Responsibilities of Course Chairpersons
French 101, 102, 105, 201, 202 & 232
1. Revise current syllabus and percentage breakdown of the final grade for the current semester. (The course policies are departmental and will be revised as necessary.) The Course Chairperson will consult with the staff teaching the course for reactions and suggestions about the proposed syllabus.
2. Give the complete syllabus to the Language Program Director. Send a copy of the syllabus to each TA teaching the course, and prepare a copy to be kept on file in Cabell 302. Give a copy of the completed course syllabus to the staff in the Arts and Sciences Center for Instructional Technology (ASCIT). Tell the Director of the ASCIT what textbook(s) and tape series will be used. Tell the Director of the ASCIT whether any previously used tapes (e.g., dictée) should be kept or erased.
3. Chair the pre-semester course meeting where the syllabus is finally defined and where questions about how to teach the course are discussed.
4. Designate committees to create chapter quizzes, the oral exam, and the final exam.. The Course Chairperson may assign or organize the sign-up for teams of two-three instructors to prepare each chapter quiz. The Course Chairperson will normally compose or co-compose the first quiz to give a model for exam preparation. All quiz teams and exam committees will draft their tests and make them available for comment/correction to the entire course teaching staff. The administrative assistant must have one week's notice to copy the final version of the quiz of exam. When setting up test-writing teams, attempt to pair new TAs with more experienced TAs.
5. Dictées will either be given separately or incorporated in the chapter quizzes. When dictées comprise a section of the quiz, the word count should hover at the lower end of the scale. If dictées will be given separately, the Course Chairperson will write the first dictée and assign individual staff members to write or edit the other dictées and submit them by a certain date. Dictées are to be based on the on the grammar and vocabulary studied before the date they are given. The dictées must be checked by a native speaker for authenticity and by the Course Chairperson for appropriateness. Dictées will be kept to the following lengths (counting every word, just as a word processor does):
Count 1 point/word, 1/2 point/accent; subtract number wrong from total and divide by total. Do not double-count mistakes such as "Elle porte une chemisier bleue." In this case the "e" on bleue does not change the pronunciation of "bleue", and is consistent with the misheard "une." In the example "Elle porte une chemisier verte," both "une" and "verte" should be marked wrong, since both were misheard.FREN 101 15-30 words
6. Alert the Language Program Director to problems or concerns of the staff members as they arise.
7. Alert the Language Program Director to the unexplained or unexcused absence of any staff members) from any required meetings or of failure of any staff members to perform required work satisfactorily.
8. Carbon copy the Language Program Director on all messages to staff, i.e., meeting announcements, announcements of availability of test drafts, reminders and reprimands of any kind.
9. Act as an assistant(e) pédagogiqueto staff teaching the course. Most help should be offered to the instructors who have not previously taught the course. The Course Chairperson will share previously used dictées, quizzes, exercises, etc. When possible, the Course Chair will distribute to all staff members possible exercises (e.g., video preview and follow-up materials, in-class writing exercises, small-group activities, global activities). The Course Chairperson will be happy too talk with staff members about ways to teach specific points or problems with students, as will the Language Program Director.
10. File copies of course materials (syllabus, quiz, useful exercises) in the folder in 302 Cabell, and give one copy to the Language Program Director. Check the file cabinet throughout the course of the semester to see that materials are in place.
11. Save all course materials (quizzes,
composition assignments, syllabus, etc. on a diskette that the next course
chair may use and revise. There is a case of RCS diskettes kept in Cabell
302).
