House Courses

ANNOUNCEMENT

Applications are now open for Fall 2024 House Courses

Please go through each section below and read carefully the steps necessary. Priority will be given to early applications. The deadline for applications is March 4th.

Fall 2024 House Course Instructors Requirements

New House Course Instructors will need to provide evidence of teaching and learning experience, as detailed below under the section Required Instructor Training. If you've previously taught a house course and are planning to teach in Fall 2024, you may go directly to the section How to Apply to Teach a House Course and follow the instructions to complete the application. 

Starting Spring 2025, house instructors will be required to take a 0.5 credit pedagogy course. The pedagogy course will be offered beginning Fall 2024 and registration can be done through Duke Hub. Therefore, this is the last semester stand-alone workshops will be offered. For more information about the 0.5 credit pedagogy course, please contact Angel Martinez at courserequests@duke.edu.

What Are House Courses?

House Courses provide an intellectual experience that is not available in regular course offerings. Such courses are developed in response to student interests and concerns and serve as a bridge between the academic and residential life of students. They enhance intellectual life in the residence halls where they are taught, hence the name "House Course." These courses are open to all undergraduates.

House Courses carry 0.5 semester course credit and are offered only on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory grading basis. These courses meet at least 12 times for a minimum of 18 hours. House Courses do not carry any curriculum codes and do not satisfy Small Group Learning requirements. Up to four House Courses may count toward graduation. 

Who Teaches House Courses?

In order to give current undergraduates an opportunity to develop their own ideas and skills, House Courses may be taught by current Duke undergraduates, who must be supervised by a member of the Trinity College faculty teaching on campus in the semester during which the course is offered. Undergraduate student instructors of House Courses do not receive course credit for teaching and may not enroll in their own courses. House Courses may also be taught by faculty in a recognized school, department, or academic program at Duke.

All courses must be approved and sponsored by a Trinity College Arts and Sciences department AND approved by the Committee on Courses. House Courses are free-standing courses of 18 or fewer students. The course may not require for a grade any other curricular or extra-curricular activity or enterprise, nor participation in activities beyond those of the course itself. House Courses are not skills courses or required training for subsequent courses or activities. House Courses do not have prerequisites, corequisites, or required permission. Enrollment in House Courses is open and cannot be limited by anything but the size of the course. Nevertheless, enrollment priority may sometimes be given for those living in the House where the House Course is taught.

If you are interested in organizing and teaching a House Course, please visit our How to Apply section (below). You'll find our application form, instructions for filling it out, a waiver of liability template form for any fieldtrips you may want to offer as part of the course, a syllabus template, instructions for reserving a residence hall room for your course if necessary, and more.

House Course Submission Schedule for Fall 2024 offerings

Please note that applications received by the priority deadline are guaranteed to appear in DukeHub by the time shopping carts open.  Those received by the second deadline should be available by the time registration opens.  Meeting the priority deadline ensures that your course has adequate time for review and revisions if requested.  However, we will work with all applications received by the final deadline (regardless of revisions necessary) to get them posted in a timely way.

January 10 

Spring Semester First Day of Classes

January 17

Applications open

February 5

Priority House Courses Deadline

February 10

RSVP due for House Courses instructor workshop

February 17

House Course workshop (10a.m. - 1p.m.)

March 18

Revisions by instructors due (if requested) 

March 20

Final Decisions Sent to Instructors

March 25

Shopping carts open for Fall 2024

April 3 Registration begins for Fall 2024
  • Applications that are complete and submitted by the deadline will have their course published in DukeHub by the time shopping carts open. 
  • Applications that are incomplete or don’t meet the guidelines may be delayed in posting to DukeHub, jeopardizing enrollment.

Please note changes in the application process outlined below:

Application Requirements & Process

Applications go live on the first day of classes, 1/10/24.  A complete application has FIVE elements:

  1. Current resume for each instructor.
  2. Complete syllabus. This is the most important part of your application. Please review the Syllabi Requirements tab for information on what to include on your syllabus.  If your syllabus doesn’t meet the requirements, you’ll be asked to revise.  This will delay the publication of your course in DukeHub.
  3. One letter of recommendation from the Course's faculty sponsor. If multiple instructors are applying to teach, the sponsor should submit a combined recommendation letter.  Letters of recommendation can be emailed to courserequests@duke.edu. Applicants who have taught their House Course before do not need to submit new letters of recommendation. 
  4. Completed signature sheet (see link below) with signatures of student instructors, faculty sponsor, as well as the DUS and Chair of the faculty sponsor's department. This page is generated at the end of the application and is also linked below. Email it to courserequests@duke.edu by the deadline. 
  5. Customized Field Trip Waiver of Liability form and field trip information (if applicable). If there is travel for the course, instructors must contact Corporate Risk Management at corprisk@duke.edu and submit a Waiver of Liability form to them for approval well in advance of field trips. A sample Field Trip Waiver of Liability Form is provided above for reference. An approved Waiver of Liability form must be completed for Durham field trips for which group transportation is provided for students and for any field trips to locations beyond Durham. Please customize the template according to the needs of the course and then submit to Corporate Risk Management for approval. Field trips must be optional and may not require any additional payment.

 

After submitting your Qualtrics application, please submit the signature page, with approvals, to courserequests@duke.edu with the subject line "Your House Course Name_Signature Form."

Students are highly encouraged to review all application reference materials and the House Course Policies tab before beginning the Qualtrics submissions form, as incomplete applications may delay approval and publication in DukeHub. Applicants can find a preview of the application form in the reference materials listed below. 

Preview of House Course Qualtrics  

Required Instructor Training:

House course instructors must show evidence of training in teaching and learning.  This requirement may be satisfied by completion of one of the pathways listed below.  

  • GS750.01 Fundamentals of College Teaching
  • EDUC 150 Science of Learning at Duke
  • WRITING 255S Literacy, Writing, Tutoring
  • TA training in a different department at Duke
  • Participation in a syllabus design workshop offered in Spring 2024 
  • Evidence of prior teaching experience, as described in a 500-word teaching statement submitted with the course application.

In addition, all instructors, including returning instructors, must complete Coursera TA modules (see below for instructions), verified by uploading your Coursera completion certificate as part of the application. You will also indicate on the application which of the above pathways you’ve completed or plan to complete.  Approval of your course remains contingent until this requirement is satisfied.  Applicants who indicate their intention to pursue training via course or workshop but don’t follow through are subject to cancellation of their course.

House Course Pedagogy Training:

The Learning Innovations syllabus design workshop is now closed. The new 0.5 pedagogy course, to be offered in Fall 2024, will replace the stand-alone workshops.

Duke Coursera TA modules include 5 units:

  • FERPA: Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act
  • DukeReach: Supporting Students in Distress
  • Title IX Sexual Misconduct: Reporting is Supporting
  • Students Disability Access Office: A One-Stop Shop for Accessibility Needs
  • Promoting Academic Integrity: The Duke Community Standard in Action

To access the modules, follow these steps:

  1. Go to: https://www.coursera.org/programs/duke-university-courses-gp9dy?authProvider=duke
  2. Click "Join for Free" and then "Log in with Duke University."
  3. Log in with your NetID.
  4. Enter this URL https://www.coursera.org/learn/duke-ta-training/home/welcome or search "Duke TA Training", then choose "Enroll for Free."
  5. Watch all five modules, then complete the quiz.
  6. After successfully passing the final evaluation of the course, you’ll receive a certificate of completion. Download this and hold onto it.  You will need it to upload as part of your application to teach a House course once applications formally open on the first day of classes.

Syllabi and Academic Rigor

The Courses Committee expects that House Course subjects will be treated in a critical, evaluative, historical, and/or analytical way, and that House Courses will not primarily teach skills. Instructors should work with their faculty sponsors to create House Course syllabi. Once the House Course is approved, the syllabus may not be changed without permission of the Courses Committee. If the Courses Committee required syllabus revisions, the final syllabus must be emailed (in Word document format) to courserequests@duke.edu. 

The syllabus must include the following information. Any syllabus missing one or more of the requirements will be returned to the applicant for revision, delaying its approval and publication in DukeHub.

Course Information
  • Student instructor(s) and faculty sponsor names and contact information
  • Brief description of course
  • Student learning outcomes
  • Schedule of course meetings, with dates – a minimum of twelve course meetings is required
  • Attendance policy that requires students to attend at least eleven class sessions to earn credit
  • Identification of dates of classes the faculty sponsor will attend throughout semester (two classes minimum), the first of which must occur during the first three weeks of the semester
  • If bringing in guest speakers, outside speaker names and credentials
  • Basis for grading statement: A grade of satisfactory in this course requires satisfactory completion of all assignments of this course including written and oral assignments, attendance, and [whatever individual other exercises an individual House Course may require]”
Assignments
  • Description of each class session (topics to be covered and activities)
  • Weekly Assignments: Total number of pages of reading, minutes of video, or estimated time to complete assigned homework each week. Please note that Duke’s accreditation agency specifies that to earn academic credit, a student must complete a minimum of four hours of work outside of class per week.  This can average out over the course of a semester by including time spent on papers and projects
  • Page references for all required readings for each class meeting
  • Final Assignment: Requirement of one or more rigorous academic products appropriate to the course material, as assessed by the Courses Committee. Examples of this include a traditional academic paper; a video or slide presentation; a set of lesson plans; a fiction or journalistic assignment; or a pitch, app, or program (supplemented by written materials). This is not an exhaustive list, but the assignment should be a serious analytical assignment for which directions/topics are provided that are directly relevant to the course readings or research. Not satisfying this requirement are “reaction,” “response,” or “reflective” papers or journals. It should be equivalent in scale to a 1500-word paper
  • Prompts for all required written assignments.
Download Syllabus Template (docx - 26.54 KB)

 

 

To maintain suitable academic standards for House Courses, the following conditions must be met:

1. A Trinity College faculty member must supervise the course and may serve as the instructor.  The following guidelines apply:

  • The supervisor should be able to claim expertise in the topic area or discipline covered by the course
  • Provide direct input on course design, including advice on how to structure assignments, develop criteria for grading, and incorporate pedagogical strategies appropriate to the material
  • The supervisor must attend at least two sessions of the course in person
  • The supervisor and instructor must meet at least four times outside of class time, during the semester the course is being taught, to review progress, reiterate course goals, and address any challenges or setbacks.

In most cases, that faculty member's department will serve as the sponsoring department for the course. When the faculty member has no appointment in Trinity, a Trinity department must serve as sponsoring department. As instructor of record, the faculty sponsor bears administrative and grading responsibility for the course and will submit grades (in consultation with the instructors), including midterm grades, as appropriate; assist with access to course materials; and assign permission numbers during drop/add as needed.

Note: If a course is supervised by more than one faculty supervisor, each supervisor must attend two (2) meetings of the course and participate in the other administrative duties of the faculty supervisor.

2. Individuals may sponsor or teach ONLY ONE House Course per term. ONLY student instructors who have officially been approved to be instructors of House Courses by the Committee on Courses may teach House Courses.

3. House Courses must have significant academic content.

  • The Courses Committee expects that House Course subjects will be treated in a critical, evaluative, historical, and/or analytical way, and that House Courses will not primarily teach skills. Please refer to "Syllabi Requirements" tab for full list of requirements.

4. Attendance Requirement.

  • A House Course must require in its syllabus that students attend at least eleven class sessions.

5. House Courses must take place in a university residence hall.

  • Student instructors should expect to host the course in their residence hall common room. If that is impossible, the request for a different room can be submitted as part of the application.

6. The first class meeting of a House Course must take place before the last day of Drop/Add.

7. Once approved, House Courses may not change their syllabus, meeting time, or meeting place, without first receiving permission from the Courses Committee. The meeting time and place of your course MAY NOT be changed after they have been submitted to the Registrar.

8. Open Enrollment to Undergraduates

  • House Courses must be open to all Duke undergraduates. House Course instructors and their faculty sponsors may not limit enrollment to particular student groups. Asking students to withdraw from a House Course once enrolled is prohibited. Instructors and sponsors should consider open undergraduate enrollment when creating syllabi and courses.
  • House Courses may be designed in such a way as to attract certain groups of students (for example, a course may be designed to attract students interested in Computer Science), but cannot be limited to those groups (for example, a Computer Science related House Course cannot be limited to only Computer Science students).
  • In some cases, priority registration may be given to those in the house whose commons is hosting the House Course. Please contact courserequests@duke.edu to discuss.

9. House Course instructors may not receive course credit for teaching their House Course(s), and may not enroll in their own courses.

10. Student enrollment for all House Courses is limited to a maximum of 18 students. Fewer than 18 students may enroll.

Download Syllabus Template (docx - 26.54 KB)

Download Field Trip Waiver (doc - 31.5 KB)

For Faculty:

Student instructors are responsible for contacting their faculty advisors to initiate the following academic and administrative course support. As a faculty sponsor, you are agreeing to the following conditions and responsibilities:  

  • Serve as instructor of record on DukeHub
  • Sponsor no more than one House Course per term
  • Meet with student instructors to provide feedback on the course design and syllabus during the semester prior to its being taught
  • Attend at least two class meetings throughout the term, one of which must take place first three weeks of class
  • Meet with student instructor(s) at least four times outside of class time, during the semester the course is being taught, to review progress, reiterate course goals, and address any challenges or setbacks
  • Create course materials site and give instructors access 
  • Provide instructors with roll of students
  • Manage distribution of permission numbers and ensure enrollment does not exceed cap of 18
  • Submit grades at midterm and the end of the semester. Student instructors must contact you to discuss grades, but it is ultimately the faculty's responsibility to submit grades as the official instructor of record. 

Note: please contact the Learning Innovations Office and/or OIT for all questions regarding Sakai and the above administrative duties. The House Course coordinator does not provide technical or administrative support to individual House Courses. 

For Students: 
  •  ROSTERS, SAKAI, PERMISSION NUMBERS: It is your responsibility to keep in touch with your faculty sponsor so that they fulfill the commitment made on the House Course application form. This includes asking your sponsor to set up a Sakai site and provide you with a roster and/or permission numbers.
  • ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENT:  House Course instructors are to emphasize the importance of classroom attendance at the start of class and remind students that they must attend at least eleven class sessions. If any problems arise, you should speak to your faculty sponsor.
  • DROP/ADD DEADLINES: House Courses are subject to the same Drop/Add deadlines as full credit department courses (see Bulletin). After the Drop/Add period, students asking to make a change in registration for your course should be referred to their academic deans.
  • FOR MENTORSHIP OR TEACHING RELATED QUESTIONS: please contact your faculty advisor. They can help you refine your teaching techniques and resolve problems that may arise in the course.
  • INCURRED COSTS:  We are not able to provide any funding for your House Course. However, if you need one or two copies of a course pack that will be used by the instructor(s) or faculty sponsor, we can make them for you. 
  • SPACE USE: The instructors of House Courses, not the academic departments sponsoring the courses, are the parties responsible for any space set-up, clean-up, and damage to the room in which the House Course will be taking place.
  • MID-SEMESTER GRADE REPORTS: IMPORTANT – It is official university policy that midterm grades should be reported for all first-year students, as well as for upperclassmen doing unsatisfactory work.  Please be in contact with your faculty sponsor to arrange that they submit the grades electronically.  Only faculty members may submit grades.
  • FINAL GRADE REPORTS: IMPORTANT – In the semi-final weeks of classes, you should make an appointment to meet with your faculty sponsor early in the last week of classes to discuss the final grades, so the sponsor may submit them electronically.  Final grades are a very serious matter, and for House Courses should be submitted by the last day of classes. Missing final grades may have serious implications for graduation or continuation.
What is a House Course?

House Courses seek to provide an intellectual experience not available in regular departmental course offerings. They are intended to respond to undergraduate students' expressed interests and concerns. In their origins, they were meant to provide a bridge between the academic and residential life of students (hence the name House Courses) and to enhance intellectual life on campus through academic programs in the residence halls.

Do I get credit for taking a House Course?

Yes. House Courses are half credit courses.

May I audit a House Course?

Yes.

How are House Courses graded?

House Courses are graded on the satisfactory/unsatisfactory (S/U) basis. House Courses do not fulfill any curriculum requirements but may count toward graduation. No more than four House Courses may count toward graduation. 

Can House Course instructors limit their enrollment to students who have certain backgrounds or interests?

No. House Course instructors or sponsors are not permitted to limit enrollment to particular types of students or to those with certain backgrounds related to course content or sponsor interests. House Courses must be open to all undergraduates. 

 

Can I get House Course credit for doing something related to past House Course class content in a subsequent semester?

No. The only way to receive credit for a House Course is to be enrolled in a House Course during a semester in which it is offered. Students cannot receive credit for completed projects outside of House Courses in subject matter related to House Course topics. 

I taught a House Course in the Fall, does this mean my House Course will be automatically “rolled over” and offered again in the Spring?

No. You must reapply each semester. House Courses are never scheduled without an application, no matter how many times the course has been offered in the past.  

Does my House Course have to be held in a residential hall?

Yes. Please contact courserequests@duke.edu well in advance of submitting your application should you have a question about the appropriateness of a location for your House Course. 

Who is the departmental chair? The departmental Director of Undergraduate Studies (DUS)? Where do I go to obtain their signatures?

You must obtain BOTH signatures from your House Course's sponsoring department's chair and DUS on the requisite form for your application for it to be considered complete. Contact the department at which your faculty sponsor teaches for assistance obtaining signatures from the departmental DUS and chair. (Names available on their department's websites.) Missing signatures will constitute an incomplete application which cannot be processed. Please be proactive and contact academic departments well in advance of House Course deadlines, to allow sufficient time for DUSs and the department chair to sign your forms. 

How do I reserve a common room? 

Please use Space Finder to reserve a common room. After the request is confirmed, email proof of confirmation to courserequests@duke.edu.

If I have taught a House Course in the past, do I still need to submit a letter of recommendation?

No. Please note the semester and year you previously taught a house course on the House Course application. If you are co-teaching the course with a new instructor, your co-instructor must still submit a letter of recommendation from the House Course's faculty sponsor.

If I am co-teaching a House Course with one or two other instructors, and we have not taught House Courses before, do we each need to submit separate letters of recommendation?

No. Please submit one combined recommendation letter from the House Course's faculty sponsor.

I'm applying to teach with a co-instructor. Can we submit separate online applications?

No. Only one application should be submitted per course. Please determine in advance who will submit the application on behalf of the group. This person should collect materials and application information from the other instructors. 

Can I have an extension on the House Course application?

No. If you do not make the deadline, we invite you to resubmit your application for the following semester. Late applications cannot be accepted. Applications missing components and/or required signatures are incomplete and cannot be accepted or processed. 

When and how will I find out if my House Course has been approved?

We will notify you via email, usually within a few weeks of the House Course application deadline. 

What do I need to do as a House Course instructor after my House Course is approved?

Before the semester starts, you should contact your faculty instructor to set up Sakai. For a full list of guidelines for House Course student instructors, see “Guidelines for Current Student Instructors and Faculty Advisors.”

I need someone to set up my Sakai or give me my class roster.  

Please contact your faculty advisor and ask them to send you the roster and/or to create the Sakai and add you in a TA non-grading role. If your faculty advisor needs technical support, they should visit Sakai supportor contact OIT Learning Innovations.  

Registration has started, is it too late to change the time or day of my course?  

There is no flexibility to change course times once students are enrolled and/or courses have started. You may not change the meeting schedule.  

How many students may enroll in my House Course?

No more than 18 students may enroll in a House Course. There are no exceptions. Please do not give out course permission numbers when your course is full; if this happens, the Registrar will unenroll students from the class. 

My house course has very low enrollment and I’d like to cancel it, how does that work?  

There is no minimum number of enrolled students required for a House Course to run. However, if you feel the number is too low, consult with your faculty advisor and then notify all the students in your course of the cancellation. After students have been notified, please email class-scheduling@duke.edu with the subject “HOUSECS 59-N + Course Title + Cancellation. Copy your faculty advisor and courserequests@duke.edu to this email.  

When can students start signing up for House Courses on DukeHub?

The list is usually posted on DukeHub in the beginning of May (for the fall term) and December (for the spring term). Students may register from that time until the end of Drop/Add.

Can I be reimbursed for related course expenses?

No.  However, if you need one or two copies made of a course pack for either the instructor(s) or faculty sponsor, please email courserequests@duke.edu to arrange to have this done.

What are the policies regarding field trips?

1. Field trips should be optional. Waivers are not necessary for field trips on the Duke campus. For field trips within the city of Durham (local restaurants, theaters, etc.), waiver forms do not need to be completed if the participants will arrange their own transportation. If a House Course includes trips only in Durham, instructors should indicate whether participants will arrange their own transportation.

2. Field trip waiver forms MUST be completed for field trips traveling within Durham for which group transportation is provided for students, and for any trips to other cities/areas beyond Durham. To ensure that University policy is followed, instructors need to submit a waiver of liability form to Corporate Risk Management at corprisk@duke.edu well in advance of the field trip. A template is available on this website for House Course instructors to customize in accord with the information and needs for each course. Instructors must notify courserequests@duke.edu when the field trip has been approved. All students participating in the field trip must complete and sign the waiver form. Instructors must also include documentation of secured funding for field trips for trips traveling outside of Durham.

3. Anyone who has not signed the waiver form should not be permitted to participate in the trip.

 

If you have any questions about applying to teach a House Course or need other assistance, please contact us at courserequests@duke.edu.