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College of Humanities and Social Sciences
Department of English

Department Policies

Telephones

Due to budget shortfalls, long-distance calls can not be charged to most office phones. If you need to make a long-distance call, please use your cell phone.

General phone use instructions:

  • Dial “7 + 1” to receive an outside dial tone.
  • Do not use the “7 + 1” when dialing five-digit campus extensions.
  • When making long distance calls, dial 7 + 1 + area code + number.

Fax

Our Fax number is 919-515-1836. The fax machine is integrated into the faculty copier outside the Head’s office. Please remember that the departmental fax machine is for professional use only. Personal faxes can be sent and received at Kinko’s, which is about three blocks away, beyond the library on Hillsborough St.

Copy Policy

The English Department copy policy is as follows:

2,000 copies: Administrative Faculty and Staff
1,500 copies: TT/NTT Faculty
1,000 copies: Graduate Teaching Assistants

Copy allowances for the spring semester will be based upon actual copying expenses for the fall less available funding. It is not guaranteed that we will be able to issue the same number of copies for the spring, so please use your allowance judiciously. Please consider sending electronic documents to your students as email attachments or internet links as often as possible. Also, instead of copying book pages, consider scanning the pages once and creating a pdf document that can be emailed to students or uploaded to Moodle.

Manuscripts: Faculty are allowed to print one black & white copy of a book manuscript per year, preferably directly from your computer to the WolfCopy copier (“t-221-multi2 on wolfcopy.oit.ncsu.edu”). A second copy on the copier is permissable if necessary.

Swipe your campus ID card OR manually enter your unity ID and password to log onto the copiers. If you are new to the department, see the Head’s assistant to be granted access.

Event Publicity

There are several ways to publicize your upcoming events. A one-stop resource for event publicity help is the college’s communication resources page. Here, you will find information about sharing events to the H&SS and English website calendars, creating and uploading digital bulletin board slides, and more.

To request publicity for an event or news item on social media, email english-media@ncsu.edu. The English department is on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Absence From Campus

In the case of anticipated absences, tenure-track and tenured faculty must notify the department in advance. You must specify the length of your absence and the provisions you have made for covering your classes during that time. That form will go directly to the Department Head; however, you should also give a copy of the form to the Director of Undergraduate Studies or the Director of Graduate Studies, (or both) depending upon the courses affected. For instructors in the First-Year Writing program, these forms should be turned in directly to the program director in 242.

This form should be submitted at least two weeks prior to the absence.

Submit an absence from campus form here.

When illness or emergency necessitates unforeseen absences from class, those teaching in Professional Writing or First Year Writing classes should notify the First-Year Writing Program coordinator at 515-4108; those teaching in all other curricula should notify the Undergraduate Programs Coordinator at 515-4110. When the office is shorthanded, program assistants may ask available faculty members to cancel classes.

Current Course Syllabus Files

All faculty should turn in copies of all current course syllabi at the beginning of each semester. Those teaching in the First Year Writing Program should submit syllabi to Samantha Fowler in T246. Syllabi for all other undergraduate courses should be turned in to the Undergraduate Programs Coordinator in T246. Syllabi for graduate courses should be turned in to Jenny Tiet via email at graduate-english@ncsu.edu. These syllabi provide crucial information when faculty are absent; they also provide helpful models when new faculty (or those teaching the course for the first time) are putting together a syllabus.

Curriculum Vitae

ALL faculty should make sure a current CV is on file with the department. This should be submitted electronically to the Head’s assistant upon request every year.

Travel Policy / Online Travel System

ALL travel must be entered into the online Travel Authorization system for approval PRIOR to the travel date. Travel that is approved through the authorization system can later be reimbursed should funds become available. Reimbursement is always contingent upon available funds, and travelers must file for reimbursement within 30 days of their return date.

PLEASE NOTE: When you submit for reimbursement, you must upload your receipts to your Travel Reimbursement Form and provide explanations for expenses.

The online system is accessed through MyPackPortal. Log in with your unity ID, click the “Travel Center” icon, and then click the “Travel Authorization” button.

Guide for using the online travel system

The first time you log in to the Travel System you will be asked to provide a default account. Unless you are working on a grant, this account is 201550.

Note: Third-Party Lodging is now completed via an online form as well.

Grant Applications

All grant applications—both internal and external—should be submitted to the Department Head at least 7 days in advance of deadlines for submitting them to GAMS (Grant Approval and Management System) or other funding processes.

Tutorial Help for Students

Students can receive tutorial help from several sources. Undergraduate students can go to Writing and Speaking Tutorial Services at go.ncsu.edu/wsts or the Undergraduate Tutorial Center at www.ncsu.edu/tutorial_center/ or 515-3163.

Writing Resources for Graduate Students:

Help is also available through some individual colleges (e.g., Engineering) and, for athletes, through the Athletic Department. In fact, the Athletic Department will send you periodic requests for assessment of a student’s progress if an athlete is taking one of your classes. For engineering majors, Gary Wineberg is the contact (515-3545 / weinberg@eos.ncsu.edu).

Handling Medical Emergencies

The best way to handle a medical emergency in your classroom is to remain with the affected person and have a student call campus security at 515-3333; they will provide medical assistance immediately. Security or fire emergencies are also handled by calling 515-3333. There are campus phones in all NCSU buildings; please take a minute at the beginning of the semester to locate the one nearest you.

Office Assignments

Faculty Offices are typically assigned according to the guidelines below:

  • Private offices are provided to all Full and Associate Professors.
  • Private offices are also provided to anyone on an administrative appointment who is not yet an Associate Professor, e.g. Assistant Professors and NTT.
  • NTT faculty typically share an office with 1 or more NTT faculty.
  • Those routinely teaching evening classes are given office space on the ground floor or on the first floor to ensure student access to instructors.
  • Seniority, available office space, nature of work assignment, and a history of recent moves also figure into office assignments.

Other considerations:

Dates of occupancy: For new faculty, offices are typically available the last week of June or the first week of July, when the break between summer sessions occurs. Should this present a hardship, Stephanie McBroom (513-0391) should be notified to work out alternative plans.

For internal moves, the same time frame is typically the best for relocating. Those who are swapping offices may, however, come to a private arrangement about moving at an alternative time.

If you need keys or have questions about office assignments, contact Stephanie McBroom in Tompkins 217.

Professor Office Hours

All professors should schedule time during each week when they are available to meet with students. Those teaching on campus should designate at least two hours of office availability per week for every course being taught. Up to one hour of that time can be set aside for electronic communication with students as opposed to office availability. Faculty should also indicate their availability “by appointment” on all syllabi and posted schedule cards.

In lieu of designating specific hours of availability, faculty teaching online courses should respond to student emails within a 24-hour period Monday through Friday. That is, instructors should check and respond to email at least once a day during the instructional week to ensure a prompt reply to student queries.

These conditions of availability for faculty teaching on campus and online courses apply to summer teaching as well as to fall and spring semester assignments.

Early each semester, faculty members should produce two copies of their schedule of office hours and class times, one to be posted on their bulletin boards and one to be filed with the department. Cards for this schedule will be provided. Faculty with advisees should also leave sufficient time during registration periods for advising.”

See Academic Regulation at: https://policies.ncsu.edu/regulation/reg-02-20-13/

Attendance Regulations

Teachers in 200-level courses must adhere to the university’s attendance regulation.

Please be reminded that the attendance regulations provide the expectation that students be granted reasonable excused absences and attendant opportunities to make up missed work. In doing so, we should be sensitive to the variety of legitimate conflicts for which allowing excused absences are respectful of students’ situations. These types of situations are described in item 1 of the attendance regulation.

See Academic Regulation at: https://policies.ncsu.edu/regulation/reg-02-20-03-attendance-regulations/

Please also be sure that the students attending your class are on your roster. Only registered students are permitted to attend class meetings. If you are willing to add an unregistered student to your class, please see someone in Student Services to assist you prior to the 10th day of the semester.

Adding and Dropping Courses

Courses may be added during the first five days of a semester and up to 10 days into the semester with permission of the instructor. All courses may be dropped without regard to course load during the first 10 days of a semester. After the first 10 days, students wishing to drop below 12 hours may do so only by complying with the regulation’s ‘Exceptions.’ See complete academic regulations at http://policies.ncsu.edu/regulation/reg-02-20-02.

Add/Drop Forms

This form is used to change a student’s schedule after the deadline to add/drop with instructor permission, when a student has exceeded the number of times he/she is allowed to fail a class (3 times; may not be eligible for financial aid), when a student wants to add a class but doing so would exceed the total credit hour load limit, or when a student wants to change to audit a course after the deadline.

Forms are available from Student Services in T246:
For 110, 111, 112, 113, see the Samantha Fowler
For 200-, 300-, 400- level courses, see the Undergraduate Programs Coordinator
For 500- and 600- level courses, see Jenny Tiet

Forms are also available from the Dean’s office and in Registration and Records.

Submitting Grades and Granting Incompletes

At the end of each semester, a link for each section’s grade roster appears in the MyPack Portal faculty center. The university asks that instructors post final course grades within 48 hours of the section’s final exam.

For a comprehensive grading resource, including various types of F grade options, visit https://registrar.ncsu.edu/facultygradinginfo/.

Incomplete grades can be issued via MyPack Portal/SIS.

Scholarly Reassignment

Tenured and tenure-track faculty are invited to apply in the fall semester for a reassignment that would begin the subsequent academic year and to submit a description of the proposed project. For purposes of departmental planning, they should consult with the Head the spring semester before applying. The Advisory Committee will evaluate the applications. In granting reassignments, the Committee will weigh most heavily the validity and significance of the proposal. reassignments are normally granted for major research or creative projects.

After receiving a reassignment, a faculty member is expected to return to NC State for a full year. A faculty member will normally be expected to complete five years of service at NC State before being eligible for another reassignment. Up to a maximum of one year may be credited for a national fellowship, a visiting professorship elsewhere, or an unpaid leave for professional purposes.

Applications will include a description of the proposed project. The methodology of the research, a time-table for writing, the intended form of publication of distribution, a statement explaining how this proposal ties in with previous professional development and long-range goals and an explanation of how the faculty member’s duties will be covered in their absence. The application should also include a copy of the applicant’s previous proposal, if applicable, and a summary of the results of that reassignment and a current CV. If “significant progress” is not to be demonstrated through publication in established outlets such as refereed journals, the applicant must justify grounds for evaluating such progress.

The deadline for scholarly reassignment applications is established annually by the department head. The application cover sheet will be available in the department Head’s office or online at: https://hr.ncsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/schol-assignment.pdf. 

Upon return from a scholarly reassignment, a faculty member is expected to file an account of his/her scholarly activities during that reassignment, specifying the progress made on proposed projects. One copy of that account should be filed in the Department Head’s office; a second copy should be sent to Missy Seate, Director of Research Administration, at missy_seate@ncsu.edu.

For more information concerning Off Campus Scholarly Reassignments, please visit the university’s Rules and Regulations page on Scholarly Reassignments at: http://policies.ncsu.edu/regulation/reg-05-20-24.

Providing Accommodations to Students with Disabilities

Currently, there are approximately 800 students with disabilities enrolled at N.C. State. Taking appropriate steps to accommodate these students is an important responsibility for each college within the university. The Disability Services Office (DSO) assists the colleges in fulfilling that responsibility. To that end, the DSO notify faculty in advance if students requiring accommodations have been scheduled for their courses. This notification takes the form of a confidential letter identifying the student and the reasonable accommodations that should be made. In many cases, the DSO will provide the necessary equipment or testing environments for these students, but faculty will need to make sure that the accommodations are planned for and provided. Faculty can be held personally liable if they fail to make such accommodations. Additional resources for teaching students with disabilities can be found at https://dro.dasa.ncsu.edu/faculty/teaching-students-with-disabilities/. Questions regarding the provision of reasonable accommodations to students should be directed to Mark Newmiller, Director, 2815 Cates Avenue, Suite 2221, Campus Box 7509 or 513-3768.

ADA basics for all faculty members:

Faculty members should make an announcement at the beginning of each semester and on course syllabi inviting students with disabilities to schedule an appointment to discuss academic accommodations.
Faculty should also include information about campus disability services on their syllabi. See http://policies.ncsu.edu/regulation/reg-02-20-07 for specifics (2.15. Statement for students with disabilities).
Faculty should not make any agreements with students about accommodations without formal notification from DSO that the student is officially recognized by their office; any student claiming a disability must have documentation from DSO; students suspecting a disability that has not been documented can be directed to DSO for testing.
Any print notices handed out or mailed out by faculty and departments or those posted on classroom or departmental doors will need to be provided in appropriate alternate format (this usually means larger fonts).
Faculty with websites should also make sure that these sites are accessible to students with disabilities. For more information on ADA accessibility, go to http://accessibility.ncsu.edu/ or call or 513-3556.

For further information about the kinds of students and accommodations that DSO oversees, consult their website at http://dso.dasa.ncsu.edu/ or call DSO at 515-7653.

University Asset Tracking

University/College assets (computers, software, offices keys, etc.) issued to all employees are to be tracked on an asset tracking form beginning on the date the assets are assigned. This form can be picked up in T217. The form will be maintained in the employee’s personnel file for the duration of employment with the department, and the employee should be provided a copy. Upon separation, the employee must return issued assets to the appropriate responsible party (e.g., supervisor, personnel representative, and designee), who should initial and mark the date of return by each item. The designee for our department is Stephanie McBroom in T217. The Separation Checklist must be completed at the end of the term of employment. Employees should report any lost or stolen items as soon as possible. Please follow the usual protocols for reporting such losses.

Flower and Gift Fund

The Flower and Gift Fund has served us well over the years in providing for departmental expressions of gratitude or sympathy to members of our faculty and staff. With the funds that you contribute, we are, for example, able to give the administrative staff holiday gifts, send flowers to hospitalized colleagues or to those who have experienced a death in their families, and thank the custodial staff at the end of each semester. In some instances, we have also found it appropriate to send expressions of sympathy to the families of students who have experienced personal losses.

Please put your contribution in an envelope and give it to the Head’s assistant in T221.

Thank you for your generosity.