Faculty Liaisons and UMD College in the Schools
Each UMD course offered through CITS has at least one UMD faculty liaison/coordinator selected from the course's academic department. A faculty liaison is responsible for:
- Designing and delivering workshops to prepare first-time and continuing CITS teachers to teach University-level courses;
- Overseeing CITS course curricula, text selection, syllabi, assessment and evaluation;
- Overseeing implementation of the approved UMD grading rubric;
- Facilitating CITS subject-specific online discussions;
- Maintaining the critical link between the high schools and UMD for ensuring quality and integrity of the CITS programs;
- Mentoring CITS teachers;
- Evaluating CITS teachers' classroom teaching and sharing best practices; and
- Presenting course content to CITS students during site visits, as requested by the CITS teacher.
UMD CITS Faculty Liaison Essential Qualifications:
Faculty Liaisons play an integral role in the success of the UMD College in the Schools program. Our Faculty Liaisons mentor new and veteran CITS instructors to create long lasting relationships. Faculty Liaisons must think of the CITS instructor as a member of the on campus department. Faculty Liaisons ensure that our CITS instructors are teaching the college course curriculum to their CITS students as robustly as if it were taught on campus. Faculty Liaisons must adhere to the National Alliance of Concurrent Enrollment Partnerships (NACEP) standards by reviewing new teacher applications, conducting new teacher orientation, presenting annual discipline specific professional development workshops, conducting site visits, and reviewing the course syllabus each term the course is offered. By supporting strong and active connections with our CITS instructors, Faculty Liaisons help promote a positive UMD experience for both the instructors and the CITS students. Essential faculty liaison qualifications include the following:
- UMD faculty member with at least three years of teaching experience;
- Subject matter expert in the discipline(s) they will oversee;
- Interest in working with educators who teach college-bound high school juniors and seniors;
- Commitment to high quality UMD curriculum, “best practice” teaching and learning methods and assessment strategies;
- Availability to visit partnering high schools for teacher mentoring and/or observation of CITS classes, review of UMD syllabi, graded student examinations and papers;
- Availability to instruct or facilitate CITS teacher annual professional development workshop; and
- Interest in serving the outreach mission of UMD by collaborating with other UMD departments and faculty as well as regional high schools.
Faculty Liaison Selection Process:
In instances where a new course will be offered in the CITS Program, the Department Head may determine and assign the faculty member to serve as the CITS Faculty Liaison in agreement with the CITS Program Director.
In instances where the program is in need of a replacement of an existing faculty liaison, the College in the Schools program staff will provide the Department Head with an email posting of the available position to be advertised to the entire subject specific department. The Department Head will forward the email to the department members, and faculty members will have one week from the date of posting to communicate their interest. Interested candidates must meet the Essential Qualifications listed above, and the following conditions may be considered as well during the selection phase:
- UEA status, subject expertise, and course/credit load;
- Provide recent course evaluation reports; and
- Interview with the Department Head and CITS program staff.