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Faculty Resources

CalArts Faculty Academic Services

With the Faculty Academic Services website, CalArts faculty members can view the records of their mentees and the students in their courses, as well as submit Spring Mentor Reports. Please note that your Academic Services password may be different than your email password.

CalArts Faculty Handbook

The CalArts Faculty Handbook provides academic and personnel information relevant to all CalArts faculty.

Faculty Development Grants

The vitality of CalArts as an educational institution depends to a great extent on the level of energy each faculty member brings to the Institute. The Institute established this fund to make available to regular faculty and technical faculty grants to aid in continuing professional development. The fund is a way for CalArts to acknowledge that the Institute benefits from the faculty's professional work and development. The Academic Council sets policy and procedures for administration of the fund; any changes in the details will be generated and approved by the Academic Council.

Please refer to Section 3:15 of the Faculty Handbook (which can be downloaded above) for complete instructions on applying for Faculty Development Grants. The application is available below:

Interdisciplinary Grants

  • Interdisciplinary Grants are designed to stimulate projects that require a collaborative process and strive to create hybrid artforms that transcend disciplinary boundaries and expectations.

Faculty Creative Leave Proposal

The Faculty Creative Leave Program was established to offer regular faculty members an extended opportunity to carry on their creative work and thereby enhance their teaching effectiveness. The Academic Council is responsible for awarding creative leaves and annually announces a call for applications. Faculty members are eligible to apply if they hold regular or technical contracts at a minimum of .50 FTE. Faculty may apply for a creative leave in their sixth year of employment at .50 FTE or six years after their last creative leave. Eligibility is contingent on .50 FTE or greater for the six years prior to when the leave is taken, regardless of type of contract. However, faculty must be regular or technical at the time of application. Faculty members are eligible for a creative leave every seven years.

Please refer to Section 3:18 of the Faculty Handbook (which can be downloaded above) for complete instructions on applying for a Faculty Creative Leave. The proposal form is available below:

Syllabus Resources

This Google site template can be customized and used as an online syllabus. Just click on "Use This Template" in the upper right hand corner of the site. It also functions a handy guide for syllabus construction. 

CalArts faculty can use this Word document as a template for their syllabi. 

Course Proposals

New course proposals are due no later than the Monday before commencement each year. Course proposals should be accompanied by a syllabus and include learning goals/outcomes for the course. 

Spring Mentor Reports

Spring Mentor Reports are mandatory, and written by the faculty for their student mentees as part of the mentees' academic records. These reports represent one of the key means of evaluating student progress and form one of the core qualitative values of the Institute. It is the policy of the Institute and a contractual obligation for mentors that they complete assigned mentees' annual reports in a timely manner. Spring Mentor Reports are due in the Registrar's Office no later than the third Thursday after May graduation. Mentors can now input their Spring Mentor Reports directly into the Academic Services website.

Mentors should review the Critical Studies, Units Deficiency, and Metier Warning information (when applicable) for each mentee via the mentee's online record on the Academic Services website or on mentee's Spring Mentor Report form. This information will be useful in completing the report in a comprehensive manner.

Spring Mentor Reports need to include the following:

  • A narrative assessment about the mentee's advancement in the program. Mentors should note the mentee's strengths and areas for improvement, as well as areas and courses on which the mentee should focus in the future, etc. This information should provide useful feedback to the mentee about how to improve his/her academic and artistic performance.
  • A written discussion of specific deficiencies in the mentee's artistic and/or academic progress. Be specific with constructive suggestions that will aid the mentee in working on and correcting weakness. This documentation will also provide a record of such deficiencies should the mentee fail to address them.
  • A notation of your observations regarding the mentee's Critical Studies (for BFA students) and units progress toward the degree.

Métier Warning Letter Template

Mentors, principal teachers, and the school dean initiate placing a student on Métier Warning. (Please see the Course Catalog and Academic Policies (pdf) for complete information on Academic Warning.)  Should you need to write a letter placing a student on Métier Warning, please use this template: 

Students In Need

Faculty members are in a unique position to guide students to counseling when needed. You may be the first to notice unusual behaviors that suggest a problem. It is very helpful to both the student and the counseling staff for you to bring these behaviors to the attention of the counselors in Student Affairs. Since it can be difficult for faculty to know how to help students experiencing difficulties, the counselors have prepared this short brochure to make the task easier.

Travel Policy

Annual Assessment Report

Program Directors and Deans are responsible for preparing an annual assessment of existing programs that they manage. Annual Assessment Reports are due before the Thanksgiving break each academic year. 

Grade Change Form

Last edited by jgarrett on Sep 29, 2011
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