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Course Management

Faculty Checklist

Below is a checklist of the tasks that must be completed by faculty in preparing to offer a course, with links to more detailed information on each topic.

Course Description for Catalog

Descriptions for both fall and spring courses must be submitted to the Associate Academic Dean's Office by late March of the previous academic year. See Proposing a New Course for a brief discussion of the course description and other requirements for the catalog pages.

Course Schedule

The Coordinator for Teaching Support schedules all HKS courses. Schedules are drafted in late June, sent to the faculty for comment in early July, and published on the Courses pages on the Internet on August 1. See Scheduling Courses.

Planning for Oversubscribed Courses

All Kennedy School students are allocated a certain number of points to use in bidding for oversubscribed courses. If the course is one that might be oversubscribed, the bidding process must be discussed with the Registrar prior to the semester. See the Information for Faculty on the Registrar's Course Enrollment website for a description of the online enrollment and bidding process.

Syllabus

The syllabus must be posted on the class page a month before the start of class. Syllabi should generall be posted no later than August 1st for Fall Courses and December 1st for Spring Courses, including modules. The specific date changes slightly according to the calendar. Faculty are responsible for posting the syllabus on the Class Page. Faculty should contact  their FSA (Field Systems Analyst) for technical support.

For further information on the content and format of syllabi click here.

Course Materials

Course materials come in many forms: textbooks, course packets, library reserve lists, course web pages, etc. Many of these must be nailed down well before the start of the semester.

Course Assistants and Teaching Fellows (CAs and TFs)

The process of recruiting and assigning CAs and TFs for the next year begins in April. For details on the process and on the kinds of work they may be asked to do, see the CAs and TFs section: Overview and Duties. Fall term CAs and TFs are assigned by August 1, spring term by late November.

Review Sessions

The Coordinator for Teaching Support schedules all weekly review sessions along with the rest of the schedule. Hence the request for a review must be submitted by late March of the previous academic year.

Faculty Office Hours

All faculty are expected to hold at least two hours of office hours per week, including the reading period and exam weeks, at a regular time each week. Each faculty member should post a sign up sheet on his or her door so that students may reserve time.

Rules of Classroom Conduct

Success in managing a class, especially in a course that relies heavily on class discussion, depends in large part on establishing clear rules of operation, preferably before the class starts. Moreover, it's easier to impose such rules when they are viewed as widely used in many classes. The following seven rules were codified by a member of the HKS faculty and are recommended by the Degree Programs Office as an appropriate code for all HKS courses. Click here to view the seven rules.

SLATE (Strengthening Learning and Teaching Excellence)

For more information on a wide range of classroom and pedagological issues, including feedback to and from students, collaborative work, class participation, diversity, using technology in the classroom, etc., click here to connect with SLATE.

Field Trips and Classroom Visitors

Field Trips

Occasionally faculty want to take their class on a site visit. The school does not officially sponsor field trips, nor does it provide funding, transportation, or insurance for offsite trips. Usually faculty make the arrangements themselves and the costs of transportation are borne by the students. If the trip is to an area where students could be at risk, faculty should require each participating student to sign an appropriate release form. For further information about release forms, please contact the Registrar.

Classroom Visitors

While inviting visitors to speak to a class is not discouraged, faculty should be careful not to have so many visitors that the students' exposure to the primary faculty member is diminished. This holds especially for practitioners who hold teaching appointments at the Kennedy School. Students typically take a course offered by a practitioner with the expectation that his or her experiences and reflections will be the core of the course.

Although the School does not pay honoraria for guest speakers in classes, faculty may apply for funds to offset up to 2/3 of reasonable travel expenses for the guest speaker. Ordinarily the 2/3 share covered by the Academic Dean's Office does not exceed $500 per visitor or $1000 per course. Courses with small enrollments may be funded less frequently than those with larger enrollments. To apply for funds, email the Associate Academic Dean in advance of the visit, indicating the course, the speaker, the date, and the expected costs. If approved, the faculty member's assistant processes the required paper work.