WHA High School Teachers

With Wesleyan Honors Academy, students at your school can earn more than a high school diploma. They can earn valuable college credit.

To discuss how Wesleyan Honors Academy can fit the needs of students at your school, please request a meeting.

High School Teacher Program Benefits

There are impressive benefits for WHA-participating teachers and high schools as well.

Funding for high schools and teachers

NWU compensates each Honors Academy teacher based on the number of students enrolled to earn WHA credit through their classes. Teachers will receive their stipend by direct deposit at the end of the school year.

In addition, school districts offering Honors Academy courses have the choice between two matching funds options. Both options are based on enrollment using the same schedule that is used for teacher compensation.

• Option A: 100% put into a scholarship fund at NWU that can be applied to outstanding or current bills for that school’s WHA students.  
• Option B: 50% sent to school and 50% put into the school’s scholarship fund at NWU. 

Through this program, Nebraska Wesleyan is able to help participating schools meet the needs of their students through tuition assistance and curricular supplements.

Postgraduate scholarship

Subsidized tuition for teachers seeking Honors Academy qualification

Wesleyan Honors Academy offers a postgraduate scholarship to teachers who are within 18 hours of qualifying to teach Honors Academy courses. Teachers may attend the graduate institution of their choice and NWU will reimburse tuition as follows:

• One three-hour course remaining: Up to $2,000/course
• Two three-hour courses remaining: Up to $1,000/course
• Three three-hour courses remaining: Up to $670/course
• Four, five or six three-hour courses remaining: Up to $500/course

Professional development

Each year, Nebraska Wesleyan University holds Honors Academy Professional Development Workshops either on the Lincoln campus or virtually. Teachers are provided a stipend to attend this required event. At the workshop, teachers discuss changes in policies and procedures, interact with other instructors, and meet with NWU academic department coordinators about updates to the curriculum in their disciplines.

Private coaching

Honors Academy teachers are encouraged to work closely with their departmental liaisons throughout the academic year in areas of curriculum development and assessment coordination.

Faculty ID and accessing teacher benefits

NWU will provide an adjunct Faculty ID card with an identification number to approved Honors Academy adjunct instructors. The Faculty ID card should be retained until the instructor no longer participates in Honors Academy.

Campus security or university officials may request faculty to present the ID card for identification, in which case, ID must be presented.

As an adjunct NWU faculty member, Honors Academy teachers have access to the same resources as on-campus faculty, including:

• Free admission to theatre, music, or art events
• Free admission to athletic events
• Invitations to attend guest lectures
• Class tours arranged for their students
• Admission of their classes to special events

Additionally, instructors can use their Office 365 account login to access the following resources:

• NWU Library - Use these instructions to learn how to access library services.
• IDEA Class Evaluation - At the end of each Honors Academy course, students are asked to complete class evaluations through an online system called IDEA. Teachers will need to complete the Objective Selection Form (OSF) for their part of the evaluation. Use your NWU email address and password to sign in.
• CANVAS - Access CANVAS to complete professional development activities, post your syllabus, and find materials from your academic department.
• Self-Service - Click on “Faculty” to check rosters and post final grades.  This requires your username, which is the part of your NWU email address in front of the @ symbol. 

If you have any questions, contact Heather Zaruba.

Join Wesleyan Honors Academy

Qualified teachers can apply for NWU faculty status through Wesleyan Honors Academy.

Teacher application and requirements

Qualifications

To become an adjunct instructor in Wesleyan Honors Academy, high school teachers may meet one of the following academic standards:

• Have a master’s degree in the subject area of the courses they propose to offer or
• Have a master’s degree with a minimum of 18 hours of graduate credit in the relevant subject field.

Alternately, teachers may qualify based on a combination of education and experience. We will evaluate the teacher's application for a combination of the following education and experiences:

• Undergraduate degree in the discipline
• Master’s degree in a related field
• Graduate courses taken in the discipline
• Enrollment in graduate programs
• Teaching experience in the discipline (upper-level)
• Success in leading competitive student programs in the discipline
• Heritage speaker for language courses
• Other unique experiences relevant to the discipline

Application Process

The Wesleyan Honors Academy director will work with high school principals and/or central school district curriculum specialists to identify high school courses and teachers for participation in Wesleyan Honors Academy and invite them to apply. Teachers may also request information and an application directly from the Honors Academy director.

Both the teacher and the course must be approved by the Honors Academy. Following is a description of the application and approval process:

Step 1: Teacher Application

1. Submit the Teacher Application and supporting materials, including official undergraduate and graduate transcripts, to the Honors Academy director.
2. The director will review the teacher application materials for minimal requirements and forward qualified applicants to the appropriate departmental liaison. The liaison will determine if the teacher has Full Approval, Limited Approval, Provisional Approval, or is not currently qualified.
3. Upon approval of the applicant by the appropriate department, the teacher will be asked to submit the Course Application and forms for HR and CSIT onboarding. The director will also reach out to set up a virtual or in-person meeting for general program orientation.

Step 2: Course Application

1. After approval as a Wesleyan Honors Academy instructor, teachers will submit the Course Application. This application will ask for materials that help us to ensure your high school course aligns with the NWU on-campus course. 
2. After reviewing the course application materials, the Honors Academy director will forward them to the appropriate departmental liaison for review and final determination.
3. The liaison and WHA instructor will meet in person or virtually for an orientation. During this meeting, the course application and materials will be further discussed in case changes are needed to align the high school course with the NWU course. This is also a great opportunity for the WHA instructor to ask questions and get direction on course content.

Probationary Status for First Year Teachers

Approval to teach in the Wesleyan Honors Academy program is considered probationary for the first year that a teacher participates. After the first year, a teacher will automatically qualify to remain in the program under the following conditions:

• The teacher has met, or is making significant progress toward meeting, any specified provisions.
• The Honors Academy director and the respective departmental liaison approve continued participation.

Teachers with Limited Approval

Candidates with limited approval must be observed at least once per year and attend yearly professional development related to the discipline.

Teachers with Provisional Approval

Candidates who are provisionally approved may offer the course for Wesleyan Honors Academy while demonstrating satisfactory academic progress toward full approval and will be observed at least once per year.

Non-compliance information

Honors Academy teachers are required to complete the necessary administrative and professional development aspects of the Honors Academy program. If a given instructor fails to do so, they will be considered non-compliant. Listed below are the potential areas in which a teacher may be considered non-compliant:

1. The instructor fails to attend professional development workshops. Instructors are expected to attend all professional development workshops although rare absences are allowed for special circumstances. If an instructor can't, at times, attend the on-campus workshops, they may take part in other professional development activities. These must be reported back to the Honors Academy director.
2. The instructor fails to provide a course of equivalent content and rigor as those sections offered on-campus and approved by the department.
3. The instructor does not submit required information/artifacts to the director or department liaisons for assessment and/or syllabus alignment purposes. These requirements vary by department and all instructors are expected to be aware of their responsibilities in this area.
4. The instructor does not follow-through on arrangements made for site visits from the department liaisons. Site visits should be scheduled when the instructor is actively teaching a course and should allow the liaison to see good interaction with students.
5. The instructor does not clarify rosters and/or submit grades as required.

Non-compliance will be determined by the director of the Wesleyan Honors Academy with input from the department liaison usually through classroom visits or failure of the instructor to complete the submittal of materials or professional development activities.

If an instructor is found to be non-compliant, the following steps will be taken in order to help the instructor return to compliance:

1. The director and department liaison will meet and discuss the approach needed for a given set of circumstances.
2. The director will contact the instructor and meet with him or her to outline the changes that must occur in order for the instructor to return to compliance. The administration at the high school will be notified or the problem.
3. The instructor will be given time to consider the outlined changes and whether or not he or she wishes to continue in the program.
4. If the instructor wishes to continue in the Honors Academy program, they will be given one academic year to correct problems and will be visited in the classroom at least twice during that year by the liaison and at least once by the director to consider whether progress towards the stated changes is being met. The high school administration is kept appraised of the status of the instructor.
5. Both the director and the liaison must agree that the instructor has regained compliance. If this occurs, the instructor returns to equal status as other compliant instructors.
6. If the instructor remains non-compliant after one academic year, they are removed from the program and the high school administration notified that the instructor is no longer able to offer courses in the program.

Stipends may be withheld from non-compliant instructors until they returns to compliant status.

Site visits by departmental liaisons

The departmental liaisons will arrange two visits during the first year of the Wesleyan Honor Academy adjunct instructor's appointment and once every 2-3 years thereafter. The purpose of these site visits is to:

• Become better acquainted.
• Observe the adjunct instructor in the classroom.
• Discuss course materials.
• Communicate discipline-specific requirements and assessment expectations.
• Assist with assessment implementation, as needed.
• Make suggestions to ensure the adjunct instructor’s success in meeting departmental expectations.

Access tools for WHA courses

All WHA teachers are NWU faculty. Here are more resources to help you conduct your WHA courses.

Your Okta Account

Checking rosters

Instructors are highly encouraged to monitor and periodically check their course rosters to ensure their class enrollment is up to date.

How do I check my course roster?

1. Go to NWU Self-Service.
2. Login using your NWU Office 365 username and password.
3. Click on “Faculty.”
4. Click on the name of your course to view roster.

If you discover a roster discrepancy, contact Heather Zaruba.

Complete a course evaluation through IDEA

At the end of each Honors Academy course, you will be asked to complete a class evaluation through an online system called IDEA.  You must complete the Outcomes form prior to the end of the student collection period. Reports from your student responses are available two days after the end of the evaluation process by logging back into IDEA.

Posting final grades

Below are the instructions on how to submit grades.

1. Log into Self-Service (nebrwesleyan.edu > Inside NWU > Self-Service tab). You use your NWU username, which is the part of your NWU email address before the @ sign, and your NWU Office 365 password to log in.
2. Click on Faculty.
3. Look for the course section and then click on your course to access grading.
4. Click on Grading.
5. Select the Final Grade tab.
6. Enter a grade for each student using the drop-down menu.

Standard grading reminders

• Letter grades include A+, A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, C-, D+, D, D-, F.
• Incomplete: Please enter an I. When giving an Incomplete, be sure an "Incomplete Agreement form" is signed by the student and yourself and submitted to the director. Any incomplete should be discussed with the director prior to the grading deadline.
• If a student has withdrawn, a grade of W (or WA) will already be assigned. Students who have not officially withdrawn need to be given a grade.
• You may adjust the grades you enter at any point before the grading deadline. After the deadline, the grades you assign are final; additional work after the term concludes is not allowed. Any errors in grading found after the final grading deadline will need an approved "Change of Grade" form with instructor and director signatures.

Questions or problems with your NWU Self-Service account may be directed to the Honors Academy office at 402-465-2415 or hzaruba [at] nebrwesleyan.edu (hzaruba[at]nebrwesleyan[dot]edu).

Contact the Registrar’s Office at registrar [at] nebrwesleyan.edu (registrar[at]nebrwesleyan[dot]edu) or 402-465-2243 if you have difficulty submitting your grades via Self-Service.

Canvas for accessing course-specific information

Important dates for 2024-25

Find participating high schools

WHA classes by subject