UCF Policies and Procedures

Faculty and Employee Handbook

The online Faculty Handbook, maintained by the Office of Faculty Relations, contains links to many important regulations, policies, procedures, and guidelines of UCF employment (including the collective bargaining agreement). There are also sections on evaluations, tenure, awards, and sabbaticals: http://facultyrelations.ucf.edu.

UCF Policy Manual

The UCF Policy Manual (http://policies.ucf.edu/) lists policies for all employees and students at the university. Faculty-specific policies include the Grading Policy, Course Syllabi, Coursepacks, Final Exams, and Make-Up Assignments For Authorized University Events or Co-curricular Activities.

Please refer also to the Faculty Center's critical policies for faculty document.

In 2009, the Provost issued an email about religious holidays: "It is the practice of the University of Central Florida to reasonably accommodate the religious observances, practices, and beliefs of individuals in regard to admissions, class attendance, and the scheduling of examinations and work assignments. If a test or mid-term exam is scheduled on a religious holiday, the university catalog states that students may request an alternate day for the exam and observe the holiday without penalty. Students are expected to notify their instructor in advance if they intend to observe a holy day of their religious faith."

Classroom Security and Emergencies

In an emergency, dial 911 to reach the UCF Police (their non-emergency number is 407-823-5555).

This PDF offers advice on preventing classroom security issues and what actions to undertake in the event of a classroom or campus emergency.

The Office of Emergency Management maintains a website with resources, plans, and additional information. In the event of a campus closure due to weather, this office will notify the campus population of any campus closures. To ensure course continuity in the event of closures, work with your department chair to develop a plan for curricular adjustments or alternate delivery systems. It is important to recognize that the impact of weather emergencies may be different on regional campuses. Be aware that hurricanes may create scheduling and operational difficulties long before they arrive and there may be persistent effects for days.

FERPA

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) of 1974 stipulates that student records (including grades) be kept confidential. This has ramifications for many faculty functions, including a requirement that grades be posted securely.

The UCF Registrar's Office maintains a Web site on FERPA. Faculty should visit this site to become acquainted with FERPA.

To register for the required FERPA training, please visit http://registrar.ucf.edu/student-records-training.

Accreditation

UCF is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). The UCF Office of Institutional Research also includes this list of links to accrediting websites.

Additional Academic Regulations

• Copyright definitions and help, including Creative Commons and Fair Use
• Copyright practice at UCF
• Security for Information Technology
• Plagiarism and definitions of cheating, disruptive conduct, personal abuse
• Religious holidays: refer to the Academic Calendar for suggested interactions with students regarding religious holidays.
• Personal relationships with students: see Resolution 2007-2008-1 of the Faculty Senate (September 2007)

Accessibility

The University of Central Florida is committed to providing all students with equitable access to the best possible opportunities for academic success. This commitment includes adhering to requirements in the Americans with Disabilities Act that course materials be accessible to all students. UCF's Office of Student Accessibility Services works with faculty members on a regular basis to facilitate accommodations, but as more faculty members innovate to incorporate web-based media into their online and face-to-face classes, we must be diligent to ensure that accessibility remains a top priority.

Faculty members are responsible for providing ADA-compliant materials for students in their courses. If you have a question about materials in your course, the following offices are available to help address the matter:

• Student Accessibility Services coordinates accommodation efforts and can provide services such as creating a transcript of a recorded lecture, coordinating with the Center for Distributed Learning for captioning, and providing consultation on making audio or video components accessible. Contact SDS by calling 407-823-2371 or by e-mailing SAS@ucf.edu
• The Center for Distributed Learning can help caption videos from provided transcripts and develop text-based materials that are accessible for students who are visually-impaired. They provide guidelines and support for making online media accessible. They will also consult with faculty members on accessibility strategies during both course development (such as ensuring the use of ALT tags on images) and course delivery (such as methods to allow extra time during assessments for students with learning disabilities). Online faculty members should work directly with their assigned instructional designer or may contact CDL by calling 407-823-4910 or by e-mailing distrib@ucf.edu
• The Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning can help faculty members create and design course materials and teaching strategies that will accommodate differences among students and offers workshops and one-on-one consultations for faculty members. Contact FCTL by calling 407-823-3544 or by e-mailing fctl@ucf.edu

If you have any questions, please contact Pamela Rea, director of Student Disability Services, by calling 407-823-2371 or by e-mailing Pamela.Rea@ucf.edu

Preventing Discrimination

The University hosts numerous workshops on preventing discrimination that apply to all employees, faculty members, and students employed as graduate assistants. To find the next workshops, access the list in the Portal using these steps:

• log in to myUCF
• click "Employee Self-Service" in the left-side menu
• click "Learning and Development"
• click "Request Training"
• click "Search by Course Name"
• type “Preventing” in the text box (do not use quotation marks) and click SEARCH
• under “Preventing Discrimination-ALL" (course DPT), click “View Available Sessions” to see the upcoming workshops.