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Welcome to another semester of ExCo classes! We hope you had a great Winter Term and are excited about teaching your class. This sheet outlines your major responsibilities as an ExCo instructor, and gives ExCo deadlines. Please save and follow this information so that you can get credit for your courses and/or renew them next semester. You have a responsibility to both your students and the ExCo Committee to provide a successful and organized class. We are handling 80 classes this semester, so it is important that you come to us promptly if any questions or problems arise.
Signing Up for a Room
Sign up for a room for your classes. Contact Mike Snyder, Director of Athletic Facilities ([email protected]) if you need any of the athletic facilities, including Hales. Contact Kathleen Drennan ([email protected]) in Wilder 111 if you need a room in Wilder. Contact Sheila Harley ([email protected]) at the registrar if you need a room in an academic building.
Let the appropriate person know what you'll need in your room: space to move, a television for viewing videos, room for 4 people or room for 30, etc. See if you can sign out the same room for the entire semester, so students and you have a steady class space. If not, make sure to sign out a room for your class before meeting times every week, and notify your students of the meeting place.
Teaching Resources
If you need help with facilitating discussions or want to improve on your teaching, click here to go to the ExCo Teaching Resources site where there are links to sites that have information on teaching resources and improving discussion facilitation.
Using ERES:
Detailed, step-by-step instructions for using ERES can be found here: http://www.oberlin.edu/library/reserve/faculty.html
Using Blackboard:
Contact OCTET([email protected]) if you want to set up Blackboard for your course.
After the Fair:
You must contact everyone who signed up for your course, those who got in as well as those who didn't. This applies to all instructors: if you are choosing your students by application, do that this evening; if you only have a class limit, hold your random lottery this evening; if you donít have a class limit, okay fine, you can slack till tomorrow. Inform your students of the time and location of your first meeting, if you know that.
The Registration Process:
At the fair, get the T numbers of your students - you will need these in order to consent them for your class using PRESTO. Detailed, step-by-step instructions for consenting students can be found here: http://www.oberlin.edu/acs/opus/facultyguide.htm#consent. Once your students are consented, they can register for the class on PRESTO. If you are an off-campus instructor, we will give you paper registration cards, which you will use to consent students. Since ExCo classes are offered for variable credit, both instructors and students are registered for 0 credits by default. To increase your credit hours, use the Variable Hours Option on PRESTO's Registration Menu. When registering yourself, be sure to register in the instructor section – the one with the C after the course number. Add/Drop ends on Wednesday, February 11th – IT IS ONLY EIGHT CLASS DAYS LONG –, so be sure to consent your students As Soon As Possible. If at all possible, try to meet before Add/Drop ends so that students can get the chance to You should hold your first class this week (before Add/Drop ends), so that students can check out your groovin' teaching style. Keep track of who you consented into your course and how many credits they registered for (so that you can put it on your final class list).
Note: Students are under the Pass/No Pass (P/NP) system, where an NP will appear on their transcript. If it appears that any students in your class are likely to fail, you may want to remind them to officially Withdraw before the Monday, March 2ndth deadline (the end of the 8th week of classes).
ExCo Instructor Site:
We have implemented a new ExCo instructor online site in order to enter your class lists, see all the instructor information and see whether you have submitted both of your instructor sheets. The address is www.oberlinexco.com. Click on Instructor login. At the Login page, enter your email address and password is exco. You can change your password by clicking on the My Profile tab and scroll down to the Change My Password section. There you can change your password. If you have any problems with login, do not hesitate to contact the ExCo committee at [email protected].
Once you have logged in, the first thing that you should see is the list of courses that you are currently teaching along with the number of credits and whether your class lists and both goal sheets are submitted. If this information is incorrect, please contact the ExCo Committee ([email protected]) in order for this information to be corrected.
The Final Class List:
ExCo needs a final, detailed list of ALL the students in your class by Friday, February 20thth . Your class list must include the names of all your students, their status at OC (whether they attend OC, work for OC, or are from the community), and the number of credits they are taking your class for. This is very important to ExCo! We need this list on file to keep good records and so we can compile a program review and ensure ExCo's future at Oberlin. Also, the student evaluations are sent to the email addresses that you write for your students, so make sure that this information is accurate. We evaluate you based on these evaluations.
In order to enter your class list, go to the ExCo Administration website (www.oberlinexco.com). Login using the instructions in the ExCo Instructor Site section. Click on the link under Class List Submitted and you can enter your studentsí names, T-numbers, email addresses, and credits. After you have completely entered all the information for the class list, click on the Save List button. After you have saved the class list, on the My Courses main page, under Class List Submitted, the red, underlined No should have changed to a green, underlined Yes. If any difficulties occur, do not hesitate to contact the ExCo committee ([email protected]).
Granting ExCo credit:
At the end of the semester, the Registrar will send you forms around Friday, May 1stst to fill out in order to grant credit to your students for completing your course. Note: This is NOT done on PRESTO. You will grant credit as students deserve, following the directions included, and return the forms to the Registrar on Friday, May 8th at 4:30PM. This is a hard deadline set by the Registrar and cannot be extended in any way.
Money:
ExCo works on a reimbursement process because it gets its money from SFC. If you requested a budget from ExCo, you were granted a certain amount of money. This means that ExCo will reimburse you for up to that amount for your class. To get reimbursed, fill out a reimbursement form (outside our office door), attach your receipts, hand it in, and you will get the money back within 3 weeks. If the amount is under $25 you will pick up it up from the Cashier in Carnegie; if it is over $25 you will receive a check in the mail. The last day to turn in receipts is Friday, May 1stth. And don't forget: WHAT EXCO BUYS, EXCO OWNS. If ExCo pays for any item which can be reused, it must be returned to us by the end of the semester, or we may charge your term bill.
Course Evaluations:
ExCo requires evaluations twice during the semester (midterm and final). These evaluations are important to us, as they are the only feedback we get on the state of the courses. The students will evaluate the course and instructor electronically using the ExCo Administration website, and you will evaluate yourself on paper. The midterm evaluations are available for you to read once we receive them. However, final evaluations will be confidential until after you have turned in your grades. We keep all evaluations on file and use them to aid in our credit and renewal decisions.
Student evaluations will be handled electronically through the ExCo Administration website by being sent to the email addresses of your students, detailed in your class lists. Instructor Midterm and Final Evaluations will be sent to your email address detailed on the ExCo Administration website. Midterm Evaluations will be sent by March 13thth and Final Evaluations will be sent by Monday, May 4thst.
Don't miss our deadlines: Midterm Evaluations are due Friday, March 20thth and Final Evaluations are due Monday, May 8thth. If we do not receive your Midterm Evaluations, you will get "Unsatisfactory" as your midterm grade, and if we do not receive your Final Evaluations, you will not get credit for teaching the course.
Renewal Process:
ExCo renewal applications for teaching next semester will be made available before midterms. They are due on Friday, April 10thth. If you wish to teach exactly the same course (same instructors, syllabus, credit), then fill out a renewal form. You do not need to be interviewed again if there are no significant changes in your class. Approval of your renewal is dependent on the timely receipt of positive course evaluations. If you wish to change or add instructors, the new instructor must go through our regular application process: Instructor Application, recommendations, and interview. The forms are available at our office and on our webpage. If you plan to change your course significantly (changing the syllabus or the number of credits), it would be wise for you to speak to a committee member before course renewal deadline – or we will be forced to hunt you down and interrog– we mean, find you and politely ask you for an explanation.
Assignments for ExCo Instructors
1. First Instructor Paper
This paper should:
1. Detail your goals for your ExCo. (What do you want your students to learn?)
2. Describe how you plan to achieve those goals.
Requirements: 1 page, typed, double-spaced, in 12-point font
*DUE to Wilder 302 or Wilder Box 13. DO NOT SEND AN ELECTRONIC COPY.
This paper will not only let the ExCo Committee how you plan your class, but it will also allow you to think about your class.
These requirements are per instructor not per class.
2. Final Instructor Paper
(a) This paper should:
1. Detail whether you achieved your goals for your class. (What did your students learn and how do you know?) (See Example 1 Below in Section 3b)
2. Detail any difficulties you had achieving your goals for your class.
3. What advice would you offer to someone teaching this class?
Requirements: 2 pages, typed, double-spaced, in 12-point font
*DUE to Wilder 302 or Wilder Box 13. DO NOT SEND AN ELECTRONIC COPY.
(b) Final Paper should be in the following style:
Take your First Instructor Paper and address each goal individually. Put each original goal in bold and then underneath the original goal, detail how you achieved it. With the remaining space, complete requirements two and three for the final paper.
EXAMPLE 1:
First Paper:
My goal for the Competitive Eating ExCo is to immerse my students in the world of competitive eating. Also, I want to increase their skills in competitive eating through practice.
Final Paper:
My goal for the Competitive Eating ExCo is to immerse my students in the world of competitive eating.
We watched several documentaries and competitions on competitive eating in addition to researching several prominent professional competitive eaters. We tested the students on their knowledge with a short quiz on basic competitive eating knowledge.
Also, I want to increase their skills in competitive eating through practice.
In the beginning of the semester, the students could barely eat 5 hot dogs in 10 minutes. Through practice at class, by the end of the semester, the students were eating 9 hot dogs in 10 minutes, showing a big improvement!
4. Instructor Mid-Term and Final Evaluations
Mid Term and Final Evaluations will be emailed to instructors.
If you need any help with your class, do not hesitate to email the ExCo Committee.
Thanks for teaching and have a great semester!
-ExCo Committee