Department Policies
Computer teachers throughout the Park system are expected to abide by the
following policies:
The ICS Department has prepared
Course Guidelines web pages for each Park computer course.
To locate a course guideline document, choose the
Administration/Course Guidelines option on the ICS Department web site.
Each course guidelines web page contains this information: course
description, learning outcomes, teaching directives, approved textbook
list. Computer instructors must include the first three items (course
description, learning outcomes, and teaching directives) in their
syllabus. However, under certain circumstances it may be appropriate for
instructors to modify the learning outcomes and teaching directives
somewhat to fit their particular situations. For example, some course
guidelines specify some leeway in terms of options for different
course content. In those cases, instructors are allowed to modify learning
outcomes in their syllabi in order to fit the chosen course content.
Course guideline web pages are updated periodically. Therefore, in the
interest of keeping current, administrators should check course guidelines
for updates whenever they have questions about a particular course.
Likewise, veteran computer faculty are required to re-visit their
courses' course guidelines web pages each time they teach a course, in case
there are any updates.
All Park University courses include a core assessment
tool that measures the degree to which students learn the course's
learning outcomes.
Different courses have different types of core assessment tools. For example,
core assessmtment tools may consist of projects, papers, final exams, etc.
To learn about a course's core assessment tool, teachers are required to
visit the password-protected
ICS MyPark
faculty area, find their course in the Core Assessment Materials section,
and follow the instructions therein.
Minimum requirements for adjunct approval for teaching a particular course
in the Information and Computer Science department:
-
Masters or Ph.D. level degree in the discipline (CS or IS) or in a
related discipline (MBA, etc.) from an accredited school
AND
-
Received graduate credit with a grade of B or better in the course
applied to teach, OR one year work experience in subject material
of course applied to teach.
Note: Teaching experience in the course topic applied for is helpful,
but it is not a substitute for graduate course study or work experience
in the course applied to teach.
If the administrator receiving the information feels that the above criteria
are not met, then he/she should reject the candidate without forwarding
the information to the Program Coordinator. The only exception to this
rule is if a group of students is being deployed.
If no Master's degree teacher can be found for
the deployed students, then a Bachelor's degree teacher may apply for a
one-time approval. See the SEL Operations Manual
for details. The campus administrator must follow this one-time approval
procedure every time the non-Master's adjunct hopes to teach a course (even
if it's a repeat of a course already taught by the adjunct).
To apply for a teaching position at a campus center location,
the applicant must submit information to his/her campus center
administrator. To apply for an online teaching position, the applicant
must submit the
online teaching application form.
As part of the application process, the applicant (1) must provide
evidence that he/she has completed a Master's or Ph.D. degree and
(2) must submit evidence that he/she understands the course's content.
For each requested course, the applicant must submit evidence that he/she
understands the course's content by writing a paragraph(s) that mentions one
or more of the following:
- relevant work experience
- relevant personal experience
- relevant teaching experience
- relevant course work (that the applicant has taken)
Applicants must provide separate evidentiary
paragraphs for each requested course. The only exceptions to this rule are
for IS 216/217 (COBOL courses), IS 315/316 (Systems Analysis and Design
courses), and CS 151/219 (Java programming courses). For each of those pairs
of courses, the applicant may submit one detailed justification that covers
the content of both courses. But if the applicant only knows the material
for the first course in a pair of courses, the applicant should, of course,
only submit a justification for the first course.
The courses' contents are based on the
Course Guidelines web pages. When an applicant asks about teaching a
course, the campus administrator should tell the applicant to review the
course's Course Guidelines web page. Note: old syllabi and old catalog
descriptions should not be used as a basis
for courses' contents.
If an administrator chooses to appeal an applicant's rejection by the
Program Coordinator, the administrator may call the Program Coordinator
to discuss the appeal.
If the Program Coordinator verbally agrees to overturn the applicant's
rejection, the administrator must resubmit the applicant's evaluation
form with the (Program Coordinator's recommended) additional evidence to
support the applicant's approval. The administrator must attach a
reminder note to the evaluation form that contains a summary of the appeal
conversation between the administrator and the Program Coordinator.
Applicants who would like to teach one or more of Park's CCNA courses
(CS365, CS366, CS371, CS372, and CS385) will need to follow the Faculty
Approval guidelines shown above. In addition, they will need to provide either
(1) an electronic copy of their Cisco Certified Academy Instructor (CCAI)
certification, or (2) their Cisco Academy ID (ACID).
The CCAI certification provides the necessary Cisco qualification to teach all
of Park's CCNA courses. The CCAI certification does not expire, but approved
teachers are expected to keep current with the CCNA curriculum (actually, all
Park teachers are expected to keep current with all of their approved courses).
If the applicant does not have a CCAI certification, the applicant can be
approved to teach individual CCNA courses by providing his/her ACID. The teacher
approver will forward the ACID to Cisco's Network Academy Support Desk, and
the Support Desk will determine which CCNA courses the applicant is approved
to teach.
It is difficult for the Program Coordinator to accurately assess an
instructor's teaching ability by simply looking at a performance review.
Student evaluations can be subjective and the availability of course
materials can significantly impact the quality of a course. Therefore, unless
there is a glaring problem, the Program Coordinator will usually "approve
continuance" for an instructor. The campus administrator should use the
student evaluations in conjunction with his/her own (hopefully objective)
opinions of the instructor and decide whether or not it would be appropriate
to rehire the instructor. If the campus administrator feels that the
instructor should not be rehired or if the campus administrator feels that
the instructor needs to change, then the campus administrator should attach a
note to the performance review so that the Program Coordinator is made aware
of the campus administrator's feelings. When such a note is attached to the
performance review, the Program Coordinator will almost always check
"disapprove continuance" or "conditional approval," as specified by the
campus administrator's note. The Program Coordinator also will add the instructor's
name to his personal list of disapproved adjunct candidates so that the
candidate will not be approved for other courses (at other sites, possibly)
except under special circumstances.
The Department Chair or Program Coordinator may at any time evaluate the
performance of an instructor by visiting the class (face to face or online)
or by review of student evaluations, grade distribution reports, syllabus reports,
instructor attendance records, student projects, or assessment materials.
If the instructor has failed to conduct the course in a professional manner,
or in accordance with university or department policies, they may be disapproved
to teach the course again, or may be disapproved to teach any department courses.
Examples of improper performance include (but are not limited to) disregard of
university or department policies, disregard of course learning objectives or
assessment measures, failure to use syllabus template or required course software,
use of an unapproved text, lack of class attendance, grade inflation, dishonesty
in statements or published credentials, inattention to directives by university
personnel, non-responsiveness or rudeness to students or university personnel,
inappropriate or vulgar language, unauthorized use of capabilities or material
from other institutions, recruitment of students for other institutions,
advertisement of other institutions or personal business activities, and
demeaning remarks regarding the university, university personnel, course content
or course material.
CS 215 (Selected Topics in Computers) and CS 415 (Special Topics in Computers)
are intended for course content that is not covered in other Park computer courses,
and the content is not deemed appropriate for inclusion within a permanent course.
CS 215 is a lower-level course, and, as such, should cover lower-level concepts.
CS 415 is an upper-level course, and, as such, should cover upper-level concepts.
Since CS 215 and CS 415 can theoretically cover any computer-related topic, the
prospective instructor must fill out a faculty approval form plus additional items
each time he/she wants to teach a particular selected or special topics course for the
first time. Specifically, the instructor must submit the following items to the campus
center administrator:
- faculty approval form (see the Faculty Approval
section above for details)
- course justification (why the course is needed and why an adequate number of
enrollments is anticipated)
- detailed course description
- learning outcomes
- textbook information (including a web site address where the book's table of contents
can be viewed)
- tentative schedule that shows when particular concepts will be covered, when
homework and/or projects will be due, and when exams will be administered
In processing a special topics request, the campus administrator must forward the
above items to the SEL main office. The SEL main office then forwards the items to
the Program Coordinator for approval.
Whenever a computer faculty member teaches a computer course, he/she is
required to check the ICS Department's Approved
Textbook List and select the textbook(s) from that list. To find the
approved textbook list, choose the Administration/Textbooks option on the
ICS Department's web site.
Due to the dynamic nature of the computer field, the ICS Department updates their
approved textbook list fairly often. Therefore, veteran computer faculty are
required to re-visit their courses' approved textbook list each time they
teach a course and change their textbook selection to a newer textbook if
their previously selected textbook is no longer on the list.
If a faculty member would like to use a textbook(s) that's not on the approved
list or if a faculty member notices that a newer edition for an approved book
is not listed, then the faculty member can request a change to the approved
textbook list.
The request should include the proposed textbook's title, ISBN number, copyright
date, and table of contents (chapter titles at a minimum).
The request should be emailed to the ICS Program Coordinator, who will
initiate a textbook discussion in the
textbook discussion area, if appropriate.
To learn about the VLE process and find the application form, go
here.
In preparing a VLE credit rationale for a computer course, students
should rely on the course's current course description and learning
objectives, which can be found by following the course's link on
our department's
Course Guidelines page.
Old syllabi and old catalog descriptions should not be used
as the basis for computer course VLE petition rationales.
VLE petitions must be filed prior to taking the final 15 semester hours
preceding intended graduation at Park University. Petitions may be submitted
no more than once per course. A maximum of 24 hours may be petitioned for
and awarded.
Courses that cannot be VLE'd:
- CS 140 - Introduction to Computers
- CS 215 - Selected Topics in Computers
- CS 415 - Special Topics in Computers
- CS 451 - Computer Science Internship
- CS 490 - Senior Project in Computers
A student can earn VLE credit for all 5 Cisco-related Park courses
(CS365, CS366, CS371, CS372, CS385) as a group by providing proof of
having a CCNA certification with an expiration date that is no earlier
than the current date.
A student can earn VLE credit for individual Cisco-related Park courses
(CS365, CS366, CS371, CS372, CS385) as follows:
CS365 - Student must provide proof of passing the CCNA 1 course.
CS366 - Student must provide proof of passing the CCNA 1 course.
CS371 - Student must provide proof of passing the CCNA 2 course.
CS372 - Student must provide proof of passing the CCNA 3 course.
CS385 - Student must provide proof of passing the CCNA 4 course.
The individual-course VLE-credit "proof" must be in the form of a
document from Cisco, where the relevant CCNA # appears on the document
and the CCNA # completion date is no more than 2 years prior to the date
of the VLE application.
As an alternative, a student can earn transfer credit for individual
Cisco-related Park courses as follows:
CS365 - Student must provide proof of passing the CCNA 1 course.
CS366 - Student must provide proof of passing the CCNA 1 course.
CS371 - Student must provide proof of passing the CCNA 2 course.
CS372 - Student must provide proof of passing the CCNA 3 course.
CS385 - Student must provide proof of passing the CCNA 4 course.
The individual-course transfer-credit "proof" must be in the form of
a student's high school or college transcript where the relevant CCNA #
appears on the transcript and the CCNA # completion date is no more
than 2 years prior to the date of the transfer credit request.
To earn VLE credit or transfer credit for individual Cisco-related Park
courses, in addition to providing proof as described above, the student
must provide his/her "Cisco Academy Connection ID" to the Registrar.
Teachers will need that ID to enroll the student in the next CCNA course.
This option is available only to Parkville daytime campus center students.
Upon processing an application through the Student Assistance Center, and
for a fee of $100, a student may, with permission of the student's faculty
advisor, earn credit for any course by satisfactorily completing an
end-of-course examination.
This option is available to all campus centers (including the Parkville
daytime campus center).
A student may earn credit for IS205 by contacting the Park Testing Center,
paying the $85 fee, and passing the DSST Managing Information Systems test.
This option is available to all campus centers (including the Parkville
daytime campus center).
A test-out option is available for CS 140 Introduction to Computers. To
complete the test-out option and receive credit for CS140, a student needs
to first pass a CLEP exam covering computer-related concepts, and then pass
a Microsoft certification exam covering Microsoft Word concepts.
CLEP Exam Details:
Students are required to pass CLEP exam Information Systems & Computer
Applications. For information about the exam (registration, fee, content,
where to take the exam, etc.), see
http://www.park.edu/support/testcenter.asp,
from Park's Testing Center, and see
http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/clep/ex_isca.html, from
CLEP. Standard CLEP procedures: If a student fails the CS140 CLEP exam and
wants to retake it, he/she must wait a minimum of 6 months before doing so.
When a student takes the CLEP exam, the testing administrator will contact
the CLEP organization. If the student passes, the CLEP organization will
send a record of the student's pass to the Registrar's office. The Registrar
will then add CS199 Computer Science Elective - Information Systems &
Computer Applications to the student's degree audit.
Microsoft Certification Exam Details:
After passing the CLEP exam and waiting for
CS199 Computer Science Elective - Information Systems &
Computer Applications to appear on his/her degree audit (the wait might
take several weeks), the student may then proceed to the next step. The
student must pass Exam 77-881 MOS: Microsoft Office Word 2010. For
information about the exam (registration, fee, content, where to take the
exam, etc.), see the Microsoft Business Certification Requirements web page
at http://www.microsoft.com/learning/mcp/msbc/requirements.
Standard Microsoft certification test procedures: If a student fails the
Microsoft certification exam and wants to retake it, he/she must pay the
exam fee for each exam retake. For the first exam retake, there is no
minimum wait time. For each subsequent retake, the student must wait a
minimum of 7 days.
After Passing the Microsoft Certification Exam:
After passing the Microsoft certification exam, the student should send an
official transcript of the passed exam to the Registrar's office. To do so,
the student should follow these instructions:
- Go to http://www.certiport.com.
- Log in, using the user id and password assigned as part of the test-taking procedure.
- In the MyTranscript area under the MyCertiport tab, the student's transcript should appear,
showing the passed exam.
- In the View Mode pull-down menu, select Authorized View.
- Click the Authorize a Viewer button.
- In the resulting form, enter jody.manchion@park.edu
in the email box and enter Test-Out Credit for CS140, <student's name>,
<student's Park id>, <student's email address> in the message box,
where <student's name>, <student's Park id>, and <student's email address>
are to be replaced accordingly.
- Click the Authorize button.
Upon receiving the Microsoft certification exam transcript, the Registrar
will verify that CS199 Computer Science Elective - Information Systems &
Computer Applications already appears on the student's degree audit. If it
is not there, the Registrar will email the student and inform him/her of the
problem. If it is there, the Registrar will edit the student's degree audit
by removing CS199 Computer Science Elective - Information Systems &
Computer Applications and adding Tested Out next to CS140.