Level Up Faculty Resources

All students are eligible to participate in the Level UP program, and we encourage them to do so because it will offer many benefits:

• The engagement strategies used in Level UP courses can lead to deep learning in the course and in the discipline.
• Level UP courses help students build skills that are important for success in college classes.
• Level UP courses help students connect with faculty and build a professional network.
• Level UP courses use strategies that promote student retention and graduation.
• Level UP courses will help students document the initiatives they take to improve their career readiness, and, if they master the skills that are being fostered in the courses it can lead to University‐level recognition.
  
  • Level UP courses appear with special designations on a student’s transcript indicating that they took a course that fostered a particular career skill and that they engaged in a particular high impact practice.
  • Level UP courses foster the development of a portfolio of work that demonstrates the student’s essential career skill.
  • Students in Level UP courses who master both the essential career skill and the use of the STAR Method to provide a compelling narrative about their essential career skill will earn a Distinction, one of the university’s highest honors. Students earning the Distinction will be recognized at Commencement and a special notice of Distinction will appear on their transcripts.
• Level UP courses help students build essential career skills that make them more competitive in the job market, and help them move up in their careers.
• Level UP courses help students learn how to convince others that they have high‐level skills, and that they can apply them in their chosen fields.

MSU faculty have the discipline expertise and latitude to determine which courses may fit this program best. Here are some things to consider when deciding:

• Does my course already have opportunities for students to develop one of the essential career skills (i.e., oral or written communication, critical thinking, teamwork, or professionalism) through class activities/assignments?
  • If not, could I change the class activities/assignments easily to give students more opportunities to develop these skills?
• Does my course already use one of the high impact practices (i.e., undergraduate research, education abroad, service learning, or internship) as a pedagogical strategy now?
  • If not, could I easily foster the regular course content/outcomes by using a high impact practice (i.e., through a research project, education abroad experience, service learning project, or internship/mini-internship experience) as a teaching tool?
• Would having my course as a Level UP experience for students in my discipline add to the program’s ability to get students career ready?
  • If so, can this course foster a skill that isn’t being leveled up in another course in the program?
• Am I willing to give students regular feedback on how their skill development is progressing?
• Is your Chair/Associate Dean supportive of you offering the course as a Level UP class?

If your answer is yes to these questions, your course may be a good candidate for the program.

Want to know more, or need help deciding? Contact Tim O’Brien, Laurie Couch, or Megan Boone to discuss your course.

If you would like to Level UP your course, there are a few important steps you will need to take:

• STEP 1 – Choose which essential career skill your course will foster – oral communication, written communication, critical thinking, teamwork, or professionalism. Need help deciding? Contact levelup@moreheadstate.edu to arrange a discussion about your course.
• STEP 2 – Choose the high-impact practice (i.e., one of the following: undergraduate research, education abroad, service learning, or an internship) you will use as a teaching tool to push your students to high levels of skill development. Need help deciding? Contact levelup@moreheadstate.edu to arrange a discussion about your course.
• STEP 3 – Attend three workshops to learn how to Level Up a class. You will attend one workshop that is specific to the skill you have chosen to foster, one workshop on how to use the high-impact practice you have chosen as your teaching tool, and one workshop about how to teach/assess the STAR Method to your students so they can learn to tell the story of their career skill in action. You also may attend optional sessions on how best to use reflection and portfolios in your Level UP course. Register for a workshop.
• STEP 4 – Attend a course planning session with the Level UP Co-Directors (Tim O’Brien and Laurie Couch). In this session, you will discuss your preferred course approach, class activities/assignments, and concerns and get advice about strategies for redesigning the class as a Level UP course. Sample course plans will be shared that will aid you in developing your approach. The Co-Directors also can provide pre-reviews of your course plans before you submit them for consideration to the Level UP Committee.
• STEP 5 – Submit an application to Level UP your course in an upcoming semester. The Level UP Committee prefers to receive applications for Fall semester courses no later than April 1 and Spring semester courses no later than November 1.

Faculty who teach Level UP courses need several key materials. These include:

• Course Planning Document: This is a template faculty will use to develop their overall strategy for delivering Level UP course skill development opportunities and opportunities to practice the STAR Method. Samples are below. These sample templates can be altered and saved as your own course plan.
  • Sample course plan for fostering Oral Communication
  • Sample course plan for fostering Written Communication
  • Sample course plan for fostering Critical Thinking
  • Sample course plan for fostering Teamwork
  • Sample course plan for fostering Professionalism
• Skill Rubric: This is a rubric that will be used to assess students on every class activity where they practice the skill that the course fosters, and it will be used to assess the final, culminating activity (i.e., in the Level UP portfolio) in the course. The rubrics for each of the essential career skills fostered in Level UP courses appear below – choose the one that matches your course. Mastery level is defined as the student artifact(s) rated at “capstone” on at least 4 of the 5 indicators.
  • Oral Communication rubric
  • Written Communication rubric
  • Critical Thinking rubric
  • Teamwork rubric
  • Professionalism rubric
• STAR Method Prompt and Rubric: This is a rubric that will be used to assess students on every practice attempt at using the STAR Method to describe how they are using their career skills in the course/high-impact experience, and it will be used to assess the students’ final STAR reflection in the course. Every Level UP course will use this rubric. Mastery level is defined as the student artifact(s) being rated “fully articulated” on all 4 of the indicators.
  • STAR Method prompt and rubric for Oral Communication
  • STAR Method prompt and rubric for Written Communication
  • STAR Method prompt and rubric for Critical Thinking
  • STAR Method prompt and rubric for Teamwork
  • STAR Method prompt and rubric for Professionalism
• Level UP Application Form: This is the official application form you complete when requesting your course be recognized among the University’s Level UP offerings. It includes questions about the skill to be fostered in the course, the high-impact practice to be used to foster that skill, and the course plan details (Important: see the sample course planning document above for more information). Completed applications are submitted to levelup@moreheadstate.edu. The Level UP Committee prefers to receive applications for Fall semester courses no later than April 1, and Spring semester courses no later than November 1.
  • Level UP Application Form for Oral Communication
  • Level UP Application Form for Written Communication
  • Level UP Application Form for Critical Thinking
  • Level UP Application Form for Teamwork
  • Level UP Application Form for Professionalism
• Level UP Grant Information and Application: Faculty can apply for funds to assist in the delivery of the components of a Level UP course. For more information, see below.

Faculty planning to teach a Level UP course can apply for funds to cover costs associated with course activities/assignments that will be used to foster the development of an essential career skill in the program. For example, if the course activities/assignments will require equipment, software, travel assistance, access codes, etc. for the skill to be fostered, then the faculty can apply for a Level UP grant to cover the costs. There are two types of Level UP grants being offered:

• Level UP Mini-Grants (up to $1,000): If an expense associated with Level UP class activities/assignments is something that would need to be paid for each time the course is offered, a Level UP Mini-Grant of up to $1000 can be sought to cover those expenses.
• Level UP Sustainability Grants (up to $2,500): If an expense associated with Level UP class activities/assignments is something that, if you just had the money to cover it, would allow you to teach the course multiple times as a Level UP experience then a Level UP Sustainability Grant of up to $2500 can be sought to cover those expenses.

Apply here for a Level UP Grant for Fall courses. Priority consideration given to applications received by April 8. Applications will be accepted until all funds are distributed.

Notes:

1. Level UP grant funds cannot be spent on personnel.
2. Faculty who are awarded Level UP grants will have to provide a report of their expenditures at the end of the academic year.

Faculty who attend the 3-workshop training series to learn how to Level UP a course, submit an approved Level UP application, and teach the course once earn a $500 course redesign stipend.

After teaching the approved Level UP course the first year, faculty who Level UP their course again at least one time in a subsequent academic year will receive a $1,000 Level UP teaching stipend each time a Level UP course is taught.

Faculty who participate in the Level UP program will have access to numerous forms of support, including:

• Professional development about pedagogical approaches to building essential career skills
• Strategies for how to leverage a high impact practice (i.e., undergraduate research, education abroad, service learning, or internship) in the course as a method to facilitate the development of an essential career skill
• Logistical assistance for implementing a high impact practice into the course
• Course planning assistance for developing or improving a course in the Level UP program
• Assistance with how to use the program rubrics and reflection prompts
• Help with how to calibrate Level UP ratings
• Support for reporting Level UP-related data
• Professional development for continuous improvement strategies for Level UP courses
• Grant funding opportunities to support Level UP activities
• Learning communities of faculty who all are fostering the same career skill in the Level UP courses