TO: Part-Time Faculty, Fall 2008

FROM: The History Department

RE: SOME THOUGHTS ABOUT HOW TO HAVE A SUCCESSFUL TEACHING EXPERIENCE AT MONTCLAIR STATE UNIVERSITY

Please note the information/suggestions below. If you have any questions, feel free to contact Dr. Whelan or Sue (973 655-7848 or 655-5261). Thanks for your help and have a good semester.

BE CONNECTED TO YOUR STUDENTS AND MSU

As soon as your paper work is complete, and your file has been processed through Human Resources, you are required to get an MSU email account (https://netid.montclair.edu/). Please read your messages regularly throughout the semester (http://webmail.montclair.edu/). It’s easy to forward your MSU mail to another email provider if you wish. But, the department and University will contact you during the semester only through your Montclair email address.

Students need to be able to reach you. MSU provides a number of ways for them to do that, specifically, by means of your mailbox in the department office for paper messages; by using your MSU email account; or you can give them a personal email account. Please let your students know on your syllabus which method you prefer. But again, as noted above, the department and University will contact you only through your MSU email account.

MEET YOUR CLASSES

Please arrive on time, in the right classroom, and prepared to teach, that is, with all the supplies you need. When you know you are going to miss class (even if you have arranged for your students to do something else during class time), please let the chair or department secretary know as soon as possible. More than three absences in a semester is unacceptable. Constant lateness is unacceptable. Regularly dismissing classes early is unacceptable. Leaving the classroom during scheduled class time is unacceptable.

Please do not arrange for anyone not employed by Montclair State (your child or spouse or friend, for example) to teach your class or proctor your exams. This is considered to be “subcontracting” and can result in your dismissal. (Believe it or not, each of these problems has come up in the past, and not just once. So, please don’t take offense that we mention what seems to be obvious.)

SUBMIT YOUR PAPER WORK IN A TIMELY MANNER

Please turn in all the necessary paper work for your personnel file as soon as possible. Until all letters of reference, official transcripts, pension forms, etc., have been received, you won’t be put on the payroll.

Once your paper work is complete and your file has been forwarded to Human resources, please arrange with Payroll (Human Resources, College Hall room 314, 973-655-7157) to pick up your check, have it mailed home, or have it automatically deposited.

GET AN MSU I.D. CARD

Students, faculty and staff are required to have a Montclair State University photo identification card. Without an ID card, you cannot use the library or pick up your paycheck. Your first ID card is free, but there is a $10.00 charge for replacement cards.

ASK HOW/WHERE TO CALL

Please ask Dr. Whelan or Sue how to do things and/or who to call – e.g., how to change a grade, how to change a classroom, how to add a student to your class, who to call about technology problems. The procedure that makes the most sense to you may not be “the Montclair way.” Please don’t suffer in silence – ever – about anything. No problem is too small.

IN THE AGE OF COMPUTERS, HANDWRITTEN NOTES DON’T WORK

Please don’t give students handwritten notes. Students have a tendency to believe that these notes solve their problems. If you have questions about university procedures, please ask Dr. Whelan or Sue for advice.

CHECK YOUR CLASS LISTS

Paper copies of current class lists will be put in your department mailbox several times during the semester. You can also check your class enrollments on the MSU web for Faculty and Advisors (https://wfs.montclair.edu/afhomepg.htm). Please check these lists against the students enrolled in class, and ask students whose names don’t appear on the lists to check their registration status with the Registrar’s Office. If a student’s name doesn’t appear on the class list, it’s because the student isn’t registered for your class – and the student’s name won’t appear for a final grade. Allowing a student who isn’t registered to sit in your class can cause serious problems for you and the department later.

SOME CLASSROOM SUGGESTIONS

It’s important to provide students with a course syllabus. In addition to your classroom calendar, readings, course requirements, etc., we ask that faculty teaching 100-level courses include the History Department Program Objectives as part of your course syllabi. (Please see Program Objectives on History Department Adjuncts Blackboard Community.)

We would also like to suggest that you familiarize yourself with the History Department Reading and Assignment Guidelines, and use these guidelines in your course planning. (Please see Department Guidelines on History Department Adjuncts Blackboard Community.)

And also familiarize yourself with the Grading Information on the History Department Adjuncts Blackboard Community. It contains Capsule Definitions for Letter Grades, a Detailed Rubric for Final Grades and a Detailed Rubric for Written Assignments.

MSU provides tutoring services for students, a part of the Center for Academic Development and Assessment (http://www.montclair.edu/pages/cada/Features.html ), located in Morehead Hall rooms 139-145 ( 973 655-4476/4364). If you have identified students with needs, please suggest they contact Tutoring Services.

FOLLOW THE PROCEDURES FOR EXAMS, FINAL GRADES, MAKE-UPS

In general, most faculty give mid-term and final exams, and some written work is expected in every course. Students generally appreciate a review session for mid-terms and finals. This may consist of merely explaining the exam format or may involve a more formal review session.

It is required that you give your final exam only during the designated time (see the Final Exam schedule in the Schedule of Courses booklet or connect through the Registrar’s Office web page - http://www.montclair.edu/registrar/). Final grades are given through the computer, and you must meet the deadline established by the Registrar’s Office for submitting grades. (The Registrar’s Office will send the date and procedure via your MSU email account.)

The course instructor, not the department secretary or anyone else, gives make-up exams. It is your responsibility to arrange a time for the make-up exam and supervise the student during the exam. You may use the department seminar room, but you need to reserve the room with the department secretary beforehand.

CHECK THE WEATHER/EMERGENCY HOTLINE

The University Weather Hotline number is (973) 655-7810. The information will also be posted on the MSU home page (http://www.montclair.edu/), and the Provost’s Office will send an email to your MSU account with weather/emergency information.