Semester Start Checklist

Organize and Pin Your Courses

MyCourses - Finding and "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.

Canvas - Show or Hide Canvas course cards on your Dashboard

Canvas - Edit Course Cards for your Students

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. 

The deadline for requesting courses to be merged is the Wednesday before the course start date. 

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

All SPC courses are required to use the Simple Syllabus. Free free to check out the Simple Syllabus Page in the Faculty Support Titan Hub Group. This page includes links to trainings, guides and resources.

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 in MyCourses, please contact mycourses4faculty@spcollege.edu.

If you need assistance updating your syllabus in Canvas, please contact ATST@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. How to Update your Faculty page

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.

For technical assistance with Canvas, please email atst@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.

MyCourses- 

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

Canvas- 

1. The difference between assignment due dates and availability dates
2. How to bulk update due dates and availability dates

Set-Up Zoom Meetings

Zoom for MyCourses: 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. 

Zoom for Canvas:  Info coming soon!

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 or Canvas.

Canvas - How to create an announcement

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).

Have Questions? Contact the Academic Technology Support Team

ATST@spcollege.edu 

 Phone at 727-341-3500 

(Hours: Monday - Friday 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. EST).

After-hours or weekend assistance? Contact the Technical Support Center at 727-791-2795 or onlinehelp@spcollege.edu

Want to Schedule a One-on-One or Group Session on Canvas or other instructional technology issues or opportunities?

Schedule 1:1 Support Help with a Member of the MyCourses4Faculty Team