Templates

All syllabi need to follow the general syllabus template designed for each particular course. These general syllabus templates are currently being developed, so in the meantime syllabi samples of courses taught are available on the faculty page of the EuNC website. In order to provide unity in the many courses offered at different locations by a variety of teachers, all syllabi need to follow this standardised format. The Blank Syllabus Template is available to develop the syllabus according to criteria in use by EuNC, which provides information in square parentheses. A few more words of explanation:

 

The Course Description and the Intended Educational Outcomes are set! They determine how the course needs to be taught. Every course is part of a programme and has a certain place in an overall design, which needs to be respected by whoever is teaching the course. This is of extreme importance because EuNC is, to a large degree, dependent on guest and visiting teachers.

 

Every course has one common assignment. This means that this assignment is exactly the same at every centre over a number of years and graded according to the same standards, so that the results can be used for comparing the work of our students. This assignment will be provided to the lecturer along with the grading rubric. In addition, as a faculty member fills out the Teacher Course Evaluation at the end of the course, there is a common assignment data sheet section that needs to be filled out providing statistics and feedback on this assignment.

2. European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS)
EuNC follows the European credit system, called European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS). This is a student-centred system based on the student workload required to achieve the objectives of a course or programme. The document ECTS and US Credit gives further explanation of this system and its use at EuNC, and compares it to the US credit system. The ECTS system requires that every assignment states the estimate number of student work hours needed to fulfill this requirement. The document How to determine the hour load gives specific instructions.

 

3. Submission of the Syllabus

The syllabus of a specific course needs to be pre-approved by the office of the Academic Dean of EuNC. Every teacher needs to submit electronically his or her syllabus to the Registrar of EuNC (registrar@eunc.edu) four weeks prior to the start of the course. For every course taught, a separate syllabus needs to be submitted, even if the same course is taught a second time at a different location.

 

4. Approval of the Syllabus

The Academic Dean of EuNC, or the coordinating faculty member over the course, will approve the syllabus and may consult with the residential faculty. If necessary, the Academic Dean will correspond with the lecturer or Field or Learning Centre Coordinator about the syllabus before final approval is given.

 

5. Uploading of the Syllabus to SonisWeb

After approval has been received, the lecturer will receive instruction on the use of SonisWeb and needs to upload the final version of the syllabus, in the course's instructional language, to SonisWeb. An English version of the syllabus needs to be sent to the Registrar’s office. Instructions on the use of SonisWeb are available on the faculty page of EuNC’s website.

 

C. Grade Book and Grades

 

1. Creating the Grade Book

After having uploaded the syllabus in SonisWeb, the lecturer needs to setup the electronic grade book for the course in SonisWeb. Though other tracking mechanisims may be used (such as the grade book in Moodle), the weighting, scores, and final grading need to be entered into SonisWeb for each assignment so we have an accurate historic record for the course in our administrative system. Specific instructions are provided on the faculty webpage of the EuNC website for using SonisWeb.

 

2. Enrolment/Grade Sheet

Enrolment for the campus is different than in the Learning Centres. At the campus, students enrol individually with the Registrar prior to the course, and therefore the Enrolment/Grade Sheet is available to the lecturer in SonisWeb prior to the start of the course. In the Learning Centres this is not always possible, and only after the first day of classes the names of all the students enrolled in the course will be available in SonisWeb. The Learning Centre Coordinator/Administrator is responsible for enrolling students.

 

3. Submission of Final Grade and Grade Book

Every grade for each assignment needs to be recorded in SonisWeb so that students can login to SonisWeb to check their grades in the course. No later than three weeks after the course has been completed, the lecturer needs to have finished all grading and uploaded them into SonisWeb. The system will then automatically calculate the final grade.  For those taking the course as an audit, the instructor will have to manually set the grade to "AU". When grading is finalised, the teacher should go to the "Browse Grades" tab in SonisWeb and select the button "Post Grades to Student's Record" in order to signify to the Registrar of EuNC (registrar@eunc.edu) that the grades can be reviewed and made official.

 

4. Incomplete Grade

An incomplete grade can be given to a student who has not completed all the work of the course for a legitimate reason. The work for the incomplete grade (“I”) must be completed within the timeframe established by the lecturer and should not go beyond 3 months from the date that the incomplete was given. In case an incomplete grade is given, the teacher and student need to fill out an Incomplete Grade Form. This form needs to be submitted to the Registrar.

5. Grading System

The academic work of the student is graded in accordance with the system maintained at EuNC with an equivalent points system from 1-100.  

Percent	Letter Grade	Grade Point	Explanation
93% to 100%	A	4.0	EXCELLENT. Ability to discern and analyse with scholarly treatment of problems arising.
90%  to 92.9%	A-	3.7	SUPERIOR WORK. But lacking creative originality.
87% to 89.9%	B+	3.3	VERY GOOD WORK. Can argue forward logically and thoroughly to a proposed solution of problems.
83% to 86.9%	B	3.0	ABOVE AVERAGE. Ability to expose and explore issues.
80% to 82.9%	B-	2.7	COMPETENT WORK. Showing some ability in analysis and solution of problems but more limited than the above grades.
77% to 79.9%	C+	2.3	GOOD WORK. Showing limited analysis and problem solving ability. Usually ability in only one of these areas.
73% to 76.9%	C	2.0	AVERAGE WORK. Satisfactory understanding and comprehension of material with ability to apply facts in arguments.
70% to 72.9%	C-	1.7	ADEQUATE WORK. Understands and comprehends material, little ability to apply facts.
67% to 69.9%	D+	1.3	BELOW AVERAGE WORK. Ability to answer with facts without demonstrating real comprehension of material.
63% to 66.9%	D	1.0	INADEQUATE WORK. Failure to grasp meaning of the material and handle facts.
60% to 62.9%	D-	0.7	POOR WORK. Failure to show more than basic understanding of the material.
0% to 59.9%	F	0.0	FAILURE. Does not obtain the minimum and below standard. Shows only a minimal familiarity with that standard.

D. Evaluation

 

1. Student Course Evaluation

Starting on the last three days of the class to a full week after the class is over, students will be given the ability to fill out the student course evaluation online. This can be done through their SonisWeb login by going to their schedule tab and clicking on the description of the course. This is our standard procedure.

 

For those Learning Centres that need to do the course evaluation still by paper, they will provide you with a paper copy of the anonymous evaluation for all students to fill out the during one of the final class sessions. A designated person (other than the lecturer or any participant in the class) will collect all the evaluations and will make a summary, after the grades are submitted, for the lecturer and the Academic Dean’s office. An English copy of the student evaluation can be found here for your information: Student Course Evaluation. 
 

2. Teacher Course Evaluation and Common Assignment Data Sheet

Each teacher needs to complete for each course they teach, through their SonisWeb account, the Teacher Course Evaluation. This is a link that you will see as you go to your course schedule. This gives us feedback on the course that can be used for redesign of the course in the future, so it is an important part of your teaching process. This can be filled out anytime after the course is completed. This also includes a section for statistics and feedback on the Common Data Assignment which will be used for additional assessment purposes. A copy of the Teacher Course Evaluation can be found here for your information: Teacher Course Evaluation.

 

E. General EuNC Policies

The following are the most relevant policies of EuNC not specifically listed in the syllabus template. All policies can be found in the Academic Catalogue of EuNC.

1. Auditing Classes
Upon payment of the fee, students may enrol in most courses in any semester as an audit student. Language, laboratory, and activity courses cannot be audited. The person who audits a course is not permitted to take examinations, or to obtain credit for the course except by taking the course later through proper enrolment and meeting all requirements for credit. Students auditing classes must attend 2/3 of the class sessions before the course is entered on the transcript.

2. Withdrawl from a Course
Students may withdraw from a course with a “W”, provided they withdraw within the first part of the course (before 50% of the class sessions are offered). Students who find it necessary to withdraw from a course must speak to the lecturer and the Academic Dean or Learning Centre Coordinator.

3. Style Manual
EuNC has adopted the MLA Style Guidlines for citation references and paper formatting. An MLA reference book may be obtained from the EuNC bookstore or teachers/students may view many available resources online describing the MLA style. Learning Centres operating in a language other than English may find resources in their language describing this style guideline or communicate with EuNC administration on alternative options.