Departmental Policies

This page contains important information for students regarding policies and procedures for the Department of Biology and links to information at the College or University level as well.

The Department of biology strictly adheres to all University policies concerning, but not limited to, academic dishonesty, computer and network access, conduct, first-day attendance, intellectual property, religious observance, and students with disabilities.

Below, the Department’s specific policies concerning electronic devices, grievances and disputes, laboratory participation, laboratory safety, and missed coursework are elaborated.

• Electronic devices. The use of all electronic devices, including, but not limited to, programmable calculators, laptop computers, cell phones, and PDA’s, in classrooms and laboratories, is prohibited, unless the use of specific devices is permitted explicitly, and the conditions for use of those devices is specified, in the course syllabus.
• Grievances and disputes. The Departmental policy (PDF) is based on the University policy (see the External Links to the current Undergraduate Catalogue and to Student Affairs website). The Department defines a ‘grievance’ as a claim that a specific academic decision or action that affects a student’s academic record or status has violated published policies and/or procedures, or has been applied to the grievant in a manner different from that used for other students. A grievance could result, for instance, from an instructional, grading, or academic advising decision or action that is based on non-academic criteria, criteria that vary among students, standards that are different than those described in the course syllabus or the Undergraduate Catalogue, or an illegal or unconstitutional act. The Department considers any student complaint that does not meet the standards of a grievance to be a ‘dispute’. The filing of a grievance initiates a formal University process that MUST be followed carefully. A dispute, on the other hand, is a simple disagreement that needs to be resolved informally between student and instructor.
• Laboratory participation. Some laboratory courses in the Department of Biology require the use, manipulation, and/or euthanatization of live animals, or use of preserved animals, as an indispensable part of the laboratory exercises. By enrolling in one of these courses, a student agrees to participate in the laboratory experiments that involve live or dead animals. Although a student who objects on the basis of religious or moral grounds need not participate directly in the euthanatization and/or ensuing dissection of tissues, if no acceptable alternative is available, as determined by the faculty member in charge of the course, the student is expected to participate in data collection from the preparation or dissection, to monitor/manipulate experimental devices involved in the experimental set-up, to participate in discussion related to the data collection, to write lab reports involving the preparation or dissection, and to be examined on material involving the preparation or dissection. Failure to participate in any of these activities will have a negative impact on the final grade in the course. It is the student’s responsibility to bring any concern that may limit participation to the attention of the instructor by the completion of the first laboratory session. All such concerns will be addressed by the laboratory coordinator. All protocols for the use of animals in Department of Biology courses have been approved by the USF IACUC and adhere to all State and Federal regulations.
• Laboratory safety. A student will be asked to leave the laboratory if they fail to comply with the Departmental safety standards. Any student who is asked to leave a laboratory for failing to observe the Departmental safety standards is not entitled to make-up coursework missed because of the student's non-compliance with Departmental safety standards. No student will be permitted to return to the lab until the instructor determines that the student will comply with all safety standards.
• Missed coursework. Class attendance is the responsibility of the student. If a student misses a class, the course instructor has the prerogative to decide whether or not the student can make up the course content that was missed. The instructor is not obliged to allow the student to copy lecture notes, to provide class materials to the student, to give a make-up lecture to the student, to give a make-up examination to the student, or in any other way to ensure that the student obtains the course content that was missed. The instructor may decide, however, that a situation beyond the student’s control forced the student to miss a class, and in such a case (usually only medical, legal, or funerary), may elect to help the student make up the course content that was missed. The help that the instructor provides can be in any manner that the instructor deems suitable.