1. Shared Ownership of Course Materials

The rights to web-enhanced and online courses, including all educational materials and information created by faculty and stored in the LMS, are property of both the authoring instructor and Rochester University. The authoring instructor may use these materials at other institutions or in other settings at their personal discretion without restrictions from Rochester University.

Rochester University may reuse educational materials and information created by faculty and stored in the LMS. This includes allowing other instructors to modify or use course materials, both while the author is still employed by Rochester University, and after termination of employment. The only exception to this policy is recorded instructional material, such as videos of a faculty member. The recorded faculty member shall determine whether the recorded material should be revised or withdrawn from use.

Instructors who use a prepopulated electronic course provided by Rochester University, rather than creating original content in the LMS, forfeit all claims to shared ownership of that particular course.

Exceptions to this policy of shared ownership are materials that are copyright-protected by a third party, and information that is protected under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (i.e., grades, personal student information, etc.).

When practical, as long as the authoring instructor is employed at Rochester University, they will be given first right of refusal for teaching the courses that they have developed online. Exceptions may be made to accommodate scheduling needs or when there are concerns about a faculty member’s ability to teach effectively in an online environment.

These principles of shared ownership also apply to course syllabi for all Rochester University courses, regardless of delivery model.