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Faculty Responsibilities

Faculty members at the MGH Institute enjoy academic freedom to pursue scholarship and teach students in their areas of expertise without fear of reprisal. With that privilege, faculty members also accept responsibilities as representatives of the institution. Fulfilling these obligations helps create an optimal learning environment, ethical research practice, and a collegial work environment. These are not the only policies that govern your employment at the MGH Institute, but these are the expectations related to your role as a faculty member. The Human Resources page (login required) on the Intranet maintains a complete list of policies and procedures.

Teaching

  1. Ordering textbooks: Several months before the start of the semester, program managers will contact faculty requesting information for textbook orders. Faculty members are expected to respond to program managers promptly with complete and accurate information about course readings.
  2. Learning management system:  Faculty will become familiar with Desire2Learn, the Institute’s learning management system. The Office of Information Technology will create a shell for each course, and it is the faculty member’s responsibility to add content and activate the page before the start of the term. Faculty members are encouraged to attend faculty development workshops and consult the IT help desk to learn how to leverage the features of D2L to maximize student learning.
  3. Copyright: In reproducing, displaying, or distributing published materials for classroom use, faculty must comply with federal copyright law. The law allows for “fair use” of protected materials in certain circumstances, but the safest option is to link to articles in a Treadwell database rather than upload a PDF of the file.
  4. Syllabus template: At least one week before the first class meeting, the professor will make available a course syllabus that follows the approved Institute template.  In addition to posting the syllabus in the course’s Desire2Learn page, faculty will upload a copy to the appropriate departmental folder in the Learning Object Repository.
  5. Class rosters: Faculty should review class rosters available in iOnline and report discrepancies to the Registrar. Changes to registration can happen only by key dates listed in the official academic calendar.
  6. Office hours: In addition to attending every class period, faculty members will make themselves available on campus to students for one-on-one consultation every week during the semester. For a faculty member teaching six credits a semester, it is typical to hold office hours for three hours a week. If office hours are not consistent from week to week, the faculty member is responsible for responding to student requests and scheduling mutually convenient times to meet.
  7. Disability accommodations: It is the responsibility of students with a documented disability to contact the Institute’s Office of Student and Alumni Services to request academic accommodations. The Manager of Student and Disability Services will determine which accommodations a student qualifies for and contact the affected faculty member with instructions. Faculty members are expected to work with the academic support counselors to comply with the students’ request for accommodation.
  8. Academic integrity: Faculty will become familiar with the academic integrity policy and hold themselves and their students to its standards. All violations of academic integrity, no matter the sanction, must be reported to the appropriate department chair, assistant dean, or program director in the semester that the violation occurs.
  9. Privacy of student records:  All Institute employees abide by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), which forbids releasing student records to anyone without the student’s prior consent. Student records include paper and electronic files as well as video and audio recordings that relate to students. Refer questions to the Registrar.
  10. Communication:  All electronic communication with students must occur through mghihp.edu e-mail accounts. Ideally, faculty will respond within 48 hours to student requests for information. If a faculty member anticipates a delay in response time, he or she should activate an out-of-office message with the expected date of return to normal communication.
  11. Safety: Faculty who teach at the Institute act in an educational, not clinical capacity. If a medical emergency occurs in the classroom, faculty must call 617-726-5400 and follow the medical assistance protocol. Faculty should also maintain current contact information in iOnline so that notifications from the Emergency Preparedness Team reach them.
  12. Final examinations: All didactic courses are expected to include a culminating final examination or project. If a course includes an in-class final examination, it will be scheduled through the registrar for the final examination week.  
  13. Grading: Faculty will develop and disseminate grading criteria for each course consistent with the Institute’s grading policy. Ideally, faculty will assess and return assigned work with enough time to allow students to incorporate feedback into subsequent projects. It is also helpful to maintain a record of student grades in the Desire2Learn grade book. End of semester grades must be submitted through iOnline no later than 48 hours after the final exam or 48 hours after the last day of the exam period for classes without a final exam. If a change needs to be made to a grade entered via iOnline, the instructor should complete the grade change form.
  14. Course evaluations: The Office of Information Technology manages student evaluations of teaching through the CourseEval system. Faculty who are registered as the instructor of record in the student information system will receive quantitative summaries and qualitative comments of their teaching. To encourage a high response rate, faculty should dedicate in-class time for students to complete them. Faculty can also give specific examples of how past student feedback has improved the course.

Research

  1. External grant funding: After receiving approval at the departmental or school level for a research project, investigators should contact the Director of Research Programs and the Institute grants administrator as soon as possible about applications for outside funding. Faculty members will work closely and respond promptly to requests from the grants administrator for elements of the submission.
  2. Ethical conduct: Faculty members serving as principal investigators are responsible for securing Institutional Review Board approval for all research involving human subjects. They must also ensure that every member of the research team has completed training in human subjects research.
  3. Authorship: At the outset of every scholarly collaboration leading to a manuscript, investigators should have an explicit conversation about authorship inclusion and placement. The MGH Institute follows the four criteria for authorship established by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. The Director of Research Programs, in consultation with the Research Operations Committee, will adjudicate authorship disputes. 
  4. Mentorship: Faculty members as the associate professor and professor ranks are expected to help advance the scholarly progress of early career faculty through mentorship. The school deans will facilitate the assignment of mentors and mentees. Mentees have the obligation to coordinate scheduling with mentors, come prepared to meetings, and respect the mentors’ time.

Service

  1. Dignity and respect: The Institute is committed to fostering an inclusive and welcoming environment for all its members. To that end, the Diversity Council has embraced the Dignity and Respect campaign, an initiative to incorporate practical yet powerful behaviors in our interactions with each other. Faculty members are encouraged to practice the tips and to take the Dignity and Respect pledge.
  2. Participation in shared governance: Faculty members have a say in the way the Institute operates through participation in departmental meetings, town halls, and the Senate. Faculty members are expected to contribute to shared governance through attendance at faculty meetings and service on Institute committees. Where it fits a faculty member’s interests and work plan, he or she should also consider themselves for nomination as a senator.
  3. Faculty members are also encouraged to serve their professions through participation in professional societies.
  4. Commencement: As the capstone of the academic year, Commencement brings the entire Institute community together to celebrate our students’ accomplishments. All faculty members are expected to order regalia from the Registrar and attend the main ceremony as well as program-specific events.
  5. Advising: In addition to teaching courses, faculty members are also expected to advise students on course selection, scholarly