Teacher guide to the Collegiate Academy
The Βι¶ΉΣ³» welcomes you as a teacher in our Collegiate Academy Program. This handbook will provide useful information and help you navigate your new Letter of Appointment (LOA) position. The University and school district partners are working closely to create a new pathway to college for high school students, allowing them access to university-level courses right in their own classroom. Through these courses, students earn transferable college credits that they may be able to use at higher education institutions nationwide as well as high school credits toward graduation.
Βι¶ΉΣ³» Faculty Course Coordinators hold regular, weekly meetings with all teachers working in the Collegiate Academy program. These meetings are designed to provide a forum where questions can be answered, ideas about curriculum and pedagogy can be shared, and successes can be celebrated with teachers who are teaching the same course across the state. Course coordinators also use these meetings as an opportunity to ensure that the integrity of the course, university mission, values, and vision are being upheld and well represented. Because weekly PLC meetings play an important role in developing the learning community that is a hallmark of the Collegiate Academy program, attendance at these weekly meetings is a requirement.
Recurrent absence at weekly PLC meetings will be considered non-compliance and may result in the following process:
- Course coordinator discovers issue
- Works directly with teacher to resolve (followed by email documenting, copying director of dual credit)
If not resolved:
- Course coordinator notifies Director of Dual Credit …
- Director discusses possible solutions with principal and notifies District partner (followed by email from director to all parties documenting)
If not resolved:
- Director meets with course coordinator, teacher, principal, and possibly district partner (followed by email from director documenting plan for improvement)
If not resolved:
- Director informs district and principal that the teacher will not continue with the Collegiate Academy program for the next school year.
Your employment as an LOA with the Βι¶ΉΣ³» begins with the onboarding process.
- Complete and return the teacher application onboarding form to begin the hiring process for the Collegiate Academy.
- Once processed, you will receive an email from no-reply@smtp.unr.edu giving you your employee ID and steps on where to go and how to activate your Net ID.
- Your Net ID is the login that will allow you access to Workday, the University's HR/Payroll system, as well as other systems such as the University Libraries, and MyNEVADA.
- Continue to check your Workday profile for additional onboarding tasks until 100% complete.
- Part one of the I-9 must be completed on or before the first day of employment.
- Part two of the I-9 with presentation of original documentation must be completed no later than three days after hire date to be in federal compliance.
- W-4s are completed in Workday and will put in default values if not completed, having possible tax implications.
- Direct deposit is established in Workday through onboarding. If direct deposit is not set up, the system will default to a paper check mailed to your home address in Workday for the first pay cycle. If direct deposit remains unselected, a Visa Payroll Card will be mailed to your home address on the second pay cycle and will then be automatically loaded on subsequent pay dates.
- Grant-In-Aid is available to the University's LOAs, one credit up to a maximum of 6 credits, regardless of the number of credits taught. This available is for graduate level courses and can be used at any NSHE institution. Spouses, dome
For compensation paid by the University, LOAs are paid through period activity pay, monthly. Pay for teaching will be broken into five equal payments during Fall and Spring, with each payment made on the first of each month. The professional development stipend will be added to the final paycheck of each semester.
Compensation types
- $1,000 stipend, per section, per semester. For Instruction and course management. Paid by the University
- $500 stipend for semester. For Professional learning and University Coordinator Collaboration. Paid by the University.
Fall Semester Paydays
- September 3, 2024
- October 1, 2024
- November 1, 2024
- December 2, 2024
- January 2, 2025
Spring Semester Paydays
- February 3, 2025
- March 3, 2025
- April 1, 2025
- May 1, 2025
- June 2, 2025
Βι¶ΉΣ³» courses that are taken through the Collegiate Academy mirror the University grading scale. Βι¶ΉΣ³» operates on an A-F point scale. Please refer to your course syllabus for additional information. The grade earned at the end of the University's semester, is the grade that will reflect on Βι¶ΉΣ³» transcripts. Once grades are submitted for the university, it is possible for you to add continued projects or assign new grades as the end of the semester approaches at your high school. The grade earned on the high school transcript does not need to match the University grade.
Students wishing to add a Collegiate Academy course may do so up to the end of the first week of instruction. Students wishing to drop a Collegiate Academy course must work with their high school counselor who will submit a course change form. All drop dates for Collegiate Academy courses will adhear to the University's academic calendar. Students will be assigned a “W” or an “F” depending on the date the course is dropped according to the published academic calendar. It is incumbent on the student consult the published University academic calendar when deciding to drop courses.
After the course selection process at the high school, and school counselors have built class rosters, the school district pulls rosters for Collegiate Academy courses and send them to the University's Office of Admissions and Records. Once Admissions and Records receives class rosters, University course rosters will be built and students will be enrolled. Note that a student’s application to the Collegiate Academy program is separate from their enrollment in a course. A student must have applied to the program before they can be enrolled into a course.
Refer to the University Administrative Manual Academic Standards and subsections A -D.
Students considering taking a Collegiate Academy class should consult with their school counselor about school and school district prerequisites, as well as consult the Βι¶ΉΣ³» regarding university prerequisites. Students are encouraged to discuss the sequencing of classes and how their Collegiate Academy courses may affect which courses they take later in their college with their school counselor.
Because weekly PLC meetings play an important role in developing the learning community that is a hallmark of the Collegiate Academy program, attendance at these weekly meetings is a requirement. Recurrent absence at weekly PLC meetings will be considered non-compliance and may result in the following process:
- Course coordinator discovers issue
- Works directly with teacher to resolve (followed by email documenting, copying director of dual credit)
If not resolved:
- Course coordinator notifies Director of Dual Credit
- Director discusses possible solutions with principal and notifies District partner (followed by email from director to all parties documenting)
If not resolved:
- Director meets with course coordinator, teacher, principal, and possibly district partner (followed by email from director documenting plan for improvement)
If not resolved
- Director informs district and principal that the teacher will not continue with the Collegiate Academy program for the next school year
Mixed courses — where a high school course and a Collegiate Academy course are taught in the same classroom — are not permitted. Collegiate Academy courses must be taught during their own period and classroom, with a teacher who is dedicated to teach only the Collegiate Academy course during the class period.
Course Coordinators are required to conduct site visits at schools where their courses are being taught. The purpose of the site visit is not to evaluate the teacher but rather to ensure that their course is progressing and that all of the student learning objectives are being met. Site visits are an opportunity for teachers and course coordinators to connect about how the course is going as well as discuss any success and possibly additional resources or support that may be needed. The process begins when the Course Coordinator and teacher agree on a date for the site visit. Prior to the visit, the teacher and course coordinator discuss what content and activities are happening during the observation. Again, the site visit's purpose is not to evaluate the teacher but to assess the progress, rigor, and discourse within the course as compared to the one taught on campus.
How often do site visits occur?
All new teachers to the program are observed in their first year and subsequent visits happen on a cyclical basis about every three years or sooner depending on the course.