*Please reference temporary updates to this policy due to COVID here.
Students are required to secure and maintain an instructional position at a school that complies with the admissions criteria for their program.
If students’ employment situations change in any way during their enrollment at Relay, they must notify Relay within one business day by submitting the student update form and sending an email to support@relay.edu (which will get to Relay’s administrative offices and the student’s Office of the Provost of Teacher Preparation) and to their faculty advisor if they have not secured a new teaching location. If they have secured a new teaching placement, they must submit the student update form.
Below, please see students’ responsibilities for when changes to employment occur.
Loss of Position and/or Membership
If students lose their instructional position and/or they are no longer a member of a teacher preparation program such as Teach For America or New York City Teaching Fellows, it is their responsibility to inform Relay within one business day by submitting the student update form and sending an email to support@relay.edu and to their faculty advisor.
Students who have lost their instructional position must secure a new position in a placement that aligns to their Relay program and academic program within 30 consecutive days from loss of employment that is effective immediately. Once students secure new positions, they must notify Relay as soon as possible by submitting a student update form. Students enrolled in a certification program who obtain a new position that does not align with their academic program may be required to change certification areas, programs, and/or take additional coursework or exams in order to complete their program.
Students will be subject to administrative withdrawal if they fail to notify Relay of their loss of employment and/or membership within one business day and/or fail to secure new positions within 30 consecutive days. Relay may also immediately process administrative withdrawals for students who lose their membership in a teacher preparation program. Relay is required by most states to remove or expire provisional-level certificates if a student is withdrawn from their certification program.
Relay may immediately process administrative withdrawals for students who lose their positions and/or memberships due to sufficient evidence that they have physically, sexually, emotionally, or otherwise harmed a PK–12 student and/or colleague, or committed a felony or misdemeanor. Relay will determine what is considered sufficient evidence of harm. Please see the Code of Conduct for further details.
For information on residents who do not successfully secure a full-time teaching placement by the first day of the fall term in their second year in the program, please see Residency Assessments and Gateways.
Subject and/or Grade-Level Change
The subjects and grade levels of students’ instructional positions must match their Relay majors and, when appropriate, their Relay concentrations. In addition, their instructional positions must match their certification pathways when required by Relay and/or the state of their Relay program. Students’ majors will determine the content courses they are registered for by the Registrar’s Office each term (e.g., students with childhood-education majors will be enrolled in childhood-content coursework). If students change their instructional positions, it is their responsibility to inform Relay within one business day by submitting a student update form immediately and notifying the Registrar’s Office at support@relay.edu and their faculty advisor.
Requests to change one’s major and/or concentration can be made at any time.
- If the request is made before the term’s census date, the change will go into effect for the current term.
- If the request is made after the term’s census date, the change will go into effect for future terms.
If the switch in major or content concentration requires a change in content courses, it may take longer for students to complete their programs and, if applicable, receive certification endorsement from Relay depending on the program’s instructional content hours. In most cases, students may be required to change certification areas and/or take additional certification exams in order to complete their programs. Students can learn more about state-specific requirements by reaching out to the Office of the Provost of Teacher Preparation.
PK–12 Student Cohort Change
Students must make every reasonable effort to work with a consistent group of students that matches their Relay major throughout the academic year, and when appropriate, their Relay concentration and/or certification area. If changes to their group of students occur during the year, it is students’ responsibility to inform Relay within one business day by sending an email to the Registrar’s Office at support@relay.edu and to their faculty advisors.