Teaching at Asmbly
As an educational nonprofit, classes are a vital component of Asmbly and we are always interested in adding more teachers and courses to our schedule. Read on to learn more about classes we offer and how to teach classes at Asmbly.
Core Classes
Several shop areas and machines have established curriculum that is taught by trained teachers. These serve as our "core" classes. We offer these classes regularly and they are required for clearance to use certain shops or equipment.
Examples:
- Woodshop Safety
- Wood Lathe Basics
- Big Lasers
- Small Lasers
- CNC Router
- MIG Welding
- Intro to 3D Printing
Special Topics Classes
We also have "special topics" classes that vary depending on teacher availability and student demand. These change regularly and examples listed below are a sampling of some of the classes we have had at some point in time.
If you have an idea for a special topics class you'd like to teach, please reach out at classes@asmbly.org. We'd love to get your class on the schedule!
Examples:
- Illustrator and Design Basics
- Cutting Board Build
- Pen Turning
Details of Teaching at Asmbly
All paid instruction that occurs at Asmbly must go through the Asmbly Education Team. We do not permit private instruction using our facilities and machines outside our scheduling without written approval from the board. Certification for machine or shop use is granted by Asmbly as an organization, not by teachers as individuals. Asmbly reserves the right to award free classes to volunteer contributors with approval.
To maintain a positive, hands-on class experience, we aim to keep class sizes small. We also strive to keep classes in the $25-30/hr or less range for student registration fees to keep classes affordable and accessible to the community. Class schedule notification should be given 30 days in advance with a minimum notice of 14 days in advance. Instructors that fail to provide the minimum notice for class schedule will be paid based on actual registrations rather than the assumed full class outlined below.
Payment
Teachers at Asmbly are paid as 1099 contractors at a flat rate regardless of the number of student registrations. Teachers must fill out a W-9 in Quickbooks in order to receive compensation. The information obtained is securely stored in Quickbooks and is not visible to anyone at Asmbly.
Compensation rates are calculated using the student registration fee and max number of students allowed per class. The current compensation split is 60% to teachers. Here is an example of what a teacher would be paid for a 2 hour class that costs students $50 and has the max number of students set to 4:
($50 x 4) x 0.6 = $120
Classes that include materials that the teacher will provide are calculated without the material cost. For example, if the student fee is $100 for a 3 hour class but $25 of the fee is allocated to material cost, the calculation for a max of 4 students class would look like this:
($75 x 4) x 0.6 = $180
In this example, teachers would be reimbursed separately for class material cost based on actual student registrations (e.g. 2 students register, $50 reimbursed for materials).
Teacher payouts and material reimbursements are handled by the treasurer using Zelle and occur twice a month for classes held during the 1st through 15th, and 16th through the end of the month. Payouts are based on event information in Neon. Teachers must inform the Education Team (classes@asmbly.org) of any changes to classes as soon as possible in order to ensure proper payouts.
Teacher Responsibilities
- Submitting proposed class content, price, and schedule to Education Team (classes@asmbly.org)
- Arriving to scheduled class location prior to the start of the session and helping students gather for the class
- Communicating any pertinent info students need prior to the class ahead of time
- E.g. if you are hosting a portion of your class virtually and have not set this up through Asmbly, you must communicate this to your students directly.
Asmbly Responsibilities
- Approving class content, price, and schedule
- Posting class to Neon and opening student registration
- Scheduling shop areas in Skedda
- Onboarding new teachers in Quickbooks (W9) and Neon backend (for checking registrations and contacting students)
