For Instructors

This message was provided to instructors by James Charbonneau (Faculty of Science Associate Dean, Students) at start of term in late August, 2023. It highlights key resources related to undergraduate teaching and student support. We hope that with these resources you will feel equipped to direct students to appropriate academic and non-academic support during the upcoming year.

Instructional Resources

  • Especially if you are a new instructor, review the Faculty Primer, which covers the basic information about teaching at UBC.
  • Find out who your teaching point-of-contact is in your department. In many departments, this is an associate head or undergraduate chair who oversees undergraduate education.
  • Ask your teaching point-of-contact questions about departmental, Faculty of Science, and institutional policies and norms. UBC is a complicated institution, and it is not expected new instructors know how everything works right away.
  • Disruptions during teaching in classes is very rare, but be prepared by reviewing the guidance for dealing with classroom disruptions. It provides you steps if your class is disrupted by an outside group or a student in the class, or if campus security or the police visit unannounced.
  • Learning Technology support:

New Course Design, AI and Academic Integrity Resources

  • All course syllabi should include information about course requirements and expectations.
  • The Academic Integrity website has examples about how to communicate your expectations regarding generative artificial intelligence (genAI, e.g. ChatGPT). Be proactive about communicating your expectations about genAI and, if needed, adjusting your course design to mitigate or leverage genAI.
  • The AI in Teaching and Learning website at CTLT is a central hub where you can learn more about AI tools, resources, and events.
  • UBC has an educative approach to academic integrity. The foundation of our educative approach relies on instructors teaching about and clearly communicating their expectations for academic integrity. To help you with this, there are academic integrity modules you can use with your students and example syllabus statements on the Academic Integrity website.
  • When you suspect a breach of your course’s academic integrity requirements, it is important you follow the academic misconduct review process. The process is described on the Academic Integrity website, which has resources for both students and instructors.
  • The Faculty of Science participates in the new Diversionary Process. The Diversionary Process does not change procedures at the instructor or department levels. This Academic Misconduct Handout provides the Faculty of Science academic misconduct procedures for instructors and departments. While you do not need to be overly investigative, we ask that you address every instance of suspected academic misconduct in your course.

Health, Wellbeing, and Academic Concessions

  • Being physically and mentally healthy is part of having a successful year. UBC’s Communicable Disease Prevention Framework mentions that a daily health check is important for noticing when you may be getting sick. If you are sick, stay home.
  • Students should not feel pressure to put others at risk to maintain their academic progress. A concession policy in your courses that allows students to drop or make-up missed assignments due to illness will communicate to students that you expect them to stay home when they are sick.
  • There are reasons beyond physical illness, such as the death of a family member or religious observances, that may cause a student to miss assignments and midterms. The Instructor Guide to Handling In-term Concessions provides information about how to support students with these and other issues that arise during the term.
  • Sometimes students need to miss their final exam due to illness or unanticipated personal circumstances. To request permission to write their final exam at a later date, students apply for Deferred Standing (“SD”). Students apply to their home Faculty’s advising office. Refer to this instructor guide for more details about the process for BSc students Deferred Standing – Guide for Instructors teaching Science courses. Faculty Advising offices may request a grade breakdown for students applying for an SD. We would appreciate timely replies to these requests that include the detailed information requested (e.g., grades on midterm exams vs. assignments).

Supporting Students Experiencing Unanticipated Challenges or Distress

  • Stress is an expected part of university life (and life in general), but stress or anxiety that significantly interferes with students’ learning and wellbeing may indicate a student requires additional support. Become familiar with the Green Folder, which describes the range of challenges students may be facing, provides guidance for having a conversation with a student in distress, and resources/supports for students at various levels of distress.
  • It can be helpful to show students this scale, so they understand where they are on it.
  • There will be times when students reach out to you about serious and/or persistent issues that require support beyond what you can or should provide.
    • In this situation, refer the student to the resources in the Green Folder and submit an Early Alert. An Early Alert is a way to connect a student with UBC or Faculty of Science resources.
    • For example, the student may get priority to see a counsellor.
    • They will also be connected to a Science Advisor who can help them look at strategies for completing courses or, if necessary, withdraw.
    • We encourage you to submit an Early Alert for a student in distress or if you have academic concerns about a student (e.g. unusually poor academic performance).
  • A student may also disclose something very personal to you, such as being a survivor of sexual violence.
    • The Teal Folder is a guide about connecting students to the Sexual Violence Prevention and Response Office (SVPRO).
    • Do not submit an Early Alert for students that disclose sexual violence to you. Follow the steps in the guide.

Reminder of Key Policies 

  • Students have the right to view their graded work, in particular, their final exams. The policy outlining the timelines and processes for this is described in the Calendar. Your department may have procedures worked out to streamline this process, especially in large multi-section courses. Reach out to your department teaching point-of-contact for advice about how to handle exam viewing requests.
  • No midterms or formal exams are allowed in the last two weeks of the term. There is an exception for bi-weekly quizzes and lab exams. The Calendar describes the details of the policy about the use of formal exam periods.