Faculty Tools and SParC FAQ

Click here for the Quick SparC Faculty guide

Q: Some students are missing SParC buttons for texting?

A: Not all students have cell phones. Also, some students never provided a cell number to SPC or have opted out of receiving texts from SPC. Please see the Quick Sparc guide for new features with communication related to Opted out students.

Q: Some students do not have a profile?

A: For students, creating a profile is optional. They have an opportunity to create a profile in Smart Start or by selecting the “create profile” button on their course homepage.

Q: What should/shouldn’t go into the notes section?

A: The notes section is designed to share observations or methods attempted to get a student back on track. Faculty are not limited to what they should write in notes, only that it be constructive feedback about their students.

NOTE: students cannot see notes added by faculty but notes are part of a student’s overall record and can be made available to them upon request. 

Q: Who can see the notes section?

A: Notes are designed for faculty to share notes about their students. Any faculty member that has a student enrolled with notes has access to them.

Q: If I text a student, can they text me back?

A: No. The texting option (SParC) is designed for one way texting. Each text sent by a faculty member has a message appended that states:

DO NOT REPLY. To respond, email your instructor from MyCourses. Reply “Stop” to opt-out of these messages.

Q: My grades are displaying wrong, why?

A: MyCourses only calculates graded items. Because of this, It is vital that faculty keep their gradebook updated as much as possible. This means applying zeros to overdue items. The percentage faculty see is also the grade that students see so it’s very important to make sure all grades are complete each week.

Q: Can students see Faculty Tools?

A: No. There is a release condition that only allows faculty to see the toolset.  Students have the equivalent known as Student Tools.

Q: What does flagged students mean?

A: Faculty can set a flag on a student either from the gradebook or the grade check tool in MyCourses. This will allow faculty to track students as they continue through the semester.

Q: What is Course Repeat?

A: Course repeat allows faculty to see if a student has taken the course previously.

Q: How far does the course repeat data go?

A: The course repeat data goes back to summer, 2010.