FAQs

General

Who do I talk to about...

Task	Contact
Teaching online, canceling class for illness, moving your class, or otherwise changing your usual class plans	Email Julie Henderson (jhenders@purdue.edu) and Sheila Featherston (sfeather@purdue.edu) Cc: to icapstaff@purdue.edu is also appreciated. Link for all three.
Assistance finding a substitute instructor	Email icapstaff@purdue.edu.
For graduate students: registering for classes and/or research hours	Contact Jill Quirk (griff@purdue.edu).
Ordering textbooks or getting desk copies of textbooks	To update your textbook order, contact Julie Henderson (jhenders@purdue.edu). For a desk copy, come to HEAV 302 during studio time, or visit ICaP staff office hours.
Checking out A/V equipment from HEAV 302	Come to HEAV 302 during studio time, or visit ICaP staff office hours. If nobody is available, contact Sheila Featherston (sfeather@purdue.edu).
Requesting updates to email lists, websites, and/or social media for ICaP	Ask Julie Henderson (jhenders@purdue.edu) for assistance. ICaP director can also help with write-l and priority updates to web sites.
Requesting copies of course evaluations or documents from your personnel file	Email icapstaff@purdue.edu.
Planning and coordinating events, including assistance with scheduling rooms	Collaborate with Sheila Featherston (sfeather@purdue.edu); she will coordinate assistance from student workers and other staff.

Where can I find information about summer teaching opportunities?

Check out our Summer Teaching page!

How do I get in touch with ICaP staff?

Easy! Check out the ICaP Staff Contact page.

Where can I find information about the Pedagogy Showcase?

The English Pedagogy Showcase is an annual symposium that highlights our innovative pedagogy and research. We encourage all instructors and students to participate in the poster sessions or lightning talks—regardless of what you teach or your position in the department.

For the date, location, and submission details of the upcoming event, see the Pedagogy Showcase page.

For examples of previous submissions, see 2020 Pedagogy Showcase submissions.

Communicating with Students

Who do I talk to if a student is unhappy with your class, an assignment, or a grade?

Contact Linda Haynes (lhaynes@purdue.edu) for guidance.

A parent contacted me. Now what?

You are prohibited from sharing a student’s confidential information, including grades, with their parents unless you have written permission from the student. Even with written permission from the student, you are not obligated to correspond with students’ family members.

As stated in the ICaP Instructor Manual, “The Privacy Act…prohibits discussing a student’s grades with his or her parents without the student’s written consent. For more information about FERPA, see the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.”

What do I do if a student wants to add my class/switch sections?

DO NOT add students to your section after the first week of class. This is ICaP policy, and there are no exceptions. This also applies to students switching sections. They may do so only during the first week of class. If a student wants to switch sections after the first week of class, they have two options: 1) remain in their current section or 2) drop their current section and enroll in a different section next semester.

Sample language for emailing students who want to add/switch after the first week:

“ICaP Policy states that English 10600 and 10800 instructors will not add new students to their class rosters beyond the first week of classes. This policy includes section changes.”

If a student or an advisor presses you on this issue, you can get in touch with ICaP staff (icapstaff@lists.purdue.edu) for assistance.

A student asked me to write them a letter of recommendation. Can I do this? Do we have resources for writing these?

Yes, you can write letters of recommendation for your students! But remember that you can also say no. Writing a letter of recommendation for a student whose work you know well and who has demonstrated their skills and abilities is a great way to help students succeed and to encourage their ambitions.

These Ten Tips for Writing Recommendation Letters are a great starting point for preparing to write a letter of recommendation.

For additional information, check out Joe Schall’s online handbook, Writing Recommendation Letters.

In short, letters of recommendation should be detailed and highly personalized, and should avoid bias.

Dilger has written many, many letters. See the his presentation with Johnson-Sheehan from Fall 2022 Convocation, and contact him if you’d like some help.

I’m having a difficult time understanding the accommodations my student needs.

First things first: have a conversation with your student! Do so privately, not in front of other students, and remember that the student is not required to disclose any medical information beyond that which is disclosed in the official accommodation letter sent to you from the Disability Resource Center (DRC). You may ask non-invasive questions like, “Am I meeting your accommodation needs in this class?” or “I’m not sure how X accommodation in your DRC accommodation letter applies to this class. Do you have ideas on how I can help you succeed?”

Still confused? Contact the student’s DRC Access Consultant.

The accommodation letter you received from the DRC should name the student’s access consultant, who works with both the student and their instructors to ensure that accommodations are provided. Email the access consultant with your questions. You can also find resources and information about accommodations on the Disability Resource Center website.

Lastly, remember that students with disabilities are entitled to equitable access to your course.

While you may find that some accommodations require a little bit more work on your end, it is imperative that you provide reasonable accommodations to ensure that all students can fully access your course. Be a responsible and supportive part of the Purdue community by removing barriers to access.
Not all disabilities are visible. Trust that the accommodations recommended by the DRC are what your student needs, and do not question their need for accommodations.

A student asked me to sponsor an Honors Contract. What is an Honors Contract, and how do I handle this?

Honors contracts are a way for students to earn Honors credit for a mainstream class. These contracts are similar to undergraduate research in encouraging students to develop relationships that encourage in-depth study.

Recognizing the labor involved, the Honors College has clarified their policies about these contracts:

Graduate students and limited term lecturers are not permitted to sponsor Honors contracts.
Visiting instructors and lecturers with a terminal degree may sponsor Honors contracts. ICaP defines “terminal degree” as the PhD for literature or writing studies, the MFA for creative writing, or two masters degrees in related disciplines (e.g. MA in English + MLIS).
Tenure-stream and clinical faculty may sponsor Honors contracts.

ICaP visiting instructors, lecturers, and faculty who see Honors contracts as rewarding and/or professionally engaging are encouraged to sponsor them when asked but should never feel obligated to do so. Honors contracts can require a significant amount of time and effort for which instructors are not compensated.

Teaching Materials

I need help finding content for my lesson plans. Does ICaP provide any resources for teaching content?

Yes, we most certainly do! Click the links below to navigate to our helpful guides that contain both information for instructors and content that you can copy into a slide deck, videos and images you can show in class, and websites you can show your students.

Teaching Visual Rhetoric
Teaching Research
Teaching Multimodal Projects

You can also find sample assignments and activities in the ICaP Repository, where activities and assignments are categorized by syllabus theme.

Want to talk through ideas? Come to HEAV 302 during studio time, or visit ICaP staff office hours.

Where can I find blank templates for my syllabus and assignments?

All syllabus and assignment templates can be found in the ICaP Repository on Google Drive. Use the quick links below to find what you need in the repository:

Standard English 106 syllabus template

Syllabus and Assignment Templates by Theme:

Academic Rhetorics
Digital Rhetorics
Public and Cultural Rhetorics
Rhetorics of Data Science
Rhetorics of Health and Medicine
Rhetorics of Narrative

Technology

Where can I get help with Brightspace?

ICaP Brightspace Guide for Instructors - we've put together a comprehensive guide to all things Brightspace for ICaP instructors, from getting started to gradebooks.

One-on-one help:

Online Course Coordinator
- Email Monica Wolfe at wolfe93@purdue.edu or drop into their office hours Monday and Thursday 12-1pm in HEAV 408.
Teaching & Learning Technologies
- Attend a drop-in session with the Teaching & Learning Technologies staff for online, one-on-one help. See the available time slots here under "Upcoming Brightspace Drop-In Sessions." Sessions are available most weekdays.