Course Management Policy

AC–CLIS-POL-009 Course Management Policy
Department	Academic
Approval Date	June 25, 2020
Effective Date	September 8, 2020

Organizational Scope

The policy applies to all staff, faculty, and students in all programs offered in The Michener Institute of Education at UHN (“Michener”).

Purpose

The purpose of the Course Management Policy is to provide students and faculty a framework for common understanding regarding the structures, processes, objectives and requirements that pertain to Michener courses.

Policy

The course outline acts as a contract between Michener and its students and contains critical course information. It is the responsibility of the faculty to ensure that the commitments made in the course outline are met and it is the responsibility of the learner to satisfy the competencies identified in the outline. The course outline is also a historical record of the curriculum undertaken by any one cohort of students.

Policy Elements

1.0 Course Outlines

All course outlines will include, at a minimum, the information attached in the sample course outline (Appendix A). Course outlines may be supplemented by more detailed information provided periodically throughout a course.

Student Information

Students enrolled in a course will be provided electronic access to the course outline on Michener’s intranet 30 days prior to the start of class.

Faculty Information

Faculty members are responsible for creating course outlines for Michener curricula. All course outlines are to be prepared electronically in an editable format. The Course Outline Procedure details the distribution of course outlines by faculty such that:

• All course outlines required of a program are prepared and available on Michener’s intranet 30 days prior to the start of the semester in which the course is to be delivered;
• The location of course outlines, including learning plans, teaching notes and learner resources, will be established and maintained by Program Administrative Assistants in a Program folder on a shared institutional digital archive.
• Both editable (e.g., Word) and publishable (e.g., PDF) versions of course outlines shall be made available

If changes are made to particular sections of a course during the course’s delivery (as per item 7.0 below), those changes will be recorded in the electronic file for archival and/or distribution purposes.

2.0 Courses with Multiple Sections

In cases where there are multiple sections (i.e. multiple lecture, lab, tutorial, clinical groups) within a course) of the same course, there are standard expectations that are common to all sections of the course. These include:

• Competencies will be the same for all student groups
• Assessment weighting will be the same for all student groups

3.0 Student Assessment

• Final grades for each course are expressed as a pass/fail grade or a numerical (percentage) value which is translated to a letter grade as per the Grading Policy.
• The standard numerical course pass mark is a minimum grade of 60% (C-).
• Any courses that employ a pass mark that differs from the above standard (e.g., students must get a minimum 60% grade and pass a specific Performance Assessment Task (PAT) to pass a course) must be supported by the Academic Chair and clearly articulated in the course outline.
• Assessment methods shall be aligned with the course competencies.
• A minimum of two (2) assessment strategies per course are generally recommended.
• PATs must be clearly detailed as part of the course outline (see Appendix A).
• Normally, no one PAT that is graded numerically shall be worth more than 40% of the total course grade.
• The number of PATs within a course should be consistent with the nature of the competencies assessed within the course (i.e. two (2) or more).
• Students normally receive the results of at least one (1) assessment (may include formative assessment) no later than the period between the 20th day of classes, but before the end of the 7th week of scheduled classes (please refer to Michener’s Academic Dates as posted on the Michener website or Intranet for course withdrawal deadlines);
• Turnaround time for marking of all in-course assessments is a maximum of 10 business days.
  • Turnaround time for marking of final assessments should be considered in the assessment scheme and method chosen for the course.
• Students may request, via Michener e-mail, to review their assessments (with the exception of final exams) within ten (10) business days of receiving the results; and
• Students may request, via Michener e-mail, a breakdown of performance on a final exam within ten (10) business days receiving the results.

4.0 Posting of Assessment Results

• Assessment results excluding final exams shall be communicated to students within 10 business days.
• Official grades will be posted to Michener Self-Service portal once approved by the Promotion Review Committee (PRC) as per the Grading Policy and Procedure.

5.0 Changes to Published Assessment Scheme

After the course outline is published, it may be of benefit to the student for faculty to revise the assessment scheme. When this is the case, the faculty member will seek approval for the changes from their Academic Chair prior to discussing with the class. Such revisions should reflect material covered as deemed appropriate by the professor.

Revisions shall be arranged as early as possible in the course, and should be confirmed, both verbally and in writing (i.e. via email or posting to course LMS site). Within five (5) business days, any student who feels negatively impacted by the revisions may express, in writing, his/her concern to the faculty. The faculty member will work with the student to ensure the student is not compromised by the decision to revise the assessment scheme.

When the change involves only the extension of a deadline, a minimum of five (5) business days’ notice from the original deadline is required. In the case of other changes (e.g. in the number, mix, and/or weighting of methods of assessment) students will be given as much notice as possible, normally at least 15 business days, to allow them to adjust their course work plans.

6.0 Changes to Schedules

6.1 Changes to Scheduled Assessments

Changes to scheduled assessments as per the course outline must have the support from 80% of the class. Changes shall be arranged as early as possible in the course, and confirmed in writing by Michener email. Within five (5) business days, any student who feels negatively impacted by the change may express, in writing, his/her concern to the faculty.  The faculty member and Academic Chair will work with the student(s) impacted.

6.2 Changes to Class Schedules / Environment

Changes to class schedule and / or learning environment may be required. Any changes must be approved by the respective Academic Chair. Changes shall be arranged as early as possible in the course and confirmed in writing (by Michener email and posted on course LMS site). Within five (5) business days, any student who feels negatively impacted by the change may express, in writing, his/her concern to the faculty. The faculty member and Academic Chair will work with the student(s) impacted.

7.0 Changes to Course Outline Documents

Michener reserves the right to make changes to the course outline during the semester as needed (or as circumstances arise). All changes must be made in consultation with and approved by the Academic Chair. When changes are necessary to the course outline during the course’s delivery, as described above, faculty shall update the electronic course outline file, and submit to the Program Administrative Assistant in order to update the published documents. As part of course hand-off to another faculty member, a CLIS consultation shall occur to ensure quality assurance of all course documents. If competencies are changed within a course, the course must be re-mapped to the profession’s competency profile at the same time to ensure there is no competency overlap or gap within the program. Course competencies must not be changed during the delivery of the course.

8.0 Course Revisions and Quality Assurance

Course changes can be categorized as New, Major, or Minor as per the criteria outlined below and are required to be approved at the Academic Approval Council (AAC).

New courses are those where:

• The content is new to the organization and there are no, or limited, external resources that can be drawn upon.

Major course revisions are those that are deemed to:

• Impact the total number of program hours;
• Change the learning outcomes at the program level, and therefore, may impact accreditation status;
• Include changes in program delivery modes (i.e., e-learning, simulation) in the course or program, based on consultation with the Center for Learning Innovation and Simulation (CLIS);
• Result in a change of program focus;
• Result in changes to program resource requirements (human, physical, fiscal, clinical, facilities, etc.), requiring approval of the Academic Chair;
• Affect more than 50% of the learning outcomes and/or content.

Minor course revisions are those that:

• Affect 20%-49% of the learning outcomes or content; and
• Do not meet the criteria under “Major”

The Procedure, Timeline and Approval Process for course revisions can be found in the Procedures and Processes Appendix of the Academic Approval Council (AAC) Terms of Reference.

9.0 Accreditation

Program Communication Liaisons (PCLs) will collect from faculty copies of a representative sample of completed assessments (from students with different grades) for accreditation purposes. The assessment must be converted to PDF and forwarded to The Centre for Academic Quality (CAQ) for inclusion in the program accreditation file. Student names and identifying numbers will be removed by CAQ from these sample assessments.

Associated Documentation

Academic and Non-Academic Appeal Policy

Academic Approval Council (AAC) Terms of Reference

Academic Service Standards

Academic Standing Policy

Academic Standing Procedure

Course Outline Procedure

Grading Policy and Procedure

Procedures and Processes – Appendix II – AAC Terms of Reference

Promotion Review Committee (PRC) Terms of Reference

Sample Course Outline (Appendix A)

Revision History