Additional Teaching Information

When you are hired or asked to train to teach a course, contact the course coordinator (if there’s no course coordinator, the DEC associate chair over curriculum) to find out what texts are required or recommended. Once you know the texts, ask the department or UW to purchase copies for you to use.

If you would like to use different texts or additional texts, you must get them approved by the course coordinator before using them in your class. Unfortunately, most publishers no longer offer instructors free copies of books, so the best way to explore new texts is to (1) borrow them from a colleague, the library, or interlibrary loan, or (2) use your yearly book stipend to purchase them.

Whatever texts you use, be mindful of their cost to students and how much of the text students will use during the semester.

All required and recommended texts must be available for students to purchase at the BYU Store. You can submit your class’s required texts via booklist.byu.edu as soon as you receive your teaching schedule.

During the first week of the semester, students will add and drop classes as they try to create their ideal schedule. When students request to add your class, here’s what you need to know:

• ENGL courses are set up to switch from online registration to add code on the first day of a class. Students must contact the instructor to get an add code. Instructors can use their discretion to prioritize the requests.

• WRTG courses are set up to switch from online registration to add code after the online registration system’s waitlist turns off (on or around the fourth day of the semester). When the waitlist is turned off, instructors can give add codes to students who have been attending class and/or students who would like to add the class.
  
  • WARNING: WRTG instructors should never exceed the allowed number of students per class: 20 for WRTG 150 and 25 for advanced writing classes.
• Instructors create add codes for students by going to AIM > Class Roll > Create Registration Permission-to-Add Codes.

Inevitably, you will have students who withdraw from your class or request an incomplete at the end of the semester. Below is some general information about withdrawals and incompletes. If you have any questions or concerns, reach out to your course coordinator for help.

Withdrawals

Nearly every semester you’ll likely have to talk with students struggling to attend class and/or complete assignments about withdrawing from your class. While you can start the conversation, you should strongly encourage students to visit their academic advisor before deciding to withdraw. (If a struggling student does not have an academic advisor, refer them to the University Advisement Center.)

What you need to know about withdrawals

• Ws are recorded on transcripts. They do not disappear when a student retakes the class.
• When a student fails a class and later retakes it only the most recent grade is factored into their GPA. However courses can only be taken up to three times, and a "W" counts as a course attempt.
• Ws do not count for or against a student’s GPA: scholarships can be saved with a W!
• However, several Ws hurt students’ chances of getting accepted by any type of grad school.

What students need to consider before withdrawing

• Students who have Pell Grants or some private scholarships will have to pay back money for the class they withdraw from if their credit hours fall below full-time status (12 credits).
• Withdrawing from a class may mess up a student’s major’s roadmap to graduation—some majors have courses that must be completed in a certain order.

Again, refer students to their academic advisor and/or financial services so they can be fully aware of their options and the consequences of withdrawing. Also refer to BYU's Course Repeat Policy for a full explanation of BYU's approach to repeating courses: https://enrollment.byu.edu/records-and-registration/byu-course-repeat-policy

Incomplete Contracts

An incomplete contract is an agreement between you and a student that allows a student to finish and submit work after a semester has ended only in cases of a serious, nonacademic emergency that prevented them from finishing a class.

Incomplete contracts, or “incompletes” as they’re called, must be requested by the student and agreed to by you. When you agree to give a student an incomplete, you set the contract’s terms using the university’s incomplete contract program; you also agree to work with the student after the semester has ended.

Guidelines to help you determine if an incomplete contract is a good idea

• The student was attending and passing the class at the full withdrawal deadline (check the academic calendar for the date).
• The amount of work that the student needs to complete is minimal.
• You’re able to set a deadline that works for both you and the student.
• You’re willing to work with the student during the following semester along with your new students.
• You’re aware that the contract allows the student to renegotiate the deadline once.

Sometimes  you need a larger space for group conferences or you need to use the office when your officemate(s) does. Fortunately, you can reserve a JKB mini-conference room (4013, 4072, and 4072A) by calling 801-422-2775 or 801-422-2779. Or you can use a JKB small study room (4026F, 4026G, 4026H, 4026J)—no reservations required! 4027A JKB (next to the copier/work room) is also an overflow workspace.

You have a campus mailbox in 4027 JKB and 4138 JFSB. Orders placed through the English Department staff usually will be placed in your JFSB mailbox. You can access these rooms by using your ID card or the key code "9874123" respectively.

You do not need to use your own funds to make copies and print-outs for teaching purposes. There are currently three ways you can print or make copies:

1. Print directly from your BYU office computer or laptop to a local BYU printer. Contact Humanities Tech Support if you need assistance: 801-422-2600.
   
2. Make copies using the machines located in 4027 JKB or 4138 JFSB.
   
3. Email a copy request to english@byu.edu. Office staff ask that you give them 48 hours in advance, but they are often much speedier! Copies are left in your JFSB mailbox.