The Role of Faculty Liaisons

Faculty liaisons provide essential academic oversight and professional development to ensure the quality and success of classes offered by the Boise State Concurrent Enrollment Program. They are tasked with addressing and correcting issues related to program noncompliance. Designated department faculty liaisons provide curriculum oversight, approve new instructors, conduct classroom observation visits, and lead professional development workshops. Most importantly, faculty liaisons implement accreditation standards set by the Idaho State Board of Education and National Alliance of Concurrent Enrollment Partnerships (NACEP) to ensure quality course content and an authentic university experience for students and instructors.

The college/university ensures concurrent enrollment students’ proficiency of learning outcomes is measured using comparable grading standards and assessment methods to on-campus sections.

1. Students are held to the same grading standards as those expected of students on campus.
2. Students are assessed using the same methods,papers, portfolios, quizzes and labs as students in anon-campus course section.
3. University courses offered at the high school reflect the pedagogical, theoretical and philosophical orientation of the sponsoring college/university.

The quality and academic rigor of the Concurrent Enrollment Program (CEP) is dependent on the active participation of the Faculty liaisons who act as ambassadors representing Boise State and their designated academic department.

Faculty liaisons provide essential curriculum oversight, mentorship, and support to the high school instructors. The primary responsibilities of the faculty liaisons include:

Faculty liaisons review and approve new applications submitted by high school instructors who want to teach a concurrent enrollment class to ensure classes reflect the university’s and academic department’s pedagogical, theoretical, and philosophical orientation. New instructor application packets consisting of a cover letter, resume, transcripts, and course syllabi are submitted for review. Faculty liaisons are also provided with a “New Instructor Application Review” form to be signed and returned to the CEP documenting their approval or denial of the applicant. See Approving and Orienting New Instructors for more information.

Faculty liaisons will document how they orient the Concurrent Enrollment Program instructors to the university’s and/or academic department’s pedagogical, theoretical, and philosophical teachings.

• Provide orientation on course curriculum, assessment criteria, and course philosophy to the high school
  instructor.
• Supply high school instructors with desk copies of current textbooks when requested.
• Assist high school instructors/school districts in selecting department approved textbooks.
• Provide high school instructors with current sample syllabi, sample exams, and other course materials on an annual basis.
• Regularly review course syllabi.

• Faculty liaisons observe high school instructors in the classroom annually or every other year. Observations are documented by using the “Classroom Observation Summary” form to provide instructors with feedback to continually improve the classroom experience for concurrent enrollment students. See Classroom Observation for more information.
• Faculty liaisons review course evaluations submitted by the students and provide feedback to the CE instructors.
• Faculty liaisons will address any concerns identified via the classroom observations or course evaluations and proceed to implement the noncompliance policy. Review the CE noncompliance policy here.

Faculty liaisons provide orientation on course curriculum, assessment criteria, and course philosophy to high school instructors. They also conduct annual professional development workshops on course integrity, grading standards, course pedagogy, theory and philosophy, and other appropriate topics in the content area. This can be provided in a group meeting or through professional development opportunities. Faculty liaisons will be expected to submit an agenda documenting the date of meeting, length of meeting, topics covered, CE instructor sign-in, and samples of materials provided to the Concurrent Enrollment Program instructors by email or in hard copy.

Faculty liaisons communicate department-specific information to high school instructors on a regular basis and include high school instructors in all department correspondence, listservs, academic notices, and general information. Faculty liaisons provide sample materials such as current syllabi, exams, textbook desk copies and other course materials to ensure a congruent classroom experience.