Quick Links

• As part of accepting part-time work, it is reasonable for the department to require you to use the campus email system. This is the way most students will try and contact you. The department coordinator will let you know your email address for Highline.
• You are expected to check email each class day when you are employed for Highline. There are two easy ways to do this from off-campus.
  • You can check your HC email from home using the web.
    • EMAIL (Notice the “s” on http!)
  • If you prefer to read email from your home email account, you can forward your HCC email by doing the following:
    • Open Microsoft Outlook from your office computer.
    • Under the “Tools” menu, click “Out of Office Assistant…”  If you do not see this listed, put your mouse pointer over the double down arrows at the bottom of the list to show more options.
    • Check the “I am currently Out of the Office” dot.
    • Type a message for students (if you wish) in the AutoReply text box.
    • Click “Add Rule…”
    • Check the box next to “Forward” and type your desired email address.
    • If you get the “fine for all incoming messages” box, click “Yes.”
    • Click “OK.”
  • Setting up your email on your smart device will require you to know the server : sentient.highline.edu

Voice Mail

• You will be assigned a voicemail phone number (and password) by the department coordinator. Be sure to check it on the days you teach both before and after class. You can also make changes via  https://voicemail.highline.edu
• The voicemail has a generic greeting assigned. You can personalize your greeting to inform students of how often you will answer. You can obtain an instruction sheet from the department secretary on how to do this. If you take a quarter off from teaching at HCC, please change your greeting on the voicemail.  Otherwise, previous students may want to leave messages.
• To check your voicemail from any campus phone, dial 3799 and follow the directions.
• To check your voicemail from home, dial the college (206)878-3710 and ext. 3799.
  • requests for student appointments outside of office hours
  • You can set up your office hours via https://directory.highline.edu

Meeting stipends: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScTPGeST7z2NNSBLpZ0OUzZainG3iwPM-xOj6IQoaIcs0zMDA/viewform

• Course number – i.e. Course XXX and meeting days/times
• Quarter and year
• Instructor name and contact info (phone, email, office time and location)
• Required materials (text (include title, author, and edition),
• Course prerequisites
• Course content and objectives – can be found on the course CAF
• Attendance policy (if you have one – not required)
• Policy on missed deadlines and exams. Reasonable policy requires a makeup possibility with restrictions (such as unavoidable accident, serious injury or family death)
• Grading policy (what makes up the final grade – i.e. – homework, tests, projects, etc.)
• Statement on academic honesty (i.e., cheating, plagiarism, and other forms of academic dishonesty are unacceptable at HCC and may result in lowered grades and/or disciplinary action)
• Student access/accommodation statement (example: If you need course adaptations or accommodations because of a disability, if you have emergency medical information to share with the instructor; or if you need special arrangements in case the building must be evacuated, please provide the instructor with the Letter of Accommodation you have received from the Office of Access Services.  Access Services is located in Building 99.)
• Please note some classes will have a standard course structure and course shell via Canvas, these should not be changed and/or material is taken out or added.

Class Meetings

• Day classes meet for 50 minutes five times a week or 63 minutes four times a week.  Evening classes meet for 130 minutes twice a week (this includes time for a ten-minute mid-class break).
• Please do not cancel class or shorten class periods without checking with the department coordinator.

Overloads to Classes and Room Capacities

• Though the final decision is ultimately up to you, no overloads should be signed until after classes begin.
• BE CAUTIOUS! Check pre-requisites for students wanting overloads, since an overloaded signature will override a pre-requisite.
• Never overload your section if other sections of the same course have fewer than 25 students without first talking to the department coordinator.
• Once your class is full, the class will close and students will no longer be allowed to register.  You can view students on the waitlist in Instructor Briefcase.  If you have students who do not attend the first day (and do not contact you) you can drop them and replace them with students who are attending and trying to get in.  Students on the waitlist may or may not attend.  You do not have to allow these students priority in getting into your classes, although many instructors do if they are attending.

• You are required to submit a report each quarter via https://assess.highline.edu/tool/ 
• Continuous assessment activities allow us to identify what our students are learning, and whether our teaching strategies are working. With that information we can adapt and improve our teaching techniques.
• Documenting our assessment activities and sharing them with others on campus helps us all improve our teaching methods. This process can promote further conversations within departments, leading to informed curricular decisions. Learn more at https://assess.highline.edu/

Makeup Exams and Testing Location

• You should have your make-up exam policy on your syllabus.  If you do not allow them, note that the college does expect that you will make reasonable accommodation for extreme circumstances.  (See coordinator if you are unsure what extreme circumstances might include.)
• Individual makeup exams can be given through our testing center, however, do not plan on giving a test to the entire class in the testing center as they do not have space to accommodate this.

Final Exams

• Day classes – The final exam schedule is listed on the quarterly.  M – Th classes are on the same schedule as M – F classes.
• If you finish the material early, do NOT cancel classes or change the final exam schedule without checking with the department coordinator.
• Grades for classes are submitted online by the date given by the registrar.  If you do NOT meet the deadline you must hand deliver the grades into registration.
• Grades are to be submitted online via the INSTRUCTOR BRIEFCASE

Student Course Grades

• Grades between 0.7 and 4.0 and 0.0 may be assigned.
• Grades of 2.0 or above are required for moving to subsequent courses.
• Your grading policy should be clearly stated in your syllabus.
•  Classroom Courtesy
• Since we share classrooms with other instructors we need to be mindful of others using the space too.
  • • At the end of class please erase the boards completely at the end of your class.  Do not leave items on the board that you want “saved” for another class period.
    •  If you rearrange classroom furniture (for group work, etc.) make sure that it is returned back to its normal setup.
    •  At the end of class log yourself off the computer.
    • Do NOT leave the classroom until the next instructor arrives.  The technological equipment is expensive and we are responsible for it during class hours.  If your class is the last class of the day or the next instructor has canceled class, please lock the door after all students have exited the room. 
    • The ten minutes between classes is for ease of change.  Please do not enter the classroom until about five minutes before your class starts and please encourage your students to not enter until the previous class exits
    • Be sure to stop on time. This allows you time to answer any quick questions from students and erase boards, etc. before it is time for the next instructor to have the classroom.
    • If it gets to be within 3 – 5 minutes of the next class starting time and students are still wanting to talk to you, please ask them to follow you to your office space (usually building 19) or to a workspace (such as building 15 center space) and continue your discussion there.
• Cheating/Plagiarism – What procedures do I follow if I catch students cheating?Highline College does not approve of cheating by students. But students’ rights are strongly protected by Student Services. Students should not be publicly embarrassed or falsely accused. Instructors need to confront cheating carefully to preserve the dignity of the accused student(s) so far as is possible. Instructors also need to identify and preserve the evidence if they are going to accuse a student of cheating. This may involve, for example, a quiet and firm collection of “cheat notes” during a test, along with the test. The student(s) should be instructed quietly to see you during your office hours. You should also contact your coordinator, or if unavailable, your division chair, for advice on how to proceed before you hold the discussion with the student in your office. There are legal issues involved that you need to be aware of ahead of time.After all of the above, however, you are expected to prevent and stop cheating. You simply need to make sure the dignity of the student is protected, you have incontrovertible evidence, and you preserve the evidence. The above statement applies to test notes, plagiarism, or other allegations.Past experience has shown that sometimes the evidence is still needed one or two years after the incident. If you have a case of cheating or plagiarism, please leave the evidence with a written description of the events and the consequences on file with the division chair. You should also keep a copy for your records.One note of caution: Some students do not know what plagiarism is, so do add the topic in your course syllabi and take a minute to explain the concept to them at the beginning of the quarter.Please see the Students Rights and Responsibilities webpage.
• Honors Option – You may want to provide an honors option to your students. Additional details are available at HonorsStudentGuide

Observations

• • If this is your first quarter teaching at HC, you will have a full-time math instructor ask to observe you.  They will be in contact with you to arrange this time.
  • If this is not your first quarter teaching at HC you will be observed at least once every 3 quarters (per the HCEA contract).
  • The instructor observing will give you a copy of his/her observation shortly after they observe you. Feel free to schedule a time to meet with the observer or with the department coordinator to go over the evaluation.
  • Observations are required by the contract and are stored in the department coordinator’s office while you are a current hire at HC.

Student Evaluations

• • All part-time instructors are required to conduct student evaluations of all classes each quarter.  The department coordinator (or their representative) will contact you in the last couple weeks to arrange this.  It usually takes ten minutes of class time.  If you have not been contacted prior to the last week of class, please contact the department coordinator.
  • The secretary will type a summary of your evaluations and photocopy the comments.  You will be provided a copy of your evaluations, usually about a month after the quarter ends.

• Grade Submission:  You should submit the student grades at https://secure.highline.edu/wts/ibc/ 

At the end of the quarter :

• Update your email for availability during vacations
• Update the office hours for next quarter – https://officehours.highline.edu/

Office Time and Location

• The HCEA contract specifies you are partly paid to be also available to meet with your students.
  • For each five-credit class, all part-time faculty should be available approximately one hour and forty minutes total through the week, with some variation in days available (and times, if possible) for the convenience of students.  To the extent classes taught are online or hybrid, office hours may be held proportionally online.”  Note that part-time faculty teaching exclusively online may conduct all their office hours online.

• • If you miss a class you need to let both the department secretary and the department coordinator know.  The secretary’s telephone is (206) 592-3531 and her email is lquick@highline.edu or (206) 592-3436
  • When you return, please get absence form(s) from the department secretary and fill them and give them to the secretary who will forward them to the appropriate office.  Please do your best not to miss more than two days during the quarter.
  • If you miss one or two days in a quarter, you won’t be given a substitute.  If you miss more than two consecutive days, you need to get approval from our division chair and we will find a substitute for you.  Do not get a substitute for yourself without the coordinator’s approval.  Class coverage forms are available on the Thunder net (HCC intranet – http://tbird.highline.edu/hq/launch.htm)
  • Do not take a class when you strongly suspect there will be multiple absences during the quarter.

If you have any students that are an issue, you are required to file this via a SAIT report.  Link: https://studentservices.highline.edu/student-conduct/process/

1. Review student conduct code: WAC 132I-126 (Student Conduct Code)
2. Destroying state property is illegal. Call campus police.
3. If the student becomes a threat to you or students in class, call campus police.

If you have questions, please do contact conduct@highline.edu or 206-592-3353. The office is located in the Counseling Center of Building 6.

Other Related Highline College Resources:

• Student Assessment and Information Team
• Counseling Center
• Public Safety Office