Policy: Faculty Expectations

Document Number: 1.012
Title: Faculty Expectations
Effective Date: 08/1/2025
Revised Date: N/A

Policy 

River Parishes Community College (RPCC) is committed to fostering a culture of academic excellence, student success, and institutional accountability. Faculty members play a critical role in achieving the College’s mission by upholding high standards of teaching, service, and professional conduct. This policy outlines specific expectations related to faculty performance and deadline adherence. These expectations are designed to ensure a supportive and engaging learning environment, promote continuous improvement, and align with the strategic goals of the College and the Louisiana Community and Technical College System (LCTCS). 

Faculty Job Description 

RPCC publishes a uniform faculty job description that identifies expectations and job duties related to the faculty role. See “RPCC Faculty Job Description” on the College Policies webpage.  

Adherence to Reporting Deadlines 

All faculty, full-time and part-time, must abide by certain college reporting deadlines, including but not limited to: 

Textbook Adoption: All faculty must, by the date and instructions provided by the Office of Academic Affairs, submit textbook adoptions. Some faculty may be required to use certain textbooks as directed by their Dean or Department Chair. Regardless of whether a standard textbook is used, faculty must complete the textbook adoption process. Faculty who plan to use “Inclusive Access” materials must get approval from their Dean and must have adopted the materials in the Textbook Adoption Portal prior to registration beginning 

Show/No Show Reporting: All faculty must, by the date specified on the Academic Calendar, and according to the instructions provided by the Registrar, report which students have begun attendance in their courses, and which have not. Failure to report which students have or have not begun attendance or inaccurate reporting could constitute federal financial aid fraud, as such reporting is a determining factor in whether a student receives federal financial aid funds. 

Mid-term Grades: All faculty must, by the date specified on the Academic Calendar, and according to the instructions provided by the Registrar, submit midterm grades for each student. 

Program Learning Outcomes Assessment Data: All faculty teaching classes identified for program learning outcome assessment must, by the date specified by the Office of Academic Affairs, report program learning outcomes data in Canvas. 

Final Grades: All faculty must, by the date specified on the Academic Calendar, and according to the instructions provided by the Registrar, submit final grades for each student. Faculty with high school dual enrollment students enrolled in their courses may be asked to submit final grades earlier than the College’s final grade deadline for those high school dual enrollment students who are seniors. The Dual Enrollment Coordinator will alert faculty members of the deadlines for submitting high school senior grades and will identify for faculty which students are high school seniors. 

Commencement: 

Participation in Commencement is considered part of a full-time faculty member’s contractual responsibilities. Permission not to participate in Commencement may be obtained by petitioning the Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs in writing. The College will arrange for a vendor to make academic regalia available to all faculty members for rent or purchase for the occasion. 

Textbooks: 

Requests for complimentary copy textbooks should be sent directly to the publisher. Faculty members are prohibited from selling complimentary textbooks. 

In addition, faculty may not receive royalties from a book that is required reading in the faculty member’s class or profit from the assembly of books or lab materials for sale directly to students. If it is necessary to utilize a faculty-authored book for which the faculty member receives royalties, that income shall be contributed to the College’s Foundation. 

Syllabi: 

All faculty, both part-time and full-time, are required to provide a complete and accurate syllabus to students for each class taught on the first day the class is available in Canvas (5 days prior to the official first day of class on the Academic Calendar). All syllabi must be completed in the syllabus tool inside of Canvas. Uploaded files or other formats of a syllabus are not acceptable. 

All syllabi must conform to the RPCC Syllabi Template and must contain the required elements outlined within the template. Some Departments may require use of a Master or Primary Syllabus, which determines course content. Deans and Department Chairs are responsible for the development and enforcement of Master/Primary Syllabi. Faculty members teaching courses in those Departments are required to utilize the Master/Primary Syllabi and implement the course content contained therein. Latitude is given to faculty, however, to add or emphasize specific content areas. 

Class Cancellations: 

Class cancellations (whether the class is meeting in person or virtually) should be kept to a minimum. Frequent class cancellations may negatively impact faculty evaluations and contract renewal. 

Full-time and adjunct faculty must notify their appropriate Dean/Division Coordinator, Department Chair, and the Campus Director (as appropriate) if a scheduled class meeting (whether that meeting is in person or virtual) is going to be cancelled. 

Faculty should: 

• Email their students via Canvas and post an announcement about the cancelation in Canvas 
• Email their Dean/Division Coordinator and Department Chair 
• Carbon copy the appropriate Campus Director on the email to the Dean and Department Chair if the class is scheduled to meet in person on a campus 

The email should detail if the faculty member has or has not notified the class via email, or if someone else needs to do so (i.e., the cancellation is due to an emergency and the faculty member is unable to contact the students). Deans/Division Coordinators or Department Chairs will make every effort to notify students via Canvas. 

Student Behavior in the Classroom: 

Instructors are referred to the Student Handbook for guidance concerning student behavior in the classroom. The Student Handbook also contains the College’s policy governing situations involving either academic or nonacademic misconduct. 

Instructors are considered the managers of their classroom, whether that classroom is a physical or virtual space. As such, instructors should make clear in their syllabus and the first days of class their expectations for students’ behavior. 

Faculty have the “duty to warn” any student not complying with stated guidelines, inform disruptive students that their behavior is not acceptable, specify what behaviors are required; and inform students of the consequences of not complying with guidelines. If inappropriate behavior continues, faculty may ask students to leave the classroom or virtual meeting space and may seek assistance from the Campus Director or Associate Vice Chancellor of Student Services. 

Academic Responsibility: 

It is a basic principle that every member of the faculty, of any rank, shall always be held responsible for competent and effective performance of his/her duties. The concept of freedom should be accompanied by an equally demanding concept of responsibility. College faculty are citizens, members of a learned profession, and officers of an educational institution. When faculty speak or write as citizens, they should be free from institutional censorship or discipline, but their special position in the community imposes special obligations. As persons of learning and educational officers, they should remember that the public might judge the profession and the institution by their utterances. Hence, they should always show respect for the opinions of others, and they should make every effort to indicate that they are not spokespersons for the institution. 

Expectations for Remote Instruction Due to Act of God:

If RPCC pivots to remote instruction/learning due to an Act of God, the following procedures should be followed for each class modality listed below. If you have any questions/concerns or if your plans themselves become impacted by the Act of God event, please reach out to your department chair, division coordinator, or dean for further guidance.  

Lecture and Hybrid (In-Person) Courses  

Class sessions may be shifted to asynchronous (students do not have to attend live or at a specific time to complete the session) or synchronous (students attend live at the same scheduled meeting time through Microsoft Teams). Asynchronous class sessions are preferred if feasible for the class you are teaching. As soon as possible, develop a module (for asynchronous) or remote class session (for synchronous) to be posted in Canvas for any classes scheduled to meet during the designated remote instruction/learning period. Having this done ahead of time (just in case an Act of God happens) is best practice. Send a message and/or post an announcement in Canvas with instructions for accessing the module or remote class session and any other necessary information (ex., shifting of due dates).  

Online Synchronous Courses  

Class sessions may stay in the synchronous format (students attend live at the same scheduled meeting time through Microsoft Teams) or can be shifted to asynchronous (students do not have to attend live or at a specific time to complete the session). Shifting to asynchronous class sessions is preferred if feasible for the class you are teaching. If switching to asynchronous, as soon as possible, develop a module to be posted in Canvas for any classes scheduled to meet. Having this done ahead of time (just in case an Act of God happens) is best practice. Send a message and/or post an announcement in Canvas that your remote class session is still being held or with instructions for accessing the module (if shifting to asynchronous), along with any other necessary information (ex., shifting of due dates).  

Online Asynchronous Courses  

Classes should continue as planned. As soon as possible, send a message and/or post an announcement in Canvas with instructions for your course during this Act of God event, including any other necessary information (ex., shifting of due dates). 

**Notes to consider for all courses during Act of God events: 

• Students may encounter difficulties accessing course content due to inclement weather, poor connectivity, or other unforeseen circumstances. 
• Consider the impact that power outages and loss of internet activity may have on your plans (ex: live class sessions may be inaccessible at the scheduled time). 
• Some school districts may close entirely or pivot to asynchronous learning only, which could impact access to our high school dual enrolled students. 
• Consider both leniency and flexibility. It may not be possible for all students to attend a class session or complete assignments, so additional time may be necessary. 

Expectations for Remote Instruction Due to Leave Situations 

To ensure continuity and quality of instruction for in-person classes, a faculty member who is unable to attend their scheduled lecture or hybrid class is allowed to shift their course(s) to online synchronous or online asynchronous if all of the following apply: 

• the absence is planned (e.g., medical appointments, conferences), 
• the faculty member provides prior notice to their department chair, division coordinator, and dean at least 5 (five) days in advance of the scheduled class meeting(s), and  
• the amount of time the course will be in the shifted format does not exceed 1 week of class(es). 

In all other situations, the faculty member must take official leave and is not permitted to shift their course to online synchronous or online asynchronous formats as a substitute for taking leave. 

Adherence to College Policy 

RPCC faculty are expected to adhere to other RPCC policies not covered in this policy. College policies are published on the RPCC website at the following link: https://www.rpcc.edu/about-us/policies-procedures/index