Notes From Academic Affairs- April 2023

Dear Colleagues,

With only a few weeks left in the academic year, we wanted to reach out to thank you for all that you have done on behalf of our students and our institution’s community this year.  Please know how grateful we are for the excellent teaching, mentorship, and support you provide to our students, and how much we appreciate the ways in which you support your colleagues, your departments, and all who have the pleasure of working with you.  You are what makes ISU special, and we, in the Office of Academic Affairs, are grateful for the chance we have to support you as you work to make a difference in the lives of your students and colleagues.

In that spirit, we wanted to make you aware of several things that we know will be of import to you as you look to wrap up the semester. 

First, we are very pleased to have the opportunity to recognize our Outstanding Faculty Award winners. 

Outstanding Teacher:

• Jeff Brockett
• Tyler Burch
• Michael Roche
• Marie Stango
• Xiaomeng (Mona) Xu

Outstanding Researcher:

• Cory Bennett
• Zachary Gershberg
• Ryan Lindsay
• Shannon Kobs Nawotniak
• Joshua K. Swift

Outstanding Service:

• Hyeri Choi
• Zakery Heern
• Ryan Lindsay
• Dani Moffit
• Devaleena Pradhan

For those of you who are fortunate enough to know these individuals, you are certainly already aware of their accomplishments and impacts, and these awards likely come as no surprise.  We are delighted to be able to recognize them in this way, and would encourage you, when you see them, to congratulate them on their successes.

We also know that you may have questions about the finals week schedule, grading, and commencement – so in the spirit of helpfulness, we provide the following:

Finals Week Schedule and Policy:  Finals exam week is May 1 - May 5.  Please use the Spring 2023 Final Exam schedule to schedule your final exams.  By way of reminder, the ISU Final Exam Week Policy states that, if a class requires a final exam, the exam should be held in its allotted time during finals week and that it be no longer than the scheduled time. Faculty are free, however, to work with individual students to provide a special exam time during finals week if there is a special circumstance, such as the student having more than two exams on the same day. Thank you for making reasonable accommodations, when necessary, that will help our students be successful as they wrap up the semester.

Grading Policies: Final grades need to be submitted by Tuesday, May 9 at 5:00 p.m.  For guidance on grading, specifically situations that may necessitate an Incomplete, X, or Withdrawal,  please reference the ISU Credit and Grading Policies section in the academic catalog. Students often ask about incomplete grades near the end of the semester, and this resource may be of help to you as you consider an appropriate course of action. 

Incomplete Grades: Incomplete grades may be assigned at the discretion of the instructor of a course, though students should meet eligibility requirements as stated in the above-linked policy. In particular, a substantial amount of the course material (approximately 70%) should have been completed by a student in order to be granted an incomplete grade. If a faculty member wants to provide an incomplete grade to a student who meets this condition, then the instructor should work with the student to fill out a Course Completion Contract, which indicates the work that remains to be completed. Both the faculty member and student should agree to the contract and sign the form before the grade of I is entered as a grade.  The goal of such contracts is to ensure that the student is fully aware of what is still required to successfully complete the course, and to provide documentation of this.

Commencement: Commencement will be held on the Pocatello Campus on Saturday, May 6, 2023 and in Meridian on Monday, May 8, 2023. Please visit the ISU Commencement page for more information.  We are thrilled to celebrate the accomplishments of our soon-to-be Bengal alumni, and hope you will consider joining us as we do so by attending the ceremony in person.  It’s always an inspiring experience!

Thank you, again, for all you have done to make a difference in the lives of our students this year.   Summer will be here soon, and with any luck we will all have a bit of time to catch our breath, enjoy some sunshine, and recharge in meaningful ways.  We wish the best to you as you look to complete the semester, and, as always, please reach out if we can help you, your students, or your programs in any way!

Sincerely,

The Academic Affairs Team