For Instructors

iStudy Instructors

Become an iStudy Instructor

iStudy courses at The University of Mississippi are developed and taught by current or retired University of Mississippi instructors. The Office of College Programs is always interested in developing new courses to offer to students.

Graduate students are not able to teach iStudy courses at this time.

As an instructor of an iStudy course, your responsibilities would include:

  • Developing an interactive, engaging course on Blackboard;
  • Grading lessons and tests within 7 days of being submitted;
  • Providing extensive feedback to students through grading and supportive emails when needed;
  • Communicating with Program Manager (PM) regarding any problems or issues that arise.

The iStudy Office offers these support services for our instructors:

  • An instructional designer to provide assistance and support;
  • Test proctoring through Respondus;
  • All administrative aspects of the course

iStudy instructors are rewarded for their services in different ways. For iStudy Flex courses, instructors receive payment based on exam completion, which undergoes monthly checks. Meanwhile, instructors are also compensated on a per-student basis for semester enrollment. On top of that, instructors can receive a stipend for creating or revising a new course.

iStudy offers various semesters, including Fall, Second Fall, Spring, Second Spring, Full Summer, and Flex (full-year). Note that we do not provide other terms at the moment. While we are willing to work with those who are unable, we expect all instructors to be willing to teach a Flex course as it serves as the program's foundation.

TO BECOME AN ISTUDY INSTRUCTOR, please follow these specific steps:

  • Choose the course you want to teach. Ensure that it is a 3-4 credit hour course that has already been approved for teaching at the University of Mississippi through an academic department. The course must be offered in both semester and Flex terms.
  • Get in touch with the iStudy Program Manager at jjsanfo1@olemiss.edu or (662) 915-1124 to better understand the course development process and the necessary approval forms and compensation.
  • Seek approval from the Chair of your academic department to teach the course through iStudy. This must be done before submitting any forms or commencing the course development process through iStudy.
  • Once approvals have been secured, the course development process will begin with the collaboration of the instructor, iStudy PM, and Instructional Designer.