Instructor and Staff Handbook

I am very pleased to introduce the 2009-2010 Instructor and Staff Handbook!

The Student and Enrolment Services Division’s mission is student success. Our goal is to work collaboratively with the University of Saskatchewan community to support and advance the quality of students’ academic career as they pass through the phases of enquiry, admission, registration, graduation, and beyond.

This handbook is an attempt to cement that collaborative relationship with you, the faculty members, term appointees and sessional lecturers, Department Heads and Chairs, College advisors and administrators, and Departmental and College support staff. We hope that the handbook will help you to navigate your way through the regulations and procedures of the University whatever your role might be. These regulations and procedures are already available to all of us but are distributed in many places—Calendar, web sites, University Council documents, policy statements, etc.—that we sometimes have difficulty knowing where to look for them.

This handbook contains information about the most important points where the teaching and learning process intersects with the administrative regulations and procedures of the institution. We have expressed this information in an easy to use question-and-answer format.

I wish you the very best for a successful and rewarding academic year. Please feel free to contact our staff if you need advice or assistance. We are here to help.

Yours respectfully,

Dr. David Hannah
Associate Vice-President, Student and Enrolment Services Division

If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions about this handbook, please feel free to contact Jason Doell, Manager and Assistant Registrar (Academic), 966-1226.

(This handbook was last updated on August 28, 2009)

Guidelines for Academic Conduct

A helpful guide to the expectations for ethical behaviour in the teaching-learning environment is the University of Saskatchewan’s Guidelines for Academic Conduct which was approved by University Council in June, 1999.  These guidelines are an educational tool, intended to motivate the members of the University community to engage in thoughtful, ethical behaviour in all of their interactions in the learning environment.  We encourage you to become familiar with these guidelines and to bring them to the attention of your students.

Protecting our students’ privacy

Under provincial legislation (The Local Authority Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act) and the University’s data use policy, the University is bound to protect the right of all students to their privacy and to ensure the confidentiality of their student records. Information collected by the University is to be used only for the purposes for which it has been collected, and must not be released to others without the express written consent of the student except in certain limited circumstances which are set out in the The Local Authority Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. Information such as whether or not a student is registered, their grades, student number, date of birth, membership in a designated equity group, address and telephone number, etc., are all considered to be private. These matters should not be discussed with or confirmed or released to others, including members of the student’s family, unless the student has given the University prior permission in writing to release the information, or if one of the exceptions outlined in The Local Authority Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act applies. Students can give third party authorization through the Request to Release Information form.

If you have any questions about privacy matters, particularly where a release of personal information to anyone other than the student in question is being considered, please contact the Access and Privacy Officer, 966-8596.

Confidentiality issues related to students with disabilities

Disclosure of a disability is the single most difficult issue concerning students with disabilities. Therefore, information relating to students with disabilities should be treated sensitively and confidentially. Disability-related details should only be discussed with those who have direct need of the information in order to provide the student with appropriate accommodation within his or her program of study. If you have questions or concerns regarding the provision of appropriate accommodations for students with disabilities, please call Disability Services for Students or speak to your Department Head or College Dean. For further information, please visit the Disability Services for Students website.