a newsletter for those who teach at brigham young university
Volume 13, No. 2 • Spring/Summer 2005
communities of practice reading strategies ferpa for faculty to improve the university meaningful maxims
4450 Wilkinson Student Center
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(801) 422-7419
Fax (801) 422-0223 faculty_center@byu.edu www.byu.edu/fc
Editor: lynn_sorenson@byu.edu
o n f a c u lt y
Kelly Patterson (Political Science)
[At the recent Spring Seminar sponsored by the Faculty Center, Kelly Patterson reflected on an article about Olympic swimmers and achieving excellence in scholarship. Olympic swimmers? Research? Writing? Publishing? Read on. — Ed.
]
In a thought-provoking article, 1 Daniel F. Chambliss examines some of the features that separate Olympic swimmers from swimmers at lower competitive levels. He outlines what he calls “quantitative and qualitative differentiation.”
A quantitative differentiation simply means doing more of something. A qualitative differentiation pertains to what is actually being done. Chambilss found that Olympic swimmers spend about as much time training as do non-Olympic swimmers. However, the Olympic swimmers are qualitatively different in a few areas like technique (e.g., they spend more time honing it); discipline (e.g., they schedule practices, they attend those practices faithfully); and attitude (they genuinely like what they are doing). He notes that “athletes move up to the top ranks through qualitative jumps: noticeable changes in their techniques, discipline, and attitude” (73–75).
Therefore the lesson, I believe, for us as scholars—and Chambliss points this out—is that the number of hours we work on our scholarship will not necessarily result in dramatic improvements without some change in our qualitative habits (74–75).
Get feedback. One of the most important qualitative habits scholars can develop is showing their work to others. As you pursue your scholarly career at BYU, actively seek out criticism of your work. Show your work to colleagues in your department and college
(or send it to colleagues at other schools). Nothing creates improvements in your work better than feedback from others.
Be engaged. Rubbing shoulders with individuals who do excellent work will improve your own. Consider helping to create an academic and intellectual environment in your department by suggesting visitors you’d like to come to campus. When visiting scholars come, be sure to spend time with them. Make time to read their papers—if not to learn their theories and findings, then to assess their methods. This ability to engage ideas and methods and to critique and evaluate research design will make you more self-critical of your own work.
Find department support.
You do not need to work toward excellence alone.
Engage your department chair and colleagues in discussions of what excellence is and how it is routinely recognized in the department. Ask your chair specifically what kinds of resources exist to help you achieve that excellence. Although I cannot speak for current administrators, my greatest delight in my six years as chair was seeing junior faculty succeed. I cannot remember even 1 percent of the memos I wrote during my time as chair, but I can tell you much about the junior faculty I mentored, including details of their publications.
(continued on page 2)

Stay connected.
Stay connected to your disciplines and to the important debates and methods they are examining. At BYU we can easily get distracted by a series of other responsibilities, concerns, and worries.
Nevertheless you can succeed. Faculty members here are doing it. You know who they are. They are eager to talk about their research and ideas. They are a little less connected to the gossip in the department. They are your exemplars, your mentors. They can model for you the “ordinary elements of scholarly excellence” that can result in extraordinary success. Now is the time to launch the scholarly dimensions of your careers and to ingrain the habits of good scholarship in your daily routine.
Seek divine guidance. Finally—and I know that this point is obvious to most of you—do not be afraid to ask for help from your Heavenly Father (see Alma 34:24–
25). I sincerely believe that we merit such help and inspiration. If we seek this help to move our disciplines forward, to bless the lives of our students, or to enhance the university, then I know we will receive it.
To summarize the major point: You can achieve excellence in scholarship. You do not need to spend
10 hours a day on it (although there will be times).
I do, however, encourage you to make the pursuit of excellence in scholarship a part of something you do everyday. The qualitative improvements you can make do matter. In the words of Chambliss, “Excellence is mundane. Excellence is accomplished through the doing of actions, ordinary in themselves, performed consistently and carefully, habitualized, compounded together, added up over time” (85).
Reference
1. “The Mundanity of Excellence: An Ethnographic
Report on Stratification in Olympic Swimmers”
( Sociological Theory, 1989, 70–86).
The Faculty Center provides logistical support for and facilitates interdisciplinary “communities of practice” seeking to improve teaching and learning, pursue a particular interest, or explore collaborative possibilities.
Recently the Faculty Center has worked with a community of practice focused on service-learning. Among other projects, this group is compiling materials to be posted on the Faculty Center Web site. Those interested in this service-learning community of practice may contact faculty_center@byu.edu, gary_daynes@byu.edu, or kburr@byu.edu.
Others wanting to form a community of practice may contact lynn_sorenson@byu.edu. Another community is in the formation stage. Tim Gardner (Marriott
School) invites BYU colleagues to join the Faculty
“Classics” Book Club.
The primary purpose of the Faculty “Classics” Book
Club is to bring together BYU faculty from various disciplines to read and discuss classic literature, which may include anything from The Iliad to The Adventures of
Huckleberry Finn to “wannabe classics” like the recently published Brick Lane: A Novel .
A secondary purpose of the book club is to promote networking among faculty members in different departments and colleges. The book club will meet monthly beginning October 6th.
Come to the initial meeting to get acquainted, set ground rules, and plan future meetings. Also, please bring a list of books you consider “classics” that you’d like the group to consider reading together. For more information, contact Tim Gardner at tmg13@byu.edu or 422-1484. First meeting details:
Thursday, October 6th, 11:30 a.m.–1:00 p.m.
Faculty Center Conference Room, 4450 WSC
Bring a brown-bag lunch; drinks provided.
(p. 3)
On the following page is a useful resource, “Reading
Strategies to Increase Learning.” Most BYU faculty would like their students to increase their abilities to
“read for learning.” With that goal in mind, page 3 is designed to be photocopied for distribution to students. These reading strategies were compiled from materials from the University of Manitoba Student
Resource Services, with input from BYU Associate
Professor Nancy Christiansen (English.) focus on faculty spring/summer 005

1. Access prior knowledge by asking yourself, “What do I already know about this topic?”
2. Set a purpose for your reading by asking yourself, “What are my reasons for reading this (building up background knowledge, preparing for an exam, writing a paper)?”
3. Match your purpose with a specific reading strategy such as:
• Skimming to get the gist of the material
• Reading for main ideas
• Finding the central argument (i.e., position and evidence for position)
• Evaluating the argument
• Memorizing details
4. Before reading the actual assignment, enhance learning by:
• Reading the introduction
• Reading the table of contents
• Reading each major heading
• Reading the first sentence after the heading
• Reading the graphs, charts, and illustrations
• Reading the summary
• Noting if there is an index
5. Formulate questions to guide your reading by turning headings, subheadings, theses, or topic sentences into questions.
Also ask, “What are the writer’s purposes?” “What are the reasons and evidences for the writer’s conclusions?”
6. Read actively by:
• Underlining and marking your text (unless you’re using a library book!)
• Answering guide questions
• Outlining
• Taking notes
7. Monitor your comprehension continually and avoid difficulties by:
• Slowing down
• Reading aloud
• Rephrasing in your own words
• Looking for missing pieces
• Putting all the concepts together
• Taking a break
8. Put the ideas from the text into your own words by reciting aloud and/or making notes/explaining concepts to yourself or another.
9. Review by:
• Summarizing
• Concept mapping (e.g., drawing diagrams to illustrate the relationship of concepts)
• Answering hypothetical test questions
10. Apply what you have read by asking yourself, “How does this relate to other topics in this course or in other courses?”
“How does this relate to my life?”
3 focus on faculty spring/summer 005

The first batch of midterms has come and gone, and now you’re ready to return your students’ term papers.
Although it would be easy to put the graded papers in a box outside your office, you know there are guidelines for student privacy and you want to follow them. So can you put the graded papers in a box outside your office or not?
The answer is no, not according to FERPA, the Family
Educational Rights and Privacy Act.
What is FERPA, anyway? FERPA is a federal statute enacted by Congress in 1974. It is designed to assure students’ access to their own educational records and to protect their privacy. FERPA’s complexity can be a bit daunting, but if you can navigate some legalese, this article will be helpful in understanding your responsibilities related to FERPA.
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act
(FERPA) prohibits disclosure of educational records or personally identifiable information without the express consent of the student.
But what does it mean to you as a teacher at BYU?
The following FAQs may be helpful.
In the Classroom and Course
Q. May I leave graded work outside my office for students to pick up?
A. No. It is a FERPA violation to leave graded work where others can view it or to return graded work by having someone other than the student pick it up. For example, you cannot allow students to search through a stack of other students’ graded papers to find their own or to pick up work for another student.
What CAN I do with students’ graded work?
There are several options for returning student work. Here are a few ideas:
• At the beginning of the semester, students can sign a form allowing work to be returned in a common box. (Students who opt out of this arrangement would need another process to retrieve their work.)
• Students can submit their work in an envelope labeled with only their name. The instructor can seal confidential information (e.g., the work with the grade and the teacher’s comments) inside this envelope and leave it out for students to retrieve.
• A secretary or another department worker can return papers from a common stack, provided no student sees another’s graded material in the stack.
• Handing back work during class is appropriate as well, provided no student sees another’s grade.
• Assignments, term papers, etc., submitted through the Internet can be graded and easily returned confidentially through the
Internet.
Q. May I post students’ scores or grades?
A. No, you may not post scores or grades in such a way that any student’s individual performance can be identified by a third party. You cannot post scores by name, Social Security number, or student ID number.
What CAN I do?
You may post scores and grades by using a PIN or code created especially for your class and known only to the student and you, the instructor. However, even this may be problematic in a small class or under other circumstances in which a third party might easily match a student to a grade. For example, even posting grades or scores by PIN but in alphabetical order is inappropriate because it would be easy for someone to match a student to a grade. (That is, everyone would know that Alicia
Alvarez’s grade was first on the list and that Zachariah
Zimmerman’s grade was last.)
Q. May students evaluate each other’s work in class?
A. Yes, students may evaluate each other’s work in class as long as it has not yet been graded by the teacher.
Before continuing, two common terms in FERPAspeak (“directory information” and “non-directory information”) need explanation. BYU has a list of directory information—that is, information that can be released without student consent. Directory information may be provided to others. It includes but is not limited to the following: student’s name address e-mail address place of birth major and/or minor dates of attendance class standing (sophomore, graduate student, etc.) degrees received, etc.
Non-directory information, on the other hand, cannot be released to the public without prior student consent. Anything not included in directory information
(e.g., grades) is considered non-directory information and cannot be released without the student’s written permission.
4 focus on faculty spring/summer 005

For a complete list of what is included in directory information, visit http://saas.byu.edu/catalog/2005-
2006ucat/graderec.aspx and scroll down to Access to
Educational Records—FERPA.
Q. May I use student work as an example for others?
A. You may not disclose a student’s non-directory information in any public setting without the student’s express written consent.
For example, you cannot use a student’s work as an example in class if doing so would reveal the student’s name or grade on the work. If the work does not have a name or a grade, it may be used as an example. Also, you may not use one student’s application form as an example in showing other students how to fill out the form.
Q. May I talk to another faculty member about a student’s work?
A. You may discuss a student’s non-directory information with another faculty member as long as there is a legitimate “need to know.” If discussing a student and his or her work is necessary for the faculty members to perform their jobs (e.g., discussing how to help a common student who is failing), then it is permissible to do so.
Letters of Recommendation
Q. How does FERPA affect my writing of letters of recommendation for students?
A. If the letter of recommendation is to include any non-directory information (see p. 4), the student must give written permission. This written permission must include what information the student is releasing, who has permission to release the information, to whom the information should be released, and why the student is allowing the information to be released, along with a date and the student’s signature.
Note: If the recommendation will not include protected
(non-directory) information, no written permission is needed. Neither is written permission required for teachers/employers to communicate their opinions of a student’s performance, personal traits, etc. (e.g., punctuality, creativity).
Parental Rights
Q. What are a student’s parents entitled to know?
A. Parents do not automatically have rights to university students’ educational records unless they have written consent. Parents must have a signed release from the student to access any educational information, including progress in a course.
Can educational information ever be released to a parent or family member without a signed release?
If the student is a dependent, the parent must show a copy of last year’s tax forms claiming the student as a dependent and fill out a form (Dependency Exception
Under FERPA, available in the BYU Records Office) to gain access to the student’s educational record. The form then becomes part of the student’s academic file.
[Note: A spouse or any other person can only have access to a student’s record if the student has signed a written release; this includes a family member acting on the student’s behalf when the student is on a mission, doing Study Abroad, etc.]
Conclusion
In summary, despite FERPA’s detailed recitation of rights and sanctions, it is student-friendly, legally necessary, and very important for ethical good practice in higher education. FERPA assists the university in respecting students’ privacy by providing specific guidelines about when teachers (and others) can and can’t, should and shouldn’t share information about students and their academic work.
If you have questions regarding FERPA and its implications for you and your students, contact Jearlene
Leishman (jearlene@byu.edu) at the Records Office,
B-150 ASB, 422-4530, or visit http://saas.byu.edu/depts/ records/ferpa/.
focus on faculty spring/summer 005 5

t o i m p r o v e t h e u n i v e r s i t y
After more than 30 years of teaching, Professor Terry Olson (School of Family Life; former Assoc. Director of the Faculty Center) has gained valuable insights about building quality student-teacher relationships and creating an inviting learning atmosphere in the classroom. Here are some aphorisms he has developed that reflect his ideas on teaching and learning. —Ed.
focus
invites your written response or any short piece on other topics of interest that will improve the university. Submissions (up to 500 words) should be sent no later than Friday, August 19, 2005 to Lynn
Sorenson, Editor, focus on faculty
, faculty_center@byu.edu.
focus on faculty is an occasional newsletter
published by the Faculty Center for all teachers at
Brigham Young University (full- and part-time faculty, student instructors, and teaching assistants).
Its purpose is to serve as a medium for exchanging ideas about teaching and scholarship and for sharing information about faculty development activities. Editor Lynn Sorenson welcomes your ideas,
contributions, and comments. Past issues of focus on faculty are available in PDF format at www.byu.
edu/fc/pages/tchlrnpages/focus.html
byu faculty center
David Whetten, Director
Professor of Organizational Behavior
Lynn Sorenson, Assistant Director,
Instructional & Faculty Development
Trav Johnson, Assistant Director ,
TA Development &Assessment of Teaching
Muriel Allen, Secretary
James Faulconer, Associate Director
Professor of Philosophy
Jane Birch, Assistant Director,
Faculty Development
Bryan Bradley, Faculty Development Coordinator,
Assessment of Student Learning
Dani Dunaway, Editorial Assistant
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