Course Selection

Course Selection for Full-time Faculty

CLS Faculty on an ACC Campus or DIL ("traditional") 

The department chair will send full-time faculty who teach on an ACC Campus or DIL a notice with a deadline to choose classes. Full-time faculty will receive a batch file that includes available classes at their home campus as well as a mixture of distance learning options; full-time dual credit specialist faculty will identify their preferred campuses.  Full-time faculty will coordinate with their campus faculty group to make their preliminary class selections. The department chair is available to mediate conflicts should any arise. For Fall and Spring semesters, faculty from each home campus will meet together as neededwith the department chair and administrative assistant to finalize their selections. For Summer semesters, full-time faculty will email their course preferences (course, modality, length of summer class) upon request. Then, they will sign off on their choices in the batch file (the shared batch file will be locked to editing and archived on the selection deadline). Full-time faculty may choose classes not at their home campus only after all faculty have chosen classes on their home campuses. Full-time faculty can choose a second course overload after the completion of Phase One eStaffing for adjunct faculty. Full-time faculty are permitted to “bump” adjunct faculty from courses if their classes are canceled and their contract falls below the required course load. Adjunct faculty with MSTA status are protected from losing a course in this way.


CLS Faculty, Dual Credit Specialists

The department chair will send full-time Dual-Credit Specialist faculty a notice with a deadline to choose classes.  Full-time Dual-Credit faculty will indicate their preferred ISD campus(es) as well as their required LEH. Faculty will receive a list of available classes on their preferred ISD campuses and may need to coordinate with other full-time Dual-credit faculty and/or the Department Chair. ISD employees (Dual-Credit adjuncts who are employed by the ISD) choose classes before full-time Dual-Credit faculty. Full-time Dual-Credit faculty can choose a second course overload after the completion of Phase One eStaffing for adjunct faculty. Full-time Dual-Credit faculty are permitted to “bump” adjunct faculty from courses if their classes are canceled and their contract falls below the required course load. Adjunct faculty with MSTA status are protected from losing a course in this way.


CLS Faculty, Integrated Reading and Writing 

Within INRW, the scheduling process is based on need and coverage.  Attempts will be made to accommodate faculty preference. With limited staff, instructors are placed where they are needed most. Co-requisite partners are assigned as an ongoing partnership or are given opportunities to work with others based on need.  

eStaffing: Course Selection for Adjunct Faculty

eStaffing is used as a tool to assist in the staffing of traditional English sections. Dual Credit, Early College High School, INRW, ASCENDER, BRASS, INDS, and Honors sections are not included in eStaffing. Those sections are assigned manually by the department administrative assistants. Adjuncts are able to enter their preferred campus, days and times. This information is then matched with their eligibility and the class schedule. The adjuncts are then able to select classes matching their criteria for what they would like to teach and then rank the classes in order of preference. The adjunct faculty names are given in a random order and the assignments are made by what is on the list as each name comes up in the rotation. Please see the department administrative assistant for assistance.  

eStaffing: https://eapps.austincc.edu/eStaffing/login.php


** The normal teaching load for CLS adjunct faculty is 2 classes in the Fall and Spring and maybe 1 in the Summer. ** 


According to AR rule, adjunct faculty are eligible to teach up to 3 classes each in the Fall and Spring and 2 in the Summer, all of which are subject to Department needs and class availability.

IA Status: Course selection for CLS Adjuncts with IA Status In CLS.

Adjuncts with IA Status in the Department will staff with the department's Full-time faculty.

Eligibility

Faculty eligibility is initially set by the hiring committee for 1-2 courses. Once faculty members have taught and been evaluated, they may apply to have their eligibility Procedures for Amending Eligibility Status for Adjunct Faculty Members of CLS Department.

1. List/letter: The adjunct faculty member submits, electronically, a written request to the Department Chair, listing the specific course numbers and/or Distance Learning format(s) that s/he wishes to have added to those the faculty member is already eligible to teach. Please request only one or two upgrades at a time. Request the courses you most want to teach and are best qualified to teach.


2. Evaluations: With this request, the faculty member submits, electronically, a copy of the summary sheet of the most recent ACC student evaluation completed. The faculty member needs to wait until s/he has been successfully evaluated at ACC before submitting a request.


3. Transcript: The faculty member submits, electronically, a) a transcript, highlighting all completed graduate courses closely related to the course(s) s/he would like to teach. If only a Distance Learning upgrade (and not a new course) is being requested, see item #5 below.


4. Supporting information: The faculty member may also include, either in the letter or as attachments, other supporting information (e.g., courses taught at ACC or elsewhere, post-graduate study and reading, publications authored, informal classes/conventions attended, & non-academic professional experiences).


5. If you are requesting a Distance Learning upgrade, be sure to include proof that you have completed the Distance Learning Instruction Series workshop and Blackboard training modules. Request Distance Learning upgrades only for courses that you have already taught at ACC. Begin the QM Certification process since all Distance Learning courses will need to be QM certified when our college returns to post-pandemic protocols.


6. The Department Chair a) forwards the request to the Faculty Committee for review and recommendation; b) informs the applicant of the committee’s decision; and c) if appropriate, amends the eligibility list.


Multiple Semester Term Agreement (MSTA)

MSTAs are renewable one-year appointments. A member of the Adjunct Faculty who has held an MSTA for three consecutive years shall receive a three-year appointment that shall be renewed each year that he or she meets the eligibility standards. Faculty must apply for MSTA.  The following document includes all the rules for MSTA and HPTH: https://www.austincc.edu/admrule/4.06.002.pdf

Highest Priority to Hire (HPTH)

Highest Priority to Hire (HPTH) is a designation given by the Department Chair to some members of the Adjunct Faculty in recognition of the documented quality of their teaching. Adjunct Faculty holding HPTH designation will be afforded priority in the staffing process. 


Adjunct Faculty whose annual summary teaching evaluations are excellent in all categories and who receive an acceptable evaluation with respect to administrative procedures may be designated HPTH for the next academic year.

DCAA (Dual Credit Annual Appointment)

Dual Credit adjunct faculty have the opportunity to apply for consecutive course assignments at a high school campus of their choosing over the Fall & Spring semesters. Applications for DCAA are available in the Spring for the following academic year and are submitted to the department chair. Full-Time faculty do not apply for DCAA.

Pathways To Traditional Teaching

Dual Credit-Traditional Pathways Policy

Instructors hired for Dual Credit classes have unique and valuable qualifications to teach college coursework to high school students. The growth in CLS is in Dual Credit and INRW; traditional sections are declining. CLS needs qualified Dual Credit instructors to staff Dual Credit sections–and we appreciate the professionalism and demands of the job.


Some Dual Credit instructors would like the opportunity to teach a traditional section. Beginning in Fall 2022 for Spring 2023 staffing, CLS will provide several pathways for Dual Credit instructors to apply to teach traditional sections. An instructor will be able to find out where they are in the adjunct draw order if they request to teach a traditional section on one of these pathways. ACC rules governing approved LEH will still apply, so most instructors will teach 2 or 3 sections per semester as courses are available.

Instructors hired as Dual Credit instructors will teach the majority of their classes in Dual Credit. (If an instructor has completed multiple pathways, they may not receive a traditional course for each pathway. Dual Credit instructors' course loads will remain primarily within the Dual Credit program.)


Please keep in mind that being approved to teach a traditional section does not guarantee a section will be available to you. Traditional sections, particularly distance learning sections, are often in short supply. Due to the dramatic downturn in enrollments in traditional sections, we cannot guarantee that a traditional section will be available in any given semester even to qualified adjuncts.

Pathways for Dual Credit Instructors to Teach a Traditional Course

Application Process for Traditional Sections (Dual Credit)