General
Each instructor is responsible at the beginning of the course to inform students of the course鈥檚 learning objectives and criteria for grading. The instructor alone is responsible for issuing or changing a grade.
Upon reasonable request by the student, the instructor shall indicate what grade the student is receiving at the time of the request.
The instructor may, upon a student鈥檚 request, assign an Incomplete (鈥淚鈥�) grade when, in the instructor鈥檚 judgment, this action is warranted and appropriate.
Instructor-Initiated Drops
An instructor may officially drop the student from the class rolls when it is determined that the student is no longer reasonably participating in the activities and requirements of the course. Definitions of non-participation shall include, but not be limited to, excessive unexcused absences.
Final Examinations
A final examination, or alternative final assessment activity, is required of all students in all courses for which a letter grade can be awarded. Final examinations or assessments for full semester courses are scheduled for a two-hour period and will not be given in advance. The final examination or assessment activity will be administered at the last scheduled class meeting. Any exceptions to this policy must be approved in advance by the Provost/Vice President of Academic Affairs.
Statement of Academic Freedom
The West Valley-Mission Community College District recognizes that democratic participation, positive social change, and moral education, as well as scientific and technological advancement, all require the free exchange of ideas and information. Therefore, the District is committed to the free expression of diverse viewpoints on the part of faculty and students, as well as encouraging critical examination of these various perspectives. The District is also committed to the conduct of research and observation of the natural world unimpeded by social, religious, political, or theoretical biases and prejudices.
Academic freedom is the right of faculty members to interpret scholarly findings and communicate conclusions without being subject to harassment when those conclusions are at variance with popularly held beliefs or opinions. Faculty members have a corresponding obligation to study, present, interpret, and discuss facts and ideas concerning their fields of knowledge in a responsible manner. The faculty member will acknowledge the facts on which controversial views are based and show respect for reasonable opinions held by others.
Institutions of higher education operate not to further the interest of either the individual faculty member or the institution as a whole but rather for the common good. In a democratic society the common good depends upon the free search for truth and its free exposition. Academic freedom is essential to these purposes and applies to both teaching and research. Freedom in research is fundamental to the advancement of truth while academic freedom in teaching is essential both to the uninhibited expression of scholarly findings and to ensuring the fullest student engagement with ideas.