NAU Policy Statements

Safe Environment Policy

NAU’s Safe Working and Learning Environment Policy seeks to prohibit discrimination and promote the safety of all individuals within the university.  The goal of this policy is to prevent the occurrence of discrimination on the basis of sex, race, color, age, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, disability, or veteran status and to prevent sexual harassment, sexual assault or retaliation by anyone at this university.

You may obtain a copy of this policy from the college dean’s office.  If you have concerns about this policy, it is important that you contact the departmental chair, dean’s office, the Office of Student Life (928-523-5181), the academic ombudsperson (928-523-9368), or NAU’s Office of Affirmative Action (928-523-3312).

Students with Disabilities

If you have a documented disability, you can arrange for accommodations by contacting the office of Disability Support Services (DSS) at 928-523-8773 (voice), 928-523-6906 (TTY). In order for your individual needs to be met, you are required to provide DSS with disability related documentation and are encouraged to provide it at least eight weeks prior to the time you wish to receive accommodations. You must register with DSS each semester you are enrolled at NAU and wish to use accommodations.

Faculty are not authorized to provide a student with disability related accommodations without prior approval from DSS. Students who have registered with DSS are encouraged to notify their instructors a minimum of two weeks in advance to ensure accommodations. Otherwise, the provision of accommodations may be delayed.

Concerns or questions regarding disability related accommodations can be brought to the attention of DSS or the Affirmative Action Office.

Institutional Review Board

Any study involving observation of or interaction with human subjects that originates at NAU—including a course project, report, or research paper—must be reviewed and approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) for the protection of human subjects in research and research-related activities.

The IRB meets once each month.  Proposals must be submitted for review at least fifteen working days before the monthly meeting.  You should consult with your course instructor early in the course to ascertain if your project needs to be reviewed by the IRB and/or to secure information or appropriate forms and procedures for the IRB review.  Your instructor and department chair or college dean must sign the application for approval by the IRB.  The IRB categorizes projects into three levels depending on the nature of the project:  exempt from further review, expedited review, or full board review.  If the IRB certifies that a project is exempt from further review, you need not resubmit the project for continuing IRB review as long as there are no modifications in the exempted procedures.

A copy of the IRB Policy and Procedures Manual is available in each department’s administrative office and each college dean’s office.  If you have questions, contact Carey Conover, Office of Grant and Contract Services, at 928-523-4889.

Academic Integrity

The university takes an extremely serious view of violations of academic integrity.  As members of the academic community, NAU’s administration, faculty, staff and students are dedicated to promoting an atmosphere of honesty and are committed to maintaining the academic integrity essential to the education process.  Inherent in this commitment is the belief that academic dishonesty in all forms violates the basic principles of integrity and impedes learning.  Students are therefore responsible for conducting themselves in an academically honest manner.

Individual students and faculty members are responsible for identifying instances of academic dishonesty.  Faculty members then recommend penalties to the department chair or college dean in keeping with the severity of the violation.  The complete policy on academic integrity is in Appendix F of NAU’s Student Handbook.

Academic Contact Hour Policy

The Arizona Board of Regents Academic Contact Hour Policy (ABOR Handbook, 2-206, Academic Credit) states:  “an hour of work is the equivalent of 50 minutes of class time…at least 15 contact hours or recitation, lecture, discussion, testing or evaluation, seminar, or colloquium as well as a minimum of 30 hours of student homework is required for each unit of credit.”

The reasonable interpretation of this policy is that for every credit hour, a student should expect, on average, to do a minimum of two additional hours of work per week; e.g., preparation, homework, studying.

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