Good Teaching Practices

It is the responsibility of faculty, staff, and students to create an academic community that is free from all forms of prejudice that negatively influence learning, such as those based on age, ethnicity, gender, mental or physical impairment, race, religion, sexual orientation, or gender identity. All faculty, staff, and students should treat one another with courtesy and respect.

Every Instructor is Responsible For:

  • Informing his or her students within the first two weeks of the course of the objectives, content, assignments, policy on return of student work, and examination procedure in each course and, within reason, abiding by those statements;
  • Specifying in writing within the first two weeks of the course the methods by which the instructor determines the final grade in the course;
  • Ensuring that all materials assigned are equally available to all students in the course;
  • Informing students of the generally accepted conclusion on the subject matter of the course when those conclusions differ from the conclusions of the instructor;
  • Giving adequate advance notice of major papers and major examinations in the course;
  • Providing assignments to permit students to benefit from evaluative experiences during the course;
  • Being fair and impartial in evaluating all student performances, i.e., evaluating all students according to common criteria;
  • Allowing students to review papers and examinations in a timely manner after those papers and examinations have been evaluated.
  • Making himself or herself available for conferences during announced, regular office hours;
  • Treating students with courtesy and respect at all times. Courtesy and respect do not prohibit strong criticism directed at the student's academic errors and scholarly responsibilities.
  • Endeavoring to ensure that the learning environment is free from all forms of prejudice that negatively influence student learning, such as those based on age, ethnicity, gender, mental or physical impairment, race, religion, sexual orientation, or gender identity.
  • Adhering to the Class Attendance Policy.
  • Adhering to the Statement on Professional Ethics of the Miami University Policy and Information Manual: As teachers, professors encourage the free pursuit of learning in students. Teachers exemplify the best scholarly standards of their disciplines. They demonstrate respect for students as individuals and adhere to their proper roles as intellectual guides and counselors. Professors make every reasonable effort to foster honest academic conduct and to assure that their evaluations of students reflect students true merit. Faculty members respect the confidential nature of the relationship between professor and student. They avoid any exploitation of students for their private advantage and acknowledge significant assistance from them. Professors protect their academic freedom. No faculty member shall be obliged to make the academic work of students available for inspection by any third party in the absence of compulsory legal process without bona fide academic reasons or without the express written consent of the student.
  • Assuming the positive obligation to confront students of suspected academic dishonesty.