NYFA FACULTY OVERVIEW

Within the NYFA Faculty Overveiw Section, please find the following information:

• Getting Started : a starter-pack of NYFA logistical information including hiring, orientation and training information and quick links to NYFA hubs, websites, digital apps and one-sheets. 

• Introduction to NYFA's Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning.

• Introduction to NYFA's Faculty Senate.

• Faciltiies for faculty on each campus.

• List of  NYFA Institutional Policies with summary and links to the full policies.

| FACULTY HIRING PROCESS

Prospective faculty members are vetted through an interview process with the Department. Following a successful interview, prospective faculty members present a mock class on a topic relevant to the course(s) they may teach. This process is vital in determining candidates’ ability to engage, inspire and communicate key ideas to students, as well as assess student learning. While prior teaching experience at a university level is preferred, all qualified industry professionals and scholars are reviewed to ensure that faculty standards meet our institutional objectives. Lastly the prospective faculty member will meet with the Campus Dean.

Please note that faculty are sometimes hired without a class to teach.  In such cases, they may begin work by training, or subbing a class, or by helping the department administratively (curricular meetings or thesis committee work).  However, their introductory period (see below) begins upon the first day of their first class.

The first 90 days of your employment is considered an introductory period. During this period, you will become familiar with New York Film Academy and your job responsibilities, and we will have the opportunity to monitor the quality and value of your performance and make any necessary adjustments in your job description or responsibilities. Completion of this introductory period does not imply guaranteed or continued employment. Nothing that occurs during or after this period should be construed to change the nature of the "at-will" employment relationship. (See Employee Handbook: Introductory Period) 

Please view the Faculty Review Section of this Handbook for further information on NYFA’s procedures on faculty evaluation. 

| FACULTY ORIENTATION

Newly hired faculty at New York Film Academy receive the following orientation:

All new faculty must attend the New Online Faculty Orientation on Zoom. This orientation takes place three times per year on Zoom, during the week before each of the three semester start dates.

• Additionally new faculty are introduced to key staff members who are in place to support them. This includes but is not limited to the Campus Dean, Dean of Students, Counseling Services, Writing Center Director, Registrar, CETL Director, HR, and Title IX Coordinator. If you haven’t had an opportunity to meet with these key staff members, please reach out to your Department Chair or the CETL Director. 

All new faculty visit two class sessions of a veteran instructor within their home department. 

• If this takes place during your hiring process, you can retroactively submit the hours  in Paycom as training. Training is paid at consultation rate.

• If this takes place after you have been hired, submit the hours  in Paycom as training. Training is paid at consultation rate.

All new faculty receive training from HR, such as sexual harassment seminars. These are now online trainings and can be found and completed in Paycom. 

All new faculty receive additional information from their home department developed for the specific needs of the department. 

If you have additional questions or concerns as you settle into NYFA, please don’t hesitate to speak to your Chair, the HR Director, the CETL Director or the Campus Director.

| NYFA EMPLOYEE TRAININGS

NYFA Faculty are required to complete state mandated harassment trainings as part of their onboarding with NYFA. 

Additionally all NYFA Faculty are subject to annual Title IX training requirements, as required by federal regulations. Faculty who participate in facilitating Title IX informal resolution processes and/or investigations will be subject to additional training requirements. These trainings will be available via Paycom. 

NYFA firmly believes in continuous self-development to keep the employee's skills current and on par with institutional expectations. Employees will have various opportunities to complete these trainings via Paycom,  classroom style setting via CETL, webinars and much more. All employees must complete any assigned training within their scheduled time as directed by their direct supervisor and the HR Office. 

Part-time staff and TAs: Supervisors will build allocated time into your schedule to complete these trainings. 

Part-time faculty: Please complete trainings at your convenience within the three weeks allocated time. Once completed, the Human Resources office will add the hours spent completing trainings to your timecard. 

Full-time non-exempt employees: Please complete training within your scheduled time as directed by your supervisor. 

Non-exempt employees should not use over-time hours to complete these trainings unless pre-approved by the Human Resources office and their supervisor. Email communication for in-person trainings will clarify to employees whether the training is paid or unpaid. 

If an employee attends an outside training or a training specific to their department, the employee should notify Human Resources so that this may be updated in the HRIS System. This is to ensure that employees are properly compensated for their time. 

Miami Campus: All employees working and responsible for overseeing this campus are required to complete at least 8 hours of training each year.

| PAYCOM

NYFA currently uses the online application Paycom to track all employee hours, benefits and house company documents and training. 

Utilizing Paycom allows you to easily:

• clock in

• track hours worked

• request time off without delays

Paycom how-to guides.

• Instructor Guide: Clocking In/Out Approving Timecards in Paycom 

• 2025 NYFA Payroll Schedule

• EE Change My Username or Password

• EE Manage My Web Time Clock on Mobile

• EE Request a Punch Change

• EE Reset My Password

| NYFA ID

All NYFA employees are required to wear their NYFA ID’s while on campus to be worn on black lanyards. Students are also required to wear their NYFA ID’s (clearly visible) at all times. Student lanyards will not be black to differentiate them from faculty and staff. 

Newly appointed employees upon completion of new hire paperwork will be issued a NYFA identification card.  I.D. photos are taken by facilities  during specified hours. 

As a security measure, all NYFA employees and students are required to check-in by scanning their NYFA ID badges each day they are on campus.  

Check-in happens at the following locations on each campus:

• LA Campus: Front Desk of each LA Campus building (3300 Riverside Dr, 3800 Barham Blvd, 316-518 Mira Loma Ave) 

• NY Campus: 17 Battery Place, 5th Floor, Front Desk

• Miami Campus: 420 Lincoln Rd, Suite 300, Front Desk

If you lose your ID, please contact:

• LA Campus: badges@nyfa.edu

• NY Campus: security@nyfa.edu

• Miami Campus: dylan.rastrick@nyfa.edu

Please note if you lose your NYFA ID there is a replacement fee of $20 on the NY and Miami campuses. 

Habitual practice of losing ID or not having ID may result in disciplinary actions. For further information contact the Human Resources Office.

| NYFA EMAIL

Each faculty member is issued a NYFA email account as part of the onboarding process with Human Resources. This email account must be used for all school-related communications. If you have not yet been issued a NYFA email, please contact your Department Chair and Human Resources.

New York Film Academy employees must treat all NYFA email and other electronic communication as public record. When composing an email or other electronic communication, you must limit the contents to that which you would be willing to have seen by the public. Absolutely do not include the following in your company correspondences:

• Defamatory language against faculty, staff or students of the New York Film Academy

• Defamatory language against any individuals or organizations working with the New York Film Academy

• Profanity of any kind, especially when referring to faculty, staff or students of the New York Film Academy

• Discriminatory or prejudicial language

• Any other language or content prohibited by local, state or federal law (e.g., obscenity, threats, harassment, etc.)

• Any New York Film Academy proprietary information which could compromise the school if hacked or stolen.

If you experience any technical issues or believe your email has been hacked please reach out to support@nyfa.edu and your Department Chair. 

Please note that NYFA reserves the right to monitor all communication done through NYFA email.

| GOOGLE DRIVE & GOOGLE CLASSROOM

NYFA uses the Google Suite to communicate, organize and share information across departments and personnel.  

After faculty receive their class assignments, specific course syllabi and materials will be shared with them by the Department. Often material and templates are kept and shared via Google Drive. Google Drive can be accessed through your NYFA email account. The Department (Chair/Coordinator/Team Leader)  will provide further instructions about retrieving these materials.

All NYFA employees are provided with 75GB of Google storage. If an employee exceeds the 75 GB storage, NYFA reserves the right to audit and delete excess files.

Additionally, Google Classroom is NYFA’s learning management system and is used by the majority of NYFA Academic Departments to communicate with students. Google Classroom can be used as a central hub for all resources, assessments, and other course content. Maintaining grades within Google Classroom also allows students to know how they are progressing throughout the semester.

Check with your Department Chair to confirm if your department requires the use of Google Classroom. 

If you have specific questions about Google Classroom and its additional features, you are encouraged to email cetl@nyfa.edu and check out the Google Classroom Tutorials.  Please remember faculty must  archive their google classroom at the end of the semester. 

NOTE: The Create Class button has been removed from the NYFA Faculty Hub. Please create your Classrooms through classroom.google.com or by accessing the app. Also, be sure that you are creating your Classrooms on your NYFA-provided email account. The page may automatically link to a personal Gmail account, so please verify the account in the upper right hand corner.

There is always the possibility of glitches with technology, so don't hesitate to contact CETL and we can assess if the NYFA Support Team (support@nyfa.edu) needs to be contacted.

| FACULTY HUB

NYFA’s Faculty Hub is an online platform for faculty to view their class rosters, enter grades and access a variety of resources.  The Faculty Hub is designed to support your teaching and administrative tasks efficiently throughout the academic term. 

To set up your login for the Faculty Hub please contact Human Resources  and cc your Department Chair. 

Training on the Faculty Hub is provided during the New Faculty Orientation. Please contact the Registrar’s Office or your Department if you need additional training with the Faculty Hub. 

For technical  assistance, please contact support@nyfa.edu

Please be advised that the Faculty Hub website may require a user to allow for pop-ups in their browser. 

1. Student Rosters:

• Access and manage your course rosters conveniently.

• View student profiles, including contact information and photo

• View Student Attendance History 

2. Attendance, Midterm & Final Grade Entry:

• Enter Attendance

• Submit Midterm and Final grades.

3. Resources and Links: 

• Faculty Resources

  • Semester Academic Calendar

  • Digital Boards 

  • CETL Google Site

• Incident Reporting 

  • Links to each Campuses’ appropriate incident report links

• SensusAccess - alternative media made easy!

• Zoom Tutorial 

| ZOOM & DISTANCE EDUCATION

ZOOM is the official instant communication platform of NYFA. Please be sure to monitor your Zoom account for Zoom calls, meetings and chats and respond in a timely manner. Employees should be logged in to Zoom at the start of their shift. Please note that NYFA reserves the right to monitor all communication done through Zoom. 

In accordance with the learning objectives of NYFA Degree and Conservatory courses, certain program courses may be taught in whole or in part via remote learning. The delivery of courses in an online format in any given semester will depend on cohort makeup, campus location, semester schedules, and other considerations.

Courses that will be taught in part or in whole via remote instruction will be notified via their department and the semester schedule distributed at the start of the term.

Courses taught online will employ the Zoom and Google Classroom platforms.

To view NYFA’s Distance Education Policy click here.

ZOOM EDUCATION SETUP

This is a step-by-step process on how to begin using the Zoom Education Platform.

Your Zoom Education classrooms are accessible through any device - personal computer, tablet or smartphone - with network access. If you don’t have access to a device or you do not have access to an online network, please communicate with your Department Chair immediately.

STEP 1:

You must do this in advance of your first class. You will do this step just once, and you never have to repeat it.

1. You will receive a notification via email from Zoom. Click “Activate” to activate your Zoom account.

2. You will click on “Sign In With Google”, and use your nyfa.edu email and password. YOU MUST USE YOUR nyfa.edu ACCOUNT.

3. Click on “Create Account” This will open a window to the Zoom homepage.

4. Click on “Resources” on the top right of the window, a drop-down menu will appear.

5. Download the ZOOM app 

6. Select Download Center

7. Download for either Apple Silicon or Download for Intel depending on the machine you are using

After it installs you now have an account and the Zoom software on your device.

STEP 2:

1. Open the Zoom application you just installed on your computer. 

2. Click “Sign In” and then click “Sign In with Google” using your nyfa.edu email and password. You should now be on the Zoom classroom home screen.

Zoom Classroom Home Screen. You are now ready to join a class.

STEP 3:

To join a class:

1. Click on the “Join” icon from the Zoom Classroom Home Screen:

2. A window will appear (shown below) that states, “Join Meeting.” In the field that says, “Meeting ID or Personal Link Name” paste your the instructor’s Zoom ID for the class you are attending. Instructors’ IDs will be sent to you, in advance, by your department.

3. Click Join (as shown below):

4. A window may appear that asks you to confirm your audio and video access.

5. Your instructor and classmates will now be able to see and hear you.

PLEASE NOTE: If you arrive to the class before your instructor has begun, the application will inform you and you will be in a waiting room. No action is necessary. Simply wait, and when your instructor begins the class you will see and hear the instructor.

ZOOM TECHNICAL SUPPORT

Please use the below contact information for technical support with NYFA Zoom, our online classrooms.

 Technical support is available during class hours.

Email: zoom@nyfa.edu

Phone: (929) 336-6778

Please note: Some users have attempted to activate their Zoom account more than once by clicking the link in the account invitation email from Zoom. This is not necessary nor possible. If you have already activated your Zoom account, open the Zoom application and "Sign in with Google" with your nyfa.edu email and password. If you attempt to activate your Zoom account a second time, you will receive a message that states, “The activation link expired."

 Also, please note that the use of Zoom OUTSIDE OF TEACHER-LED CLASS TIME has session limits of 40 minutes for sessions with more than 2 participants. This is not a technical error.

Schedule-related questions should be addressed with your Department Chair. Zoom Technical Support can only assist with Zoom related technical issues