SIPS Teaching FAQ

  • Visit the Courses of Study website.
  • Search with any of the relevant course codes: PLSCI, PLHRT, PLBIO, PLPBG, PLPPM, PLSCS. (All SIPS courses will transition to PLSCI course codes starting with the 2024-2025 academic year.)
  • Newly proposed courses are reviewed by the Plant Science Curriculum Committee and by the CALS Curriculum Committee
  • If you have a new course you’d like to try out, consider teaching it as a Special Topics Course (PLSCI 4940)
    • Can be 1-4 credits, and taught for 2 years without approval from the College
    • Does require some active publicity
  • Which classes are assigned graduate TAs? This rubric breaks down how TA assignments are done
  • Ineligible for a graduate TA? Consider an undergraduate who has previously taken your class
  • A 1-credit TA training class for undergraduates will be introduced as part of the SIPS Active Learning Initiative
  • Cornell academic calendars
  • This site provides a detailed list of all the deadlines associated with courses, plus key dates for previous and future academic years.
  • See links to list of exam schedules
  • If at all possible, try to adhere to your assigned time for final exams. Schedules have been arranged to spread out student workloads
  • When proposing a new class, review the legal class times: Class meeting times
  • Note that 10:00 and 11:00 Tuesday and Thursdays are the most popular class times and you will maximize your enrollment by avoiding these times
  • CALS provides SIPS with funds to support teaching. These funds are distributed to sections based on course numbers. Beginning Fall 2024, funds will be distributed directly through SIPS. 
  • Costs for field trip fees have increased significantly owing to changes in transportation providers. This may necessitate passing on some costs to students in the future.
  • Signed risk waivers are required for all off-campus experiences
  • Electronics, visitors, animals – in the absence of letters of accommodation from Student Disability Services, policy is at the discretion of the instructor
  • Classroom auditing:
    • The option to audit is only available to graduate students
    • Auditors are accepted at the discretion of the instructor. If accepted, numbers cannot be limited unless room capacity is exceeded
    • Auditors cannot be failed but they can receive an incomplete which must be resolved prior to graduation. Requesting that auditing students sign a contract committing to a specified level of attendance and/or participation can be an effective strategy
  • Class roster - link updates regularly
  • Users can search by course code, see whether spaces are still available, use the scheduler to avoid conflicts, and view syllabi
  • Upload your syllabus
  • Accommodation is required for varsity athletics, religious observance, and issues of physical and mental health
  • Accommodation is not required for club sports or deaths in the family
  • Ask at the beginning of the semester for known dates of absence related to athletics and religious observance. not that travel time to be with family is not encompassed
  • A letter from Student Health Services is required for physical and mental health accommodations
  • Instructors are not required to reschedule or duplicate field trips missed owing to accommodation