Adjunct Check List

Department Google Drive

Syllabi

Schedules and calendars:

  • Here is a link for where you can find the Academic Calendars, Course Schedules, and Bulletins that includes the academic calendar, course schedule, final exam schedule, and other information that may aid in your syllabus prep.
  • If you give a final, it must be during the assigned time slot during finals week (see below on Exams). No finals may be held during regular class periods. If you do not give a final (assign a paper or final project, for instance), you must let the department chair know so that she can sign off on it.

Coping/Scanning

  • You may make copies with the department copier in 3301B James. Please try to be kind to the trees (and the copier, as well as our paper budget) and print as little as you can as a general rule. Syllabi are fine, but do not print readings for classes or similar. You can also use the copier to scan materials and make PDFs, which you can then email to yourself.
  •  Please treat the department’s copier with care and report any malfunctions to the office administrator.  Do not attempt to fix the copier on your own. When the copier is not operational, the office administrator can direct you to alternative, back-up copiers.

Mail

  • Everyone will have a mailbox for paystubs and other official mail in the department copier room (3301B James). If you would also like a mailbox where students can leave work for you or you can leave materials for students (which would be separate from your official mailbox), please contact the department administrator or department chair, and we will assign you one that will be located on the 3301 hallway. We really prefer to NOT have students in our personal mailboxes, so please do speak to us if there is a chance that students may leave you work.

Rosters and Room locations

  • Class rosters are available in the BC portal (under MY TEACHING SCHEDULE from the sidebar menu), CUNYfirst (under Faculty Center), and Blackboard (accessible via CUNYfirst). Room locations are available in CUNYfirst, though we can also advise you if need be.
  • Please contact the department adminstrator if you are not sure where your class will take place and she can help you locate this information.

Overtallying and other registration annoyances

  • Students may ask you for an overtally to join your class. As a policy, the department does not grant overtallies (allowing students into courses over the official cap), except under the most extenuating circumstances, and sometimes not even then. If a student comes to you to request them, please refer them to the department administrator or department chair.
  • If there are students who are not on your roster the first day, but think they have registered, they need to go to the registrar’s office immediately.  They are not registered, no matter what they think/say.

Attendance

  • Brooklyn College requires that we complete a Verification of Enrollment by week 3 of the semester (expect multiple emails with instructions). This is essential to complete for our students as many students’ financial aid relies on being enrolled for a certain number of credits, and that enrollment has to be verified for that aid to get to them. Go to CUNYfirst, in the Faculty Center, where there is a tab for “VOE roster.”

Textbooks

  • We do not require any specific textbooks for any course. Though for this course we do encourage the use of two ethnographies. A number of ethnographies and supplementary readings are available on this OER resource page. Most are completely open access, while the rest are password protected (anth1105) for academic use.
  • BC Portal Listing:   Prior to the beginning of the semester all faculty members must post their course materials/textbooks through “Publicize My Course Materials” section under the “E-Services” tab at the BC Portal account (i.e. http://portal.brooklyn.edu).  To quote the online user manual for the “Post My Course Materials” system:
    • “The College is required by federal law to publicize each course’s required course materials in advance of the term.  This information is also crucial for the bookstores that need to order the materials students will need.  Finally, students face mounting expenses for such materials and need as much time as possible to shop around and get the best prices to meet their limited budgets.
    • “In the weeks or months leading up to each new term, each faculty member should enter, as early as possible, the various books and other materials they will require their students to obtain for the course.  To enter that information, each faculty member must log into the BC WebCentral Portal (http://portal.brooklyn.edu) and access the “Publicize My Course Materials” channel in the “eServices” tab.  The tool is also available in the “SHORTCUTS” section on the left side of the Portal view.
    • “If a department has clusters of sections that share a common course materials list (such as cores, etc.) authorized department staff can share a list amongst multiple sections to avoid repetitive data entry.”
  • Here is a link to a video tutorial on how to list your textbook(s) and materials on line

Exams

  • If you do choose to give a final exam, your final exam is scheduled by the registrar. Final Examinations schedules are printed in the Schedule of Classes distributed to all students.  To find the scheduled time for your final exam, go to the registrar’s website and choose Academic Calendars, Course Schedules, and Bulletins from the side menu. You can then select the semester and then the exam schedule is listed separately under the link, ‘Undergraduate Finals Exam List’.
  • Students will often say that they have an exam scheduled during your exam and ask for a makeup.  This is either incorrect or their other professor has rescheduled the exam against college rules. You should not be too accommodating; ask the student to document their conflict and usually the conflict disappears. Also, contact the department chair should this situation arise.
  • On-line examinations are not permitted, and you may not exempt a student from the final. You may have take-home finals or final papers in place of a final exam. If so, please notify the department chair that you are doing so.
  • Please let Leticia Medina know at your earliest convenience how many blue books and scantrons you will need for the semester so that we can make sure we are covered. If we don’t hear from you, we will assume that you will not need these materials.

Student Academic Progress Alerts and other notices you might receive about students

  • We are required to report on the progress of sophomores, transfers and other flagged students half way through the semester.  You will get a notice as to which students you must report on.
  • If you have any student athletes, you will also get a form to fill out about their progress in your class, which can be interoffice mailed back to them.

Students with Disabilities:

  • If you have any students who appear to be having problems beyond the norm in your class, you may refer them to the Center for Student Disability Services (and they define this broadly, so don’t worry if you are unsure).
  •  You may get a note from the Center for Student Disability Services or from the students themselves that a student may require disability-related academic accommodations. Some of the most common include double-exam time and/or in-classroom assistance (recording lectures, a note-taker, etc.) You will have to sign a form declaring that you have been made aware of their needs and return via interoffice mail to them.  If you have any questions about these students, please contact the Director of the Center for Student Disability Services, Ms. Valerie Stewart-Lovell at 718-951-5538. Typically, you will be required to send tests for these students in advance to their office in 138 Roosevelt Hall for the student to take it there.
  • If students are having writing problems, the Learning Center on the first floor of Boylan Hall can help.  If the problems are particularly serious, you may require them to go and get the tutors to sign something for you documenting their efforts.

Submitting Grades

  • Please refer to the Brooklyn College Faculty Handbook for permitted grades. We grade on the typical letter grade system. Not all grades listed in the handbook apply to our department. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask.
  • All grades are entered on-line using the CUNYfirst system which is available on the portal (http://portal.cuny.edu).
  • Grades are to be submitted within 72 hours of the close of finals. Students are anxiously awaiting their grades. Failure to submit grade is a timely fashion is unprofessional and does not reflect well on both the instructor and the department.

Incompletes and grade changes:

  • In the event that a student took an incomplete and completed the course later or a grade change is required for another reason, you must see the department chair or administrator. You should ONLY do this if you have made explicit arrangements with the student BEFORE you assign the grade. NB: there has been a recent surge in incompletes on campus.  Students often feel that an incomplete is a good option for more time, but it generally compounds their problems in the following semester – so please use this as a last resort. The college would like everyone to note on their syllabus that Incompletes are not allowed except in extraordinary, fully documented circumstances.

Digital Projection

  • Digital projection is easily done in all classrooms with either: a PowerPoint presentation on a flash drive for a USB port; or you may access your google account and use google slides; or you can use the program Keynote which is also on all of the computers. NOTE: DO NOT EXPECT TO BE ABLE TO USE YOUR OWN LAPTOP thought there is a port to do so as often the cable is not the right one, etc.
  • In the event of a breakdown of the equipment in the classrooms, there is a phone in the room and Help desk number to call ITS to come fix it.
  • For problems with computers in the Smart Classrooms, email A.V.P. Mark Gold at ITS for fast efficient service in replacing non-working equipment.

DVD/VCR:

  • All classrooms are outfitted with a DVD and VCR player in the podium with the computer.

Miscellaneous

  • No chalk in your classroom?
    • There is spare chalk in the Department Office in 3307 James.
  • If you are sick/unable to attend class:
    • Cancelling class once, or a maximum of twice, due to instructor illness over the course of a semester is understandable and within reason. But beyond that, it gets problematic, not least because students have paid for a full semester of class, as well as the more immediate pedagogical challenges of trying to catch up after class time is missed.
    • If you come down with something that lasts longer than a single day of class, you must make every effort to find someone to cover your classes. If this is not possible, you must assign class-work for the students to do in your absence (such as a film, an in-class assignment, etc.). While the former can be difficult—we are all busy and aren’t all on campus on the same days – we try to cultivate a culture of collegiality and collaboration, and certainly it might be helpful to have a reciprocal situation where you cover someone else’s class so that they can cover one of yours. Rescheduling class for another day is nearly always impossible, given students’ already complicated schedules, and is not advised.
    • If you come down with something that lasts longer than a single day of class, you must make every effort to either assign class-work for the students to do in your absence (such as a film, an in-class assignment, etc.) OR find someone else to cover your classes. I know the latter can be difficult—we are all busy and aren’t all on campus on the same days. But we try to cultivate a culture of collegiality and collaboration, and certainly it might be helpful to have a reciprocal situation where you cover someone else’s class so that they can cover one of yours. Rescheduling class for another day is nearly always impossible, given students’ already complicated schedules, and is not advised.
    • Repeated absences, especially those that can be foreseen ahead of time (such as a doctor telling you to take several days to recover), which result in repeated class cancellations may impact reappointment.
    • What is true for illness and absence is doubly true for absences due to travel or conferences that you know well ahead of time. You MAY NOT cancel class for a conference or other professional or personal reasons. Plan ahead for these classes by trying to find someone to cover your class, or if not possible, to have a film or other activity on the schedule. You must also inform the department chair, Jillian Cavanaugh, in advance if you will miss class for a conference, etc. This is both Brooklyn College (and departmental) policy, but also essential so that we in the office can know what to say to any students who somehow missed a message about a missing professor.
    • Finally, ALWAYS cancel a class officially through the BC portal, not just by sending a message through Blackboard or some other system. We need to get these notifications so that we can hang signs on classroom doors and advise students.
    • Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns. We are here to support you as well as the needs of our students.
  • Keys! You need keys for the classrooms:
    • Once you have been assigned rooms, please order your own keys through the department secretary.  A deposit of $3.00 per key is charged (paid at Bursar); key orders are left with and picked up at the Locksmith’s Office (0216 Ingersoll; x3149).  Allow at least 3 business days for key preparation.
    • College-wide master keys are used to open staff bathrooms and for Smart Classrooms. These may be ordered as well.
    • We will have back-up keys that will open all smart classrooms and faculty bathrooms across campus in the adjunct office spaces. If you use these, please make sure to return them! Let me stress that if you still have keys that you borrowed from us from last semester, please return them as soon as possible and get your own (we have significantly fewer keys now than at the beginning of last semester, so there are definitely some outstanding).
    • If you are teaching in 535 Ingersoll Extension (also known as new Ingersoll, usually listed as IA-535), please talk to Stephen Chester or Shahrina Chowdhury about accessing that room.
  • Office:
    • Where can you work/meet with students? Please see department administrator Leticia for adjunct office assignments. All adjunct office space will be shared space. We’ve done our best to spread people out across the schedule so that rooms won’t be too crowded. However, this is always a work in progress, so please let us know if you have any issues and we’ll work to solve them.

Contact info:

  • Make sure that Leticia Medina (department administrator) and Jillian Cavanaugh (department chair) have your email address.  Also, it’s a good idea to follow @BrooklynAnthro on Twitter and @BCAnthro on Instagram for department updates.
  • We also have a department google calendar that you can sync to your phone or whatever online calendar you might use.

Recruitment:

  • As a Gen Ed course, for those of you teaching ANTH 1105, your class may be one of the first class that any potential major might take. If you have a good student or even just a very enthusiastic student, please let them know that they do good work and encourage them to take more anthropology courses. Students are hesitant to major in anthropology for various reasons – often their parents tell them it’s impractical – but students they love it and a little encouragement from a professor would help. Anthropology is a great major to acquire lifelong learning skills–language, culture, thinking, writing, analysis–that enables success in several careers. For us it is the best way to get solid majors in the department.

Plagiarism

  • A fact of life at colleges is that plagiarism happens and is fairly rampant. We recommend that you make your feelings about plagiarism and the repercussions for your class very clear on your syllabus, printed assignments and at the top of tests. Also, many students do not fully understand what plagiarism is and many know full well what it is but will try to tell you that they didn’t know. Please explain fully what plagiarism is for every assignment and make clear that it will not be tolerated; again explain exactly what will happen if they are caught to prevent arguments later.

Brooklyn College requires that the cheating policy be printed on all syllabi

“The faculty and administration of Brooklyn College support an environment free from cheating and plagiarism. Each student is responsible for being aware of what constitutes cheating and plagiarism and for avoiding both.  The complete text of the CUNY Academic Integrity Policy and the Brooklyn College procedure for implementing that policy can be found at this site: http://www.brooklyn.cuny.edu/bc/policies. If a faculty member suspects a violation of academic integrity and, upon investigation, confirms that violation, or if the student admits the violation, the faculty member MUST report the violation.”

– Brooklyn policy on Academic Integrity

  • If you have any issues with cheating and are not sure how to handle it or just want to discuss it, please feel free to contact me (Jenn: jball@brooklyn.cuny.edu; 917-528-3758).  Dealing with students can be emotional; sometimes they can be threatening; often they push around new instructors; sometimes the instructor makes a genuine mistake. Whatever the situation, we will support you.

Writing

  • We have a Field Writing Tutor from the Learning Center to support students’ writing. William Buckwalter (bcwritingtutor@gmail.com) has lots of experience supporting students’ writing. He may be able to come to at least some of your classes to speak to them about what he can offer. Please reach out to him directly to share your syllabus and any assignments he’d be helping you with—and cc: the department chair, so that we can keep track of how much we are utilizing this resource.

10 Tips for assigning papers in large classes:

  1. Create a staggered deadline so that you aren’t grading 50 papers at once.
  2. Create incentives for students to hand it in early.  Give an early deadline and let those students rewrite if they wish and then have a second deadline for those who do not wish to rewrite.
  3. Have a few assignments with different deadlines and let students choose which assignment they want.
  4. Assign students a deadline based on their last name.
  5. Create an assignment with a deadline early in the semester so that it does not coincide with grading a midterm or final.
  6. Have students edit each other’s papers in class and then hand it in, minimizing grammatical errors.  Or have them choose a writing partner who reads and signs off on their paper before it gets turned into you.
  7. Assign 2 or 3 extremely short assignments – such as 2-paragraph comparisons that can be graded easily.
  8. Hand extremely bad papers back to students without grading them and send them to the Writing Tutors immediately – don’t waste your time with illegible papers.
  9. Be strict about paper-length – sometimes good writers assume that it’s ok to write over your limit because the writing is good; tell students in advance that they will be marked down for this or you will find yourself with a lot of extra work.
  10. Set deadlines for papers when you have the time to do grading (i.e. you don’t have grading for your other classes, a conference paper to write or work in your own classes, etc.).  In addition, if you teach more than one class, be sure not to pile up assignments from different sections.

Important dates:

  • The first day of classes and all holidays and conversion days can be found on the registrar’s website, under Academic Calendars, Course Schedules, and Bulletins.
  • Please also check for religious holidays (October typically for Jewish holidays and check in on the first/last night of Ramadan, and Diwali as you should not schedule exams during these classes.
  • Finally, it is good to include in your syllabus the official date by which one must withdraw from the class without penalty.

Important contacts:

Department of Anthropology and Archaeology

2900 Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11210-2889

3307 James Hall

718 951-55-7 voice

718 951-3169 fax

Department Chair: Prof. Jillian Cavanaugh (linguistic) ex. 5507 Jcavanaugh@brooklyn.cuny.edu
Department administrator: Leticia Medina ex. 5507 lymedina@brooklyn.cuny.edu
1105 OER Teaching Resource: Assistant Prof. Rhea Rahman (cultural) ex. 3497 Rhea.Rahman@brooklyncuny.edu

                                 

 

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