House Courses

Please note changes in the application process outlined below:

Application Requirements & Process

Applications are live as of the first day of classes, August 26, 2024. 

Step 1: Complete the Intent to Teach form

https://duke.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_eIGMvu695js5OUC

Step 2: Complete House Course application using the personalized link sent to you in the email you provided:

The personalized link will allow you to go back to the application several times without having to restart it. Click the link emailed to you to return to your application. 

A complete application has FIVE elements:

1. Completed signature sheet (see link to form below) with signatures of instructors, faculty sponsor, as well as the DUS and Chair of the faculty sponsor's department. The signature sheet form should be uploaded when completing the application. If you cannot get the signature sheet before the deadline, you should email it to courserequests@duke.edu.
2. Complete syllabus. Please review the Syllabi Requirements tab in the following section for information on what to include on your syllabus.  If your syllabus does not 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 should be uploaded to the application. If you cannot get the recommendation letter before the application deadline, you should email the letter to courserequests@duke.edu.  Applicants who have taught their House Course before do not need to submit new letters of recommendation.
4. Duke Responsible Conduct for Community Certificate - Please see next section on Required Instructor Training to learn how to obtain a Canvas certificate. Previous instructors who have obtained a Coursera TA certificate do not need to complete a new one.
5. Current resume for each instructor.

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.

You can submit this documents in several stages by going back and clicking the personalized link emailed to you."

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. 

Required Instructor Training:

All new House course instructors are required to enroll in ARTS&SCI 102, Introduction to College Teaching, prior to teaching their course.  This 0.5 credit course, taken on an S/U basis, will be offered for the first time in Fall 2024.

In addition, all instructors, including returning instructors, must complete all modules for the Duke Responsible Conduct for Community Certificate (see below for instructions), verified by uploading your Coursera completion certificate badge as part of the application. 

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.

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, CANVAS, 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 Canvas 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.

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