Visiting Faculty

Welcome to the AHA team.

We are available to support and assist you in your program. Contact us if you have any questions or need more information about sites, processes, or responsibilities. Let us know how we can help you.

For more information about your role as a visiting faculty member, click the links below.

NCSA and MCSA Faculty Roles
Basic Responsibilities
  1. Develop courses and syllabi, subject to revisions requested by the consortium, prior to final confirmation of appointment;
  2. Choose textbooks and resource materials appropriate for the courses subject to parameters set by program budget and availability, and relay this information to AHA by a designated date;
  3. Promote MCSA and NCSA programs and recruit students to apply to your program;
  4. Offer instruction for a specified period of time at a designated study center, in accordance with consortium academic standards and without deviating from the course descriptions and syllabi that were approved by member campuses;
  5. Cooperate with the site director and on-site faculty members to plan and implement excursions and other program activities, subject to parameters set by programs and logistic considerations. Please see below for guidelines;
  6. Report final grades to the site director by a designated date;
  7. Be available to students, on a regular and emergency basis, for consultation on individual and group problems, including those of a nonacademic nature;
  8. Attend faculty orientation (which may be mandatory, depending on consortium) and any on-site orientation sessions. Failure of a primary or alternate faculty member to participate in faculty orientation may result in forfeiture of the teaching assignment unless the faculty member's absence has been sanctioned by the consortium;
  9. Arrive on site one to two weeks prior to program commencement, in order to meet with the site director to finalize planning.
  10. Acceptance of the above responsibilities constitutes conditions of employment in a  MCSA-NCSA-AHA International study abroad program.

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Compensation

As compensation for these responsibilities, provision is made for the following:

  1. Salary from the faculty member's home institution;
  2. Salary policies should be checked with the consortium representative of the faculty member's institution;
  3. Round-trip transportation to and from the study site according to a travel policy set by the consortium. This travel policy is intended to provide either payment of or reimbursement for actual personal travel expenses incurred by the faculty member in reaching the study site and returning to the city of residence. The faculty member can request either direct payment to an airline or travel agency or a cash reimbursement upon presentation of a written statement of expenses. In either case, the amount may not exceed the value of regular economy fare to the site or the allotted budget amount. If all or part of the airfare is being reimbursed by another source, it is the faculty member's responsibility to claim a lesser amount.
  4. Housing for the duration of the program; expenses while accompanying the students on program-related activities and excursions;
  5. Health, accident, and liability insurance for the duration of the program

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Coordination of Responsibilities

  1. MCSA and AHA International have established guidelines that outline the areas of responsibility and coordination between the site director, U.S. faculty members, and on-site faculty members. A spirit of close cooperation between faculty members and the site director is essential to achieve a climate in which the program can be successful.
  2. Each program has its own resident site director. U.S. faculty members teach either one or two courses and may assume some administrative tasks, depending on the program site. 
  3. Grades and registration changes: The site director is responsible for reporting grades and changes in class registration to each campus. Faculty members, whether U.S. or local, are responsible for reporting to the site director changes in registration and grades of students in their classes.

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Program Calendars

  1. Class schedules are determined by the site director in consultation with the U.S. faculty member and subject to such considerations as facilities and on-site faculty members' schedules. Faculty members and site directors are responsible for determining when and if class meetings are to be rescheduled. 
  2. Following their appointment, and in collaboration with the site director, U.S. faculty members are responsible for planning the content of excursions related to their courses. Technical assistance is available through AHA International and the site director. Decisions are made jointly as to who guides or accompanies students on which excursions, taking into consideration the entire semester's curriculum and the interests and resources of on-site personnel. While excursions vary from site to site, the usual pattern is one excursion per week and one or two overnight or weekend excursions per term. As a general rule, faculty members should expect to have primary responsibility for developing and conducting two excursions relating to each of their own courses and to accompany the students on all program-wide excursions.

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Grading and Attendance Policies

  1. Grading practices should conform to home campus policies.
  2. Attendance policy, as a factor in grading, must be clearly announced at the beginning of each course.

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Faculty Member Family and Dependents

Faculty members selected to teach overseas may be accompanied by their family members subject to the following constraints:

  1. If the spouse or companion is involved in any way in the pedagogic aspects of the program, his or her participation should be clearly described in the faculty application. Multiple campuses approve program courses so any significant change in instruction requires approval from each of the campuses that awards credit.
  2. Consortia do not normally cover the expenses of accompanying members.
  3. Limited exceptions may be made in cases where a spouse or companion has been approved by the consortium to assist with instructing a course; in these cases, every effort will be made to cover the costs of a second individual to accompany excursions and to be admitted to museums and cultural events.
  4. Program budgets are based on retaining faculty apartments which are reasonably comfortable and close to classroom facilities. In general, they are intended to accommodate a faculty member and one companion. Families, particularly American families, may find them cramped. AHA International staff members will do their best to assist family members who accompany professors with special needs, however; it should be understood that a different apartment cannot be found each semester according to changing needs. In fact, in many cases, apartments can be secured only on a long-term basis, and no change can be made. 
  5. Overseas schools may or may not accept American children on a short-term basis. AHA International staff members will inform U.S. faculty members regarding possible options.
  6. Faculty members, just as students, should remember that they are guests of foreign hosts.
  7. Failure to monitor children's behavior, to leave apartments just as they were found at the outset, to thank school officials for accepting American students, and to act in other socially acceptable ways may affect the accommodations available to faculty members who follow them.  

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Postprogram Role

  1. Within one month of the program's completion, the U.S. faculty member is to send a comprehensive evaluation report to AHA International. AHA International will circulate the report to consortium institutions.
  2. U.S. faculty members should be willing to assist in the promotion of programs on their home campuses. 
  3. Policies and guidelines governing the MCSA-AHA International program are more fully explained in the Faculty Handbook, which each faculty member receives after his or her appointment. 

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