Course Information and Support

Grade Policy

Faculty members are free to develop their own methods of evaluating the performance of students in their classes, but they are required to make the methods of evaluation to be used known in writing before the end of the fourth class day each semester and the second class day each summer term. Responsibility for assuring adequate methods of evaluation rests with departmental faculties and is subject to administrative review. 

Letter grades are used to record the instructor’s evaluation of students’ performance in a course. The following grades are used: A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, C-, D+, D, D-, and F.  It is your choice whether you want to use +/- grades, or whole letter grades.  Your choice must be stated on the syllabus.  There is no University scale for =/- grades (you determine what grade earns an A- versus an A, for example.)  Members of the faculty are not authorized, without the academic dean’s approval, to withhold a final grade or to defer reporting a final grade at the end of the semester other than by the use of the symbol X. If a grade is withheld without the dean’s approval, the grade may not be added to the official records later without the written approval of the academic dean.  After a grade has been reported to the registrar, it may not be changed unless an error was made by the instructor.

Syllabi

LBJ faculty are required to post a full syllabus to their course Canvas site and publish the site one week before the first class day. This will allow students registered for your course to log on to Canvas and download the syllabus before the semester begins. If you need Canvas help, contact either your faculty assistant, LBJ’s Canvas Contact, Michelle Jun (michelle.jun@austin.utexas.edu) or visit the UT Canvas Training Center (https://utexas.instructure.com/courses/633028).

An electronic copy of the syllabus should also be forwarded to Alice Rentz in the Office of Academic Strategies (arentz@austin.utexas.edu).  If you would like the syllabus to be posted on LBJ’s website, be sure to mention that in your email. Posting to the website allows greater access for students who are not yet registered in your class but who may be considering taking it. Please note that state law requires that all undergraduate syllabi and instructor CV’s be posted to UT’s website no later than the 1^st class day. See “additional information” below for more details. 

Syllabus Requirements

Additional Information 

May I include information about campus carry in my syllabus? The University respects the Second Amendment rights of all our faculty. However, please remember that notification in your syllabus is not a legally effective way to provide notice that you have banned guns in your sole occupant office.

Campus Carry FAQ's for Faculty

Faculty Innovation Center:

Guidance for creating your Syllabus

Posting Undergraduate Syllabi and Instructor CV’s to the UT Website: Public Access to Course Information

See: HB 2504 Text for background