Semester Start Checklist

Organize and Pin Your Courses

"Pinning" your courses will help you locate them quickly once the semester gets underway. It is recommended that you only pin courses in which you are currently active and unpin courses you do not need to access often. Unpinned courses are still available to you. They are listed below your pinned courses in the waffle menu, and on the My Courses widget on your MyCourses homepage.

Should you request to have your courses Merged?

If you are teaching multiple courses that are the exact same, are online and are offered during the same start and end dates,  you may want to have your course merged into one. Doing this will enable you to set up one course vs several and is more efficient. Fill out this Survey to request to have your courses merged. 

Note: If you have placed content into a course, or copied content into a course, that content will be deleted in the merge. Be sure to note that you are ok with the current information being deleted in the merge when you do your request. 

Check for Course Content

Check before you copy! It is vital that you check your course for content BEFORE copying content into it. In some cases, your department will have content pushed into your course for you. In others, you will be required to copy your own content from a previous semester or another course. Once you have verified (by checking under Course Content) that your course has no content, you can Copy Content from a former course. If your course does have content, please email mycourses4faculty@spcollege.edu before you do your copy and the team can assist you.

Update Your Syllabus

The steps for updating your syllabus will vary depending on how the syllabus has been added to your course. Currently all GenEd courses & courses using Respondus LockDown Browser are required to use the Simple Syllabus, but beginning Fall 2024 All courses will need to use it.

Click this link for more Information on Simple Syllabus

Click this link for Frequently Asked Questions on Simple Syllabus

If you need assistance updating your syllabus, please contact mycourses4faculty@spcollege.edu.

Update Your Faculty Page

Faculty pages help students to get information on a course prior to registering. It is recommended that you upload your syllabus, update your office hours, and provide students with an overall description of what they can expect in your course.

Check Your Content

Make sure links, especially those to external resources are working as expected. For assistance repairing broken links, please email mycourses4faculty@spcollege.edu.

Set Your Course Content Dates

Add dates to your course content to help your students know when things are due. Dates will automatically appear on the Calendar as well. Not sure what dates to select? Check out the Difference between Dates for details.

1. Add Start and End Dates to a Quiz
2. Add Start and End Dates to a Discussion
3. Add Start and End Dates to a Dropbox
   
   
   

Set-Up Zoom Meetings

If you are teaching a section in the SPC Live Online modality, make sure to schedule your Zoom Meetings. It is recommended that you schedule and place your Zoom Meetings in a single location to make them easier for students to locate throughout the semester. For example, create a Module under Course Content and Schedule Zoom Meetings link to that module. See the Zoom Overview for more information on using Zoom in your courses at SPC.

Welcome Your Students to the Course

Create a Welcome Announcement to help direct your students during the first week of the course. For example, direct them to review the syllabus, purchase the textbook, or download any necessary software for the course. You may also consider sending the students a Welcome Email. If you do send a welcome email before the course is available, students will have access to it in MyCourses.

Check out New Professional Development Opportunities

New online, on-demand workshops are added all the time. These workshops are developed by your Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning and Online Learning and Services teams to cover many of the most commonly asked questions and provide ongoing resources. Check out Steps to Register to learn more.

Remember that courses become available to students 3 days before the official start date (usually the Friday before the day that courses open).