ALA Launch Hub
Your program is a go! Congratulations on getting your Stage 1 proposal approved. This page is a resource for everything that happens next: your timeline and team, payments, recording logistics, and more
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Overview & Stage 2 Proposal
Your next step is the Stage 2 proposal. You’ll confirm the details from Stage 1 (modules, segments, instructors) and add more, such as the exercises for each module and a mini capstone. Settling these early makes development and recording faster and easier.
You should already have an editable Stage 2 document. It includes your Stage 1 proposal plus the new sections to complete, and it becomes the basis for your final syllabus. Feel free to revise anything from your original proposal.
Stage 2 typically takes about 1 month. The ALA team will walk through it with you on your kickoff call and can help with any section along the way, so never hesitate to reach out.
Your ALA Team
You’ll work with a small ALA team throughout development. Each person has a distinct role, and your Program Lead coordinates across all of them, so you always know who to contact.
Your single point of contact at ALA, from approval through launch and beyond. Your Program Lead keeps the project on track and handles the administrative side, so you can focus on content. They:
- Schedule your kickoff calls, check-ins, and filming sessions
- Point person for any ALA process, payment, or course format related questions
- Walk you through payment, faculty paperwork, and agreements for you and any guest faculty
- Track milestones and keep your program files organized
- Help with the design and development of your course, as well as the Canvas course site as needed
- Run day-to-day delivery once the course launches, and lead the post-launch review with you
Instructional designers shape how your course is structured for learning. You decide what is taught; they help with how it’s taught. They:
- Work with you to finalize Stage 2 and your syllabus
- Help design exercises, assessments, and the mini capstone
- Support scripts and presentation aids
- Book the studio, run filming, and oversee video editing
- Build your course in Canvas, ALA’s learning platform
ALA has a marketing team, and you will be designated a member of that team to be your point person for all things marketing including:
- Review & approval of the web copy
- Providing an overview of the marketing plan
- Brainstorming ideas for outreach opportunities
As the subject-matter lead for your course, you:
- Complete the Stage 2 proposal and confirm modules, segments, and instructors
- Invite any guest faculty (see Inviting Faculty)
- Develop slides or scripts, and film your segments
- Review and approve edited videos, web copy, and final course materials
Timeline
Self-paced courses generally take about 6 months from approval to launch and blended courses take 9 months. Every course is different: if you need to film sooner, design may need to move faster, and if delays come up, later steps shift too.
Use the interactive timeline to see ALA’s standard timeline for self-paced or blended courses, and plug in your own dates (acceptance, recording start, and enrollment opening or cohort start) to see how each phase shifts. It also shows what happens in each phase and what we’ll need from you.
Payments
Program Directors and guest instructors are compensated for content development and instruction, as well as for live sessions (if included in the program). There is also a Net Program Revenue sharing agreement: once program costs are covered, net revenue is divided among the Program Director, instructors, the Program Director’s department, and the School (via ALA).
Guest Faculty
ALA welcomes additional instructors in your course. There are generally two ways to include them:
- Regular teaching: Lecture-style teaching.
- Fireside chat: multiple instructors discussing a topic in a more casual, organic style
How segments and modules are divided across instructors is up to you. Some Program Directors prefer to teach the entire course themselves; others prefer to invite additional instructors. We just ask that you keep the below considerations in mind—any exceptions must be discussed with the program lead in advance:
- Please plan for no more than 2 faculty members per module.
- ALA does not cover travel for out-of-state faculty
- Harvard has strict policies on paying faculty, and paying international faculty is especially difficult. Faculty who are US-based or US citizens are strongly preferred.
Recording & Studio Logistics
All segments are filmed in professional studios to maintain video quality and ALA’s brand standards. Exceptions are rare, such as when the location is part of the segment’s concept (e.g., a cooking demonstration in the Harvard kitchen), and should be reviewed with the instructional design team.
ALA will select a primary studio for your course. Once faculty and their segments are confirmed, your Program Lead schedules recording sessions and the instructional design team books the studio, so you don’t need to arrange anything.
Studio day logistics
- Up to 5.5 hours of recording time in the studio per day.
- The Studio is open from 9am-4pm, with a break for lunch from 12-1pm
Calculating Recording Time
Filming time depends on how many segments an instructor teaches and how they deliver them. Use the calculator for an estimate.
Inviting Faculty
It can be tempting to reach out to faculty right away, but we ask that your first step be to finish mapping out your modules and segments (if you haven’t already).
In your Stage 2 proposal, under “Module Overview,” you’ll find the modules, segments, and faculty from your Stage 1 proposal. Please make any adjustments or additions there first. This matters for two reasons:
- It ensures every instructor lines up with the right segments and modules.
- It lets us accurately estimate how much studio time each speaker will need, so we can book time accordingly.
On your kickoff call, your Program Lead and the instructional design team will walk through the module, segment, and faculty plan with you. Once everything is finalized, you can begin reaching out to faculty. Feel free to use or adapt the template in the below menu
Sample faculty invitation email
Subject: Invitation to Join [Course Name], Harvard Chan Advanced Learning Academy
Dear [Faculty Name],
I’m reaching out to invite you to join [Course Name], a course I’m developing through the Harvard Chan Advanced Learning Academy (ALA).
I’d love for you to teach [specific segment(s)/topic(s)], covering [brief description of content]. Filming is expected to take place [filming date range] in Boston, MA.
Please note that ALA does provide payment for teaching in the course, though Harvard is unable to cover travel costs.
Before we finalize details, I wanted to check on your availability and interest:
- Are you available to film during [date range]?
- Would you prefer to teach using a teleprompter (reading from a script) or in a more freestyle format?
- Do you have any questions about the course, topics, or format?
Please let me know your thoughts. I’m happy to answer any questions in the meantime.
Best,
[Program Director Name]
Continuing Medical Education (CME) Credits
If you want to offer CME credits for your course (for example, when the course includes clinical content and physicians are part of the primary audience), there are a few things to keep in mind beforehand.
For segments or modules to offer CME credit, they must meet certain criteria for both the content and the faculty teaching them:
Slide Design & Formatting
ALA will help create your PowerPoint slides so you can focus on what matters most: the content. You don’t need to worry about design, formatting, or branding; we’ll take care of that for you.
There are three ways to approach slide creation:
- You build, ALA rebrands: build slides in whatever template is easiest for you and share them with ALA, and we’ll redesign them.
- Combine existing decks: if you have material from conferences or other programs, ALA can help combine existing decks with new course content.
- Provide a script: ALA builds the deck from your script or Word document. You’ll still need to provide figures and review the final layout.
ALA-branded slides must be used for all courses so learners have a consistent experience. Please download the ALA slide template below.