2.3 - DE Teaching Assignment and DE Class Scheduling

Comprehensive information on how teaching assignments are determined is beyond the scope of a DE Handbook, but those interested should consult the AFT collective bargaining agreement and the LACCD Human Resources Office for employment-related documentation.

To teach online, an instructor must be certified to do so. Each department keeps seniority and priority lists for hiring adjunct instructors; those who are certified to teach online will have a "D" beside their name on the lists. DE courses cannot be taught by instructors without this notation. There is no guarantee that instructors with the "D" will be offered an online class. Talk your department chair for further details.

Departmental Expectations

When discussing a potential DE teaching assignment with the department chair, it is also important to review departmental expectations and support resources for DE instructors as well as any guidelines or requirements the department may have for the particular course(s) under consideration. These may vary considerably between departments at LATTC; some departments have extensive opportunities in place for guiding their online instructors. It is highly recommended that you reach out to your department chair if you are unsure about this.

DE Instructor Evaluations

Comprehensive information on class and instructor evaluation is beyond the scope of a DE Handbook, but those interested should consult AFT 1521's Collective Bargaining AgreementLinks to an external site. and the department chair.

At LATTC, the evaluation documentation for all classes, DE and non-DE, is identical, both for students completing course evaluations and for teaching evaluations completed by an observer. 

Note that if you are being observed in an online or hybrid teaching assignment, the DE Coordinator is responsible for adding the observer(s) into your Canvas class. Instructors cannot add anyone -- students, instructors, or observers -- into their own classes.

Once you have an DE teaching assignment, you may be interested to know more about class scheduling procedures. 

Some important things to keep in mind:

• Class scheduling is done in collaboration between each department, dean, and the Office of Instruction
• DE classes sometimes need to have notes in the class schedule (PeopleSoft) to ensure that students understand special circumstances such as proctoring or expectations for online readiness. These notes are prepared by each department; talk to your department chair if you are unsure about whether your DE class(es) should be listed with a note and what it should say. Most departments have standardized language for most DE class notes.
• Your Canvas course shell will be automatically created and made available for you to begin development a few months prior to the semester; the roster will be automatically populated with students.
• If you wish to begin developing a Canvas class before the course shell is available, you may request a Sandbox course and later import from the sandbox into the actual course shell once it has been created. Contact Leslee Koritzke for a Sandbox.
• If it is necessary to cancel or reassign a class, the originally assigned faculty member will lose access to the Canvas shell which they may have been working on. Deans and department chairs should give faculty the opportunity to save and remove material before the change occurs. If this should ever happen to you and you did not have an opportunity to copy out or export the course, contact Leslee Koritzke to possibly regain access to the material.