The primary purpose of an academic advising program is to assist students in the development of meaningful educational plans which are compatible with their life goals. Academic advising should be viewed as a continuous process of clarification and evaluation.

Academic Calendar

Academic Ceremonies

Academic Freedom

A. Introduction

Academic honesty is an essential part of the Saint Francis University experience. Dishonesty in any aspect of the life of the University is viewed as being incompatible with the school's moral tradition. Accordingly, Saint Francis University has prepared a policy on academic honesty that will guide students in dealing with such issues in the process of learning regardless of the course delivery method.

To provide a description of the honors awarded to Saint Francis University undergraduate students in recognition of their academic accomplishments and the eligibility requirements of each designation.

The Board of Trustees has ultimate legal responsibility for determining the appropriate rank of all faculty appointments and for promotions. The Board of Trustees may delegate to the President the responsibility for determining the appropriate rank of initial faculty appointments. Faculty recommendations concerning appropriate rank of initial appointments and concerning promotions are of the utmost importance.

Academic standing is based on semester and cumulative grade point average (G.P.A.) on all Saint Francis University courses once a student has attempted at least 12 credits. 

To insure that new locations for offering Saint Francis University courses are approved by University administration, and in compliance with government regulations and accreditation agencies.

Additional Titles

Due to severe inclement weather the University may find it necessary to delay, or cancel classes, or may declare the classes as a required "virtual class day" in lieu of cancellation. Delay or cancellation of classes, or declaration of "virtual class day"  does not mean that the University is closed. In fact, when classes are delayed or cancelled, or when a virtual class day is in effect, operations continue.

Alternate Promotion Procedure for Exceptional Cases

General Principles Governing Appeals

Given the nature of the value of tenure to the applicant and the university, a negative recommendation for tenure is reviewable. Due to the Tenure committee's failure to adhere to the Faculty Handbook article governing tenure, discrimination against membership in a protected class, or violation of academic freedom.

Application for Promotion

Appointment of Academic Program Coordinators and Graduate Program Directors

SCOPE

This policy applies to students and faculty with respect to all graduate and undergraduate courses offered, regardless of their modality.

PURPOSE

To establish policy, procedures, and guidelines for the management of attendance for both on-ground and online students and their attendance records in accordance with state (22 PA Code) and federal regulations (34 CFR 668.22).

Although the teaching of classes is the basic responsibility of the faculty, the University can truly be a community of scholars only by the participation of each member in those activities that promote the smooth functioning of the institution, that offer opportunities for intellectual exchange, that assist in University governance through the Faculty Senate, and uphold the image of the University in the public eye.

Collections of audiovisual equipment are maintained by several academic departments. Information about such equipment can be obtained from department chairpersons. 

Students who wish to take courses for their information only may choose to audit the classes. The courses will appear on the transcript with a grade of "AD" and will not count toward any semester or cumulative totals. 

The purpose of this policy is to describe the requirements for changing or adding a major for undergraduate students.

Credit levels to obtain specifc class standing status

The Library of Saint Francis University values the privacy of individuals using library resources. The Saint Francis University Library subscribes to the American Library Association Code of Ethics as a guide for protecting the privacy of our users. The Saint Francis University Library will only release names or other personally identifying details in response to a search warrant, subpoena, or other lawful directives issued in accordance with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, 50 U.S.C. 1801, et seq., as amended by the USA PATRIOT ACT (Public Law 107-56), and Pennsylvania Law 24 P.S. Section 428. Personal information collected from library users is used to process requests and meet an individual’s library information and resource needs. The Saint Francis University Library does not sell personal information to any third party. 

Committee on Promotion and the Committee on Tenure

Compensation Information

All undergraduate students must pass a comprehensive examination in their major field of study as a requirement for graduation

To provide clear and consistent practices for allowing students to register for courses through any academic consortium in which Saint Francis University is a participating member. What is an academic consortium? It is an organized group of colleges and universities that share courses under a specific agreement. When Saint Francis University participates, a student may, under certain conditions described in this policy, take courses through the consortium; a consortial course is directly aligned with a SFU course and the course will be recorded on the student transcript as the SFU course.

Explanation of specifications of a course load

The primary purpose of course reserves is to make limited supplies of library and faculty-owned materials available to students.  

Course Syllabi

Course waivers may be approved to allow a student to graduate without completing a graduation or program requirement.  Course substitutions may be approved to allow a student to use an alternative course to meet a program requirement.

Students may receive credit for a Saint Francis University course by taking an examination in place of the actual course.

Saint Francis University desires to maintain a high level of quality instruction, so it encourages faculty to grow professionally. Therefore, by its system of promotion and tenure, the University provides incentives for advancing the scholarly pursuits of the teachers and establishes a fair and equitable basis for rewarding that academic progress.

Saint Francis University also recognizes tenure as a safeguard to academic freedom and extends the security of tenure to full-time faculty who have attained the rank of Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, or Professor and who, after the satisfactory completion of a period of probation, have given clear evidence of their fitness for the academic work they were appointed to perform. Tenure may not be granted to adjunct faculty or to faculty at the rank of instructor.

Curriculum and Courses

Dean and Chief Academic Officer Input

To comply with our regional accreditation organization and government regulations, Saint Francis University establishes semester and credit hour definitions.

The department chair evaluates each faculty member in the department with regards to their teaching, scholarship and service on an annual basis. The procedure for evaluation of Tenured, Non-Tenured Tenure Track, and Non-Tenure Track Faculty differ based on their current status.

Departmental Meetings

The Saint Francis University Distance Education Policy Manual is intended as a resource for faculty teaching online courses at Saint Francis University (SFU). The purpose of this manual is to: 

1. detail policies and procedures specific to online courses at SFU; 
2. establish standards to meet or exceed distance education requirements at the state and federal levels;
3. ensure consistency of delivery of online courses across all SFU programs; and 
4. provide information about resources and support for faculty teaching online at SFU.

This guide was written by the Committee on Distance Education which was later merged and renamed the Contemporary Instruction, Learning, and Resources Committee. This document was approved by the SFU Faculty Senate. This guide will be accessible to faculty via my.francis.edu. 
 

Duties of department chair

Under College Aged Students Taking Courses at Saint Francis University (excludes College in High School Program and Upward Bound Bridge Students)

Describes the elements of the promotion and tenure application packet

Emeritus or Emerita

Endowed Chairs serve multiple needs at Saint Francis University including maintaining a faculty of distinction, encouraging scholarship among faculty and students, providing for visiting lecturers, granting financial aid to students, and generally enhancing scholarship and the teaching process.

Evaluation Related, Individual Development and Tenured Faculty Review

The policy describes how faculty awards are determined and managed. 

University governance involves a myriad of complex, interrelated issues. Faculty, by virtue of their experience and training, are uniquely qualified to recommend, review, and enforce University policy. The faculty, through the Faculty Senate, communicates, collaborates, and cooperates with trustees, administrators, staff, and students on issues inside and outside of the academy.

Faculty Offices

Summary of the Faculty Organization

To establish a uniform final examination schedule in order to facilitate fairness and help maximize the educational experience for students.

Freshman Advising Program

General Principles Governing Promotion

General Principles Governing Tenure

Policy regarding the general regulations for academic minors

Policy regarding the general requiremnets for graduation

Gifts and Grants

The goal of this grade appeal policy is to establish a clear, fair process by which students can contest a course grade that they believe has been awarded in a manner inconsistent with university policies or that has resulted from calculation errors on the part of the instructor. 

Policy regarding the grading system 

To describe the University philosophy for graduate assistantships, process to secure a graduate assistant, terms of a contract, conditions for the experiential learning assignments, terms for the tuition waiver, associated and necessary information flow, reporting responsibilities, and other constraints and limitations.

Saint Francis University encourages faculty and staff members (hereinafter referred to as "project director/principal investigator") to seek grant funding from public and private organizations to support the overall mission of the University. The policy has been developed to ensure that the University, as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and the ultimate recipient of all grant funding, retains control of the administration of all externally funded grants to satisfy the requirements of all federal, state, and private funding entities and to remain in compliance with applicable federal and state regulations.

The chair of an academic department is appointed by the President in consultation with the Chief Academic Officer, the school dean, and department members. The chair serves with the consent of the President, normally for a continuous period of three years (including summers) and is eligible for successive reappointments. The chair is responsible to the school dean for the maintenance of academic standards in the department.

Guidelines for faculty for consortial courses.

In-Service Programs

Saint Francis University has established an Institutional Review Board (IRB) to review all research involving the use of human subjects and to implement institutional policies and procedures regarding such research. 

The faculty and administration of Saint Francis University believe that the public interest is best served by creating an intellectual environment whereby creative efforts and innovations can be encouraged and rewarded, while still retaining for the University and its learning communities reasonable access to, and use of, the intellectual property for whose creation the University has provided assistance.

Saint Francis University supports the development, production, and dissemination of intellectual property by its faculty members.

Interlibrary Loan provides access to materials which are not available within the collections of the Saint Francis University Library. In order to provide global access to information resources, the Library participates in the OCLC Resource Sharing network, reciprocal borrowing programs, and library consortia.

The Saint Francis University Library provides basic interlibrary loan services at no cost to University users. The library also pays the cost of postage to send books to distance education students, and the cost for the return of these books to the Library.   

This introduction gives a brief overview of the Faculty Handbook. The Faculty Handbook has a particular focus on policies that fall under faculty governance; it does not contain more general policies that apply to all University employees. The Personnel Handbook should be consulted for those more general policies. 

Appointments (Joint and Initial)

Students who need to take a temporary interruption from their program of study at Saint Francis University may request a Leave of Absence (LOA). A Leave of Absence is a temporary leave from the University. The requesting student should intend to return within two full academic semesters. A Leave of Absence should be requested prior to the upcoming semester in which the leave is to take effect unless unforeseen circumstances prevent the student from doing so.

Leaves of Absence without Pay

This policy governing Resource Planning and Collection Development applies to the selection of all materials comprising the collections of the Saint Francis University Library.   

Philosophy

The Saint Francis University Library provides the students, faculty, and staff of Saint Francis University and members of the community at large with excellent access to information resources, support for academic programs, and also promotes intellectual freedom as described in the American Library Association's Library Bill of Rights and Freedom to Read Statement.

This Policy aims to create a successful first mathematics experience for our students

Policy regarding the matriculation process within the University

Saint Francis University (SFU) acknowledges that students may be temporarily unable to attend classes or be required to pause their studies to perform military service. SFU encourages such students to resume their education once a military service obligation has ended and adopts this policy to ensure the timely readmission of such students.

This policy is to establish the standard that those employed by the University are prohibited under federal regulations from making any false, erroneous, or misleading statement directly or indirectly to a student, any member of the public, an accrediting agency, a state agency, or the U.S. Department of Education.

Non-Reappointment of Non-Tenured Faculty

Office for Study Abroad

Office Hours

This entry gives a brief description on how to navigate the policy format and explains the organization of the policies. 

The beginning of the academic year is an exciting and often confusing time for all University personnel, but it can be particularly chaotic for a new member of the faculty. When one is new to a campus, its rules and regulations, its students, and the community, an organized orientation program can provide needed answers to many important questions.

As an institution that participates in federal financial aid programs under Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, Saint Francis University is committed to fully complying with federal regulations regarding state authorization as well as all requirements issued by States regarding the operation of higher education institutions within their jurisdictions. This policy is intended to address certain federal regulations, specifically 34 CFR 600.9, 34 CFR 668.43, and the rules of the National Council of State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements (NC-SARA).

This policy therefore:

1. Defines the offices, departments, and personnel responsible for ensuring the University’s compliance with laws, regulations, and agreements related to State Authorization;
2. Establishes governance and communication structures necessary to maintain State Authorization compliance; and 
3. Empowers University offices, departments, and/or personnel described herein to expect cooperative assistance from other University offices, departments, and/or personnel in order to comply with State Authorization laws, regulations, and agreements.

This policy does not govern the University's compliance with laws, regulations, and agreements pertaining to issues beyond state authorization.

Scope:

This policy applies to all administration, faculty, and staff.

To maintain reasonable workloads, to clarify the use of overload contracts, and to ensure conditions for high quality teaching.

In accordance with the document, "Policy on Policies," 'Policies that apply to the operation of a division or departments may not conflict with university-wide policy, but may be more restrictive.

The purpose of this policy is to ensure that the Saint Francis University community has ready access to well-developed and understandable University policies.

Probationary Period

Procedure for Promotions

This policy helps to ensure the University's compliance with federal regulations (34 CFR 668.43) and its obligations as a SARA-participating institution regarding public and direct disclosure requirements related to Professional Licensure Programs.

Scope:

This policy applies to academic administration, recruitment, and admissions personnel who administer Professional Licensure Programs, regardless of modality or geographic location.

Professional Societies

As an investment in the early development of new faculty, this policy provides opportunity for departments to request reassigned time for new faculty during their first semesters at Saint Francis University.

The purpose of this policy is to define in what instances undergraduate students may enroll in graduate-level courses, how these courses are counted toward GPA calculations, how these courses are counted toward degree requirements, and limitations regarding the number of credits.

Saint Francis University is committed to the highest ethical standards of integrity for its administration, faculty and student body. The University expects all research conducted under its auspices to adhere to the strictest levels of intellectual honesty.  This policy has been designed to meet the requirements of the National Science Foundation (NSF), the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS), under which the National Institutes of Health (NIH) operates, and other federal agencies. 

Resignation

Responsibilities for Promotion and Tenure

Retirement

Review of the Policies and Procedures for Promotion and Tenure

Revision of the Faculty Handbook

Sabbatical Leave Policy

Saint Francis Honor Society Distinguished Faculty Award

Scholarly Activities and Publications

This policy relates to the process of obtaining a second Bachelor's degree. 

Statement of Commitment Saint Francis University is committed to making our digital materials accessible. "Accessible" means that all individuals, regardless of their abilities, can access our electronic information and educational opportunities fully, independently, and in a timely manner or with substantially equivalent access and ease of use. We actively work to identify, prioritize, and remove accessibility barriers in our digital platforms, applications, and electronic resources. Our efforts include ongoing assessment of our information technology, implementation of universal design principles, and continuous improvement of our accessibility standards.

This policy describes how indirect funds from grants will be shared by different offices and individuals in order to recognize the cost of grant administration and to encourage grant writing by faculty and others.

Speakers Policy

This policy is established to provide an appropriate framework to resolve student complaints, to maintain the integrity of the academic environment, and to ensure the rights of students in such matters are clearly ensured and protected.

Describes the administration of the IDEA survey.

The Saint Francis University Student-Athlete Missed Class Due to Athletics Participation policy establishes guidelines to deal with class attendance and class absence(s) associated with student-athletes' participation in intercollegiate athletics.  

Summer School

The Swatsworth Award recognizes excellence in teaching, research, and service. It includes a monetary award funded by the Swatsworth family. Any full-time employee of Saint Francis University, who teaches one or more courses at the University in a given academic year, is eligible both to be a recipient of and to vote for the recipient of the award given that year.

Staff and administrators with appropriate academic qualifications may choose to teach courses for Saint Francis University

Teaching Load

Tenure Application

Termination of Tenure

Tests, Examinations, and Papers

To provide clear and consistent practices for accepting graduate credit for transfer to Saint Francis University.

Scope:  

Students formally accepted and enrolled in a graduate-level program at Saint Francis University.

Saint Francis University welcomes students at the undergraduate level who have earned college credits prior to matriculation. The University recognizes the experiences and achievements individual students have gained. Academic advisors and counselors will guide individual students to maximize their learning opportunities in a flexible, supportive environment. Accordingly, this transfer credit policy describes the many opportunities individual students have to complete a Saint Francis University degree or credential and include credits or experiences completed elsewhere.

To establish the standard for the use of the Statement of Nondiscrimination and ADA statements in University publications as part of Saint Francis University's commitment to providing a safe and nondiscriminatory employment and educational environment as well as in response to legal mandates.

Policy Officer:  Chief Academic Officer; Vice President for Enrollment Management; Vice President for Innovative Partnerships and Student Development

Responsible Office: Marketing; Title IX; Accessibility Services

It is recommended that students contemplating withdrawal from the University first discuss this matter with their advisor or counselor. If students decide to withdraw, the Career Services' staff is available to assist them in clarifying and reaching their future goals. Information and counseling are available regarding transferring to other institutions as well as assistance in reaching new occupational objectives.