COMM 5332 162: Managing Org Conflict

COMM 5332 - Managing Org Conflict

Fall 2025 Syllabus, Section 162, CRN 17513


Instructor Information

Ariadne Gonzalez, Ph.D

Associate Professor of Communication

Email: ariadnea.gonzalez@tamiu.edu

Office: Virtual

Office Hours:
Wednesdays, 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM

Office Phone: 956.326.3036

Office: KL 431


Times and Location

T 6pm-8:45pm in Academic Innovation Center 220


Course Description

This course examines conflict by recognizing that it is a reoccurring part of life in business, government, and nonprofit organizations. It is a product of human existence and diversity in an interrelated society. The costs associated with these conflicts are well documented. Organizations are increasingly recognizing that conflict does not have to carry costly financial and interpersonal burdens and can, in fact, serve as a productive change agent. Students in this course explore the nature and sources of organizational conflict and facilitate development of practical skills to recognize and manage workplace conflict using case studies, interactive lectures, simulations, and field research. Students are introduced to the concept of conflict coaching. This course is well-suited for managers and leaders in any profession who want to increase their interpersonal capability and enhance their value in organizations.
Psychology & Communication Department, College of Arts & Sciences

Additional Course Information

Course Policies: 

Participation: Complete readings as indicated on the calendar before you arrive to class.  I conduct a graduate level class in a seminar style (i.e., assigned readings must be completed before each class and you will come prepared to discuss them).  I may lecture for about 30-45 minutes on some days but do not assume that class time will be spent like most undergraduate classes.  A seminar is only as good as the total contribution that takes place within it; therefore, I encourage your participation by asking questions, making observations, sharing particular insight about the research articles and textbooks, and provide feedback to your classmates. This class will not be focused on conversations that have no basis outside of the day’s readings. If there is any moment you do not understand a concept or anything else covered in class, please visit my office or send an email with your question or concern.  I am here to help you.  Don’t forget that as the semester progresses. 

Attendance: Please be sure to arrive to class on time! I usually give important announcements in the beginning of each class session, and I will not repeat myself unless you ask specific questions.  Any time you miss may also affect your understanding of course materials. Attendance is a crucial aspect of this course. 

Excessive absences will be handled within the university’s standards and my individual discretion. Non-excused absences will not be allowed. Therefore, there will be no makeup opportunities for non-university excused absences. TAMIU policy indicates that students are expected to be in class unless students are involved in a university excused activity, can provide a doctor's excuse for an illness, or experiences an unavoidable emergency. In the case of planned absences, assignments may be turned in before their due date. Because we meet once a week, I expect you to be in class throughout the semester.  Please be aware that you cannot miss on negotiation days.  You cannot “make up” negotiations. This will affect your participation grade and your negotiation grade as well. We will have an issue after one absence. I will handle individual cases accordingly.  

Late Work: All coursework is due on the day announced-no exceptions. 

Case Studies (20%)

Case studies will be a central component of this course because they allow you to apply theories of conflict management and negotiation to realistic and complex situations. By analyzing and discussing cases, you’ll gain practice in diagnosing sources of conflict, identifying underlying interests, and evaluating strategic options. I will provide you with two case studies throughout the semester and answer questions to build your position. 

Facilitation (15%)

Once this semester you will guide us through the readings and facilitate class discussion.  A facilitation sheet (about 1 page) of your reading’s summary, main arguments, vocabulary words and definitions, and a set of questions to focus our class discussions is due at the time we meet. Remember to build your questions that tie to the material and especially our day’s focus. This one page shouldn’t be read verbatim as you are facilitating. You are to lead discussion by opening the conversation to the day’s readings and posing questions. A summary of the readings can be given but cannot be the basis of your facilitation.  You should make copies available to each student the night our class meets. The purpose of this is to create a repository of all the readings and keep our conversations focused on the readings. You must email your facilitation sheets to me, and they are due one day BEFORE your facilitation (Monday by 12 PM). I will provide feedback (by 9 AM Tuesday) and you are to edit any necessary items and then make copies for the class. 

Negotiation Plans (50%)

I am going to divide you differently over the course of the semester. At times you will work in pairs and other times you will work in a group.  You will be presented with a brief scenario in which you will be given a negotiation objective. Your classmate will be presented with the same scenario, but a different objective. You will read and understand your scenario and constraints prior to entering the classroom. You will then enter negotiations with your counterpart. We are here to learn so don’t think you’ll win every time! I want to see evidence that you can apply what we’ve learned and make sense and use of it.  Do not give up. This will negatively affect your grade. The dates of the negotiations are in the class schedule.

Preparation for a negotiation is essential. You will be required to develop and submit a pre-negotiation plan for every case. Some negotiation plans will be prepared during class. In this case, you will submit your plans to Blackboard during class and negotiate with your classmate(s).  Other times you’ll prepare your negotiation plans a week before (depending on the case). In these situations, you will bring two copies of this plan. I will grade one; the other you will use during your negotiation. If you bring only one, you do not get credit. Though you are not to share these plans with anyone before class, you may reveal as much or as little as you like with your negotiation partner(s) during the actual negotiation. These plans are to help you reach your most desired outcome. You must be present for each negotiation scenario to receive credit. You must negotiate (and not merely submit your plan) to receive a grade.  If not, it is a zero.  Please make sure you are present on these dates posted on the calendar. No exceptions. 

Reflections (5%)

Reflection assignments following each negotiation plan provide you with the opportunity to critically examine your strategies, choices, and outcomes. You also identify strengths and areas for growth. This process encourages you to think about your own thinking-it’s a meta-approach to refine your skills and improve your performance. This also helps promote accountability and continuous learning—you will develop a critical reflection after each negotiation. 

Participation (10%)

You will be graded on your interactive engagement with course material and the overall classroom community. Students should contribute to class discussions by being thoroughly prepared to discuss readings and provide relevant insight. You will also be graded for your participation during negotiations, questions submitted to Blackboard, and negotiation engagement and debriefings. A 10% participation grade will be earned only if your discussions and comments are based out of the scholarly material covered in class and not on personal life and work experience only and your overall contributions to negotiations. 

Important: You should use the feedback you receive from each of your negotiation plans to enhance your writing and focus on preparation for each negotiation plan.  

Important! 

All assignments and papers should be in full APA format. In case you need format assistance, here is a link to the Purdue citation website: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/. Please make sure you edit all your assignments. Grammar and spelling errors should be corrected prior to submitting each assignment.   

AI for COMM 5332 

While I support the thoughtful use of AI in many academic settings, it is not an appropriate tool for case studies, reflections, or negotiation plans in this course. These assignments are designed to develop your independent analysis, critical thinking, and personal voice—skills that cannot be replaced by AI-generated content. You are welcome to use AI tools for grammar, spelling, or sentence structure support, but entire sentences may not be generated, nor should AI be used to produce “answers” to case studies, build your facilitation notes, create discussion questions, or negotiation plans. In this class, the focus is on your own reasoning, reflection, and growth as a negotiator.

Student Learning Outcomes

  • Explain conflict from a process perspective
  • Accurately describe key conflict theories and constructs
  • Describe competent communication in conflict situations
  • Critically read and analyze conflict and negotiation texts
  • Gain a broad intellectual and practical understanding of negotiation 
  • Develop confidence as a negotiator capable of resolving and managing conflicts through negotiation and mediation and arbitration  

Important Dates

Visit the Academic Calendar (tamiu.edu) page to view the term's important dates.

Textbooks

Group Title Author ISBN
Required Getting to Yes with Yourself Ury 9780062363398
Required Getting to Yes Fisher 9780143118756
Required Possible Ury 9780063286917
Required Getting Past No Ury 9780553371314

Other Course Materials

There will be additional readings I will provide you. 

Grading Criteria

GRADE PERCENTAGE
A 90-100
B 80-89
C 70-79
D 60-69
F Below 60

Open Boilerplate

Case Studies (2) 20%
Facilitation 15%
Negotiation Cases (5) 50%
Reflections (5) 5%
Participation 10%

Tentative Course Schedule

Week of Agenda/Topic Reading(s) Due
8/26 Description of Assignments
Conflict and Negotiation Introduction
What if conflict?
Conflict Styles
Power
Listening and Negotiating
The 5 Core Concerns of Negotiation: https://bigthink.com/videos/the-five-core-concerns-of-negotiation/
Jandt readings (available on Blackboard)
Lecture and Discussion
Discuss Course Assignments
Listening Assignment and Debrief
Take Conflict Styles Assessment and Discussion
Divide Facilitations
9/2 Introducing Negotiation Skills and Conflict Management
Distributive, Integrative, BATNA, ZONA
Negotiating Specifics
Gender
Blackboard readings
Getting to Yes
Dr. G lectures
All class reads Ch 1
Submit 1 discussion question via Blackboard
9/9 Getting to Yes Getting to Yes
Chapters 2-3
Facilitator #1
Submit 1 discussion question via Blackboard
9/16 Getting to Yes Getting to Yes
Chapters 6-7
Facilitator #2
Submit 1 discussion question via Blackboard
9/23 Getting Past No Getting Past No
Overview, Chapters 1-2
Facilitator #3 Chapters 1-2
Submit 1 discussion question via Blackboard
Case Study 1 due in Blackboard
9/30 Getting Past No Getting Past No
Chapters 3-5
Facilitator #4 Chapters 3-4
Facilitator #5 Chapter 5
Submit 1 discussion question via Blackboard
10/7 Possible Possible

Chapters 1-5
Facilitator #6 Chapters 3-5
Submit 1 discussion question via Blackboard
10/14 Possible Possible
Chapters 6-8
Facilitator #7 Chapters 6-8
Submit 1 discussion question via Blackboard
10/21 Possible Possible
Chapters 9-11
Facilitator #8 Chapters 9-11
Submit 1 discussion question via Blackboard
10/28 You as a Negotiator Getting to yes with yourself
Chapters 1-3
Submit 1 discussion question via Blackboard
Facilitator #9 Chapters 1-2
Facilitator #10 Chapter 3
Case Study 2 due in Blackboard
11/4 You as a Negotiator
Getting to yes with yourself
Chapters 4-6, conclusions
Submit 1 discussion question via Blackboard
Facilitator #11 Chapter 4
Facilitator #12 Chapter 5
Facilitator #13 Chapter 6
11/11 Negotiation 1 Case #1 Prepare in class (due in class and submit to Blackboard before end of class
11/18 Negotiation 2 Case #2 Prepare in class (due in class and submit to Blackboard before end of class
Reflection 1 due in Blackboard
11/25 Negotiation 3 Case #3 Prepare at home (due in class and bring 2 copies)
Reflection 2 due in Blackboard
12/2 Negotiation 4 Case #4 Prepare at home (due in class and bring 2 copies)
Reflection 3 due in Blackboard
12/9 Negotiation 5
Case #5 Prepare at home (due in class and bring 2 copies)
Reflection 4 due in Blackboard

University/College Policies

Please see the University Policies below.

COVID-19 Related Policies

If you have tested positive for COVID-19, please refer to the Student Handbook, Appendix A (Attendance Rule) for instructions.

Required Class Attendance

Students are expected to attend every class in person (or virtually, if the class is online) and to complete all assignments. If you cannot attend class, it is your responsibility to communicate absences with your professors. The faculty member will decide if your excuse is valid and thus may provide lecture materials of the class. According to University policy, acceptable reasons for an absence, which cannot affect a student’s grade, include:

  • Participation in an authorized University activity.
  • Death or major illness in a student’s immediate family.
  • Illness of a dependent family member.
  • Participation in legal proceedings or administrative procedures that require a student’s presence.
  • Religious holy day.
  • Illness that is too severe or contagious for the student to attend class.
  • Required participation in military duties.
  • Mandatory admission interviews for professional or graduate school which cannot be rescheduled.

Students are responsible for providing satisfactory evidence to faculty members within seven calendar days of their absence and return to class. They must substantiate the reason for the absence. If the absence is excused, faculty members must either provide students with the opportunity to make up the exam or other work missed, or provide a satisfactory alternative to complete the exam or other work missed within 30 calendar days from the date of absence. Students who miss class due to a University-sponsored activity are responsible for identifying their absences to their instructors with as much advance notice as possible. 

Classroom Behavior (applies to online or Face-to-Face Classes)

TAMIU encourages classroom discussion and academic debate as an essential intellectual activity. It is essential that students learn to express and defend their beliefs, but it is also essential that they learn to listen and respond respectfully to others whose beliefs they may not share. The University will always tolerate different, unorthodox, and unpopular points of view, but it will not tolerate condescending or insulting remarks. When students verbally abuse or ridicule and intimidate others whose views they do not agree with, they subvert the free exchange of ideas that should characterize a university classroom. If their actions are deemed by the professor to be disruptive, they will be subject to appropriate disciplinary action (please refer to Student Handbook Article 4).

TAMIU Honor Code: Plagiarism and Cheating

As a TAMIU student, you are bound by the TAMIU Honor Code to conduct yourself ethically in all your activities as a TAMIU student and to report violations of the Honor Code. Please read carefully the Student Handbook Article 7 and Article 10 available at https://www.tamiu.edu/scce/studenthandbook.shtml.

We are committed to strict enforcement of the Honor Code. Violations of the Honor Code tend to involve claiming work that is not one’s own, most commonly plagiarism in written assignments and any form of cheating on exams and other types of assignments.

Plagiarism is the presentation of someone else’s work as your own. It occurs when you:

  1. Borrow someone else’s facts, ideas, or opinions and put them entirely in your own words. You must acknowledge that these thoughts are not your own by immediately citing the source in your paper. Failure to do this is plagiarism.
  2. Borrow someone else’s words (short phrases, clauses, or sentences), you must enclose the copied words in quotation marks as well as citing the source. Failure to do this is plagiarism.
  3. Present someone else’s paper or exam (stolen, borrowed, or bought) as your own. You have committed a clearly intentional form of intellectual theft and have put your academic future in jeopardy. This is the worst form of plagiarism.

Here is another explanation from the 2020, seventh edition of the Manual of The American Psychological Association (APA):

“Plagiarism is the act of presenting the words, idea, or images of another as your own; it denies authors or creators of content the credit they are due.  Whether deliberate or unintentional, plagiarism violates ethical standards in scholarship” (p. 254).  This same principle applies to the illicit use of AI.

Plagiarism: Researchers do not claim the words and ideas of another as their own; they give credit where credit is due. Quotations marks should be used to indicate the exact words of another. Each time you paraphrase another author (i.e., summarize a passage or rearrange the order of a sentence and change some of the words), you need to credit the source in the text. The key element of this principle is that authors do not present the work of another as if it were their own words. This can extend to ideas as well as written words. If authors model a study after one done by someone else, the originating author should be given credit. If the rationale for a study was suggested in the discussion section of someone else's article, the person should be given credit. Given the free exchange of ideas, which is very important for the health of intellectual discourse, authors may not know where an idea for a study originated. If authors do know, however, they should   acknowledge the source; this includes personal communications (p. 11). For guidance on proper documentation, consult the Academic Success Center or a recommended guide to documentation and research such as the Manual of the APA or the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. If you still have doubts concerning proper documentation, seek advice from your instructor prior to submitting a final draft.

TAMIU has penalties for plagiarism and cheating.

  • Penalties for Plagiarism: Should a faculty member discover that a student has committed plagiarism, the student should receive a grade of 'F' in that course and the matter will be referred to the Honor Council for possible disciplinary action. The faculty member, however, may elect to give freshmen and sophomore students a “zero” for the assignment and to allow them to revise the assignment up to a grade of “F” (50%) if they believe that the student plagiarized out of ignorance or carelessness and not out of an attempt to deceive in order to earn an unmerited grade; the instructor must still report the offense to the Honor Council. This option should not be available to juniors, seniors, or graduate students, who cannot reasonably claim ignorance of documentation rules as an excuse. For repeat offenders in undergraduate courses or for an offender in any graduate course, the penalty for plagiarism is likely to include suspension or expulsion from the university.
    • Caution: Be very careful what you upload to Turnitin or send to your professor for evaluation. Whatever you upload for evaluation will be considered your final, approved draft. If it is plagiarized, you will be held responsible. The excuse that “it was only a draft” will not be accepted.
    • Caution:  Also, do not share your electronic files with others. If you do, you are responsible for the possible consequences. If another student takes your file of a paper and changes the name to his or her name and submits it and you also submit the paper, we will hold both of you responsible for plagiarism. It is impossible for us to know with certainty who wrote the paper and who stole it. And, of course, we cannot know if there was collusion between you and the other student in the matter.
  • Penalties for Cheating: Should a faculty member discover a student cheating on an exam or quiz or other class project, the student should receive a “zero” for the assignment and not be allowed to make the assignment up. The incident should be reported to the chair of the department and to the Honor Council. If the cheating is extensive, however, or if the assignment constitutes a major grade for the course (e.g., a final exam), or if the student has cheated in the past, the student should receive an “F” in the course, and the matter should be referred to the Honor Council. Additional penalties, including suspension or expulsion from the university may be imposed. Under no circumstances should a student who deserves an “F” in the course be allowed to withdraw from the course with a “W.”
    • Caution: Chat groups that start off as “study groups” can easily devolve into “cheating groups.” Be very careful not to join or remain any chat group if it begins to discuss specific information about exams or assignments that are meant to require individual work. If you are a member of such a group and it begins to cheat, you will be held responsible along with all the other members of the group. The TAMIU Honor Code requires that you report any such instances of cheating.
  • Student Right of Appeal: Faculty will notify students immediately via the student’s TAMIU e- mail account that they have submitted plagiarized work. Students have the right to appeal a faculty member’s charge of academic dishonesty by notifying the TAMIU Honor Council of their intent to appeal as long as the notification of appeal comes within 10 business days of the faculty member’s e-mail message to the student and/or the Office of Student Conduct and Community Engagement. The Student Handbook provides more details.

Use of Work in Two or More Courses

You may not submit work completed in one course for a grade in a second course unless you receive explicit permission to do so by the instructor of the second course. In general, you should get credit for a work product only once. 

AI Policies

Your instructor will provide you with their personal policy on the use of AI in the classroom setting and associated coursework.

TAMIU E-Mail and SafeZone

Personal Announcements sent to students through TAMIU E-mail (tamiu.edu or dusty email) are the official means of communicating course and university business with students and faculty –not the U.S. Mail and no other e-mail addresses. Students and faculty must check their TAMIU e-mail accounts regularly, if not daily. Not having seen an important TAMIU e-mail or message from a faculty member, chair, or dean is not accepted as an excuse for failure to take important action.

Students, faculty, and staff are encouraged to download the SafeZone app, which is a free mobile app for all University faculty, staff, and students.  SafeZone allows you to: report safety concerns (24/7), get connected with mental health professionals, activate location sharing with authorities, and anonymously report incidents.  Go to https://www.tamiu.edu/adminis/police/safezone/index.shtml for more information.

Copyright Restrictions

The Copyright Act of 1976 grants to copyright owners the exclusive right to reproduce their works and distribute copies of their work. Works that receive copyright protection include published works such as a textbook. Copying a textbook without permission from the owner of the copyright may constitute copyright infringement. Civil and criminal penalties may be assessed for copyright infringement. Civil penalties include damages up to $100,000; criminal penalties include a fine up to $250,000 and imprisonment. Copyright laws do not allow students and professors to make photocopies of copyrighted materials, but you may copy a limited portion of a work, such as article from a journal or a chapter from a book for your own personal academic use or, in the case of a professor, for personal, limited classroom use. In general, the extent of your copying should not suggest that the purpose or the effect of your copying is to avoid paying for the materials. And, of course, you may not sell these copies for a profit. Thus, students who copy textbooks to avoid buying them or professors who provide photocopies of textbooks to enable students to save money are violating the law.

Students with Disabilities

Texas A&M International University seeks to provide reasonable accommodations for all qualified persons with disabilities. This University will adhere to all applicable federal, state, and local laws, regulations and guidelines with respect to providing reasonable accommodations as required to afford equal education opportunity. It is the student's responsibility to register with the Office of Student Counseling and Disability Services located in Student Center 126. This office will contact the faculty member to recommend specific, reasonable accommodations. Faculty are prohibited from making accommodations based solely on communications from students. They may make accommodations only when provided documentation by the Student Counseling and Disability Services office.

Student Attendance and Leave of Absence (LOA) Policy

As part of our efforts to assist and encourage all students towards graduation, TAMIU provides
LOA’s for students, including pregnant/parenting students, in accordance with the Attendance Rule (Section 3.07) and the Student LOA Rule (Section 3.08), which includes the “Leave of Absence Request” form. Both rules can be found in the TAMIU Student Handbook (URL: http://www.tamiu.edu/studentaffairs/StudentHandbook1.shtml).

Pregnant and Parenting Students

Under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, harassment based on sex, including harassment because of pregnancy or related conditions, is prohibited. A pregnant/parenting student must be granted an absence for as long as the student’s physician deems the absence medically necessary. It is a violation of Title IX to ask for documentation relative to the pregnant/parenting student’s status beyond what would be required for other medical conditions. If a student would like to file a complaint for discrimination due to his or her pregnant/parenting status, please contact the TAMIU Title IX Coordinator (Lorissa M. Cortez, 5201 University Boulevard, KLM 159B, Laredo, TX 78041,TitleIX@tamiu.edu, 956.326.2857) and/or the Office of Civil Rights (Dallas Office, U.S. Department of Education, 1999 Bryan Street, Suite 1620, Dallas, TX 75201-6810, 214.661.9600). You can also report it on TAMIU’s anonymous electronic reporting site: https://www.tamiu.edu/reportit.

TAMIU advises a pregnant/parenting student to notify their professor once the student is aware that accommodations for such will be necessary. It is recommended that the student and professor develop a reasonable plan for the student’s completion of missed coursework or assignments. The Office of Equal Opportunity and Diversity (Lorissa M. Cortez, lorissam.cortez@tamiu.edu) can assist the student and professor in working out the reasonable accommodations. For other questions or concerns regarding Title IX compliance related to pregnant/parenting students at the University, contact the Title IX Coordinator. In the event that a student will need a leave of absence for a substantial period of time, TAMIU urges the student to consider a Leave of Absence (LOA) as outlined in the TAMIU Student Handbook. As part of our efforts to assist and encourage all students towards graduation, TAMIU provides LOA’s for students, including pregnant/parenting students, in accordance with the Attendance Rule and the Student LOA Rule. Both rules can be found in the TAMIU Student Handbook (https://www.tamiu.edu/scce/studenthandbook.shtml).

Anti-Discrimination/Title IX

TAMIU does not discriminate or permit harassment against any individual on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status, educational programs, or employment. If you would like to file a complaint relative to Title IX or any civil rights violation, please contact the TAMIU Director of Equal Opportunity and Diversity/Title IX Coordinator, Lorissa M. Cortez, 5201 University Boulevard, Killam Library 159B, Laredo, TX 78041,TitleIX@tamiu.edu, 956.326.2857, via the anonymous electronic reporting website, ReportIt, at https://www.tamiu.edu/reportit, and/or the Office of Civil Rights (Dallas Office), U.S. Department of Education, 1999 Bryan Street, Suite 1620, Dallas, TX 75201-6810, 214.661.9600.

Incompletes

Students who are unable to complete a course should withdraw from the course before the final date for withdrawal and receive a “W.” To qualify for an “incomplete” and thus have the opportunity to complete the course at a later date, a student must meet the following criteria:

  1. The student must have completed 90% of the course work assigned before the final date for withdrawing from a course with a “W”, and the student must be passing the course;
  2. The student cannot complete the course because an accident, an illness, or a traumatic personal or family event occurred after the final date for withdrawal from a course;
  3. The student must sign an “Incomplete Grade Contract” and secure signatures of approval from the professor and the college dean.
  4. The student must agree to complete the missing course work before the end of the next long semester; failure to meet this deadline will cause the “I” to automatically be converted to an “F”; extensions to this deadline may be granted by the dean of the college. This is the general policy regarding the circumstances under which an “incomplete” may be granted, but under exceptional circumstances, a student may receive an incomplete who does not meet all of the criteria above if the faculty member, department chair, and dean recommend it.

WIN Contracts

The Department of Biology and Chemistry does not permit WIN contracts. For other departments within the college, WIN Contracts are offered only under exceptional circumstances and are limited to graduating seniors. Only courses offered by full-time TAMIU faculty or TAMIU instructors are eligible to be contracted for the WIN requirement. However, a WIN contract for a course taught by an adjunct may be approved, with special permission from the department chair and dean. Students must seek approval before beginning any work for the WIN Contract. No student will contract more than one course per semester. Summer WIN Contracts must continue through both summer sessions.

Student Responsibility for Dropping a Course

It is the responsibility of the student to drop the course before the final date for withdrawal from a course. Faculty members, in fact, may not drop a student from a course without getting the approval of their department chair and dean.

Independent Study Course

Independent Study (IS) courses are offered only under exceptional circumstances. Required courses intended to build academic skills may not be taken as IS (e.g., clinical supervision and internships). No student will take more than one IS course per semester. Moreover, IS courses are limited to seniors and graduate students. Summer IS course must continue through both summer sessions.

Grade Changes & Appeals

Faculty are authorized to change final grades only when they have committed a computational error or an error in recording a grade, and they must receive the approval of their department chairs and the dean to change the grade. As part of that approval, they must attach a detailed explanation of the reason for the mistake. Only in rare cases would another reason be entertained as legitimate for a grade change. A student who is unhappy with his or her grade on an assignment must discuss the situation with the faculty member teaching the course. If students believe that they have been graded unfairly, they have the right to appeal the grade using a grade appeal process in the Student Handbook and in the Faculty Handbook.

Final Examination

All courses in all colleges must include a comprehensive exam or performance and be given on the date and time specified by the Academic Calendar and the Final Exam schedule published by the Registrar’s Office. In the College of Arts & Sciences all final exams must contain a written component. The written component should comprise at least 20% of the final exam grade. Exceptions to this policy must receive the approval of the department chair and the dean at the beginning of the semester.

Mental Health and Well-Being

The university aims to provide students with essential knowledge and tools to understand and support mental health. As part of our commitment to your well-being, we offer access to Telus Health, a service available 24/7/365 via chat, phone, or webinar. Scan the QR code to download the app and explore the resources available to you for guidance and support whenever you need it. The Telus app is available to download directly from TELUS (tamiu.edu) or from the Apple App Store and Google Play.