Know Before You Teach

Your Instructional Designer

Every school has a CETL Instructional Designer. Yours will email you within your first week — you do not have to find us.

Business & Management
Felicia Harris-Foster
fharrisfoster@ndnu.edu

Education
Lia Schraeder
LSchraeder@ndnu.edu

Psychology
Kevin Zaragoza
kzaragoza@ndnu.edu

Book time sooner

Not heard from your ID? Email cetl@ndnu.edu and we will connect you.
Designing a new course? Start with your ID at least eight weeks before the term begins. The earlier you bring us in, the better the result.

Know before you teach

Most weeks of teaching are routine. The weeks that are not — a student in distress, a suspected integrity violation, a Title IX disclosure — are the ones you want a frame for before they arrive, not one you invent under pressure.

This page summarizes; NDNU's official sources govern. The Student Handbook, the Faculty Handbook, and NDNU's official policy pages are authoritative. When a real situation arrives, talk to a human.

If a student is in crisis

Immediate danger. If a student is in immediate danger of harming themselves or someone else, or you witness violence or a medical emergency: call 911 first, then campus security at 510-852-5877. If you are on the phone with the student, stay on the line. Do not interrogate, do not promise confidentiality, do not minimize. "I hear you. I am going to make sure someone is there with you."

The 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline (call or text 988) is available 24/7. TimelyCare TalkNow connects an NDNU student to a licensed mental health professional in minutes, free, at any hour — open timelycare.com/NDNU with them, on their phone or yours.

If a student discloses suicidal thoughts but is not in immediate danger: thank them, plainly and calmly. Ask directly — "Are you safe right now?" — and avoid euphemisms. Do not promise to keep it private. Connect them right then, with you present, to TimelyCare TalkNow or 988, and stay until they are connected. Afterward, notify your Dean and document what was said and what you did.

Reporting a student of concern. Outside an emergency, NDNU has one intake form for both conduct issues and students you are worried about: Conduct and Student of Concern report. It goes to the Office of the Provost, which routes it — sexual misconduct reports go directly to the Title IX officer. If you are unsure where a concern belongs, this form is a safe default.

Title IX and mandatory reporting

You are a responsible employee. As NDNU faculty you have a legal obligation to report disclosures of sexual misconduct — whether the student tells you in person, in an assignment, in an email, or in passing after class. On campus or off, recent or years ago.

Pause the student before they share specifics. Gently: "I want you to be able to talk to me, but I am required by NDNU to share what you tell me with the Title IX office. If you want to talk to someone who does not have to report, you can speak confidentially with a confidential resource." Then let them choose. If they continue, listen with care. Do not promise confidentiality. Do not investigate.

Do not investigate on your own, confront an accused party, promise privacy, or ignore a disclosure because the student asked you to. Report as soon as reasonably possible.

Faculty in California are also mandated reporters for suspected child abuse and elder or dependent-adult abuse.

Official source: NDNU's Policy Against Gender-Related Misconduct (PDF). To report, use the Conduct and Student of Concern form.

FERPA

Situation What to do
A parent emails asking how their student is doing. Do not share. Say you cannot discuss the student without written consent. Suggest they talk to the student.
Another faculty member asks about a shared student. Only if they have a legitimate educational interest. Supporting the student? Yes. Curiosity? No.
Posting grades publicly with names or IDs. A FERPA violation. Use the Canvas Gradebook, which is private by default.
Leaving graded papers where students can see each other's grades. A FERPA violation.

When in doubt, do not share. Check with the Registrar first. You can always release information later if it turns out to be appropriate. You cannot un-share what you have already disclosed. See FERPA and Student Privacy.

One practical implication for AI: never paste student names, submissions, or grades into a general-purpose AI tool. That data leaves NDNU's control.

Academic integrity

Six violation types: plagiarism, cheating, fabrication, collusion, self-plagiarism, and unattributed AI use.

When you suspect a violation: gather evidence; meet with the student privately and ask for their explanation before assigning any consequence (sometimes there is a genuine misunderstanding worth correcting); decide on a response; document everything in writing; and talk to your Dean, especially the first time.

The best prevention is design — and you can do it now. Assignments that are personal, specific, and process-oriented are much harder to cheat on than generic prompts answered in one sitting. Build in drafts, reflection, peer review, and personal application. Most integrity problems at university level are about pressure and unclear expectations, not character.

Your generative AI policy

NDNU has no single university-wide AI policy — faculty hold a range of legitimate positions and disciplines vary. What is essential is that every syllabus has one, and that it is clear and enforceable. The three defensible positions: no AI use (when you are assessing foundational skills), allowed with disclosure (when AI is part of how professionals in the field work), or integrated (when AI literacy is itself a learning outcome).

Any of the three is defensible. The risk is vagueness. "Use your judgment" leaves students guessing, and guessing students make choices you will not like.

AI detection tools are unreliable. Do not treat a detector score as evidence. Look instead for work that does not sound like the student's other work, confidently stated facts that are wrong or invented, or fabricated citations — then meet with the student and ask them to walk you through their thinking. The conversation usually resolves it.
Official source: Generative AI on the CETL site covers both halves — your students' use, and your own. The syllabus template includes all three policy positions in ready-to-use language.

Accommodations and the DRC

The Disability Resource Center determines and authorizes accommodations. Your job is not to evaluate documentation or decide what is reasonable — the DRC does that. Your job is to implement what has been authorized.

  • Accommodations are not retroactive. They apply from the date authorized forward.
  • The student shares the letter with you each term; you implement it once you have it.
  • If an accommodation seems to alter the essential learning outcomes of your course, do not unilaterally refuse. Call the DRC and work out an alternative.
  • Treat letters as confidential. Never require a student to identify themselves publicly to receive an accommodation.
  • If a student mentions a disability but has no letter, refer them to the DRC and follow up. You cannot grant accommodations on your own.

Where to refer a student

You do not need to diagnose. You just need to notice — a sudden drop in quality, missing work after a strong start, withdrawal, a shift in email tone. The first move is always a brief private conversation: "I have noticed your work has changed recently. Are you doing okay?"

What you observe Refer to
Weak writing; falling behind; content not clicking Academic Success Center
A disability-related need, with or without a letter Disability Resource Center
Stress, anxiety, sadness, exhaustion, a family crisis TimelyCare — free, confidential, 24/7
Login, Canvas, or email problems OIT
Transcript, drop/withdraw, Incomplete Registrar
Research help, sources, citation Gellert Library
Multiple issues, or you are simply not sure Your Dean, or the Student of Concern form
Imminent harm to self or others 911, then 510-852-5877

The warm referral, in five lines.

Name what you see → normalize it ("a lot of students hit this point") → point to the resource → make it easy ("here is the link, could you book this week?") → follow up a week later. The follow-up is what makes students actually go.

There is no failure in saying "I am not sure how to help, but I want this student to be okay." There is failure in noticing and doing nothing.

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