Course and Instructor Approval Process

Through collaboration between the participating high school, Seattle Public Schools, and North Seattle College, courses will be approved for the College in the High School program using the process below. High school courses must be equivalent to a Seattle Colleges course (100-level or higher) and part of the Associate of Arts or Associate of Arts and Sciences degrees (AA and AAS) and in the current course catalog. The courses must be primarily for students in grades 10-12.

• Program coordinator at the participating high school or within the Seattle Public Schools sends a written request to the North Seattle College CHS administrator (Dean of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences). The course must be listed in the current college catalog. The high school course must carry the same number and title as the college course for transcript purposes.
  
  
• If a high school coordinator is making the request, they should seek approval from the Seattle Public Schools dual enrollment supervisor.
  
  
• NSC CHS administrator explores interest in course lead position among discipline faculty. When identified, the Course Partner (NSC Faculty), the CHS administrator, and the high school faculty identified to teach the course meet to discuss the College in the High School program. The high school principal should also attend if possible. This is a collaborative meeting to determine if the proposed high school course and the equivalent college course are in alignment. When equivalency is reached, the final decision to offer the course is made and the high school instructor will begin the NSC hiring process.

Note: the high school and college courses need not be identical. High school instructors have academic freedom to build and design their course in the way they chose as long as outcomes and other design requirements as established by the college program are met.  

• The CHS administrator initiates the hiring process. New instructors will be contacted by the Human Resources Department for any documents they need. An online background check is required for all employees of NSC. CHS instructors must meet the same minimum hiring standards as part-time faculty who teach on campus.
  
  
• When the appointment with Human Resources has been completed, an acceptance letter and welcome will be sent to the high school instructor and principal.
  
  
• The NSC course lead and HS faculty meet prior to the course for orientation (outlined in the next section).
• If the NSC department coordinator recommends not hiring the instructor (applicant does not meet minimum qualifications of on-campus faculty hires), the academic dean will first contact the recommending principal/dual enrollment coordinator to request additional information that may address concerns expressed by the NSC department coordinator. If the decision is made to not move forward and with the support of the high school principal/dual enrollment coordinator, a denial letter will be sent by the academic dean.