4th Hour Form and Syllabus Collection Process

Before collection of materials begins . . .

• Each AAC creates a Box folder for collection of their faculty’s 4^th hour forms, e.g. “Rochella’s 4^th hour forms and syllabi,” and invites their faculty to the folder as “Viewer Uploader.”
• Within each of these parent folders, AACs can decide as needed to create subfolders dedicated to each department, each chair, etc. – whatever works best for them to organize based on how their area operates.
• Faculty are instructed to upload both the 4^th hour forms and syllabi to their AAC’s folder (the parent folder) when their materials are ready.

Note: To support a uniform process, these instructions assume that instructors will send their signed 4^th hour forms to their AAC, and the AAC will obtain the department chair signature. But departments can manage signature collection in the way that works best for them. The important thing is that the form gets signed and saved. 

Once the semester starts . . .

1. The instructor fills out and signs 4^th hour forms and uploads the forms and syllabi to their AAC’s folder by Friday of the first full week of classes. (In Fall 2025, this date is September 5. In Spring 2026, it is January 23.)
   1. The short week that starts Fall semester doesn’t count; the Fall deadline is the end of the first Monday through Friday week. 
   2. For summer courses (there are approximately 4 Wabash courses each summer), the submission deadline will be April 30.
2. AACs affirm that both 4^th hour forms and syllabi are received by the end of the first week of classes, and review 4^th hour forms to determine which signatures are still needed.
   1. An instructor’s signature is always required on the form.
   2. A department chair’s signature is required on the form, except in cases where the department chair is the instructor and has signed.
   3. In rare cases, a division chair’s signature is also required. Those circumstances are explained on the 4^th hour form, but even so, AACs will not necessarily know what those cases are. The instructor and department chair will be relied upon to know when the division chair signature is needed, and this should be part of the department chair’s review of the forms and syllabi.    
3. Department chairs review syllabi and sign 4^th hour forms, saving signed 4^th hour forms in the AAC’s Box folder. This review, any necessary follow-up with instructors, and filing the signed form with the AAC should be completed by the end of the 2^nd full week of classes, not counting the short week to open Fall semester. (In Fall 2025, this date is September 12. In Spring 2026, it is January 30.)
   1. The department chair obtains the division chair’s signature if it is needed and then saves the fully signed form in AAC’s Box folder.
   2. The department chair’s review process includes review of syllabi to ensure that instructors are acknowledging 4^th hour requirements in the syllabus and the quantity and quality of 4^th hour work is sufficient. If changes to either the form or syllabus are necessary, the department chair communicates this to the instructor. 
   3. Materials are reviewed only by the chair of the home department of the course, not the chair of any cross-listed departments or programs. Typically, the home department is the department where the instructor primarily resides. For a team-taught course across two departments, either instructor’s department chair can sign. In rare cases where a course must be reviewed for a “department” that has no chair, e.g. Sociology, the appropriate division chair will review.    
4. Once the fully signed 4^th hour form and syllabus are collected, reviewed by the department chair, and saved in the AAC’s Box folder, the AACs will move or copy them to the Course Syllabi folder in Box, which is their final, official location for long-term storage.