Teaching Guide for Current CFU Instructors

Dear Instructor,
Thanks for making a CFU connection! We know you’ll give your classes lots of great personal energy. Please study this guidebook carefully and master its contents. Print this out and review each time you are getting ready to teach so that all the policies and procedures stay fresh in your mind.

Attend Orientation
It is your responsibility as an independent contractor to make sure you understand all the CFU procedures and are fully prepared to teach and manage the mechanics of teaching at CFU. We require that local instructors attend Teacher Orientation for this is where you will learn all you need to know about teaching with CFU. Out-of-state teachers work with our Course Manager by email and phone to learn the policies and procedures.

Be Prepared to Be a Problem Solver
It is your responsibility to ensure that your classes go smoothly. CFU staff will support you in all the ways we can, but you are the face of CFU with our students. We do our best to make things run seamlessly, however sometimes issues arise. So, please be prepared to solve problems. (i.e.: room setup, temperature, lost students) and keep your sense of humor! During business hours you can call the registration office at (303) 399-0093 x0 for assistance and at other times you will find a phone number posted on the outside door to call in an emergency.

Read your Course Description
Read over your course description and make sure you are prepared to fulfill its promises. Students see course descriptions as “warranties” of what will happen in class and what they will leave with. If your course description is the least bit unclear or inaccurate in its promises, then move with vigor to change it before it goes to press. After publication consider yourself honor-bound to give students what the catalog promises.

Verify Details Before Each Section of Your Class
CFU will call you the business day before your class is scheduled to begin to confirm that your course is running and to give you the enrollment count at that point. However, sometimes messages don’t get through so if you do not receive a call from us, do not assume that this means your class is not being held. If you have not received a class call by 2:00 PM of the day before your class, please call CFU to determine your class count. If you desire special equipment for your class, call to confirm its availability. And, finally, be certain to verify the location of your class, as occasionally miscommunications happen.

CFU Campus Classrooms
Please arrive at least 30 minutes before your class begins. Respect your students by being in the classroom, organized and ready to go before your students arrive. Write your name, class title, session number, and any materials & optional materials fees on the board so that information is easily visible for everyone. This helps streamline the process of collecting signed tickets & materials fees. Collect class tickets as students arrive in the classroom. Begin class on time and collect latecomers’ tickets during a class break.

CFU posts a listing of the days’ classes and their assigned classrooms at the entryway of the building. Rooms are set-up simply and you are welcome to rearrange the room as best fits your needs. We do ask, however, classrooms are returned to the way they were at the end of class. Often there are multiple classes scheduled in the same room during the same day so please be respectful and clean-up after yourself, turn off all lights, close the windows and leave your classroom as soon as possible after your class is over. Please encourage any “stragglers” to continue their conversations with you in the parking lot, at a coffee shop, over the phone, etc.

Procedures for Canceling or Rescheduling Classes
Only in the case of genuine emergency or serious medical condition is it acceptable to cancel or reschedule your class. If you do have an emergency, contact CFU immediately. As specified in your contact, CFU charges fees to cover the administrative costs of rescheduling or canceling a class, unless an exception is specifically granted. Canceling or postponing classes may result in termination of the contract between CFU and the instructor. If you do have to make changes to a class for any reason, contact the Course Manager to discuss so that we can ensure that the solution works for you, the students and CFU.

Class Minimums and Teacher Payment
You are expected to hold class for the minimum number of students established in your contract. If fewer students arrive on the day of class, do go ahead and teach (please note this on your invoice and you will be paid for your contracted minimum). CFU determines when refunds or credits will be issued to students if they are unable to attend class at the last minute, so please refer all such issues to us.

Don’t Let the Weather Scare You!
This is Colorado, and it takes a serious storm for us to postpone classes! If classes are postponed due to weather, you will be notified, otherwise, it’s business as usual.

Collect Signed Confirmation Tickets & Materials Fees at Start of Class
Students who have registered should bring their confirmation ticket with them to class. You must remit these signed tickets with a completed invoice to CFU for payment. (Details about confirmation tickets and how to handle students who don’t bring that paperwork with them will be discussed at Orientation.) Materials fees are payable to you directly, and should be collected at the start of class when you collect confirmation tickets. It’s a good idea to bring sufficient cash to “make change” for students.

Teacher Payments
As contracted, instructors who receive compensation for teaching have four weeks from the date class ends to submit all the paperwork for payment. Your pay is based on the number of satisfied students that attend your class. Please be aware that the students must sign the class ticket as proof of attendance and acceptance of the standard liability waiver. You are paid only for the signed tickets you turn in. If a student drops your course, we cannot pay you for their ticket. We can only pay for satisfied students who take the whole course and do not ask for a refund or transfer. You will not be paid without the following: an invoice to meet federal independent contractor regulations, any money collected for in-class registration, and all signed student tickets.

CFU has a six-week window from the time we receive your payment paperwork within which we will issue your payment.

Keeping Your Contract Current
Labor laws require that CFU renew your teaching agreement annually. Please be responsive to our requests to update your paperwork. Teachers lacking current contracts cannot continue to teach.

Familiarize Yourself with CFU Student Policies
Familiarize yourself with CFU student satisfaction and refund policies. Do NOT negotiate specific outcomes with dissatisfied students. Have them call CFU registration and lodge a “dissatisfied student claim."

Don’t Let the Weather Scare You! This is Colorado, and it takes a serious storm for us to postpone classes! If classes are postponed due to weather, you will be notified, otherwise, it’s business as usual.

Keeping Your Contract Current Labor laws require that CFU renew your teaching agreement annually. Please be responsive to our requests to update your paperwork. Teachers lacking current contracts cannot continue to teach.

Familiarize Yourself with CFU Student Policies Familiarize yourself with CFU student satisfaction and refund policies. Do NOT negotiate specific outcomes with dissatisfied students. Have them call CFU registration and lodge a “dissatisfied student claim."

Don’t Let the Weather Scare You!
This is Colorado, and it takes a serious storm for us to postpone classes! If classes are postponed due to weather, you will be notified, otherwise, it’s business as usual.

Keeping Your Contract Current
Labor laws require that CFU renew your teaching agreement annually. Please be responsive to our requests to update your paperwork. Teachers lacking current contracts cannot continue to teach.

Familiarize Yourself with CFU Student Policies
Familiarize yourself with CFU student satisfaction and refund policies. Do NOT negotiate specific outcomes with dissatisfied students. Have them call CFU registration and lodge a “dissatisfied student claim."