In the February issue of the newsletter I asked present and former Academic Coordinators to forward me the list of duties they regularly perform (read the article here). While I did not get an overwhelming response, I did get some feedback. One prof submitted a list of duties as follows:
- Make sure that students are properly registered at the beginning of each semester.
- Do record of amendment to change student courses/programs.
- Do record of amendment to change student grades (i.e. an S to a mark).
- Monitor student progress and meet with at risk students during each semester.
- Conduct marks meeting at the end of each semester.
- Consult with supervisor as to who is teaching what courses before doing timetabling.
- Make course timetables.
- Oversee departmental budgets.
- Conduct informal departmental meetings.
- Be available to meet with students who have concerns.
- Meet with prospective students for facility tours and information.
- Verify college calendar info is correct for our department.
- Attend college wide coordinator meetings.
- Handle safety infractions.
- Orientation of part time trades faculty.
This is a great start, and I hope other faculty can add to this list.
I also got an interesting response from a former coordinator who sent me a draft, produced by the college, of both the job description and selection process for the academic coordinators (dated March 2002). Click here to read the PDF document.
You may know that your union is currently pursuing a grievance against the college, specifically asking for a list of coordinator duties. The college has claimed that no such list exists, and that they do not need to provide one since the title Academic Coordinator does not represent a “position”, but rather a “collection of duties” that varies from one coordinator to the next. The existence of this draft document would seem to contradict this claim.
I will again invite you to send in your list of duties. You can send them to me or post them in the comments section below. Let’s hear from you!
Neal McNair – Associate Chief Steward