Payment for course development is initiated when the study guide and the exams have been reviewed, and the course has obtained the required approvals from both you 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 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 Correspondence Studies and the original to the registrar. You may also send only the original to the Office of Correspondence Studies, and we will make a copy and submit the original to the registrar.

The Office of Correspondence Studies 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 Correspondence Studies to redirect assignments to your current location.

No. The Office of Correspondence Studies 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 Correspondence Studies.

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 Correspondence Studies.

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 Correspondence Studies to determine the viability and demand of a proposed course. You then schedule orientations with both the coordinator of course production and with student services. You will be given a Course Author's Guide, which serves as a resource on how to structure the content of the study guide for your course. You must have the approval of your departmental chairperson and college dean.

Contact the Office of Correspondence Studies 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 Correspondence Studies opens the course.

The Office of Correspondence Studies 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, or you may refer to the Course Author's Guide. Further, the editorial staff provides full service to you on the word processing, editing, and layout of your study guide.

A student completes an assignment for his or her correspondence course, and then submits the assignment to the Office of Correspondence Studies. 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.

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 available for correspondence study, as long as the required departmental approvals are met.

This is determined on a case-by-case basis. The director of the Offices of Correspondence, Extension & Study Abroad Programs must assess the viability of and demand for such a course.

It can take several months, depending on the production load in the Office of Correspondence Studies at the time your materials are submitted.

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 Correspondence Studies.

MS Word is required.