WAOL  Procedures for Lead Institutions and Section Assignments

Lead Institution

The lead institution is the institution that hires the lead instructor.  In the original agreement between colleges and WAOL, the lead institution hired the instructor who created the course and agreed to teach the course for three years by hiring the lead instructor each quarter.  Some lead institutions continue to “own” the course after the three years were up and continue to hire the lead instructor.  Others released the course because they no longer wanted to hire the lead instructor.  In all cases, the lead institution can hire whomever it wants as the lead instructor.

When a lead institution releases a system-owned course, another college is chosen to be the lead.  If the lead instructor wishes to continue to teach the course, and the lead instructor is able to get a contract with another institution, that institution becomes the lead institution for that course.  If the lead instructor no longer wants to teach the course, WAOL  uses the seniority system described below to find another lead instructor and lead institution.

Seniority System for System-Owned, Shared Courses

WAOL system-owned, shared class sections are assigned by this seniority system:

The lead instructor can choose to teach the first section(s)—no more than three in any quarter.  The lead instructor in return maintains the course for new instructors and does the book order each quarter.

All other instructors are assigned one section at a time in this order

• Consultants (new courses only)
• Instructors who have taught the course before based on the quarter they first asked to teach the class
• New instructors to this course based on when WAOL received their Intent to Teach form for the quarter

Remaining sections are assigned in the same order until all instructor requests are filled.

Note: Class assignments are made based on Intent to Teach forms received by WAOL and approved by the hiring college by the Intent to Teach deadline each quarter.  If an instructor, including the lead instructor, does not have an approved Intent to Teach form by that deadline, he/she is moved to the bottom of the list for that quarter only.