Welcome
This manual provides local guidance on the policies and practices of the Basic and Transitional Studies (BTS) division at South Seattle College. The information is intended to be consistent with the policies of the Seattle Colleges, the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC), the Faculty Collective Bargaining Agreement between the Seattle Colleges and the AFT, and any applicable state or federal guidance. In cases of inconsistencies, the policy the Seattle Colleges, the SBCTC, the Faculty Agreement or state and federal guidelines take precedence over what is described here.
New to South? Click here to visit our faculty welcome page. The welcome page is our "quick start" guide meant to complement the guidance provided here.
The topics below are organized into four categories: general housekeeping information, information you need to get ready to teach, information on different practices while teaching, and information you need at the end of the quarter. Click on the links below to find the relevant information.
Faculty are issued keys and are expected to not leave rooms unlocked when unattended. Faculty also should have keys for the office space to which they are assigned. Office staff will provide the key request form, which must be signed by the Dean. Faculty will be charged a replacement fee for any keys which are lost. Faculty should return classroom keys when they no longer intend to teach for the college.
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When needing multiple copies of classroom or other materials, faculty are asked to send copy requests to the Copy Center in the library on the main campus. A budget number is required for orders so that they are billed to the appropriate budget. Check with the BTS office or your faculty coordinator for the correct budget number. There is a form to fill out to attach to the order.
Each faculty member also has a copier code for use in the division’s copy machines and have a limit as to the number of copies made on those machines. Please use the copy center rather than the division copier when possible, as the copy center is less expensive and does not incur wear and tear on the division copiers. Copyright laws must be followed at all times.
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The lab needs to be left in good condition, and problems with equipment should be reported promptly to the computer lab coordinator or administrative staff. You may also email SSC Help Desk to request assistance.
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If you are sick or have an emergency and cannot teach, call and/or email the BTS office at 206-934-5363, and your site coordinator if working off-site or in the evening, as early as possible. For faculty teaching ESL 1, the division typically supports providing a substitute on the first day of an absence and each subsequent day. For faculty teaching ESL 2 or higher, and for faculty teaching in the ABE/GED/High School 21+/College Prep program, a substitute is provided on the second consecutive day of an absence and each subsequent day. In this case, there is no substitute on the first day, and class will be cancelled.
When you return to work, submit a completed Absence Report Form to the office. Compensation for personal days, sick days, or other leave will be determined in compliance with the collective Faculty Collective Bargaining Agreement. At the time of the most recent update of this section of the policy manual, the Agreement provided for:
- One personal day, not to be used for gainful employment. Full time faculty accrue three personal days at the start of the academic year. Part time faculty accrue one personal day at the start of the academic quarter. Personal days must be used within a given academic year. Personal days do not require administrative approval, but notice is asked to be provided as early as possible.
- Sick leave as accrued.
- Leave without pay when no personal day or sick leave is available.
When making plans to attend a conference or other professional development workshop, prior administrative approval is needed for the absence
Forms for requesting or reporting leave are available in the BTS office and are given back to that office when completed.
If you are interested in substituting, contact the BTS office. If you anticipate an absence and can arrange a substitute, that is preferred and generally approved by the Dean.
Faculty are encouraged to create class web sites or email distribution lists and to use those as a means of communicating with students when they will be absent. In some cases, it may be possible for office staff to call students and inform them, but this is limited by work load, time, number of students, and student level.
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Interns and volunteers are sometimes available to work in the program. They are generally referred by the Intern/Volunteer Coordinator; if a faculty member recruits an intern or volunteer, that person should immediately be referred to the coordinator. Interns and volunteers are not faculty. They may not be asked to conduct classes in the absence of the teacher, nor can they be expected to do lesson planning, assessment, or any of the paperwork that is required by the program. Interns may have certain teaching requirements for their coursework, but this must be supervised at all times by the class instructor. Volunteers must complete the appropriate district volunteer forms before beginning any volunteer role. The forms are available through the BTS office.
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Faculty, staff, and students are encouraged to sign up to receive alerts from the campus alert system by clicking here. You will then receive an alert by email, text, and/or voicemail in the event of a closure or other emergency.
Note that the alerts you receive are specific to South Seattle College, so faculty who are also teaching at North Seattle or Seattle Central will need to consider any guidance to be campus-specific. Alerts from South Seattle College apply to our main campus, Georgetown campus, and New Holly Learning Center unless otherwise indicated.
In the event of a closure, an announcement will be made at www.schoolreport.org, on the main campus phone message line (206) 934-5300, on South’s web page, and over radio and TV. Please tell students not to call the BTS office for information on school closure. Teachers can change their voice mail greeting, post information on a class web site, or provide a notice in the class Canvas shell to give students the information they need—whether campus is open or not, and if open, whether you will be able to get to campus or not.
If the college remains open but you are unable to get to work, contact the BTS office. You will need to make up the missed class time. It is possible to do this in a number of ways, including holding an additional class or lengthening class days until the time is made up, assigning an additional task for students to do outside of class time, or taking the group on a field trip. Let the Dean know how and when you will be making up the missed time to avoid the possibility of having to take leave without pay.
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In the event of an emergency, call 911. You can also contact campus safety at 206-934-0911.
Instructors have responsibility for the safety of our students. Fire and emergency drills are conducted periodically in order to make sure that all students know what to do and where to go in an emergency. In the event of injury or illness, be sure to know where the nearest phone is, and the locations of fire extinguishers and first aid kits. Avoid contact with blood and other bodily fluids. Latex gloves should be stocked in first aid kits at all times. Security staff are qualified to provide CPR, treat minor injuries, and provide care until paramedics arrive. In the case of a serious or life threatening injury please call 911 first then contact Security so that they can assist and direct the paramedics.
Students who have children or other family members who depend on them for care may need an emergency contact number at the college to give to childcare facilities, schools or other caregivers. The number should be for a main office at the site where the student studies, rather than for a faculty office when no one is there to answer the phone. Be familiar with campus emergency procedures, which are posted in classrooms and sent out over email from time to time.
In the event of an emergency other unusual occurrence on campus, it may be helpful/necessary to file an incident report afterward. Check with the administrative office for guidance. It’s important to be prompt with reports so that details aren’t forgotten.
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Report any maintenance issues (lighting, temperature, broken equipment), custodial issues (restroom issues, graffiti) or grounds keeping issue to Campus Services. To submit a work order, start by using the Work Order Entry button on the left menu.
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All field trips need administrative approval prior to the event. Fill out a “Request for Field Trip” form and submit it to the Dean, allowing time for processing. On the day of the field trip, a copy of the signed form needs to be posted on the classroom door. If you teach off campus, make sure the site coordinator is aware of the plan. Students may not be required to participate in a field trip. For those who do not wish to go, some alternative activity or assignment needs to be arranged.
Students may take public transportation or arrange their own rides to the field trip site. Faculty should not help to arrange carpools, since we have no way of knowing whether the driver has a license, a poor driving record, a vehicle in need of repair, or other risk factors. Students should simply meet the instructor at the field trip site.
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Near the middle of the quarter, faculty will receive a form asking for their teaching preferences for the upcoming quarter. Fill out the form thoroughly and return it to the BTS office by the deadline. Preference forms will be used to assist the Dean with making class assignments. Assignments will be made according to the Faculty Collective Bargaining Agreement.
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The Federal Educational Records Privacy Act (FERPA) requires that students’ personal information be protected. Click here for a handout providing FERPA basics that all faculty and staff must abide by. The required division meeting also periodically includes FERPA training. Contact the Dean with questions on this matter.
Shred documents that contain protected student information such as name, address, phone number, SSN or Student ID number, grades, welfare status, immigration status, or personal stories that may have identifying information. This should be done whenever necessary. Take care not to leave class rosters, intake forms, and other documents with personal information about students lying around unprotected. The college has a legal responsibility to protect students’ privacy. That responsibility lies with each of us.
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To participate in Adult Basic Education in Washington State, a person must reside in Washington and:
- Must be at least 16 years old;
- Must not be enrolled, or required to be enrolled, in secondary school; and
- Must either a) lack sufficient mastery of basic educational skills to enable the individual to function effectively in society, b) not have a high school diploma or GED, and have not achieved an equivalent level of education, or c) be unable to speak, read, or write the English language.
There is no minimum period of state residency nor proof of residency. Neither legal US residency nor citizenship are required.
People who are in this country on a student visa or a tourist visa or an au pair visa (F-1, M-1 or J-1), however, may not participate in publicly-funded adult education.
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There are a number of faculty program coordinators supporting faculty and staff in a variety of ways. Coordinators are chosen in the spring through an open application process managed by the Dean as described in the Faculty Collective Bargaining Agreement. All interested faculty are encouraged to nominate themselves or others for these positions. At the time this document was last updated, faculty coordinators included:
- ESL Assessment Coordinator: oversees intake, CASAS testing, and placement of ESL students as well as supporting faculty with CASAS certification and training
- ABE/GED/College Prep/High School 21+ Assessment Coordinator: oversees intake, CASAS testing, and placement of ABE students as well as supporting faculty with CASAS certification and training
- Computer Lab Coordinator: schedules computer lab time and trouble shoots lab issues
- High School 21+ Coordinator: coordinates the High School 21+ program, oversees transcript evaluation, maintains the High School 21+ policy handbook
- New Holly Site Coordinator: supports faculty teaching at the New Holly Learning Center
Faculty or staff who have questions related to the above topics can send questions to the appropriate coordinator directly or contact the Dean who will put you in touch with the coordinator. The New Faculty Welcome Page also includes the names and photos of some of the coordinators.
The Coordinators’ Advisory Council is made up of all of the BTS coordinators and the Dean. The group meets monthly to address problems, to consider the needs of the division, to discuss budgetary matters, and to otherwise guide decision-making. Addendum A outlines the group’s charge and structure.
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All faculty and staff have a box for campus mail. On main campus, this box is located in the BTS workroom on the third floor of Cascade Hall. Faculty at New Holly have their boxes located in the workroom at that site, and the New Holly Faculty coordinator is responsible for shuttling campus mail back and forth between New Holly and main campus. Faculty at Georgetown have one mailbox in the BTS workroom on main campus (not on-site at Georgetown). Faculty are asked to regularly check their boxes for information from the Dean, campus and department.
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Curriculum and Learning Outcomes
Faculty are responsible for teaching the student learning outcomes and topical outline defined in the master course outline. ESL course outlines, including learning outcomes, are available through the links below along with other resources such as rubrics, writing anchors, sample syllabi and recommended texts.
Course outlines and similar resources for I-BEST courses, High School 21+ courses, or other courses not listed above are available by contacting the dean.
For each course offered by BTS, there is a course outline and student learning outcomes. We also incorporate the College and Career Readiness Standards (CCRS) as mandated by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) in our curricula. These are the basis for curriculum and lessons, and these are the competencies and outcomes that students are expected to achieve in order to move up through the levels or pass a course.
Discussion on grading, assessment, and the divisional progression policy (for ESL and for ABE/GED/College Prep/High School 21+) is provided later in this document.
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Class syllabi are due to the BTS office by the Friday of the second week of the term. They are commonly submitted to the BTS faculty Canvas site, and typically faculty receive an email with a link to the submission page.
Syllabi should include such things as instructor’s name, division and college name, course name and number, class time and location, starting and ending dates, grading or advancement criteria, attendance policy, and course content. Faculty are encouraged to include the learning outcomes of the class in the syllabus as appropriate. Sample syllabi (along with the learning outcomes and other resources) for ESL faculty are available through the links below.
Contact the Dean for similar resources for ABE/GED/College Prep/High School 21+ classes.
Faculty who are teaching online or hybrid classes must include specific language in their syllabi describing how attendance hours will be recorded for students. Faculty can choose:
Teacher Verification: Assignments have a pre-determined number of hours stated in the syllabus that will be awarded to the extent that the teacher verifies that the student completed the work.
Learner Mastery: Assignments have a pre-determined number of hours stated in the syllabus that will be awarded based on the students' mastery of the content. For example, 70% or higher mastery may result in full hours awarded.
Further guidance from the SBCTC can be found here. The SBCTC also recently provided this updated Q&A document.
Faculty should have any statements on the syllabus as required by the policies of the Seattle Colleges, the SBCTC, or state or federal provisions.
Additionally, faculty are encouraged to include a statement on diversity. The following model statement was developed by a subcommittee of the President’s Committee on Diversity and Retention and may be modified as needed or appropriate:
South Seattle Community College is one of the most diverse colleges in the Pacific Northwest. While this strength stems from the demographics of our campus population, we as a community believe our identify goes beyond that. We strive to create a welcoming learning community for all. We encourage multiple perspectives and the free exchange of unbiased and non-prejudicial ideas and experiences, which broaden our understanding of one another and the world around us. The expectation is that you will join us in this endeavor by contributing to an accessible, save, and respectful classroom environment, free of discrimination and harassment.
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Class sets of certain textbooks are available at each site. There should be texts that are appropriate for each class level offered at the site. These texts are for in-class use only. Students turn them in at the end of each class period and should be reminded to keep the books in good condition for others to use. Please remind students to not write in the books. Please count the books before class is dismissed to ensure that they don’t go missing. These materials must remain the property of South Seattle College. Recommended texts for ESL classes can be found on the ESL resource pages, below:
Contact the Dean so advice on finding recommended texts for ABE/GED/College Prep/High School 21+ classes.
Instructors should return the texts after each class so that they are available to other instructors and classes. Please abide by any divisional practice of “signing-out/signing-in” classroom sets of textbooks. Popular classroom sets may need to be made available to more than one faculty member in a given quarter, and the “sign-in/sign-out” sheet helps the division keep track.
Instructors who wish to have a desk copy of a text may check with the site coordinator, faculty curriculum coordinator, or the Dean to see if a copy is already available. It’s also possible to request desk copies from the publisher.
Books and equipment that are property of the BTS division are state property. Broken equipment that cannot be repaired may be thrown away, but a record of its disposal should be given to the unit administrator. Damaged books may be recycled, again with a report to the unit administrator. The program may donate books to other campuses or to the library for sale on campus, after working with the unit administrator to identify appropriate books. State law prohibits us from giving the books to students. Inventory lists of books and equipment should be updated to reflect the actions.
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Federal and state funding requirements include assisting students with goal setting. The first time students get help with goal setting is during the intake process, called the EI, where students complete the intake form.
The “improve basic literacy skills” and “improve English language skills” are automatically marked when a student’s pre-test is entered into the system. Students should be encouraged to consider other goals as described on the form, and instructors should help students to consider whether a certain goal is realistic or attainable within the academic year. Students who have GED or high school completion as a goal should only mark that goal if it is attainable within the program year (prior to June).
Faculty are encouraged to include other goal-setting activities as part of classroom instruction. Certain courses, such as Career Pathways, ESL 3 College and Careers, and ESL 6 often include career exploration and goal exploration as part of the curriculum. Goal-setting activities may include:
- Activities in the Transitions Portfolio
- Goal setting modules available in CANVAS as part of the I-DEA curriculum
- Visits to the WorkSource Affiliate on main campus
- Guest speakers including employers, basic skills advisors, counselors, or others
- Field trips to employers or other South Seattle College campuses
Faculty are also encouraged to coordinate with the BTS advisor as well as the BTS Career Pathways Coordinator. Contact the Dean to learn who currently serves in these roles. Instructors are free to use other tools as well.
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State and federal agencies require that we use the CASAS test for reporting student progress. Students take the pre-test as a part of the Educational Interview and take a post-test each quarter. This is generally administered by faculty during classroom time in the eighth or ninth week of the quarter. Because instructors administer the post-test, all BTS instructors in non-credit classes must be trained in CASAS Administration. An exception is sometimes made for faculty who are teaching in their first quarter, in which case the CASAS will be administered to your students by a trained faculty colleague or another trained member of the staff. Faculty who do not follow specified procedures may need to meet with a CASAS Cadre member for follow-up training. Periodically all faculty will participate in refresher training.
For more details, including links to the required CASAS training, visit our CASAS Proctor Certification page.
All CASAS testing is computer-based, except for pre-testing literacy students who lack the skills to use a computer. All CASAS post-testing is computer-based, with the expectation that faculty can teach all students the digital literacy skills to take the post-test at the end of the quarter.
CASAS materials are proprietary. Paper CASAS materials remain locked throughout the quarter. They are not intended or available for instruction. When paper materials are no longer suitable for testing, they must be destroyed.
The results are reported to the funding authorities through the WABERS system, and test results are one factor to be considered when grading students. More information on grading is provided later in this document.
Faculty are encouraged to review testing results as part of their instructional planning process. Office staff will provide class profiles on request.
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Class capacity is set in the master course outline. At the time this document was most recently updated, the maximum number of students per class was 35, with a divisional practice of maintaining a maximum enrollment of 30 in ABE/GED/College Prep/High School 21+, 30 in ESL levels 2 through 6, and 25 in ESL level 1.
Under-enrolled classes are subject to cancellation. The enrollment target is typically 18 students. The division offers mainly managed enrollment classes with a few open enrollment options. Typically, the managed enrollment classes accept students—on a space-available basis—through the end of the second week of
the quarter. Under-enrolled classes are sometimes allowed to run on the contingency that faculty will accept late-arriving students after the second week. Late arriving students are enrolled in any open-enrollment options on a space-available basis.
An exception to our enrollment policy is made for students referred by the Office of Immigrant and Refugee Assistance (ORIA). Per our contract with ORIA, the division will accept any students throughout the quarter on a space-available basis.
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Students are placed into ESL classes by the ESL Assessment Coordinator. Placement is determined during the Educational Interview process, which all new students are required to attend as well as students who have left the ESL program for two quarters or more. In the Education Interview, students complete:
- Required intake forms including goal-setting exercises
- CASAS appraisal and pre-testing, including the listening and reading tests
- A writing sample
- An informal speaking/listening assessment
- A form indicating the students’ preferred career pathway as well as preferred time and location of classes
Educational Interviews are conducted by ESL faculty to ensure the quality of the intake. Students who are determined to enter the Educational Interview at literacy-level are given an abbreviated assessment appropriate to their skills. The forms, test scores, writing sample and any other relevant documentation is provided to the ESL Assessment Coordinator, who determines the course placement of each student based on the critical learning outcomes of each ESL level. In cases where students place into level 3 or above, students will be placed into the career-contextualized class of their choosing--based on available space.
Course placement may be different than the federal educational functioning level placement. As described, course placement is determined by the ESL Assessment Coordinator. Educational functioning level placement is determined by the policies described in WIOA Title II which determine placement based on CASAS score.
Exceptions to the placement policy are made at the discretion of the dean and are typical for low-intensity, community-based classes where a full Educational Interview is impractical. These low-intensity classes demonstrate our responsiveness to community partners seeking services and generally aim to provide a way for students from the community to bridge to classes on
campus.
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ABE/GED/High School 21+/College Preparation Intake/Placement
Students are placed into ABE/GED/High School 21+/College Prep classes by the ABE/GED/High School 21+/College Prep Assessment Coordinator. Placement is determined during the Educational Interview process, which all new students are required to attend as well as students who have left the program for two quarters or more. In the Education interview, students complete:
- Required intake forms
- TABE reading assessment
- A writing sample specific to goal setting
- A math assessment
Students who enroll in High School 21+ do not take the CASAS test, as their progression is reported based on credits earned in the program. Students who enroll in ABE, GED, or College Prep take the reading and math CASAS test in addition to the forms and assessments above.
Educational Interviews are conducted by faculty to ensure the quality of the intake. The forms, test scores, writing sample and any other relevant documentation is provided to the Assessment Coordinator and faculty who work together to determine the course placement of each student. Students who are determined to be below the fourth grade reading level are referred to literacy providers in our community since SSC does not serve literacy students. Students who are determined to be between the 4th and 8th grade reading level are admitted to the Adult Basic Education program, as are High School 21+ students who are determined to be between the 4th and 7th grade reading level. GED/College Prep students who are determined to be at the 9th grade reading level or higher are admitted to the GED/College Prep classes, and High School 21+ students who are determined to be at the 7 grade reading level or higher (with transcript already evaluated) are admitted to High School 21+.
Course placement may be different than the federal educational functioning level placement. As described, course placement is determined by the ESL Assessment Coordinator. Educational functioning level placement is determined by the policies described in WIOA Title II which determine placement based on CASAS score.
Exceptions to the placement policy are made at the discretion of the dean.
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Students in non-credit ESL and ABE classes pay $25 in tuition per quarter. Instructors should remind students of this at the beginning of the quarter, but the students must be registered in the system and have a Student ID number before they will be able to pay. Special cashiering hours will be announced for evening main campus students, as well as at New Holly. Students who are unable to pay the $25 can request a tuition waiver, as described below.
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Students with financial hardship can have the $25 tuition waived. The following requirements apply:
- Students must attest to or present evidence of financial hardship to BTS administrative staff for each quarter for which they want tuition waived.
- Attestations must be made individually from the student directly to BTS staff.
- Evidence of financial hardship may include, but is not limited to, documentation
- showing the receipt of some type of public assistance (food assistance, WIC, refugee cash assistance, housing assistance, unemployment benefits, etc.)
- BTS staff will record the attestation and/or documentation presented on a waiver form
- Students who request the waiver will sign the form
- A copy of the waiver will be kept on file
Exceptions to the documentation standard can be made by the dean. One example of such an exception would be a partnership with a government or community-based agency who has already screened students for financial hardship. In these cases, a copy of the waiver will be kept on file, but may substitute the screening done by the partner agency for the documentation of financial hardship and the student signature.
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BTS division meetings are generally held once per quarter on the first day of instruction (in lieu of class) and take place for three hours. Meetings held on main campus and take place once in the morning for daytime faculty and again in the evening for night faculty. Faculty are required to attend either meeting. Most faculty have assignments that require teaching three hours per day, and the division meeting therefore takes the place of instruction. Faculty who are assigned classes that meet fewer than three hours a day will be compensated at the faculty stipend rate for any time spent in the division meeting beyond their contractual requirement.
The division meeting is required for fall, winter, and spring quarters. Missing the division meeting requires taking an absence unless other arrangements have been made with the Dean.
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Beyond the required division meeting, other meetings that take place during the quarter typically include Coordinator Advisory Council, Full-time faculty meetings, CASAS training sessions, and other ad-hoc meetings. Anyone is welcome to attend any meeting they wish. Compensation for meeting attendance, however, is not provided unless previously arranged by the Dean.
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Beginning in the spring of 2021, class rosters will be available in ctcLink. Click here for instructions on how to view your roster. You can also click below for a short video telling you how to view your roster.
Accurate student rosters are important for tracking enrollment levels in each class, for meeting program FTE goals, and for liability reasons. Students whose names do not appear on the roster, or for whom there is no new student intake form supplied to the teacher, need to go to the BTS office. Faculty should not automatically register students, as there may be a waiting list or students may already be registered in a different class.
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WABERS+ is the database the college uses to report BTS data for state and federal compliance. Accuracy in the WABERS database is critical for reporting our performance to the state and our state's performance to our federal funders in Washington, DC. It is directly tied to funds which support our programming--specifically faculty salaries. The WABERS database is also a valuable resource for us to track students’ progress both within our program and after they leave our courses.
WABERS Report Forms come in two parts. (See WABERS reporting here.) Early in the quarter, the Intake Form containing personal data and goal-setting information is generated by the office. At this stage, students simply need to check the information for accuracy. If something is not correct, use a red pen to cross it out, write in the correct information, and return the form to the BTS office.
Please make sure that all students check over their Intake Form. The form asks for a signature at the bottom. When a student signs the form it can indicate two things. A signature can mean that the student understands the waiver information found at the bottom of the form. It can also mean that the student has reviewed his or her personal information and corrected any mistakes. If the student does NOT understand the waiver language, it can be crossed out, leaving the signature to confirm only that the personal information is correct.
Attendance reporting is the second part of WABERS reporting. Information on attendance reporting is discussed below.
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After the third day of class, instructors will be asked to provide names of students who have not attended and should be dropped. Instructors are responsible for returning the roster to the BTS office with notations that identify students who have not attended and students who have attended but are not on the official roster. If needed, off-campus instructors may submit the information by e-mail. This process will help us identify which students are not enrolled properly. Students who have not come to class by the fourth day of class should be dropped unless the student has specifically made other arrangements with the faculty member. If students who are dropped later return, they may be re-enrolled on a space-available basis. Instructors should not send add/drop forms directly to the registration office.
Once students have attended for 12 hours, they should not be dropped even if they stop attending. These students have received services and have met the attendance requirement for inclusion in our federal reporting. Their non-attendance should be recorded on the attendance sheet, and at the end of the quarter they should receive an unsatisfactory grade. However, if a student requests withdrawal, the instructor should complete a drop form. In some cases, a student who attended fewer than 12 hours in one class may have attended 12 or more hours across multiple classes. In this case, this student should not be dropped because, again, they have met the attendance requirement for our federal reporting.
If people seeking to study walk into your class but have not pre-registered or been recently tested please send them to the BTS office to discuss their options. For off-campus sites, the easiest solution may be to call BTS and ask about options for the student. Previous students who return to class but have not pre-registered should also be sent to the office. They may be able to register, on a space available basis. Past students who wish to return but have been out of class for two quarters or more will need to retake the placement test.
An add/drop form must be completed for any student transferred between classes. An add/drop form is also needed for pre-registered students wishing to add a skills class. Before letting a student add a class or transfer to another one, faculty teaching non-credit ESL classes should work through the assessment coordinator, who assists with enrollment management, he/she will check that there is room in the class, and that we aren’t exceeding enrollment limits.
Occasionally, enrollment for a class turns out to exceed the class cap or the capacity of the classroom. We will monitor those classes closely during the first 3 days of the quarter to determine whether all enrolled students actually attend. If those attending exceed the class or classroom capacity, the office will work with the faculty to resolve the issue — for example, by finding a larger classroom, by providing instructional assistance, or by moving students to another section. For a number of reasons, such as maintaining instructional quality and safety, we make every attempt to avoid overenrolling classes.
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Office of Refugee and Immigrant Assistance (ORIA) Students
Students who entered the U.S. as refugees or who receive welfare assistance are in a special funding category. We have a contract to serve these students, and we receive payment for each student that we serve. Because of an existing contract which the college has to serve these students, priority for placement in classes is given to ORIA students over other students, and ORIA students may be placed in class at any time during the quarter.
Much of the paperwork that is required for serving these students is handled by the ORIA coordinator and the administrative staff. They will require information from faculty regarding student attendance and progress in order to complete that paperwork, and faculty who have ORIA students in their classes will receive specific requests for that information. The funding that comes to BTS for serving ORIA students is crucial to the health of the program, so faculty are encouraged to cooperate with all reasonable requests for assistance.
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Attendance Tracking/Absence Policy
Attendance should be tracked on a daily basis and recorded on an attendance roster or an individually created spreadsheet. If students attend for only part of a class, indicate the partial attendance with a decimal of number of hours (e.g., 1.5) A copy of the roster, with attendance and the total number of hours attended, needs to be turned in at the end of the quarter.
Absence policies are up to the discretion of individual faculty, except in the case of students who are funded by specific contracts that have attendance requirements. (ORIA is one example of this.) Instructors should include attendance policies on syllabi and make the policy clear to students, especially when a student can be dropped from the class for a certain number of absences, or when grades/assessment will include consideration of attendance. Attendance is directly linked to student success, and good attendance is an employment skill. Students should get regular reminders about the importance of daily attendance.
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Time and effort reports are after-the-fact records that reflect how faculty and staff spent the time for which they were compensated. The purpose of time and effort reports is to provide documentation to substantiate that payroll charges were applied in compliance with federal requirements.
Faculty time and effort reports are prepared by office staff monthly based on each individual faculty's teaching assignment and attendance records. Hours spent teaching, holidays, sick leave, and other leave are examples of entries on a time and effort record. The document will reflect all teaching assignments a faculty may have on campus. For the majority of BTS faculty, who only teach in our division, the time and effort form will only show the BTS assignment. For faculty who teach in BTS and another department at South in the same quarter, more than one assignment will appear on your time and effort record. Most often, this is the case for BTS faculty who also teach in IEP, though it could happen for a non-BTS teaching assignment in any division. Teaching assignments on other campuses, including Seattle Central or North Seattle, will not appear on your time and effort form for South.
Faculty receive a copy of their monthly time and effort report in their campus mailbox shortly after the end of each month. Faculty should review the document. If needed, hand-written corrections can be made to the document, accompanied by your initials. Once the document is correct, faculty should sign the form and leave it in the Dean's mailbox--even with any hand-written corrections.
BTS staff will maintain all time and effort forms in a binder, organized by fiscal year.
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Periodically, a student may inform you that they need to exit the program mid-quarter, before CASAS post-testing is available. GED students, for example, often leave the program when they pass their final GED exam, which leaves them without a valid post-test for federal reporting. Some students also leave for non-academic reasons, such as a change in family circumstances, an illness, or a childcare need. When this happens, you should encourage the student to take a CASAS post-test before they leave.
If the student is agreeable, contact the office to arrange a testing session. Please also complete the CASAS Post-Test Exception form and provide it to the office. The exception request must be approved by the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges, and someone from the office will submit the request for you and contact you once we hear back.
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ESL students are placed into our ESL program during our intake/orientation, called an Educational Interview. Placement is made into one of six levels of ESL, into the ABE/GED/College Prep/High School 21+ program, or into the college’s developmental education English sequence for students who place out of our programming.
Students progression is determined by the faculty member at the end of the quarter, as expressed by the student’s grade. Grades are determined by faculty based on:
- Demonstrated mastery of the student learning outcomes of an ESL level as shown by student assignments, tests, or other classroom activities
- CASAS scores
- Grading policy as expressed in a course syllabus
Students should not be allowed to repeat a class more than three times. In our ESL program, this typically means that a student have three quarters to move up a level, such as progressing from ESL 3 to ESL 4. Summer quarter does not count in that three-quarter limit, as our summer classes are technically different from the classes we offer in other quarters, primarily due to their shorter length.
If you have a student who has not successfully completed a course after three attempts, that student should be advised to step out of the program until there is a change that will allow the student to make the expected progress and/or the student should be referred to a programs that may better meet his or her needs. Faculty may recommend that a student continue for additional quarters IF there are extenuating circumstances to be considered.
The office attempts to provide lists of students who have repeated courses two, three, or more times so instructors can inform students if their third quarter is coming up, if they have completed their third quarter, or if they’ve completed more than three quarters. If you have a question about whether or not a student has exceeded that, you may ask for a student transcript.
ESL students who attain level 3 or higher are required to select a career pathway that includes a specific plan to transition to an I-BEST program or other college-level coursework. Students at level 3 and up work with their faculty and the BTS advisor to ensure students stay on track. By ESL 4, 5 and 6, students have ample access to the BTS advisor or ESL Faculty Guided Pathways coordinator to facilitate the transition to college-level coursework.
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ABE/GED/High School 21+/College Preparation Student Progression
ABE/GED/High School 21+/College Preparation students are placed into our program during our intake/orientation, called an Educational Interview. Placement is made into Adult Basic Education or GED/High School 21+/College Preparation.
Students progression is determined by the faculty member at the end of the quarter, as expressed by the student’s grade. Grades are determined by faculty based on:
- Demonstrated mastery of the student learning outcomes of a class as shown by student
- assignments, tests, or other classroom activities
- Attendance of at least 80% of classes
- CASAS scores
- Grading policy as expressed in a course syllabus
Students should not be allowed to repeat a class more than three times. If you have a student who has not successfully completed a course after three attempts, that student should be advised to step out of the program until there is a change that will allow the student to make the expected progress and/or should be referred to a programs that may better meet his or her needs. Faculty may recommend that a student continue for additional quarters IF there are extenuating circumstances to be considered.
The office attempts to provide lists of students who have repeated courses two, three, or more times so instructors can inform students if their third quarter is coming up, if they have completed their third quarter, or if they’ve completed more than three quarters. If you have a question about whether or not a student has exceeded that, you may ask for a student transcript.
Students who place or progress into GED/High School 21+/College Preparation are required to Career Pathways, a class that requires the development of a specific plan to transition to an I-BEST program or other college-level coursework. These students also have access to the BTS advisor to assist them with their planning.
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Current ESL students who plan to continue in the next quarter may pre-register. Returning students in ABE/GED/College Prep/High School 21+ pre-register with their faculty team at the end of each quarter.
Returning ESL students pre-register at an appointed time during class near the end of the quarter. Faculty assist in the process by telling students whether to register to return at their current ESL level or whether to register for the next higher level. (Students rarely drop a level, and when they do it's only with permission from the dean. Contact the dean if you face this.)
ESL faculty also help students complete the enrollment form. It helps to review the entire form in case any student information has changed (phone numbers, addresses, etc.), but an entirely completed form is not required.
The BTS team will contact each ESL faculty member to schedule a window of time when they can bring their class to the BTS office to register for the upcoming quarter.
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Student assessment takes place throughout the quarter, evaluating student learning against the course outcomes for each class.
All faculty meet with students one day during finals week in lieu of offering a final exam. The day is most often the next logical day that class would otherwise meeting. For example, exam week begins on Thursday and a class typically met on Thursday during the quarter, Thursday would be assessment day. If the class, however, typically did not meet on Thursdays, assessment day might be moved to Friday or the following Monday.
The BTS office will provide guidance on the "date" of assessment day so faculty can note it in their syllabi. But faculty have discretion to adjust their chosen day based on their classroom practices. BTS faculty also have discretion to select whatever activities take place that day. Some classes meet for, essentially, a final session. Some faculty choose to hold one-on-one meetings with students. Some classes even hold an informal celebration.
If you choose to hold a potluck or end-of-the-quarter celebration, please let the office know so we can assist. Food is not always allowed in every classroom, so we may look for an alternate site. Also, some classes will be holding an exam, so we might look for an alternate site so the celebration does not disturb other students trying to complete their finals.
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WABERS+ is the database the college uses to report BTS data for state and federal compliance. Accuracy in the WABERS database is critical for reporting our performance to the state and our state's performance to our federal funders in Washington, DC. It is directly tied to funds which support our programming--specifically faculty salaries. The WABERS database is also a valuable resource for us to track students’ progress both within our program and after they leave our courses.
WABERS Report Forms come in two parts. Early in the quarter, faculty are asked to confirm the accuracy of the information on the WABERS intake form (click here for more).
Attendance reporting is the second part, which is done at the end of the quarter. A WABERS Attendance Report needs to be completed with information for each student who attended class at any time during the quarter. Instructors report the number of hours that a student attended class. These hours must match the total class hours attended that we also write on the attendance roster. Check for accuracy and completeness before submitting the form.
In addition to attendance, the college is also required to report on certain other outcomes. GED attainment and U.S. Citizenship attainment are two outcomes that we ask faculty to report to the BTS office. You can simply ask your students about these goals, and accept a students' self-report. (In other words, you don't need to ask for proof that a student attained citizenship, for example). Other outcomes--such as employment and wages earned--are collected at the state level by cross-matching student data with state Employment Security records.
Faculty must also complete all paperwork required by the program. This is generally due the same day that grades are due. It is each faculty member’s responsibility to see that all paperwork is complete and accurate.
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Currently we use the Rubrics Report Form to document progress of ORIA students. Please complete the form generated by the office for each ORIA student, whether they complete a full ESL or ABE level or not, so that we have them for student files and audit purposes. Carefully read the instructions on the form to make sure that it accurately records student progress in the individual skill areas. If a student is not completing a full level, the information on the form needs to reflect that the student still needs to improve in certain of the skill areas before advancing. If the student has completed the full level, for example, is moving from level 3 to level 4, all skill areas should be checked. Turn the forms in to the BTS office along with grade sheets and WABERS report forms.
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Grades are entered at the end of the quarter. We use the grades S, Y, and NC.
- S indicates that the student has successfully completed the learning outcomes of the class. In ESL, this means the student will advance an ESL level. In ABE, GED, College Prep, or High School 21+, this means that the student earned credit for the class and there's no need to repeat the class.
- Y indicates that the student made progress, but did not meet the learning outcomes and therefore will repeat the class. This is for students in good standing who simply need to re-take the class.
- NC indicates that the student ceased attending. It’s not necessary to input the last day of attendance for students on the electronic grade sheet.
Click here for a guide on how to turn in grades (opens in a new tab) or watch the video below.
While completing the grade form on-line, print out a hard copy with the grades included, sign and date it, and turn it in to the BTS office. Keep a copy for your personal records. Looking for the learning outcomes of your class? ESL faculty can find the learning outcomes on the faculty resources pages below.
ABE/GED/College Prep/High School 21+ faculty should contact the dean for the learning outcomes of the class they are teaching.
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Attendance Rosters
Turn in a copy of attendance rosters for the entire quarter to the office at the end of the quarter. Please include the total number of hours attended for each student, as auditors will compare the number on this paper to the number reported on the WABERS Progress Form. Keep a copy for your personal records.
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Student Evaluations of Teachers
Each quarter students are given the opportunity to evaluate anonymously the instruction that they have received. Evaluations are done near the end of the quarter. Faculty will trade classes and administer the evaluations for each other so that students feel free to get help in understanding the questions and to answer the questions honestly. When students complete their forms, they should place them in an envelope, which is then sealed by the administering teacher, and submitted to the office for review by the Dean. Faculty members have ownership of their evaluations and benefit from seeing the evaluations soon after the end of the quarter, but should not look at them before grades have been submitted. Following these guidelines protects the integrity of the evaluations.
There are guidelines in the Faculty Agreement that explain how often evaluations need to be done for different categories of faculty, and how many sets need to be kept on file by the administrator. There are also helpful guidelines on the district order form that help explain the process, ownership and contractual requirements. Faculty may use any evaluation form that meets the standards in the Faculty Collective Bargaining Agreement. An online district evaluation tool is available upon request. BTS faculty have designed some ESL-appropriate evaluations forms that can be found through the links below.
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- If you are not returning to teach in a future quarter, return keys that you no longer need to the office from which you received them.
- Return borrowed texts and division materials.
- Remove personal belongings from classrooms.
- Remove personal belongings from office space if you are moving to another site or not returning to the program.
- Shred documents that contain protected student information such as name, address, phone number, SSN or Student ID number, grades, welfare status, immigration status, or personal stories that may have identifying information.
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