While all our instructors are highly motivated to do a good job, it has become clear, over this program's 20 years, that not all people are as well organized and as self starting as they would like to think. Prospective applicants should consider the questions below. If similar issues are occurring in their face-to-face teaching, distance education is quite likely the wrong area. In distance education, problems with organization are magnified and quickly spring out of control.

Hiring decisions are based on how closely during previous sessions a returning instructor has followed the protocols outlined in the Sample Instructor Handbook. Just as student success in the program is based on completing assignments fully, in good faith, and on time, so too instructor success is based on carrying out pedagogical and administrative duties and responsibilities fully, in good faith, and on time.

The following questions are used as a self-evaluation tool by current instructors.

1. Have I kept my supervisor aware of late student assignments and remedies for them? If I have not notified my supervisor of students in arrears, have I provided my supervisor with a credible explanation for my lapse? Just as importantly, have I contacted the student and/or parent and remedied the situation? (Simply informing students by phone, e-mail, or postcard that they are late is not enough; the instructor and student must speak to each other and arrange a remedy to which the parents/guardians must consent.)
2. Have I notified my supervisor when a student is missing two assignments, whether consecutive or cumulative, so that s/he can contact the parents? If not, why not? Has this happened for more than one student?
3. Have I acted unprofessionally, or in a way that might cause students or parents to doubt the effectiveness of the assignments or the program? Unprofessional conduct includes
   • slamming a student in a critique
   • writing short critiques
   • sloppy critiques (illegible, mechanically or grammatically error-ridden)
   • boilerplate critiques
   • Disavowing standard assignments (i.e., telling students, "I did not write this assignment") is unprofessional because it subverts the value of the student’s work, of your critique, and of the program as a whole.
4. Have I critiqued student assignments on schedule and sent critiques to my supervisor without delay? If not, have I provided my supervisor with a reasonable explanation for any delay?
5. If work owed to students was delayed, did I notify my students AND my supervisor in advance?
6. Have I kept my supervisor in the loop about ongoing problems with students (consistent patterns of late or missing assignments, failure to check in, patterns of excuse-making and so forth)?
7. Have I responded in timely fashion to communications from my supervisor? We expect instructors to check e-mail and respond at least twice a day and in some cases more frequently.
8. Have I turned in my three sample final evaluations on the due date? If not, did I provide a reasonable explanation for any delay? (e.g., "I had the plague and could not work.")
9. Have I submitted my final evaluations on time, and according to the criteria outlined in the guide to writing final evaluations sent by CTY?

These are the kinds of questions we consider when deciding whether an instructor is in good standing. All of the criteria we use in deciding whether to rehire instructors are listed in the Sample Instructor Handbook.