Class Learning Assistance

Overview

Funded through a significant investment by the Office of the Provost to provide additional support to academic units, the Class Learning Assistance (CLASS) program for academic year helps ensure that faculty are supported in implementing best practices that foster student engagement and learning in classes with high enrollment and in the liberal studies core.

Classes with a Liberal Studies designation and an enrollment cap of 60 or higher are eligible for support under the CLASS program. By request, classes that either do not carry a liberal studies designation or are near the enrollment threshold may also be considered for support.

Support

The CLASS program is intended to fund student hourly wages to support faculty needs (e.g., assignment grading, class logistics, in-class activities). Base level funding supports approximately 75 hours for course enrollment of 60 students. Additional funds supports approximately 30 hours for each increment of 60 enrolled students beyond the base enrollment. For example, eligible classes with 60 students receive 75 hours of support, while 120 students receives 105 hours, and 180 students receives 135 hours.

Best-practice expectations

Classes receiving CLASS support are expected to deploy the following best practices in fostering student engagement and learning:

• Collecting attendance during each class session and using attendance information to inform and shape student outreach through F2S.
• Submitting midterm class grades prior to the midterm grade submission deadline, as published by the Office of the Registrar;
• Maintaining an accessible and up-to-date gradebook on Canvas that students are able to use to continually assess their class performance;
• Using the course syllabus to communicate relevant resources from the Guide to Student Resources and lay out clear expectations for the investment of time necessary for students to be successful in the class;
• Incentivizing co- and extra-curricular activities relevant to the class content (e.g., student club, department, and community events);
• Integrating student prior-knowledge assessments for courses that have prerequisites as a way to scaffold learning;
• Leveraging low/no-stakes assessments to maintain student engagement and provide opportunities for formative feedback (e.g., assigned reading quizzes, learning journals, discussion board posts);
• Maintaining a master syllabus that documents important aspects of course design and pedagogy and ensures coordination in multi-section offerings.

Logistics

Prior to start of each term, the Office of the Senior Vice Provost for Academic Operations (OSVPAO) will distribute eligible class lists to academic leadership based on liberal studies and enrollment caps. Requests for funding for courses outside these eligibility lists should be emailed to Mikhael.Star@nau.edu in the OSVPAO. The Office of the Registrar’s scheduling team will explore room reassignments to enable class cap increases for eligibility, but scheduling changes may not be possible for all classes. Academic units may opt out of CLASS support for any reason. The OSVPAO will provide Assistant Directors of Financial Oversight with required auditable CLASS-approved position numbers; non-CLASS position numbers are not eligible for CLASS funding. Deadlines for full-term CLASS position hires will be one month after the start of each term. Partial-term CLASS position hires will be considered up to the end of the 8th week of a term.