Short-Term Instructor and Co-Curricular Visitor Contract and Background Check Policy
A short-term visiting instructor is defined as someone who assigns and receives student work for evaluation, teaches sessions of a course without a Grinnell faculty partner, and/or meets individually with students for the purpose of discussing curricular or co-curricular issues. This would include anyone listed as the instructor of record or co-instructor for a short course as well as most AMAs who teach music lessons and volunteer assistant coaches for athletics. (Note that while term faculty also require background checks, the procedures for them are different and are managed through the Dean’s Office.)
A co-curricular visitor is someone who comes to campus to provide a service and who may work with students outside of the classroom. This would include a person brought to campus to provide workshops or to contribute to a co-curricular activity (e.g. a scenic designer contracted to work with Theatre and Dance on a show).
A classroom visitor is someone who attends one or some class sessions to contribute to the course along with the instructor and who does not meet individually with students.
General Guidelines
- All short-term visiting instructors, classroom visitors, and co-curricular visitors must be registered by their sponsoring office, faculty, or staff via the Campus Visitors Form.
- The College requires a CV, background check, and contract for a visiting instructor to begin teaching a course.
- Programs and offices should negotiate terms and payment with short-term visitors. (Note that this is different than for term or adjunct faculty, whose terms and payment are negotiated by the Dean’s Office.) Those details will be shared with the Dean’s Office in order for a formal contract to be written once a background check has been completed.
Background Checks Procedure
- Background checks are required for all short-term visiting instructors and any co-curricular visitors who will work with students without the presence of a Grinnell faculty or staff member. This includes international visitors. Typically, classroom visitors do not require a background check.
- When the Campus Visitors Form is submitted to the Dean’s Office, the Dean’s Office will determine whether the visitor requires a background check and notify the program or office that seeks to bring the visitor to campus. That program or office should advise the visitor that a background check will be required.
- The Dean’s Office will submit the name of the visitor to Human Resources so that they can complete the background check.
- Human Resources will contact the visitor to initiate the background check process.
- Human Resources will notify the Dean’s Office of the results of the background check.
- The Dean’s Office will write letter of appointment and a contract for the visitor, if required. The letter will indicate if the visitor is required to complete Title IX and inclusivity training. This training will be arranged with the Title IX Coordinator.