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December 16, 2007

FAQ for Facilitators

Who can facilitate?

One of the main purposes of EXCO is to provide a forum for anyone to facilitate who has knowledge, experience, or expertise on the topic. We encourage undergrads and community members in particular to facilitate a class through EXCO.

What kind of topics can I facilitate a class on?

One of the main purposes of EXCO is to provide a forum for courses that the University does not offer, especially courses that are connected to community engagement and progressive social change; however, courses can be offered based on any perceived community need or mutual interest.

What kind of format can my class take?

One of the main purposes of EXCO is to provide a forum for more experimental and politically engaged pedagogical modes and learning experiences. You can envision yourself in a wide range of roles--for example, as a organizer, collaborator, or presenter. The shape of the course is up to you: for example, you can form a reading group, conduct engaged research, lead a skills workshop, provide practical training, or teach through performance. You can facilitate alone or in collaboration with several other facilitators.

What is the time commitment?

We request that your course has at least four meetings per semester. (If you envision a course that meets less than 4 times a semester, you might think about registering as a workshop.) Other than that, you determine the level of commitment: for example, you can meet every other week, or a couple times a week; you can assign no outside work, or a substantial amount; you can meet for 30 minutes, or 3 hours.

How do I sign up?

You'll need to submit a proposal. Please go to "The Paperwork" (below, or under "Facilitate a Class" to the right) for instructions. Proposals for the spring semester are due by Dec. 31, 2007, and should be e-mailed to excoumn@gmail.com.

We also encourage you to run your idea by any one of our officers first; we can give you some feedback.

When do classes begin?

February of 2008.

What's the deadline to submit a proposal?

For the Spring semester, the deadline for proposals is the last calendar day of the previous year. So if you want to teach a class in the the Spring of 2008, please submit your proposal by December 31, 2007. We'll notify you of our decision, or contact you with any questions we have, by the second week in January 2008.

FACILITATORS NEEDED. We need facilitators and ideas for the classes under development. Check out the classes below. If you are interested in facilitating any of them, please express your interest to excoumn@gmail.com.

Theory and Practice of the Coop.
Access to Higher Ed.
Advanced Conversational Spanish.
Cross-Generational organizing.

The Paperwork

f you would like to facilitate a course through EXCO, please click on the link below for the EXCO Course Proposal Form. You'll need to fill it out in full so that EXCO can get the information it needs about you and the class you want to teach. The form is a Word document that you can fill out electronically. After you fill it out, please return it to excoumn@gmail.com by Monday, Dec. 31st. If you have any questions, please contact any of our officers via e-mail. We will contact you in the first week of January 2008 in response to your proposal.

Download file

December 12, 2007

Things to Consider

COURSE MATERIALS. We ask that facilitators and participants be creative about keeping course material costs down for participants. EXCO has some suggestions for ways to keep costs down, and prevent the need for participants to buy books at full price. Facilitators and collaborators can negotiate some tasks towards this end. Here are some possibilities:

1. Scan in PDF format whatever sections of a book the class will read, and then upload the document, and share via e-mail.
2. Share and circulate bought books.
3. Members of the class who have library memberships can take out copies for others in the class who don't.
4. Order used books through local bookstores.

The views and opinions expressed in this page are strictly those of the page author. The contents of this page have not been reviewed or approved by the University of Minnesota.