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The following checklists and reminders for course planning have been developed by Â鶹´«Ã½’s Undergraduate Studies, Writing Center, and Office of Faculty Excellence as an aid to instructors preparing for the start of a new semester.

Course planning / Things to Think Â鶹´«Ã½:

• a plan for collecting Academic Activity Tracking information within the second week of the semester.
• a plan or reminder to self to submit Early Academic Alerts (which can be found in MyWings in the Faculty Self-Service section) for struggling students by the 4^th or 5^th week of the semester.
• develop a pre- or early-semester communication to students welcoming them to the course, orienting them to the course materials, and engaging them in some thinking regarding course topics/themes.
• Consider adopting Open Educational Resources for your course so as to lower costs and barriers to access for your students.
• arrange to have sufficient evaluated student work to determine Mid-Term Grades by the 8^th week of the semester. Also: add to your course lesson plans time to discuss Mid-Term Assessments with your students.
• review the workload for your course (e.g., by using ) to make sure student effort is appropriate for your class.
• a plan for collecting (in a non-public manner) information from your students about their preferred names and pronouns. 
• a plan for encouraging your students to come see you (virtually or in person) during your office hours.
• a plan for interventions to address different types of student struggles (e.g., academic performance, absentee/participation issues, job/school/life conflicts, etc.). See the Dean of Students’ Faculty & Staff Resources page for help.
• note important dates such as drop/add deadline, withdrawal deadlines, conference days, and non-instructional days off.
• schedule some time in the semester (1) to catch up on course topics in case your progress is slower than expected and/or (2) to catch up on grading and other course prep duties as the semester gets busy.
• a plan to collect information from your students around the mid-term so that you can adjust your teaching before the required ISQs are deployed at the end of the term.
• a plan to collect pre- and post- performance or other data to demonstrate student learning for use in your annual self-evaluation portfolio.
• select one of your courses for a peer-review of teaching and contact the Faculty Excellence & Academic Engagement office to request the review.
• review student evaluations from past semester to identify and implement course changes as appropriate.
• review your most recent annual evaluation and adjust your course plans accordingly.
• consider how you can encourage students to use critical campus services and resources (e.g., research and writing consultations with librarians and the Writing Center) and embedded those in assignments.
• peruse for inspiration and creative ideas for enhancing your course.
• bookmark both the Office of Records and Registration’s Faculty and Staff Resources page and the Dean of Students’ Faculty & Staff Resources page for later consultation.

The Office of Faculty Excellence maintains a Syllabus Design site with a downloadable syllabus template. Your syllabi should:

• conform to the university’s Faculty Syllabus policy
• include a list of course textbooks and other required materials
• indicate the course’s goals and learning outcomes
• describe methods of evaluation for outcomes and/or requirements including:
  • List of graded materials/assignments/exams and/or assessments
  • Weights or proportion of final grade determined by each assessment type
  • Grading scale, schema, and/or rubrics
  • A description of how and when students will receive their graded work
• make sure your course outcomes and assessments align and you are explicit with students about how you will be assessing them on your learning outcomes
• include a schedule/calendar with course topics and clearly identified due dates for assignments, readings, holidays, etc.
• identify your preferred method for communication (e.g., Canvas message or email)
• state your contact information, office location, and available meeting hours.
• explain class requirements including:
  • policy on late work and/or missed exams
  • attendance and/or participation policies
  • civility, behavior, and other classroom expectations
• include required information such as:
  • a course continuity of instruction plan (see OFE’s Lost Instructional Time webpage)
  • ADA/Learning accommodation statement and information about Student Accessibility Services 
• include university, college, and department level information such as:
  • program specific information such as General Education Outcomes, common course policies for your program, experiential learning information, community-based learning outcomes, etc.
  • information about Undergraduate Studies’ Student Academic Success Services (SASS)
  • academic Integrity information
  • statements regarding preferred names, etc.
• You should also consider how much of the general academic policy language you can move from your syllabus to policy documents in Canvas or in a syllabus appendix so as to leave the majority of your syllabus focused on substantive course topics.
• The first page of a syllabus is valuable real estate that students will give the most attention to. Please be intentional about what information you place on the first page.

Here is a checklist for your course Canvas site and other educational technology:

• visit CIRT’s Canvas Resources & Training page for resources, guides, and assistance.
• prepare your course Canvas pages with your syllabus, assignments, Open Educational Resources (OERs), etc.
• designate a Home Page in your Canvas pages and set it up to guide your students through your Canvas pages and course.
• review your Canvas pages using the “Student View” to make sure it looks as you want it to and that it is easy for students to navigate.
• make the “Learner Support Resources” and “Library Guide” modules visible/available to students if appropriate for your course.
• publish your Canvas sites so that students can access them.
• visit your assigned classrooms, make sure that you have key access, and review their configuration and associated audio-visual and computing technology so you are ready on day one.