How do I…
…learn more about OAK (Online Access to Knowledge), VU’s course management system?
…order books for my class?
…use e-reserve?
…prepare a ClassPak (commonly used name at Vanderbilt for course packs)?
…get copies made for my class?
…find out the classroom to which I’ve been assigned and where it is located?
…request a new classroom?
…request a TA?
…submit grades to the Registrar?

…learn more about OAK (Online Access to Knowledge), VU’s course management system?

OAK is Vanderbilt’s collection of course management tools. It is powered by Blackboard, a commercial course management system used at many universities.

Each school and college provides orientation to and training—as requested—for the classroom management systems it supports.  The Getting Help page of OAK provides the name of and contact information for the support person in your school.

Additionally, OAK has a Training page with a link to the full Blackboard instructor’s manual. For information on OAK’s integration with other tools, such as Turning Point (the classroom response system used by many instructors) and SafeAssign (used to verify student written work against a set of academic papers), visit the OAK Elements page.

…order books for my class?

Faculty teaching in A&S, Blair, and Engineering may contact Alyssa Spencer (343-8480), Textbook Manager for the Vanderbilt University Bookstore, to order books. Faculty teaching in Divinity, Law, Medicine, Nursing, Owen, and Peabody may contact Andrew Jones (343-1523) at the Bookstore to order books.
Many departmental administrative assistants and administrative officers, particularly in the professional schools, will order books and desk copies for you, so it may be helpful to check with them first. (Note that the Bookstore cannot order desk copies for you.)

Owen faculty, please contact Academic Programs at Owen for your procedures.

…use e-reserve?

Copyright Clearance Services (CCS) provides information on e-reserves and online course readings. Peabody faculty members can also view anonline tutorial about e-reserves. CCS is happy to help faculty members, particularly new ones, navigate the e-reserve process. Contact them at 936-4627 or copyright@vanderbilt.edu.

Many departmental administrative assistants and administrative officers, particularly in the professional schools, will help you place materials on e-reserve, so it may be helpful to check with them first.
Owen faculty, please contact Academic Programs at Owen for your procedures.

Note that just linking to an article available through the Vanderbilt Library or another website does not require additional permissions. It is only if you want to post a PDF or other electronic copy of an article (such as a scan of a print article not available via the Library’s electronic holdings) to your course website or OAK site that requires going through the permission process.

…prepare a ClassPak (commonly used name at Vanderbilt for course packs)?

Copyright Clearance Services for the Jean and Alexander Heard Library handles ClassPak requests. A request form is available online.

Many departmental administrative assistants and administrative officers, particularly in the professional schools, will prepare your originals and submit them for copyright clearance, copying, and binding of materials into a Class Pak. Please note the recommended 8-week turnaround time for Class Pak requests.

Owen faculty, please contact Academic Programs at Owen for your procedures.

…get copies made for my class?

Many departmental administrative assistants and administrative officers, particularly in the professional schools, provide this service. If not, there will be a photocopier available for your or your TA’s use. This photocopier may require an access code, which the administrative assistant or officer can provide you.

Owen faculty, please contact Academic Programs at Owen for your procedures.

…find out the classroom to which I’ve been assigned and where it is located?

You can find your room assignment by searching for your course in YES (Your Enrollment Services).

Once you know where you will be teaching, use the interactive campus map to find the location of the building. (If you give the page a couple of minutes to finish loading, you’ll find a dropdown box listing all buildings on campus.)

…request a new classroom?

In circumstances where it is necessary or very important to change your classroom, contact the registrar for your college or school.

Owen faculty, please contact Academic Programs at Owen for your procedures.

…request a TA?

Speak with the chair of your department or the appropriate dean in your school or college; s/he will know the criteria and the procedure for requesting a TA.

…submit grades to the Registrar?

When the time comes, you will be asked to submit grades via Online Grading. Search for your course, and click on Final Roster to submit grades.

Do I need to…
…take attendance in my class?
…submit deficiency reports for my students?
…make reference on my syllabus to policies about accommodations for students with disabilities?
…include other information or policies on my syllabus?
…report incidents of students experiencing sexual harassment?
…have a key to get into my classroom or the building it’s in?
…let anyone know if I have to miss a class due to illness?

…take attendance in my class?

While most colleges and schools do not have a school-wide policy, some departments do have attendance requirements for some courses (e.g., undergraduate language courses). Additionally, several weeks into the semester, the registrar of your college or school will ask you to report any discrepancies between students enrolled in your course and students attending it. You won’t be able to report discrepancies if you haven’t been taking attendance. Faculty who anticipate having more than 100 students in a course are advised to speak with their department chair or a member of the dean’s office to determine if and how to keep attendance.

…submit deficiency reports for my students?

If this is the case for your college or school, the registrar of your school will prompt you in the 7th week of the term to report failure to meet attendance, work, or other academic standards for your course. Undergraduate faculty are asked to submit deficiencies for any student earning C minus or below and/or any student with excessive absences.

…make reference on my syllabus to policies about accommodations for students with disabilities?

Vanderbilt’s Equal Opportunity, Affirmative Action, & Disability Services (EAD) department recommends you include the following information in your syllabus:   “If you need course accommodations due to a disability, if you have emergency medical information to share with me, or if you need special arrangements in case the building must be evacuated, please make an appointment with me and/or the EAD (2-4705) as soon as possible.”

Additionally, you may find the CFT’s guide on Teaching Students with Disabilities helpful.

…include other information or policies on my syllabus?

Recommended items include:

• a description of the course that corresponds to and, as desired, elaborates on the catalog entry for it;
• a narrative or list of goals or learning outcomes for the course;
• an outline of material to be taught with, as possible;
• a timeline or calendar for when material will be taught;
• a list and, as possible, an explanation of assignments to be completed, along with due dates or examination dates;
• the grading scale and criteria to be applied to assignments;
• information for students with special needs; and
• mention of the honor code and how it applies to your course.

If you teach in a college or school with accreditation or licensure requirements, there may be information that has to be on your syllabus, and so you should consult the appropriate dean in your college or school to make sure your syllabus complies with such requirements.

…report incidents of students experiencing sexual harassment?

Yes. Sexual harassment is any unwanted, unsolicited, or undesired attention of a sexual nature and is a violation of federal law. The Equal Opportunity, Affirmative Action, & Disability Services (EAD) department provides resources for victims of sexual harassment and is responsible for investigating claims of sexual harassment at Vanderbilt.

If a student reports being sexually harassed to you, you have a responsibility to make sure the incident is reported to the EAD. You may opt to encourage the student to report the incident to the EAD, then follow up with the EAD to make sure the incident has been reported. Alternatively, you may report the incident to the EAD directly.

The EAD respects the confidentiality of those who report incidents of sexual harassment. In fact, you may report such an incident to the EAD without naming the student involved if the student wishes to remain anonymous.

…have a key to get into my classroom or the building it’s in?

It depends, so your best bet is to check with your school or college registrar. If you’re teaching in a seminar room in a Commons residence hall, you should check with Kenny Moore, Assistant Director of the Commons Center

…let anyone know if I have to miss a class due to illness?

Check with your department for information on local policies about missing classes due to unexpected illnesses.

One option is to call your department’s administrative assistant and ask for a note to be placed on your classroom door to let your students know you’ve had to cancel class.

You can also email your students directly through OAK. To do so, visit your course within OAK, click on Course Tools in the sidebar, then click on Send Email.

Where Can I Get More Information About…
…privacy issues regarding student academic records?
…providing appropriate accommodations for students with disabilities?
…Vanderbilt’s Honor System and Honor Code?
…Vanderbilt’s policy on Consensual Relations?
…teaching with technology?
…technology assistance?
…resources for students having difficulty in my course?
…religious holidays?
…resources for international instructors?
…grading standards?
…services and offerings provided by the Center for Teaching?
…Vanderbilt undergrads and their lives outside the classroom?

…privacy issues regarding student academic records?

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), also known as the Buckley Amendment, protects the privacy of students’ academic records. In short, grades are to be given to individual students only, and they alone can approve the sharing of their academic information with third parties.

The Office of the University Registrar has a website devoted to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and how it applies to student privacy at Vanderbilt. All faculty are encouraged to view the Registrar’s FERPA tutorial.

To gain access to certain academic record systems managed by the Registrar, you will have to pass a quiz on their tutorial. Your college or school may also require you to pass this quiz.

…providing appropriate accommodations for students with disabilities?

The Equal Opportunity, Affirmative Action, & Disability Services (EAD) department handles requests from students for reasonable accommodations for appropriately documented disabilities and will provide you with information about and assistance in providing accommodations as the need arises.

… Vanderbilt’s Honor System and Honor Code?

The Student Handbook provides general information about the Honor System for all Vanderbilt students. The Undergraduate Honor Council enforces the Honor Code for undergraduate students and provides information to the Vanderbilt community about the Honor System as it pertains to undergraduates.  Honor councils exist in many of the professional schools; check with dean of your college or school to learn more about them.

…Vanderbilt’s policy on Consensual Relations?

The policy, designed to help members of the Vanderbilt community “be aware of their professional responsibilities and to avoid apparent or actual conflict of interest, favoritism, or bias,”is located in Part III, Chapter 7 of the Faculty Manual.

…teaching with technology?

A good place to start is the Center for Teaching’s Web page on teaching with technology.  Here, you’ll find ideas about using technologies such as blogs, wikis, and “clickers” in and out of your classroom.  If you want to explore further teaching with a particular technology, a CFT consultant can help you with that exploration.

…technology assistance?

Each college and school has a dedicated technology support unit or units. Click on your college or school name to get information about one such unit in your school or a contact person.  You may have educational technology needs not met by that unit, in which case the person whom you contact within the unit can provide suggestions about another person or unit to contact.

• College of Arts and Science
• Blair School of Music
• Divinity School
• School of Engineering
• School of Law
• School of Nursing
• School of Medicine
• Owen Graduate School of Management
• Peabody College of Education and Human Development

…resources for students having difficulty in my course?

Most such resources at Vanderbilt are designed to meet the learning and academic needs of undergraduate students.  Professional school faculty and those teaching graduate students should consult the appropriate dean of their college or school to see what resources are available for professional or graduate students who are experiencing academic difficulty.

• English Language Center
  (provides English language classes for international students)
• Psychological and Counseling Center
  (in addition to counseling services for all members of the university community, the PCC provides academic skills counseling and workshops for undergraduate and graduate students)
• Stratton Foster Academic Center
  (provides academic support for student athletes)
• Tutoring Services
  (for undergraduates in the College of Arts and Science)
• Writing Studio
  (provides consultation services for undergraduates seeking help with their writing assignments)
• CASPAR, the College of Arts & Science Pre-major Academic Advising Resource Center
  (provides pre-major advising for A&S students)

…religious holidays?

The Office of Religious Life has information about the Vanderbilt policy regarding religious holidays and a link to a 7-year calendar of holy days and festivals.  Offices of deans of Vanderbilt’s colleges and schools routinely send information about holy days and festivals frequently observed by Vanderbilt students to faculty at the beginning of each academic term.

…resources for international instructors?

For resources on teaching in the American classroom, see the Center for Teaching’s set of resources for international instructors.

For assistance with immigration, cross-cultural, and personal matters, see International Student and Scholar Services (ISSS).

For assistance making connections between the Vanderbilt community and the larger world (for teaching or research purposes), see the Vanderbilt International Office (VIO).

…grading standards?

You’re best advised to contact the chair of your department or a member of the office of the dean of your college or school. Grading scales vary from school to school, and grading standards can vary from course to course and department to department.

…services and offerings provided by the Center for Teaching?

The Center for Teaching supports the Vanderbilt teaching community by providing confidential individual consultations with instructors,workshops and working groups focusing on a variety of teaching and learning topics, and a number of print and electronic resources. See the CFT website for more information.

…Vanderbilt undergrads and their lives outside the classroom?

The CFT’s “Teaching Vanderbilt Undergraduates” guide provides information on student demographics, housing and residential education, extracurricular life, and the rhythms of the semester.