Teaching college courses in high school is both an opportunity and a responsibility for high school teachers. RCTC is committed to NACEP (National Alliance of Concurrent Enrollment Partnerships) accreditation standards to ensure the same level of rigor and college course expectations are upheld. High school teachers will be expected to teach RCTC common course outline content, follow college syllabi guidelines, attend an orientation prior to teaching a CE course as well as discipline-specific professional development, participate in on-site liaison visit(s), and work with a college liaison for paired assessment and grading requirements. The college liaison will support, guide, and partner with you.
Liberal Arts and Sciences Courses
- Master’s Degree in-field OR Master’s Degree with 18 credits in-field
Career and Technical Courses
- A mix of formal academic preparation and discipline-specific work experience in a technical field. Credentialing requirements are field-specific and will vary. Please contact the college for CTE credentialing requirements.
High school instructors interested in applying to teach in the Concurrent Enrollment program should discuss their interest with their high school principal.
Conditional Requirements/Procedure
- In addition to the Master's Degree, RCTC requires all CE teachers to have a minimum of two (2) graduate-level in-field courses successfully completed prior to receiving conditional status.
Application Materials
- Concurrent Enrollment High School Instructor Application
- Resume
- RCTC Employment Application
- Official College Transcripts: Graduate
Due to the sensitivity of the information, mail to Michele Altman at Rochester Community and Technical College, 851 30th Ave SE, Rochester, Minnesota 55904 or talk with your tech department about how to send documents securely via email to michele.altman@rctc.edu.
The college will review applicant materials and make the decision to approve, approve conditionally, or deny the applicant. The applicant will receive correspondence indicating approval, approval with conditions, or denial from the college. Conditional approval will require completion of the Credential Annual Progress Report. to be monitored by the college and the high school administration for successful progress toward meeting full approval status by September 1, 2025. If satisfactory progress is not being made the college has the right to revoke the conditional status at any time.
1. The new concurrent enrollment teacher and administration will receive the approval letter.
2. A liaison will be assigned by the college and the Common Course Outline will be sent to the new concurrent enrollment teacher.
3. The new concurrent enrollment teacher will meet with their college liaison prior to semester start for course-specific training to include creation of a syllabus, textbook review, and discuss course expectations in assessment and grading.
4. The new concurrent enrollment teacher will participate in Concurrent Enrollment Partnership orientation.
5. The liaison and concurrent enrollment teacher will establish regular communications and set a time for a classroom site visit sometime during the course.
6. A new concurrent enrollment teacher will receive a site visit from the liaison. During the visit, the liaison will observe a class session and the liaison and concurrent enrollment teacher will discuss course components to ensure the course is at college-level and contains the same components as the on-campus course.
7. All Concurrent Enrollment teachers must complete discipline-specific professional development annually. This is continuing education attended either at their high school or on their own to maintain their license.
8. End of Course Surveys (Evaluation Kit) will be administered through Desire2Learn (D2L) to be completed prior to the end of the semester. It is the concurrent enrollment teacher’s responsibility to schedule a time for the class to take the survey as a whole. Once it is complete, the concurrent enrollment instructor will contact Michele Altman, michele.altman@rctc.edu that it has been completed. This is a requirement for NACEP accreditation.
9. Non-compliance with any of the NACEP requirements will be addressed and may affect continuation of the Concurrent Enrollment course.
RCTC requires all CE teachers to have a minimum of two (2) graduate-level in-field courses successfully completed prior to receiving conditional status.
The Higher Learning Commission has given the deadline of Fall 2025 for all concurrent enrollment teachers to meet full college credentialing requirements. RCTC’s commitment to meet the deadline ensures the Concurrent Enrollment Partnership will work with all conditional Concurrent Enrollment teachers and high school administrators on a Credential Annual Progress Report. The Credential Annual Progress Report will contain the graduate credits completed as well as a plan to complete the remaining credits prior to Fall 2025. The report will be signed by all parties and reviewed annually for successful completion. On-going tracking will use the Credential Annual Progress Report. It is the CE teacher’s responsibility to find courses and send them to Jennifer Hewerdine, Dean of Academic Services, Support, and Innovation at Jennifer.hewerdine@rctc.edu for review and pre-approval.
If Approved as Conditional Status:
1. You will receive a letter approved with conditional status and an Initial Approval Form.
2. Annually complete Credential Annual Progress Report.
Typically a denial letter is not necessary because communication between Concurrent Enrollment Partnership and the high school has reviewed application items required before submission. If the event Concurrent Enrollment Partnership receives an incomplete application or the minimum requirements for conditional approval have not been met, a denial letter will be sent to the applicant and high school administration.
As a concurrent enrollment high school teacher, your high school has agreed to support your participation in professional development activities. In some schools, support may be financial support for college courses taken in a concurrent enrollment instructional field. 18 Online offers courses for Concurrent Enrollment teachers.
For more information, visit the links below.
Pathways to 18: Concurrent Enrollment Credentialing
18 Online Graduate Studies
Metro ECSU
SCSU Gap Scholarship
A professional development plan is critical for your development as a concurrent enrollment teacher. The professional development plan format and expectations are identified in the following documents. The Initial Approval document is for your initial credential review. The Credential Annual Progress Report will be completed annually to ensure satisfactory progress toward full credential requirements if approval was conditional.
- Initial Approval (completed once at initial review)
- Credential Annual Progress Report (completed annually until full credential requirements have been met)
- Annual discipline-specific professional development is required of all Concurrent Enrollment teachers. Use the form below to capture and submit your annual discipline-specific professional development.
- College Faculty Liaisons will visit concurrent high school teachers in their classrooms a minimum of once annually, but more is welcomed and encouraged. At the site visit, your liaison will observe the course, complete the Faculty Site Visit Report with you and review the process to complete the end-of-course evaluations prior to the end of the semester.
Concurrent Enrollment high school teachers are required to hand out a college-approved course syllabus at the beginning of each semester or year (depending on the duration of the course) that is in alignment with the equivalent RCTC course syllabus. Before the first day of school, concurrent enrollment high school teachers should submit the course syllabus to their assigned liaison for their review and approval. A syllabus is submitted for each course, each semester. The liaison, in turn, will review the syllabus and, if approved, notify the concurrent enrollment high school teacher of the approval, and then will submit the syllabus to Michele Altman. If the syllabus is not approved, the liaison will work with the concurrent enrollment high school teacher to make the necessary changes before submitting it to Michele Altman. It is imperative that the semester is indicated at the top of each syllabus. For example: if a concurrent enrollment teacher teaches the same section in both the fall and spring semesters, the syllabus for each must indicate the correct semester – Fall 2017 for fall and Spring 2018 for spring. A syllabus from BOTH the concurrent enrollment teacher and the liaison must be submitted to Michele Altman, at the beginning of each semester for NACEP accreditation purposes.
Resources
The syllabus elements below are required on all syllabi:
It is the Concurrent Enrollment (CE) teacher’s responsibility to review the CE Instructor Guide prior to orientation and to review the Concurrent Student Handbook with the students.
- Concurrent enrollment (CE) students are highly motivated and engaged learners. Data suggest that CE and Post-Secondary Enrollment Option (PSEO) students academically perform equal or better when compared to students who enter as freshmen.
- The college common course outline provides clarity on content and instructors have academic freedom to use materials or to teach the required content as they wish.
- RCTC CE instructors engage with RCTC discipline faculty and have access to college resources and professional development in their area of expertise.
- CE instructors could teach for RCTC if courses are available.
- CE courses provide an alternative for students who are college-level but not ready or wanting to go to the RCTC campus. The amount of funding the school district keeps for this approach is much higher than if a student participates in PSEO. Furthermore, students who may not consider themselves college-bound can take a college-level course in a familiar and supportive environment. Because there is no additional cost to students, this option affords students the opportunity to explore and engage in college-level learning.
Concurrent Enrollment courses include both liberal arts/transfer courses and technical courses. A high school wishing to offer a course that is not on the current list should discuss it with Jennifer Hewerdine, Dean of Academic Services, Support, and Innovation at Jennifer.hewerdine@rctc.edu or 507-280-5081 to determine if the course is appropriate for the concurrent enrollment program.
Approved Concurrent Enrollment Courses
- Concurrent Enrollment Schedule FY25
- Concurrent Enrollment Schedule FY24
- Concurrent Enrollment Schedule FY23
- Concurrent Enrollment Schedule FY22
- Concurrent Enrollment Schedule FY21
- Concurrent Enrollment Schedule FY20
- Concurrent Enrollment Schedule FY19
- Concurrent Enrollment Schedule FY18
- Concurrent Enrollment Schedule FY17
As a concurrent enrollment high school teacher, it is important to access class lists and submit grades at the end of the course. Refer to the Concurrent Enrollment Instructor Guide.
RCTC uses the online learning management system D2L/Brightspace.
At the bare minimum, D2L is required to be used for grading and end-of-course evaluation for all concurrent enrollment teachers. The college requires grading in D2L for records and retention purposes. In the event a student asks about a grade 5 years down the road, the college needs to be able to provide that information.
Advantages to using D2L are that it contains a lot of resources for students and the transferability of liaison course information to concurrent enrollment teachers' course shell. Ask your liaison about using D2L.
Welcome to Online Learning at RCTC
Please feel free to contact one of our RCTC Department Educational Technology staff members if you have questions on RCTC technology related to concurrent enrollment education.
College Academic Calendar: While PSEO students will follow the RCTC academic calendar; Concurrent Enrollment students will follow their high school calendar.