Guidelines & Responsibilities
Professor & Other Staff Applications
So you're thinking of applying to be a professor or other staff member? Give this thread a read first, so that you know what you're signing up for! If you have any questions before applying, please contact Anneka Ivanova.
Professors vs. Other Staff
Professors are staff members who teach a class -- this can be a core or an elective.
Other staff refers to all other staff members, including those who teach extra-curricular activities (Duelling, Hospital Wing, Quidditch, Spellbound), heads of houses, and the school groundskeeper.
Sometimes, the term 'professors' will be used to encompass both actual professors and other staff members -- you should be able to identify this from the sentence's wider context, but if you're ever unsure, just ask!
Eligibility
Anyone is welcome to submit a professor/staff application! However, these are the key factors which we consider when reviewing applications:
Length of time the player has been on the site. We do sometimes accept professor applications from new players; however, we strongly encourage taking a minimum of 1 term (3 RL months) to settle into the site before submitting a professor application. Teaching a class is a lot of work, and it helps if you already have a solid understanding of our rules and the site in general!
General activity of the player. Teaching a class on our site is a bit of a time commitment (more on that below), so we are more likely to choose players who have a history of consistent activity on the site.
Current or previous disciplinary issues. Players who have a history of causing issues, either through breaking the rules or through poor behaviour, are less likely to be accepted as professors. Professors hold a position of responsibility on our site and are therefore expected to demonstrate a good understanding of and respect for our rules.
Number of other Castle characters. Players are permitted one Professor character in addition to a maximum of two student characters (the second student character is free for those who were an active member on this site prior to October 2013 and costs 750 Gringotts points for all other players).
Responsibilities
Requirements for All Staff:- follow the site rules and site rating at all times;
- report any content which breaks the site rules or site rating to an administrator;
- be inclusive of all players.*
*By applying for the role of professor/other staff, you are confirming that you are willing to engage with
all other players on this site in a respectful and fair manner, regardless of your personal feelings about them. Staff cannot prevent specific players from taking their class, grade in a biased way, show favouritism towards or bias against certain players, or otherwise exclude players in their class (including in extra credit opportunities which involve the professor interacting with the student).
You may establish boundaries with specific players outside of your role as professor, such as requesting that they only PM you on site (not Discord), that they don’t interact with your character outside of lessons and extra credit threads, and/or that they only engage with you OOC to ask questions directly relevant to your class. Please bear in mind that if a player asks you a question directly related to your class, you must reply in a timely manner.
Optional Engagement for All Staff:- host/reply to office hour threads, personal tutoring, etc -- if this is listed as an extra credit opportunity, it must be offered to all students in the class;
- socialise and thread with other members of staff;
- participate in castle-wide plots (subject to availability).
Requirements for Professors:- post and grade class sign-ups;
- post, update, and grade 3 lessons per term, with at least 3 updates per lesson;
- post Final Grades in the Room of Records, including Valedictorian and Salutatorian;
- enter all house points into the house points spreadsheet;
- post and complete (3x3x3) two open/patrol threads.
Optional Engagement for Professors:- offer extra credit opportunities to help students pass a class;
- hire and thread with teaching assistants (TAs).
Requirements for Other Staff:- post and complete 3 extra-curricular threads or threads which are directly related to your job -- these must run until they reach a natural conclusion;
- post Final Grades in the Room of Records, if you run an extra-curricular activity;
- enter all house points into the house points spreadsheet;
- post and complete (3x3x3) two open/patrol threads.
Optional Engagement for Other Staff:- offer and run open opportunities for students to earn house points.
Time Commitment
It's difficult to give a definitive answer for how much time being a professor takes. Ultimately, it depends on the professor and how involved they choose to be with their class and their students. For example, professors who host round-based lessons may need to update more frequently than the required 3 updates, professors who offer an extra credit threading opportunity will need to spend more time writing posts for multiple students, and professors with bigger class sizes may find that it takes longer for them to update their lessons.
We would estimate that being a professor takes
at least 26 OOC hours per term (roughly 2 hours per week), though this will vary between different professors. Other staff positions typically require less of a time commitment, though this will depend on how active and involved the players choose to be.
Rewards
First and foremost, professors get the love and respect of our whole community! Without professors, the school aspect would be much more difficult to play out, and our RPed classes are a huge factor in why people both decide to join and to stick around. Classes -- and therefore professors -- are a crucial part of our site.
However, we recognise that this isn't enough of a reward, given how much time and energy professors invest in their classes. Therefore, we also offer the following professor incentives:
- 1000 Gringotts points - awarded to all professors who complete all of their duties; this is deposited into the player's account by Anneka Ivanova at the end of each school term.
- a chance to win a Knut subscription - all professors who complete their 3 lessons are placed into a voting poll at the end of each school term; students vote for the best lesson and the professor who taught the winning lesson will receive the Knut subscription (or equivalent credit if that player already has a subscription).
The following incentive is offered to other staff:
- 500 Gringotts points - awarded to all other staff who complete all of their duties; this is deposited into the player's account by Anneka Ivanova at the end of each school term.
Application Process
Professor applications are open from the 1st to the 15th of every summer month (1-15 April, 1-15 August, 1-15 December).
Check the
Professor Positions thread before applying to see which classes/other positions are available. If a position is listed as 'open', you can apply for it. If a position is listed as 'filled' or 'n/a', it is not available for the upcoming term.
Complete the
Professor Application Form and post it in the
Professor Applications subforum.
Professors (i.e. those who are teaching a class) must come up with at least 4 lesson plans for the class they wish to teach. These must be PMed to Anneka Ivanova by the 15th of the relevant summer month. Applicants for Head Nurse should come up with at least 4 case studies if they wish to run the Hospital Wing extra-curricular.
Other staff (excluding the Head Nurse) are not required to come up with lesson plans or other threading opportunities which relate to their position. However, it may strengthen your overall application if you choose to submit threading opportunities alongside your application thread.
