BCC Online Mentor Program

The mentor program matches experienced online faculty with faculty new to teaching a specific course online or new to teaching in a specific course environment. Instructors teaching for Distance Education are eligible for $300 as mentors and as mentorees, payable when the mentoree begins teaching the course they were mentored to teach.

Contact Rhonda Gilliam (rgilliam@bcc.ctc.edu) or Suzy Lepeintre (slepeint@bcc.ctc.edu) for details.

The mentor agrees to perform the following tasks in mentoring the new course instructor (mentoree).

1. Participate with their mentorees in the Online Teaching Institute.
2. Verify that mentorees understand student expectations of an online instructor, such as how often each day to check and respond to e-mail or other questions by students.
3. Verify the mentoree understands the pacing, activities, and assignments in the course or where to get that information.
4. Verify the mentoree understands how to coordinate, facilitate and evaluate activities, such as discussion, chat and other uses of group work or where to get that information.
5. Verify the mentoree understands how to coordinate, facilitate and evaluate quizzes, timed or not, as well as set up proctored exams if he or she chooses.
6. Verify the mentoree understands the course designer’s/department’s grading standards and procedures for assignments in the course or where to get that information.
7. Verify the mentoree understands how feedback and grades affect the student’s overall success of the course or where to get that information.
8. Verify that mentorees understand how to provide feedback and report grades on all graded activities.
9. Verify that mentorees understand how to streamline online bookkeeping and other online tasks that you have learned.
10. Verify that the mentoree has the technical skills they need to be successful teaching online.
11. Ask mentorees to subscribe to the faconline or vistafaculty listserv.
12. Ask mentorees to participate in an orientation to the Faculty Resource Center.
13. Ask mentorees to sign up for the necessary training classes in the Faculty Resource Center.
    

1. Study the course website in the quarter prior to teaching; ask questions as needed to understand its curriculum design and how to effectively teach the course.
2. Enroll in and take needed classes through the Faculty Resource Center in the previous quarter, such as WebCT , VISTA or HTML training, etc.
3. Understand and be able to use the current course management system.
4. Ask questions and verify that you understand the pacing, activities, and assignments in the course.
5. Ask questions and verify that you understand how to coordinate, facilitate and evaluate activities, such as discussion, chat and other uses of group work.
6. Ask questions and verify that you understand the course designer’s/department’s grading standards and procedures for assignments in the course.
7. Ask questions and verify that you understand how feedback and grades affect the student’s overall success of the course
8. Adjust calendars, syllabi, quiz release dates and settings, or assignment tool release dates and settings.
9. Edit course content to meet specific personal preferences, if desired.