Online Playbook

Faculty and Instructor Recruitment and Management

PACE Program Teaching Model

The following framework for academic unit engagement with PACE will cultivate growth and scale opportunities, and also fortify relationships between the academic units and PACE to ensure offerings that are designed and taught with fidelity and quality. Program development in partnership with PACE occurs across the spectrum of student audiences: online degree, non-degree, and non-credit. These faculty resource options are underscored by incentive alignment, as well as informed by models from other institutions.

In planning for the successful launch of a program, dedicated PACE staff will work in partnership and to consensus with academic units to determine the course sequences and instructional resources for the program, and provide consistent year-round curricular mapping to support student success.

Considerations for hiring faculty, instructors and other subject matter experts for curricular engagement include:  

Academic units will identify qualified faculty, instructors, and/or other subject matter experts to develop “blueprint courses” for online programs that will serve as the foundation for each course. These blueprint courses will remain consistent with learning objectives across modalities and align to learning outcomes assessment plans in the academic units. The blueprint courses will serve as a qualified foundation for other subject matter experts (SMEs) who may instruct the courses. The blueprint model for course instruction will offer efficiency and consistency across course offerings. All compensation for online instruction will be in accordance with university policy and procedure and aligned to the Collective Bargaining Agreement(s).

If the academic units are unable to identify appropriate faculty, instructors, and/or other subject matter experts, PACE can adopt the existing Credentialing Standards from the unit to hire temporary or external instructors (either organically or via referrals from the unit). PACE will identify and present qualified external subject matter experts to academic units for assessment and approval as part of the hiring process that will be managed by PACE. PACE and the academic unit will collaboratively be responsible for subject matter expert onboarding, ongoing assessment, and evaluation.

Externally hired instructors would be collaboratively managed through a Course Development Collaborative model. These faculty will follow a core syllabus provided by the academic unit with PACE instructional design support. The externally hired instructors will be compensated at the mid- and endpoint of the course development process. Upon completion of course development, a UVM faculty member assigned by the unit will provide final approval for each course 4 weeks prior to when the course is scheduled to commence. Course development and management will follow the framework established by the academic unit and PACE to cultivate growth and scale opportunities.

  • o Academic units will provide curricular support to the newly hired subject matter experts through a Teaching Collaborative Model whereby existing members of the academic units mentor and guide instruction either through established meeting times or via norming sessions on grading and teaching methods, or through other tools, techniques, and mechanisms that will assure quality instruction and provide intentional oversight to new members of the academic community.

Instructor Management and Support

Our services can include hiring, contracting, and administering pay.

Instructional Design

PACE provides support on program design, course development, and online course instruction/facilitation. More detail around our processes and tools is available in the Course Development/Design and the Faculty/Instructor sections of this playbook.

Teaching Assistant Management 

  • Noncredit programs should be designed for a single faculty member to manage up to 25 students. A teaching assistant/facilitator may be offered at 26 enrollments. 
  • Credit programs can use teaching assistants in alignment with the policies of their respective academic units.
  • For large programs, PACE can assist with decision-making around instructional staff models.

Student Management

PACE can assist with enrollment, retention, and advising as appropriate, providing support throughout the student lifecycle. Please see the areas below for more detail:

Registration/Application Processes

Credit Programming

Online programs use the same application processes as in-person programs. Once students register for a particular course, the Student Information System syncs overnight with the Brightspace Learning Management system. A best practice for adult learners and those attending online is to provide admit decisions within 10 business days.

Non-Credit Programming

Registration is coordinated through PACE and the Non-Credit Registration Office. Non-Credit programs are typically open enrollment and do not usually have admissions processes. All noncredit activity (any course or activity that does not offer credit hours for participation, regardless of price) flows through this office, utilizing registration systems approved by the university. PACE administers access to the Brightspace Learning Management System in coordination with the Non-Credit Office.

Student Recruitment 

PACE can support the full lifecycle of the student recruitment process: 

Planning 

  • Determining program size and potential student sources
  • Enhancing diversity through recruitment
  • Managing learner inquiries 

Marketing 

PACE will develop marketing and communication plans, including how the plan will be executed. To build these plans, we consider the following types of elements:

  • Who is the target audience for the program: Who is the program for – Career changers? Upskillers? Recent alumni?
  • What is important to the target audience to learn? How will the program help them achieve their goals?
  • What is unique about the program vs competitors?
  • Who are the major competitors? What are the strengths and weaknesses of their programming?
  • What area are we targeting? VT only? New England states? Other?
  • If outside of VT, are there any job licensing requirements that may affect students in other states that need to be addressed?
  • What are the pre-requisites, if any, for the program?
  • Are pathway programs or stackable credentials available that roll up into the program?

How often will it be offered, and when?

Who will be the Subject Matter Expert (SME) for content to support communication and marketing plans? The SME may be asked to participate in info-sessions, videos about the program or be quoted in blog texts and/or PR releases.

Determine the funds available to advertise the program

  • PACE will analyze the market and recommend funds needed to reach enrollment goals. This amount will be reflected in the budget planning for the overall program.
  • PACE will recommend fund breakdown by tactic. If the program has multiple start dates within the year, marketing funds will be budgeted to support each start date.

Ensure the timeline provides enough time to launch and advertise the program:

  • PACE requires a minimum of 6 months to launch. A launch is defined as: website goes live for inquiries and registrations; advertising goes live
  • PACE requires a minimum of 3 months for advertising before subsequent start dates

Coordinate with other university marketing teams.

  • PACE will consult and share marketing and communication plans to look for points of collaboration with university marketing
  • For programs created in conjunction with other academic units at UVM, PACE will develop the marketing plan in conjunction with the academic unit team with support from their communications manager

PACE creates a search-optimized webpage to provide program information, collect inquiry requests and link to registration/application page

Users can inquire about a program through several channels:

  • Engage in a Live Chat on our website
  • Complete an inquiry form on our website
  • Reply to a marketing email
  • Send a text in response to a texting campaign
  • Call us on the phone

When a user inquires about the program, the details are logged automatically in our Salesforce database. This database keeps track of all contact that we have with this potential student and allows us to reach out systematically to provide them with guidance on their educational goals.

All inquiries (unless they have opted out) are included in specific sequences of e-mails geared to their program of interest.

Our student support team (SST) maintains a reference document with details on the program and commonly-asked questions. The SST answers student inquiries and makes proactive reach-outs to prospective students. We may refer detailed questions to the academic unit when greater expertise is required.

Training in Online Learning  

  • Faculty/Instructor training: We strongly recommend that all faculty instructors complete UVM’s Modules For Teaching online.  This is a self-paced option where even experienced online teachers can benefit from best practices.  Note that in fall of 2024 Modules for Teaching Online will be undergoing revision. 
  • 1:1 Instructional Design consultation: PACE’s instructional design team supports instructors in meeting their goals. See the Course Development and Course Facilitation sections for more details around working with our instructional design team.

Online Student Support  

From registration to course start 

PACE student support team maintains engagement with students to promote student engagement and reduce melt.  

After course start 

Instructors use multiple tools to keep students on-track within the course. See the section on Course facilitation section of this playbook for details. 

Program Closeout 

  • Student evaluations and feedback: After each course offering, the Course Developer and Instructor meets with the Instructional Designer to review the student evaluation results as part of a cycle of continuous improvement.
    • Credit course evaluations are part of all online programs and are administered by the academic unit using Blue by Explorance. See the knowledge base article on Blue for how to achieve a high response rate.   
    • Noncredit course evaluations are administered by PACE.  The evaluation survey is built into the last week of the course within Brightspace.  
  • Budget reconciliation and financial reports 
  • Curricular review schedule and process 

Career Opportunities 

It is best practice for programs to offer career preparation to best support students’ next steps after program completion. Program administrators should consider the most effective ways to offer career guidance for their populations.

Career development includes, but is not limited to:

  • Providing information about career paths and prospects
  • Integrating career development opportunities into curricula
  • Offering opportunities for students to reflect on their career readiness, skills, experiences, and networks
  • Encouraging or offering opportunities for experiential learning (e.g. research, internships, job shadowing)
  • Helping to connect students with established professionals in the field (e.g. offering alumni connections and events)

Career preparation may happen within academic programming (e.g. using career-related assignments), during student meetings with faculty or professional staff advisors, or with workshops/seminars or other extracurricular offerings. Program administrators can consult with UVM PACE and the UVM Career Center about resources and best practices.