Academic Cohort Facilitators are faculty members within the academic department offering the distance education program. They are assigned responsibility for up to 5 individual cohorts.

The Academic Cohort Facilitator:

• Serves as the lead advisor for the students in the cohort by:
  
  1. Assuming primary responsibility providing each student in the assigned cohort an appropriate academic program of study as well as necessary, appropriate, correct, and timely academic advising.
  2. Providing, within each undergraduate student's first term in the off-campus program, a check sheet specific to that student's academic position as well as provide updates as needed throughout the course of the student's matriculation.
  3. Providing academic advising communications on a regular basis to each student in the cohort. A minimum of once per term contact is recommended for undergraduate students. The communication may be by email, by scheduled Eluminate session, letter, or face-to-face.
  4. Alerting students in the assigned cohort, in a timely manner, of necessary forms and/or academic requirements that must be completed. For example, the Academic Cohort Facilitator for an undergraduate teacher education cohort will:
     1. Make cohort members aware of the teacher education forms that must be completed and the deadlines for doing so.
     2. Inform students, at least 3 terms in advance of internships/student teaching, of arrangements which need to be made by the students to prepare for the commitment and will keep the Office of Field Experiences apprised of the upcoming student teaching experience for the cohort.
     3. Make cohort members aware of the Praxis II test requirement and provide guidance relative to the deadline by which an acceptable score must be submitted.
     4. Serve as the key person to whom a cohort student's academic queries/concerns are referred, except in the case of concerns/complications with an instructor. In the event that such an issue arises, students should first be encouraged to communicate their concerns/complications to the particular instructor. The student should be referred to the department chair only when the matter cannot be resolved by the student and the faculty member/instructor.

• Participates in the cohort orientation by delivering the academic advising portion and insuring that students understand the academic requirements for the program. Academic Cohort Facilitators can expect that the Distance Education Program Manager will draft an academic overview as a PowerPoint presentation or written document for review and editing by the Academic Program Coordinator who is responsible for inserting the required [tentative] schedule of courses for the proposed cohort/program and that the Office of Distance Education will provide the PowerPoint and copies of handouts to students at the orientation.
• Serves as the primary liaison between the Academic Program Coordinator and the faculty assigned to teach in the cohort regarding any academic issues. (e.g., questions about course contact hours should be referred to the cohort’s Academic Program Coordinator).