Online Faculty Playbook

Undergraduate education at NLU is hands-on. And it is exciting! Teaching and learning at NLU is research-based, and it is geared to meet the needs of our unique student population. Our core values at NLU are access, innovation, and excellence. We serve a diverse student body with diverse, knowledgeable faculty trained in cutting-edge teaching practice. 

Access is at the heart of everything we do. We believe that all students deserve access to an affordable, rigorous, supportive, bachelor’s degree education that leads to sustained professional success. Part of this recipe for success means making sure that our faculty come to our students with deep work experience, in addition to rigorous academic preparation—we want faculty that “walk the walk” and “talk the talk." We want our students to learn from the best—you! We also know that a focus on access may mean that some of our students come to us not always believing in themselves and their abilities. In response to this, we provide a series of wraparound supports to help our students get to their final destination—a degree. We want to see our students make a difference in their families, communities, and the world. That is why our approach to teaching and learning is unlike any other. 

Here's what makes us different:

• High-touch approach to academic advising: our Student Success Coaches and Academic Advisors provide unparalleled support to students, following them from the beginning of their path at NLU all the way to graduation.
• Ongoing collaboration with Learning Support: our Learning Support Specialists provide added academic support to faculty in core sections to ensure students receive individualized learning support from expert specialists.
• High-impact, high-engagement approach to instruction: our faculty are deeply engaged in their teaching practice and in the success of their students. They approach student support from a strengths-based perspective, working with students one-by-one to reach their potential.
• High-touch approach to faculty support: each course you teach at NLU has a “course owner” and a course template to ensure the content is up-to-date and relevant and to support faculty in teaching today’s 21st century learners.

In order to be so unique, our classes don’t look and feel like what you might see elsewhere. 

Here are some differences:

• Open Education Resources: As an institution focused on access, if a course does have a textbook, it is low-cost and is supplemented by free and open-access resources, especially those curated by our subject-matter experts and esteemed faculty. 
• Project-based learning: each class works toward a culminating project in the student’s major, whereby learnings and artifacts from previous coursework lead to a portfolio-type capstone or internship. 
• Research-based curriculum: our course designs are based on proven learning theory and incorporate newer pedagogical trends in trauma-informed practice, early brain development, and culturally responsive teaching. 

Collaborative learning: students learn in a variety of ways, and at NLU we recognize this. One way most people do not learn is through hours and hours of (boring) lectures or reading a textbook. So, we do not lecture or use textbooks as the primary learning sources. We facilitate learning by helping our students learn from inquiry, collaboration, and practice. Students often work in small groups and then practice what they learn in class in the field and/or draw from their own experiences to co-create new knowledge in our online classrooms. And, most importantly, students learn by reflecting on what they learn and building upon it through new and scaffolded experiences term-by-term.

How do we provide the best possible, professionally focused, accessible, innovative, and hands-on experience for undergraduate students? The answer is simple: our faculty. Our faculty are engaged. They want to see our students succeed. Our faculty are carefully selected because of their drive to provide the kind of education that NLU believes in and has been proven successful. Because of this, we've devised effective strategies to ensure that students consistently engage with faculty members on a daily basis, week after week.

Our Online faculty...

• Host virtual office hours and Zoom sessions during Week 1 of class to meet and greet their students.
• “Check in” to their class at least 5 days per week.
• Post responses in discussion boards or equivalent engagement platforms at least 2-3 times per week.
• Provide one overall post for each discussion question/forum summarizing your impressions of the student posts and providing feedback/additional context as needed.
• Emails and phone calls are returned within 48 hours to students, university staff, and administrators.
• Assignments are graded within 7 days using the rubrics embedded in the course for grading.
• Post at least one weekly announcement, outlining expectations for the week and wrapping up anything needed from last week. Announcements begin 2 weeks prior to the class start and end the last week of class.
• Submit Retain reports as required and ad hoc reports as needed.
• Provide detailed feedback on assignments—both in the rubric, assignment box, and, when warranted, within the submitted document as well.
• Work collaboratively with their holistic student success team to identify and address student interventions as needed. 
• Commit to our NLU 10 Principles of Online Teaching, a combination of mission-aligned and evidence-based instructional practice meant to support our model of high-impact and high-engagement (HIHE) online teaching practice. 

We are so excited that you made the choice to join our UGC online faculty team at National Louis University! At NLU, we pride ourselves on innovation and rising to meet the challenges of providing a rigorous, student-focused, holistic education for undergraduate students. “Nontraditional” is our tradition—from our revolutionary inception to our innovative approach to undergraduate teaching and learning. For generations, that is how we have enabled students to write their personal and professional success stories. 

As one of the first teachers’ colleges in the nation, and for more than 130 years, we have been a pioneering and innovative force in teacher preparation and professional studies. In 1886, child education pioneer Elizabeth Harrison opened Miss Harrison’s Training School with an entering class of five students and two mothers. From these humble beginnings, Harrison and her collaborators built one of the first American institutions devoted to early childhood education. The research and training done by Harrison and her colleagues in the early 20th century helped popularize the kindergarten movement in America and spawned the National Parent-Teacher Association. Today, we honor Miss Harrison’s commitment to quality education through our comprehensive academic offerings across all disciplines and levels at National Louis University.

As you join us, please know that you are building on a rich history of excellence in higher education and that your skills, expertise, and knowledge are now a part of the rich tapestry that is National Louis University. Welcome, and we are looking forward to seeing the amazing things you will do at NLU!