MBU ECP Dual Credit Requirements

Teachers seeking to teach Missouri Baptist University courses through MBU ECP must demonstrate strong credentials in the chosen discipline, experience in teaching the subject, a recommendation by their high school administrators, and a dedication to offering students a challenging college course in the high school setting. Candidates for dual credit teaching are expected to hold at least the same credentials expected of part-time instructors on the MBU campus and must be approved by the academic school in which the course is housed. There are three different types of approval.

Fully Approved: Teachers hold a master’s degree in the discipline or a master’s degree including or in addition to at least 18 graduate hours in the dual credit discipline or subfield, three (3) or more years of teaching experience in the subject area, and certification in the subject area.

Approved General Education: Teachers hold a master’s degree in the discipline or a master’s degree including or in addition to at least 12 graduate hours in the dual credit s discipline or subfield, three (3) or more years of teaching experience in the subject area, and certification in the subject area.

Provisional Approval: Teachers may be provisionally approved for dual credit if they meet the following criteria:

1. Five (5) or more years of teaching honors or advanced courses in the subject area.
2. Certification in the subject area.
3. Demonstrate progress toward earning an academic credential. Teachers will be granted five (5) years from the time that they begin teaching dual credit courses to complete the necessary academic credential of a) a master’s degree in the content area discipline or subfield or b) if the master’s degree is in an area outside of the discipline or subfield, 12 graduate hours in the discipline or subfield if teaching general education courses or 18 graduate hours in the discipline or subfield if teaching 300-level courses or above.

A development plan must be included with the initial application for dual credit teaching and approved by the Associate Dean of the School or the Dean of the College. The plan will be kept on file in the MBU ECP office and copied to the provost’s office. The plan is subject to annual review to monitor progress toward completion.

Failure to demonstrate satisfactory progress toward completion of the credential may result in removal of the teaching responsibilities for courses for which the faculty member does not possess appropriate academic credentials.

Complete the online  MBU ECP Faculty Information Form and submit it along with undergraduate and graduate transcripts.

The form will be forwarded to the appropriate dean for review and approval. If the candidate is approved by the dean, then the Director notifies the high school teacher and coordinator with an acceptance letter.

Once accepted, dual credit teachers are required to obtain new instructor training and orientation prior to enrolling students in their dual credit classes.  This training is available at the annual MBU ECP summer professional development and training workshop.  Candidates who are unable to attend the event must receive individual training and orientation prior to registering students for dual credit offerings.

Candidates who need a significant number of graduate hours or degree completion are notified that they will not be approved to teach an MBU course until the appropriate graduate work is completed.  The Director contacts the coordinator and the teacher and lists the additional criteria that would need to be met before the candidate could be approved. The candidate’s materials will remain on file.

To maintain the approval to offer dual credit courses and to receive tuition concessions, dual credit instructors must meet the following requirements per NACEP accreditation standards: Each year attend an MBU ECP summer professional development and training workshop to obtain annual professional development and MBU ECP program updates. Teachers who are unable to attend in person will be provided a virtual option.

• For each course taught, the dual credit teacher should develop and submit an updated MBU syllabus: fall (for year-long and fall semester courses) or spring (for spring courses). The syllabus should be submitted to the teacher’s MBU faculty liaison so that it can be checked for compliance.
• Work with the faculty liaison to schedule a classroom observation and other consultations and provide any requested documentation pertaining to the course.
• Complete necessary administrative tasks such as timely grade reporting and course evaluations.
• Maintain communication with the MBU ECP office.

The vast majority of dual credit teachers maintain full compliance to the policies and procedures. In the rare case that an instructor is found to be in non-compliance, the Director of MBU ECP will make every effort to increase engagement to bring the instructor into compliance. Instructors who continuously do not meet the expectations are considered non-compliant.

1. Non-compliant instructors will receive notice by e-mail from the Director of MBU ECP, their MBU faculty liaison, and/or the MBU ECP coordinator at their high school sites specifying the area of non-compliance, corrective actions that must be taken, and a deadline for corrective actions. The high school coordinator will also be notified.
2. In the event that the instructor does not address the issue by the deadline designated in the first notice, he or she will be considered in a probationary period and will receive a notice as such from the Director of MBU ECP designating any areas of instructor non-compliance and a deadline for correction.
3. If compliance has not been reached by the deadline stated in Step #2, the Director of MBU ECP will notify the high school administration stating that the instructor is no longer approved to teach a Missouri Baptist University dual credit course.

The Advisory Council was formed in 2018 to enhance the partnership between the MBU ECP program and its high school partners.  It consists of select members from the MBU ECP program and faculty and secondary partner coordinators and teachers.  Its purpose is to increase communication by providing a forum in which school partners share ideas, plans, and concerns regarding their schools’ college credit opportunities.  Members are given opportunities to ask questions and give counsel to the MBU ECP staff in order to enhance service provided to the students, families, schools, and communities served through the MBU ECP office.

The Advisory Council meets annually on the campus of Missouri Baptist University.  Membership on the council is by invitation.  Teachers and administrators who are interested in serving on the Advisory Council should contact the Director of MBU ECP.

A district or high school administrator, counselor or teacher contacts MBU to request a review of a possible dual credit offering. The MBU ECP director sends the MBU catalog course description and an MBU sample syllabus to the high school.

The proposed dual credit teacher submits an online  Course Approval Form with a proposed high school syllabus based on an MBU course syllabus. The MBU provided syllabus checklist should be utilized to ensure alignment. The appropriate MBU faculty will review the syllabus to determine if the high school can deliver the course content, and if appropriate texts, methods, and assessments  align with the MBU course. The form includes signatures of the high school administrator, the MBU faculty, and the Director of MBU ECP. If there is discrepancy between the MBU syllabus and the proposed syllabus, the MBU faculty liaison works with the high school faculty to either modify the high school course or deny approval.

After the course has received approval, the Director of MBU ECP will notify the high school and the Director of MBU ECP Student Services then arranges registration visits with the designated coordinator at the high school.

Classroom registration visits, faculty liaisons visits, and courtesy visits provide opportunities for MBU ECP staff members and on-campus faculty to maintain contact with participating high schools. These help to ensure that MBU courses offered at the high school sites reflect the rigor of the on-campus courses and offer continued, convenient communication between the University and high schools.

The MBU faculty liaison ensures that updated materials (syllabi, sample assignments and assessments, resources) are available for the high school teacher. The faculty liaison may request other course materials and may request the registered students take the on-campus version of the final exam. Dual credit teachers must ensure that their own syllabi and assessments cover the MBU course objectives. Each high school teacher will provide their faculty liaison with a syllabus closely comparable to the MBU syllabus, sample assessments and examples of student work.

The faculty liaison will contact the high school teacher to set up a time for a visit that may consist gathering evidence, a conference with the teacher, class observation, class discussion or short presentation. After the visit, a discussion including student performance, course content, pedagogy and other concerns and recommendations may occur. The faculty liaison will complete a site visit report to provide feedback to t

As it does for on-campus courses, Missouri Baptist University provides opportunities for MBU ECP students and teachers to evaluate the corresponding high school courses.  The availability of course evaluations is a NACEP requirement, and teachers are required to distribute them to their dual credit students.

All students enrolled in an MBU ECP course for credit are asked to evaluate the course through an online evaluation form. Teachers are required to provide students with the link to the online form and are encouraged to provide a few minutes of class time to complete the evaluation. Information received on the evaluation will be treated confidentially, and only group results will be reported to the instructor.

MBU ECP instructors are able to submit their student’s grades directly through our MYMBU portal.

• Once the course ends, the high school instructor can log into their MYMBU portal to view their grade roster and submit their grades.
• The dual credit coordinator and/or the instructor should retain a copy of the completed grade roster in case a question arises.
• Because the high school semester ends later than the MBU semester, students will receive grade reports from the MBU ECP office after high school instructors have submitted grades and after they have been entered into the student transcript.
• Final grades should be based on a grading scale at least as rigorous as that of MBU:

90 – 100%                       A
80 – 89                             B
70 – 79                             C
60 – 69                             D
59 and below                 F
Withdraw                       W
Stopped attending         XF