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Our
program is administered by the Division of
Graduate and Continuing Education at the
College and the School/Community Liaison
coordinates the three main components:
1.)
Each site must be approved to offer
professional development courses for
graduate credit.
The College and the site must each
sign an agreement that states the
responsibilities of each party.
2.)
All courses offered by a site must be
approved 30 days prior to the date of the
first class meeting.
The Graduate Education Council at
Framingham State College grants approval.
A complete syllabus must be submitted
and must conform to the syllabus
requirements found on page 3.
3.)
All instructors are recommended by
the partnering site and must be approved by
the College as adjunct faculty.
Adjunct faculty must have a minimum
of a Master’s degree and be proficient in
the topic they will be teaching.
Professional documents must be submitted
prior to approval as adjunct faculty.
The
details of the program are described in the
following pages.
We look forward to a future
collaboration with your site and hope that
our common goals will benefit the teachers
of Massachusetts and the children in their
classrooms.
The
Process
The
process for course approval involves
submitting documentation about proposed
courses and instructors to the Division of
Graduate and Continuing Education.
Instructors are paid by the off-site
location and a signed agreement is required
between the college and the school district
or collaborative offering the course.
Documentation
If
possible all documentation should be
submitted in one complete package.
Course instructors must have a
minimum of a Master’s degree and two years
of work experience in the area in which they
will be presenting.
In order to seek approval as adjunct
faculty at Framingham State College,
potential instructors must submit:
-
A
current resume
-
Official
undergraduate and graduate transcripts
-
Two
current letters of recommendation
(written within the past three years)
-
A
complete course syllabus
Documentation
must include a detailed course syllabus.
One graduate credit is awarded for a
minimum of twelve hours of classroom
instruction.
For example, a class that meets
weekly for two hours for six weeks qualifies
for one graduate credit; three hours a week
for twelve weeks equals three graduate
credits.
A maximum of three graduate credits
will be awarded to new courses.
When submitting a course for approval
for the first time, specific dates and times
for the class must be included.
All
new courses are submitted to the Graduate
Education Council for approval.
The Council membership includes
college graduate faculty, college
administrators and one graduate student
representative. The Council reviews each
course for its academic quality and rigor to
ensure that it meets the high standards of a
graduate level course at FSC.
If the Graduate Education Council
approves a course, no further approval is
needed to offer the same course again.
In this case the site can simply
contact the School/Community Liaison with
the new dates and times.
If
an off-site partner develops a course that
is similar to one that has already received
Graduate Education Council approval, the
proposed course may be assigned an existing
course number and title.
A
complete listing of previously approved
courses with descriptions is included in
this publication.
Syllabus
Requirements
The
following syllabus guidelines are taken from
the Graduate Faculty Handbook. Please
include all topics in your syllabus:
-
Course
information – course number and title,
meeting times and dates, and
instructor’s name, telephone number,
and e-mail.
-
Course
description – with the exception of
the opening lines, descriptions should
be written in complete sentences.
The description should be clear and
brief.
-
Course
objectives – clearly state what the
student is expected to gain upon
completion of the course
-
Course
expectations – clearly state your
expectations regarding attendance, class
participation, missed exams, and
assignment due dates.
-
Course
content/outline – weekly schedule of
the topics
that will be covered, homework and all
homework assignments due for that week.
-
Course
text and materials – required course
text(s) with full bibliographic
citation(s), and other readings required
or suggested for the course.
-
Course
Requirements – descriptions of papers,
projects, exams, assignments, and any
other requirements to successfully
complete the course
-
Grading
criteria – be very specific.
The grading breakdown should be
shown in percentages
It
is expected that those who take the course
for graduate credit will complete more
coursework/assignments than those
participants who are just taking the course
for Professional Development Points (PDPs).
This fact should be reflected in the
syllabus.
If an instructor has already been
approved as an adjunct faculty member and
develops a new course, it will not be
necessary to resubmit the instructor
credentials.
A member of the Division of Graduate
and Continuing Education staff may visit the
class in order to maintain a visible and
supportive presence to instructors and
participants.
Registration
Dates,
times, locations and instructors’ names
must be sent to the School/Community Liaison
prior to or along with completed
registration forms. The college will provide
the registration forms.
Each student enrolling for college
credit must complete and return a
registration form and payment. The cost per
credit is $55.00 for FY 2004.
Payment may be made in one of two
ways – students may pay individually by
personal check or Visa/MasterCard or the
off-site location may send in one payment
for all the students. All checks should be
made payable to: Framingham State College.
No checks or credit card charges
more than 30 days old will be accepted.
If the student pays individually, the
College Business Office will mail a receipt
directly to the student when the
registration has been processed.
All participants must check off the
appropriate residency box and must provide
their social security number on their
registration form to receive graduate
credit.
Credits
earned from Professional Development Courses
are not applicable to a Degree Program
offered by Framingham State College.
The credits may be transferred to
other college degree programs with their
permission.
Grades
An
official final class list/grade sheet is
mailed to the instructor or the program
coordinator when the registration process is
complete. Once the instructor has signed the
grade sheet and added a grade for each
student the completed grade sheet should be
mailed directly to the College Registrar at the address below within three days of course completion:
Office
of the Registrar
Framingham State College
100 State Street, PO Box 9101
Framingham, MA
01701-9101
Grades
are only accepted on the official college
form and require the instructor’s original
signature.
Shortly after receiving the completed
grade sheet, the Registrar’s office mails
an official grade report directly to each
course participant.
Course
Evaluation Forms and Attendance Sheets
The
college will provide course evaluation forms
for each class that is being taught. These
forms must be completed by course
participants during the final class meeting,
collected and mailed to the college. Usually
students fill these out with the instructor
out of the room and a student collects them
and seals them in an envelope to assure
anonymity.
You may develop your own attendance
sheets.
A
copy of the attendance record should be sent
to the School/Community Liaison along with
course evaluations at course completion.
Withdrawal
From Course
Students
must fill out an official Course
Change/Withdrawal form to withdraw from a
course. No
refunds will be given for a professional
development course.
The Registrar’s Office will not
accept handwritten “W” grades on the
grade sheet. Students will receive
“incomplete” or “no grade” until
officially withdrawn.
At the end of the following semester
all missing grades and “Incomplete”
grades are automatically changed to “E”
(failure).
If
you have questions or would like more
information about Framingham State College
contact:
Nancy
Proulx
School/Community
Liaison
Graduate
and Continuing Education Office
Framingham State College
100 State Street, PO Box 9101
Framingham, MA
01701-9101
508 626 4034
E-mail:
nproulx@frc.mass.edu
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