Deans, Chairs, and Directors Guidance

Faculty will come to you with a number of questions and requests regarding processes, policies, and happenings at NLU. We’ve built this site to support faculty, but also want to help you direct faculty where they need to go. After all, one of the purposes of the CTLE site is to centralize information so faculty can access static NLU information, while Deans and Chairs focus on managing and developing faculty.

Program Management

Academic Leaders are responsible for managing the health and growth of the program. The processes and resources below are designed to help Chairs, Directors, and Deans in their efforts to maintain and advance the program and its curriculum while managing programmatic data and assessment efforts.

Faculty Management

Academic Leaders manage multiple facets of the employee experience of faculty, including but not limited to the hiring process and the development and evaluation of faculty. In addition, Chairs, Directors, and Deans provide management and support for faculty when student or peer-related issues arise. The processes and resources below are designed to help Academic Leaders in their efforts to support and engage faculty.

Faculty Performance Evaluations

Faculty Performance Evaluations (FPE) are conducted on a cadence specified by a faculty member’s rank. These evaluations serve to level set a faculty member’s contributions to their program, college, university, and community. Further, faculty should be using their FPE as a regular status check on their progress toward promotion.

Promotion and Tenure

While not all faculty will seek promotion on the outlined 4-5 year track, we should be preparing faculty as if they will. The expectations for contributions outlined in the Promotion and Tenure policy (FP 104) are aligned with the expectations set in the FPE process. So, if faculty are consistently highlighting individual accomplishments during their FPE process, this will naturally prepare them for the Promotion and Tenure process. Our job, then, is only to highlight that consistency, and ensure faculty can speak to each sub-domain of their track by the time they apply for promotion.

Adjunct Etiquette: Communicating Course Availability

You probably already reach out to faculty when you want to offer them courses; however, we’ve heard from adjuncts that they feel isolated when they teach one term, but don’t hear anything about the next term. These No Course Available Templates can be used to notify faculty when no courses are available and when professional development is needed.

Student Support

Academic Leaders are responsible for the student experience in their program, which includes the entire student lifecycle, from student recruitment to internships and practicums (if the program offers these learning experiences), to graduation, and employment. Academic Leaders work with the faculty to ensure that students are supported and motivated. Additionally, Academic Leaders mediate student issues or complaints such as grade disputes, academic honesty, and other issues that may arise. The processes and resources below are designed to help Academic Leaders in their efforts to support students.

Tech Needs

With so much focus on program management, faculty management, and student support, tech troubleshooting is often the last thing on the minds of Chairs, Directors, and Deans. Direct your faculty to these resources to help them get the support they need.

Need IT Help? Contact the IT Help Desk

Get help live over Zoom: http://live-support.nl.edu/

Or Call the NLU Help Desk:
On Campus: Extension 4357
Off Campus: (866) 813-1177

You can also email the help desk: helpdesk@nl.edu

Low High Enrollment Report
Owner: University Scheduling Center	Point of Contact: Monica De Asa
This is sent to during the lead-up to the term start. Used to determine cancellation decisions, course by arrangement (CBA), changes to CBAs, and course splits. An email will be sent that includes links to the Smartsheets that have data for all relevant courses.
Course Readiness and Simple Syllabus Report
Owner: University Scheduling Center	Point of Contact: Monica De Asa
This is sent to during the lead-up to the term start. The report identifies faculty who need to publish their D2L courses or their Simple Syllabus. Don’t forget to check the “Comments” column at the far right for additional details about specific classes. Please reach out directly to faculty and adjuncts for support in getting their courses ready. Remember, do not send the entire report to the faculty or adjuncts. Each one should only receive their specific course information.
I-Grade and Missing Grade Report
Owner: Registrar	Point of Contact: Sara Piraino
The I-grade Report and Missing Grade Report are automated through Banner and are sent as the grading period comes to a close.

Missing Instructors Report
Owner: Provost Office	Point of Contact: Katarzyna Sosnowska
Use this report to see which classes are not currently staffed along with the start and end dates and current number of students registered in each class. This report is sent weekly starting five (5) weeks prior to the term.
FLAC Watch List
Owner: Provost Office	Point of Contact: Katarzyna Sosnowska
This report indicates which faculty might be approaching their maximum course load for the academic year. Please try not to schedule your faculty for more than 8SH each term if planning to use them each consecutive term. Please double check your faculty to make sure they do not teach within other College. Use this report to ensure that adjunct faculty who teach in your program remain below 33SH or 55QH, the maximum number of load hours allowed by the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Your attention to this matter is very important since NLU can be subject to significant fines if not in compliance. This report is sent weekly starting five (5) weeks prior to the term.
Assigned, but Not Approved to Teach
Owner: Provost Office	Point of Contact: Keith Dobbin
This report is downloaded from the Faculty Load Dashboard and lists faculty that are currently assigned to teach courses that they have not yet been credentialed to teach. Please review this report for instructors in your program or college, and if they meet the course credentialing requirements, submit a Credentialing Request via the portal. Link to Credentialing Portal. This report is sent weekly starting five (5) weeks prior to the term.

Helping Faculty Apply PD They've Attended

When building a Faculty Performance Evaluation or Promotion/Tenure dossier, it’s difficult for faculty to remember the PD attended, what they learned, and how they implemented it. So, this Faculty PD Reflection Template is designed for faculty to make some planning/implementation notes following a PD. They would then return to the form after a few classes to reflect on the implementation of the pedagogical strategy they picked up during the PD.

Please see the CTLE Programming dropdown in the Website Guide to share opportunities from the Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence with your faculty.

Course Copy Procedures

NLU has two processes for copying courses.

The first process is the bulk course copy process that happens at the beginning of every term. This process is typically done for all live courses beginning of the term from the Course Templates and usually includes around 3000+ courses – it is a mass migration.

The second process is the manual course copy process, where a Dean or Chair can submit a request to LXD for a course to be copied. Use the button below to submit a course copy request.