Course Policies & Practices

As you think about scheduling the meeting time for your course, you might want to keep in mind that there is considerable congestion in the most popular time slots. A very large number of lectures are scheduled in the mornings and seminars are frequently scheduled in the afternoons. If you are looking to maximize possible enrollments in your course, you might consider picking a less congested time slot. Departments as a whole should try to take advantage of all available time blocks to minimize cross-scheduling and increase the options for their concentrators. 

Full-time, degree-seeking students receive a 30 percent discount off the publisher's list price of new and used coursebooks purchased through Labyrinth Books, the University's bookstore. If they choose to sell books back at the end of the year, their savings come to 55% off all new books and 62.5% off all used books. See sample language for inclusion on course syllabi.

Faculty should submit their course reading lists through the “Books” tab in the main navigation bar Canvas (link is external), which also ensures compliance with the 2008 Federal Higher Education Opportunity Act (link is external), which requires colleges and universities to publish the cost of required course materials for students. Faculty are encouraged to consider the cost of required materials when establishing course reading lists, and to set aside both physical and electronic reserve copies through Firestone Library (link is external) when possible. Extra copies of Pequod readers may also be placed on reserve at Firestone. E-reserves of book chapters and articles can also be provided through course Canvas sites, provided that the use of these materials is consistent with all applicable copyright laws.

Faculty should plan to hold regular weekly office hours in which students may consult with them outside of class time to discuss course material and other related matters. The online scheduling system (http://wase.princeton.edu) is available to assist faculty in setting aside blocks of time for students to schedule appointments in advance. Faculty should be willing to arrange alternative appointments for students with course conflicts or required athletic practices during the faculty member’s regularly scheduled office hours.

Course syllabi should clearly articulate a framework for grading student work that aligns with the rubrics established by the department, including clear and transparent descriptions of the course attendance policies and assignment deadlines. When returning graded work, all faculty should take explicit care to protect students’ confidentiality. Graded problem sets, exams, or other written work should never be returned in a public setting that would permit one student’s grades to be disclosed to others without their consent. Whenever possible, graded work should be returned to students directly by a professor or preceptor, or via the department’s office staff who may personally return graded work to students on an individual basis. Alternatively, graded work may be returned to students in sealed, private envelopes that do not permit students to view other classmates’ grades when searching for their own work, even accidentally or unintentionally. The Office of the General Counsel offers additional resource materials that explain how students’ educational records are protected under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA).

More and more faculty members are finding mid-semester evaluations a valuable resource for their teaching. Gathering mid-semester feedback from students may enable faculty members to make adjustments that improve the quality of the teaching and learning experience for themselves and their students. If you are interested in ways to solicit feedback, visit the McGraw Center website.

A period of approximately 8–9 days immediately preceding final examinations in each term is set apart to give students time in which to consolidate coursework or to extend reading and investigation in accordance with their interests. Individual faculty members may choose to continue instruction during reading period. All written coursework, including term papers, homework assignments, lab reports, and projects, is due on the date set by the instructor, but in no case later than the date set by the Faculty Committee on Examinations and Standing for the submission of written work, normally the last day of reading period, which is known as "dean's date." All written coursework originally due during the term must be submitted by this deadline; extensions beyond this date are granted only for end-of-term assignments. All students requesting such an extension should be told to contact the appropriate residential college staff.

The final examination period begins the day after reading period. Exams are scheduled by the Office of the Registrar and can only be rescheduled by the Office of the Registrar. Exams are not proctored at Princeton, but there are very strict protocols regarding their administration. If students approach you about rescheduling an exam, please send them to the registrar. Any exam postponement in excess of 24 hours requires that a new exam be written.

Faculty may elect to assign a take-home examination rather than a final examination scheduled by the Registrar. Take-home examinations may not be scheduled before dean's date and must be submitted by the University deadline for take-home examinations. Faculty should assign a time-limit (not more than 8 hours) for the exam itself, preferably using the timer function in CANVAS to enforce that limit. Faculty who choose to schedule a take-home exam on a specific date during the exam period must be prepared to offer alternative times for students who have a conflict with another exam.

For more information, please consult the Undergraduate Announcement.

The Honor Committee has developed an informational cover sheet that faculty members can use with in-class examinations. The purpose is to have an easy and reliable way for a faculty member to make plain to students what written materials, if any, can be used during an examination, and to give students clear information about such details as the length of the examination and where they can find the course head or preceptor while the examination is in progress. Faculty members who choose to use the cover sheet should print out the form, complete it as appropriate for the examination in question, and have copies made on colored paper in the department or program office when the examination is printed.

The pass/D/fail grading option is designed to encourage students to explore the curriculum. The Office of the Dean of the College encourages faculty members to make the pass/D/fail option more widely available, particularly in introductory level courses or those used to fulfill the general education distribution requirements. Students may elect the pass/D/fail option in as many as four courses, but may only elect one per semester. Students may elect the pass/D/fail as early as the beginning of the 7th week of classes and must elect the pass/D/fail option by the end of the 9th week of classes. A P/D/F decision may be rescinded under very specific conditions, described on the Grading page.

Faculty should communicate the grade penalties associated with late work at the start of the semester in the course syllabus. Although faculty may grant extensions on any work due during the semester, both the faculty member and the student’s residential college dean or assistant dean must approve an extension for end of term work due on dean’s date, and for a postponement of a take-home examination. 

Students with exam conflicts or crowded exam schedules should request an adjustment to their final exam schedule well in advance of exam period, in accordance with the procedure set forth by the Registrar. Last-minute postponements of scheduled final examinations are granted by the Registrar’s office alone (see above) and only in cases of severe illness.

Attendance is fundamental to engaged learning. Therefore, students are expected to attend all scheduled course meetings and exercises and to be present promptly at the start of instruction, unless prevented from doing so by illness or another compelling cause. Students who will miss a class or any course requirement because of religious observance will be excused from that absence, as outlined here. Varsity athletic competitions (see below) also constitute excused absences. However, students must notify their course professors of these conflicts and make arrangements to complete any missed work.

Faculty are urged to make their expectations regarding attendance clear in course syllabi and other communications with students at the start of the term. See sample language for inclusion on course syllabi. If you have concerns about a student’s attendance in your course, please contact the student’s residential college dean or assistant dean right away. For advice about supporting students with an ongoing illness or disability that could inhibit course attendance, please consult Dean Dolan’s memo on students in distress.

As outlined in this letter, Princeton University has long been committed to maintaining a competitive varsity-athletics program as part of its broad conception of undergraduate education. In keeping with that commitment, Princeton reserves the 4:30-7:30 p.m. time slot for student participation in athletics and many other extracurricular activities. The University has a long-standing policy regarding conflicts that might arise between regularly scheduled classes and varsity-athletic competitions.

Our athletics department makes every effort to schedule competitions at times that do not conflict with our students’ academic commitments. Such conflicts are sometimes unavoidable, however, because of factors beyond our control.

In those cases, our policy is not to penalize students for missed class time. (Please note that students are not permitted to miss class to attend practices.)

Students are expected to meet with their instructors at the beginning of each term to identify any class meetings they are likely to miss because of their athletic competitions and to discuss how they plan to cover the assigned material. They might, for example, review other students’ class notes (if permitted); meet with their professors in office hours to discuss the material missed; or write a short essay on the assigned reading.

In short, while the University permits students to miss classes for sanctioned varsity-athletic competitions or related travel, these absences must not compromise a student’s ability to remain in good academic standing.

In some cases, student-athletes may request an instructor’s cooperation in rescheduling academic commitments for occasional athletic competitions that fall outside of the varsity-athletics category, such as national team and Olympic competitions. We encourage instructors to make allowances in such cases, although the decision about how to handle conflicts remains the instructor’s prerogative. Instructors can consult with residential college deans and assistant deans for further information.

Please note that the Registrar manages the rescheduling of all final examinations.

The McGraw Center for Teaching and Learning has additional resources that might be helpful to accommodate student needs, including recording lectures, capturing class content, and facilitating remote participation.

If you have any questions or concerns about the amount of class time that a student is missing due to varsity athletic competition, please contact the residential college deans and assistant deans, who will consult as needed with Dean Colagiuri, Princeton’s Faculty Athletics Representative to the NCAA, and with other colleagues in the athletics department.

Class trips and other University-sponsored outings may not be scheduled during the 12-week teaching semester in a manner that creates class conflicts for students; students may not miss another class to participate in a class trip. Class trips and outings may be scheduled during fall or spring break but cannot be scheduled outside of the official semester (intersession, summer). If a class trip or outing is required, it should be listed in the official course description in Course Offerings and on the class syllabus. The cost of class trips must be covered for all students, and it is expected that those costs will be covered by department funds. Consistent with this policy, students shall not incur a financial penalty if they are unable complete the trip as planned – for instance, due to illness or emergency, or dropping the class. For these reasons, faculty are encouraged to make clear the academic and logistical expectations of required course travel on an application prior to student enrollment.

Departments seeking additional funds to support class trips and outings, particularly in new or redesigned courses, may submit proposals to the David A. Gardner ’69 Magic Project or the 250^th Anniversary Fund for Innovation in Undergraduate Education.

If you are planning a domestic or international class trip as part of your course, you should consult the travel website for important information on the policies, procedures and guidelines that govern University-sponsored travel. Please note that all University-sponsored undergraduate student overnight travel, with the exception of metropolitan New York City and Philadelphia, must be registered on the travel database. The University will not fund or sponsor undergraduate student travel to countries on the U.S. State Department Warning List or to countries where the United States has issued travel restrictions. International SOS is Princeton's on-the-ground support resource and the Smart Traveler Program provides information and notices for international travelers from the U.S. State Department. We encourage you to contact the Office of International Programs if you have any questions about group international travel.

The University recognizes that, under appropriate circumstances, it can be beneficial for undergraduate students to assist faculty members with the grading of certain types of course work. Undergraduate Course Assistants (UCAs) can derive significant benefits from having this additional opportunity to work with faculty members, while the assistance of UCAs can allow faculty members to devote more time to their advising and teaching responsibilities and otherwise manage their courses more effectively. Before engaging an undergraduate course assistant, please review the University's policy and then contact Wanda Holovacs for the standard terms and conditions.

Faculty and other individuals in instructional roles (preceptors, lab AIs, or undergraduate course assistants) are expected to avoid conflicts of interest in the classroom, as well as the appearance of conflicts of interest, in a manner that is consistent with the University policy on nepotism. Additional guidance about intimate relationships between individuals of different University status can be found in the Dean of Faculty’s rules and procedures for faculty as well as in section 1.3.4 of Rights, Rules, Responsibilities. Both students and faculty should actively avoid situations in which a student enrolls in a course that is taught or graded by a family member (those related by blood or marriage or in the same household) or an individual with whom there is a close personal relationship.

If a course is required and no alternative exists, then all grading and assessment of a student who is related to or has a close personal relationship with the faculty member should be carried out by a different instructor, who is not the instructor’s co-author or research collaborator or in any supervisory relationship with the faculty member. Graduate students should not be assigned as assistants in instruction for a course in which a family member (or individual with whom they have a close personal relationship) is enrolled unless no alternative exists; in that case, grading of the AI’s family member should be carried out by the faculty member or another AI. Undergraduate course assistants may not be assigned as graders for a course in which a family member (or individual with whom they have a close personal relationship) is enrolled.

It is up to you to set clear expectations regarding collaboration on any materials that will be graded in your course (e.g. take-home exams, papers, homework, problems sets or laboratory reports.) The standard for permissible collaboration varies from course to course. Some faculty members permit students to do problem sets together and even to turn in an assignment together; others allow students to discuss the problems but require them to write up their own answers; still others prohibit any collaboration at all on homework. Given the proliferation of technologies that enable students to share information quickly and easily, it is especially important that you set forth your expectations in writing as to what constitutes permissible collaboration on academic work in your course. For sample guidelines, see these course syllabus statements as well as this handout on guidelines for writing assignments. For the specific University policies, consult Academic Integrity, the Undergraduate Announcement and Rights, Rules, Responsibilities. 

Each faculty member may set the policy for the use of laptops in their classroom. The McGraw Center has outlined the factors you may wish to consider in setting a laptop policy.

If an undergraduate student in your course receives a failing grade on their midterm or is otherwise experiencing difficulty, please use the Academic Early Alert system (login required) to submit an academic progress report to the student's residential college staff. A member of the advising staff will reach out to the student and offer appropriate support.

The Office of Disability Services (ODS) offers a range of services to ensure that students with disabilities have equal access to Princeton's academic and extracurricular opportunities. The office facilitates reasonable academic accommodations for qualified students who have submitted documentation verifying a disability. More information is available at www.princeton.edu/ods. The ODS provides a sample course syllabus statement on their website; you will also find a modified version on the ODOC Syllabi Resources.

If an undergraduate student has a chronic, ongoing condition or disability, they might be approved for academic accommodations through the Office of Disability Services (ODS). After ODS approves accommodations, faculty are notified and asked to work with their departments to implement the plan.

Faculty should not, however, provide accommodations that haven’t been identified and approved by ODS. Additional information about ODS accommodation policies and processes can be found on the ODOC website.

Nationally and on Princeton’s campus, more and more students are seeking mental health treatment and counseling services or experiencing mental-health crises. Many report feeling distress during the academic year and often find it challenging to complete their coursework. If a student comes to you in distress, citing personal or mental health or medical issues, please don’t act independently. If you have immediate concerns about the student’s wellbeing or safety, please contact the Department of Public Safety (911 from any campus phone or 609-258-3333 from a cell phone) or the director of student life in the student’s residential college. 

Dean Dolan has offered additional guidance for how faculty should respond to a student in distress who requests relief from academic requirements, explaining that faculty members should not act independently. To ensure equity and consistency, a faculty member should contact the student’s residential college dean if the student requests a change to your course requirements because of a personal or mental health or medical issue. (Students with chronic or ongoing conditions or disabilities may be approved for academic accommodations from the Office of Disability Services (ODS); ODS will notify faculty members directly about students with accommodations.)

The University offers an extensive array of confidential personal counseling and support services. On your syllabus, you may choose to indicate ways your students can access mental health and other support resources on campus.