Teaching Online English Courses

List of Approved Online English Courses

Online Certification

To be eligible to teach any existing or new online (or hybrid) English course, English faculty and graduate instructors (GTAs) should first be fully versed in how to teach effectively online through Canvas. MTSU Online has recently created a new self-paced course on online teaching. For faculty with no online teaching experience, enrolling in and completing this course is required. For those with previous online teaching experience, it is optional (but a helpful overview). Enroll at MATCH, where you will be prompted for your credentials, which must be designated “instructor” (not “student”).

Once you are ready to teach online, please visit the online course of one or more colleagues with online teaching experience, such as Lead Instructors who mentor new instructors in teaching ENGL 1010, 1020, and 2030 online (see names below). If you would like a recommendation for another course, please email the chair of the Online English Committee (Dr. Elyce Helford).

Developing a New Online English Course

1. If the course has never been offered in the English Department in any fashion (on ground or online), begin by creating a formal course proposal to be approved by the relevant English Department Curriculum Committee (General Education, Undergraduate Studies, or Graduate).
2. If the course already exists in both on-ground and online forms, you may not contract with MTSU Online to design a different online version of the course. See the sections below on Teaching an Existing Online Course and/or the ENGL 2020 exception for next steps. Upper-division Topics courses are another exception.
3. If the course already exists in on-ground form but not online and you either (a) are the course creator or (b) have confirmed with the course creator that they do not wish to create/teach the course online, you may develop an online version of the course. Instructions, required forms, and application deadlines are available from MTSU Online at their Course Development page. Once approved for development by MTSU Online, you will be assigned an Instructional Designer and learn all steps required for completion, which may take several months to complete.
4. Compensation: MTSU Online provides supplemental compensation for the work of creating a new online course or substantially revising an existing online course. Not all proposals are approved when first submitted; decisions relate to departmental/university need and funding availability. Compensation is paid after the course has been completed and approved at all levels. Note: You may not request reassigned time or claim this effort as part of your regular workload, and there is a supplemental pay form to sign to this effect.

Teaching an Existing Online English Course

The process for teaching English courses already created and offered online does not involve a new contract or design. Instead, you inform the department chair that you’d like to teach an existing online English course, then work with the English Department’s Lead Instructor for that specific course. If approved by chair and Lead Instructor, that Lead Instructor will invite you into their approved course shell and then install it into Canvas for your course (once assigned for a specific semester) and serve as a mentor. You will need to personalize the Syllabus (put in your name, office hours, etc.) and update due dates, etc. You will also have control over some content for the course, but you must use the Lead Instructor’s shell the first time you teach the course unless you have ample online teaching experience. Begin by adding adding the Lead Instructor to your scheduled online course as a “co-Instructor.”

Lead Instructors for General Education (True Blue Core) English Courses:

• ENGL 1010 – Jennifer Wilson (jwilson)
• ENGL 1020 – Mallory Porch (mporch)
• ENGL 1050 – TBA
• ENGL 2030 – Jennifer Wilson (jwilson)
• ENGL 2020 – varies by topic (see ENGL 2020 section below)

Lead Instructors for All Other Undergraduate English Courses:

• Contact current instructor for the course or email OEC Chair Dr. Elyce Helford to get Lead Instructor information.

ENGL 2020

Although multiple English faculty members teach ENGL 2020 online, they teach a unique theme, much like a Topics course at upper-division and graduate levels. Therefore, ENGL 2020 is considered a “new” course (requiring a proposal as described above) when the faculty member creates a new theme/topic that has first been approved by the General Education Committee.

Faculty who wish to teach already existing online 2020 topics are welcome to do so but must (1) complete a departmental 2020 Proposal Form to clarify their specific goals and content, then submit it for approval to the General Education Committee; and (2) use the Lead Instructor’s course shell the first time the course is taught. A list of all topics currently offered as ENGL 2020 courses, visit our departmental list of online courses.

Scheduling Online English Courses

The OEC does not schedule online courses. However, within the broader role of Director of Online Operations, the OEC Chair will make recommendations and review each semester’s schedule to ensure adequate and appropriate offerings of online courses, especially now that we offer an online English major (and minor)as part of a fully online B.A. or B.S. degree. (Note: If you request to teach an upper-division course that is offered as a single section per term or less often, keep in mind that the course creator will most likely be considered first for scheduling, whether on ground or online.)

Online English Committee

• Dr. Elyce Rae Helford, Chair and Director of Online Operations for English
• Dr. Laura Dubek, Online English major advisor
• Dr. Jennifer Wilson, Online Instructor