Payment for course development is initiated when the course content and the exams have been reviewed, and the course has obtained the required approvals from both the faculty member and the department chair.

The university pays correspondence faculty three times a year for grading: in January, June, and September.

You will receive payment for correspondence courses in the same way you receive your regular paycheck: by direct deposit, mail, or pick-up. You make the arrangements directly with Payroll.

You have 10 business days to grade and return assignments.

The procedure for changing a correspondence course grade is the same method you use to change a grade for a course on campus. Complete a change-of-grade card, which is available from your academic department. Obtain your chair and dean's signatures for the card, and then make a copy of the card. Send the copy to the Office of Distance and Extended Learning and the original to the Registrar. You may also send only the original to the Office of Distance and Extended Learning, and we will make a copy and submit the original to the registrar.

The Office of Distance and Extended Learning tracks all correspondence course grades, so contact us.

If you will be gone for more than two weeks, either find a replacement grader or make arrangements for the Office of Distance and Extended Learning to redirect assignments to your current location.

No. The Office of Distance and Extended Learning tracks all assignments and student grades. We also base pay on submissions graded and cannot keep a record of the number of graded assignments unless these materials come through our office.

Treat questions with the same respect and consideration you would give to questions from on-campus students. Answer questions students submit to you regarding course material and provide enough feedback on assignments and exams so that students are able to progress through the course material. If you find that a student needs excessive individual help, please direct him or her to SMARTHINKING, the online tutoring service available to Texas State correspondence students. For policy-related questions, direct students to the Office of Distance and Extended Learning.

The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS), which provides accreditation for Texas State, requires that all instructors, including correspondence faculty, have contact with students. The preferred method of student-teacher interaction for correspondence courses is e-mail.

We encourage study groups, but each student is responsible for her or his own work. We subscribe to the Texas State Academic Honesty Policy, and follow the same procedures in addressing dishonesty that apply on campus. If you suspect one of your correspondence students of academic dishonesty, contact the director of the Office of Distance and Extended Learning.

Exams are kept in a locked and secure location. Test copies are kept secure in transit to and from proctors, and exams are never distributed to students. Proctors are also carefully screened and must be approved before exams are sent out.

Contact the director of the Office of Distance and Extended Learning to determine the viability and demand of the course you are interested in teaching. Then, schedule a new correspondence faculty orientation with the Office of Distance and Extended Learning. You will be given direction in preparing your course content for delivery via correspondence study. Before developing a correspondence course, you must obtain the approval of your departmental chairperson and college dean.

Contact the Office of Distance and Extended Learning for specific rates of pay.

You will be paid per assignments graded. Contact our office for specific rates of pay.

You are required to teach a course you author for at least two years from the date the Office of Distance and Extended Learning opens the course.

The Office of Distance and Extended Learning offers strong support in the production of your study guide. For guidance and/or information on developing your course, you may contact the course production coordinator. Further, the editorial staff provides full service to you on the word processing, editing, and layout of your course.

Correspondence faculty develop course content for delivery as a correspondence course. Correspondence study is unique in that it is entirely self-paced. Course content is structured as a sequence of content and related assessment activities that the student must complete in a specific order. Students are given nine months to complete the course and are able to progress through the course independently and at his/her own pace.

The primary interaction between the student and instructor occurs via e-mail correspondence and assignment and exam feedback. A student completes an assignment for his or her correspondence course, then submits the assignment to the Office of Distance and Extended Learning. We then forward the assignment to you for grading. After grading the assignment, you return it to us. We record the grade and assignment number, and then return the assignment to the student. Once the student has submitted the final assignment, you calculate the student's grade and report it to the Office of Distance and Extended Learning. A final grade report is then sent to the student and applied to his/her Texas State transcript.

Generally speaking, no. The course must be listed in the Texas State catalog. However, if a course is listed in the catalog but is rarely offered on campus, it is eligible for correspondence study, provided that the department and college approve.

This is determined on a case-by-case basis. The director of the Office of Distance and Extended Learning must assess the viability of and demand for such a course.

If you build your own course in TRACS, once it is complete, it generally takes two-three weeks to review the course, obtain necessary approvals, and order the textbooks. Once these tasks are complete, the course will open.

If you are delivering course content to the Office of Distance and Extended Learning for our staff to use in building the TRACS site for you, the course production process takes about 1-2 months, depending on the production load in the Office of Distance and Extended Learning at the time your materials are submitted.

These are general time estimates. There may be special circumstances that delay course opening or extend the course development time beyond what is typical. When this is the case, you will be informed of the particular circumstance and provided with an estimated completion/opening date.

No.

If your course is still viable, we ask that you help us locate a replacement faculty member to assume grading for the course.

This will vary depending on the number of students enrolled for the course. The time needed will also depend on the structure of assignments; for instance, assignments involving essay questions will be more time-consuming, while objective questions can usually be graded rather quickly. You can get an idea of the popularity your course will have based on the interest students show in its on-campus counterpart. However, always plan to devote enough time to promote the success of your students.

Yes. You will be required to accept assignments via e-mail and communicate with students and our office via e-mail, according to the procedures specified by the Office of Distance and Extended Learning.

Faculty who develop and teach courses via correspondence must to use TRACS to house the course. Correspondence faculty also need to have a computer with an Internet connection and an active e-mail account.