Dual credit enrollment is the enrollment of a high school student in a college course taught on a high school campus for high school credit and college-level credit.
Dual credit courses offered through Missouri State University-West Plains are freshman and/or sophomore-level approved courses as described in the College Catalog available at wp.missouristate.edu.
The university exercises direct oversight of all aspects of each dual credit course, including faculty selection, orientation, and evaluation processes. Dual credit courses taught in area high schools must meet the same standards as college courses taught on the Missouri State University-West Plains campus.
The university relies on high school counselors and dual credit faculty to place students appropriately in dual credit classes. Students must have MSU-West Plains’ established college placement scores for those enrolled in College Algebra and have successfully placed into Writing I based on the colleges writing assessment. Schools should also assess student maturity level and motivation before recommending them to participate in the dual credit program.
Dual credit faculty and the high school guidance counselor should cooperate to address cases of academic distress. If a student should be dropped from a dual credit course due to lack of academic achievement or due to withdrawal from the school district, the guidance counselor should contact the Assistant Dean of Academic Affairs to initiate the drop. Courses officially dropped by the published date in the academic calendar will result in a grade of “W” on the MSU-West Plains transcript. Unless verified extenuating circumstances exist, courses dropped after that time will be recorded as an “F”.
Dual credit students are held to the same standards of achievement and grading as those expected of students in on-campus sections. Final grades are submitted by dual credit faculty to the university via MyGrizzlyDen. Dual credit course final grades earned and their corresponding grade point averages are documented on a Missouri State University-West Plains transcript.
Faculty teaching general education dual credit courses must have a master’s degree with a minimum of 18 graduate hours in the subject area/discipline. Faculty teaching technical courses must have a bachelor’s degree in the discipline or must be able to demonstrate industry certification or documented experience in the field. Faculty must submit a resume and all transcripts verifying these credentials. All faculty must be recommended by their school district, and approved by the appropriate faculty liaison, division chair, and Dean of Academic Affairs.
- Dual credit courses are to be college-level, and faculty must accept responsibility for maintaining academic integrity and collegiate expectations.
- Dual credit courses must use the same textbook or a textbook with aligned content and course learning outcomes that has been approved by the University.
- Dual credit courses must adopt the same learning outcomes as those on campus with exceptions approved by the university. Dual credit faculty should contact their faculty liaison to determine learning outcomes.
- Dual credit courses must use the same grading standards as those on campus; if departmental exams are used on campus, they must be used at the high school site.
- A college-approved Syllabus (a) must be in alignment with the on-campus course; (b) must be submitted to the faculty liaison; (c) must be given to each student within the first week of classes; (d) must include learning outcomes, grading policies, course requirements. Note that the university will provide a standardized syllabus along with a template that all faculty are required to use in syllabi development
- Faculty must establish an account on the university’s student information system, MyGrizzlyDen, used to access and verify course rosters and to submit final grades. To establish an account, contact Dr. Michael Orf at 417-255-7904 or at michaelorf@missouristate.edu
- Faculty should review and verify class rosters with their high school counselor and notify the dual credit coordinator of any errors.
- Faculty are required to post final grades in MyGrizzlyDen; emailed instructions and deadlines for posting grades will be sent to dual credit faculty.
- The faculty liaison and/or the Dual Credit Coordinator will conduct periodic site visits and classroom observations to facilitate alignment of course curricula, learning objectives, and assessment methods and to conduct course evaluations.
- Each semester in each course, dual credit students will complete the anonymous Student Course Assessment Survey.
- Faculty will anonymously complete a Dual Credit Program Survey periodically to be used by the College for program improvement and evaluation.
- Faculty are encouraged to participate in annual discipline-specific professional development and collegial interaction concerning course content, delivery, assessment, evaluation, and/or research or development in the field as required by the State and by the National Alliance of Concurrent Enrollment Partnerships.
Dual Credit Faculty Evaluations
Faculty evaluation is an important part of what Missouri State University-West Plains does to assess its ability to deliver quality educational opportunities to the areas we serve. All dual credit faculty members are evaluated by students in each course and course section taught each semester. Dual credit faculty members are also evaluated by their faculty liaison or the Assistant Dean of Academic Affairs. The process will include the following:
- Review of your course syllabus
- Review of your final exam
- Review of student evaluations
- A classroom observation for the first year for a new instructor
- A classroom observation at least once per 3 years for continuing instructors
Faculty are reminded that student evaluations of faculty should be completed in the absence of the faculty member to assure students’ confidentiality and to ensure that students are free to honestly evaluate the faculty member.