BSC Faculty Handbook

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Exploration Term/Contract Learning website:
Instructors who know, in advance, that they will be absent from classes should inform both the
Department Chair and the Academic Programs Assistant of the temporary arrangements made
for their classes. Emergency absences should be reported immediately to Department Chairs.
Faculty are urged to start classes on time, beginning with the first day of the term, and to
encourage students to come to the faculty offices for conferences concerning such matters as
study habits. It is customary, although the custom is without sanction, for students to leave a
classroom if the instructor is more than fifteen minutes late.
IV.L. LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SERVICES
The Library is central to the educational process at Birmingham-Southern College. More than
just a storehouse of books, the Library provides an important array of services, resources, and
research tools, and serves as an extension of the classroom.
Faculty members are urged to take an active interest in the Library program, in building and
maintaining distinctive collections of print and digital learning resources, and in all matters
pertaining to the information sources and services that the Library can offer as an integral part of
the College community. Questions about Library policies or procedures should be directed to
the Director of the Library.
The Library, which maintains an open-shelf policy, contains books and journals, subscribes to
current periodicals, and receives a selection of United States government documents as a partial
depository. E-books, e-journals, electronic databases, DVDs, CDs, and other resources are vital
parts of the Library collection. Materials from other libraries may be borrowed on inter-library
loan, subject to rules of the lending libraries. Request forms may be found on the Library
website. In most cases, the costs of borrowing are covered by the Library. Faculty members, as
well as students, have access to other academic libraries in the area (specifically UAB, Samford
University, Miles College, the University of Montevallo, and—for residents of Jefferson
County—the Birmingham Public Library system) through a cooperative borrowing agreement.
The Library schedule of hours varies with the academic calendar. Hours of operation are posted
at the Library entrance and on the Library materials circulate to members of the
Faculty until May 31 of the current academic year, subject to recall if requested by other patrons.
The Circulation Department also provides space for class reserve materials. Forms are available
for placing materials on reserve and should be submitted at the circulation desk or through the
online request forms available on the Library website as early as possible so that materials may
be located and placed on reserve in time for class assignments. The Library has a number of
meeting rooms and seminar rooms that may be reserved for a class or for college-related
meetings, as well as small, lockable study carrels that can be used for sabbaticals or special
projects. Laptops, computer projectors, and other multimedia equipment are available for