Information for SCPD Course CAs

The Stanford Center for Professional Development (SCPD) connects professionals worldwide to the research and teaching of Stanford University faculty in the School of Engineering and related academic departments. Qualified individuals may pursue graduate certificates and professional certificates, take individual graduate courses and professional courses, participate in workshops, and view free online seminars and more. Courses are delivered online, on the Stanford campus, and at the work site.

SCPD courses are video recorded specifically for SCPD remote students and delivered online. As a CA for an SCPD course, the SCPD Office will film you during lectures, problem sessions, or exam review sessions even if there are no students present. It is important to understand that CAing an SCPD course can be a very different experience from CAing a non-SCPD course. Most likely you will be able to see yourself on one or more television screens while you are being filmed. Additionally, you will need to be aware of the volume of your voice and your body motions during the filmed lectors, or sessions.

SCPD allocates 60 minutes (maximum) for each recorded review or problem session. Since the allotted meeting time is only one hour, you will need to be conscious of time and manage your session accordingly to ensure that you cover the necessary material in proper depth.

Communication

SCPD students often telephone during office hours to discuss questions they may have on the homework, class projects, exams, or other course materials. As the CA, it is your responsibility to communicate with these students during your office hours via telephone, or email. Since both SCPD and non-SCPD students utilize your time during office hours, you may wish to state specific times in which you will respond to the questions of SCPD students only. Additionally, you may find it helpful to set guidelines for when you will respond to SCPD student emails and communicate these guidelines with students during the first week of the quarter.

Coursework

The course teaching team will determine the method in which SCPD student will submit their homework. Students in your course may submit assignments directly to the course teaching team or through an online method. Students will review the course’s syllabus or contact the course teaching team within the first week to ensure they understand the submission requirements for their course. SCPD students will not need to submit copies of their homework to the SCPD office.

Review Sessions

Ralph Briones, ralphb2@stanford.edu, is SCPD's Production Coordinator and is responsible for scheduling problem/review sessions and tape aheads in the SCPD rooms.  Due to the increase in academic online course offerings, SCPD has very limited availability in the SCPD rooms.  As another alternative, SCPD does provide a web-hosted problem session option. Web-hosted sessions could be held in any non-SCPD room, at any time, and are captured using a tablet PC which SCPD would provide. The captured sessions are then uploaded to the SCPD site for other students to view.  These resources are explained at the quarterly SCPD Faculty/TA Orientations.

Exams

All students seeking credit for graduate courses are required to have an Exam Monitor for midterm and final exams that are taken remotely. The SCPD office will coordinate sending exams to each Exam Monitor who then administers the exam for the student and sends the completed exam back to the SCPD office. SCPD students will identify Exam Monitors within the first two weeks of classes and communicate this information to the SCPD Office. Please reach out to scpd-exams@stanford.edu(link sends e-mail) if you need any assistance.

Contact Information

If you have any questions or concerns regarding SCPD students, please use the information specified in the SCPD Contact Information section of this fact sheet to contact the appropriate department. Additionally, please copy the EE Teaching Assistant Specialist on all electronic communication to the SCPD Office.