Salisbury University |  Instructional Design & Delivery Newsletter | December 7, 2021

Call for Faculty Development Committee Travel Grants - Spring Travel

The Faculty Development Committee (FDC) is calling for applications for Travel Grants in support of  faculty travel to be completed between January 1-May 31, 2022. Should you choose to apply for a grant, please go to the FDC Travel Grant website at https://webapps.salisbury.edu/ftga/ and submit your application online. 

Deadline for Application: 11:59 p.m. on Friday, December 17, 2021. No applications will be accepted after this deadline. The maximum amount of each grant is $400.

Important Dates for Winter Session

For those teaching a winter 2022 course, it is time to send a welcome letter to your students with information pertinent to the modality and start-up information to the course. ID&D provides a welcome letter template for faculty to modify and distribute to students using the class forum lists in email. Important dates for winter 2022:

• Monday, December 20, 2021*: Access to winter courses in MyClasses (provided faculty publishes course)
• Monday, January 3, 2022: Start of winter session
• January 3-4, 2022: Drop/Add Dates
• Wednesday, January 5, 2022: Inclusive Access opt-out date for students
• Friday, January 21, 2022: Last day of classes/finals

*Note: Typically, courses are open one week prior to the start of the semester, but since the University is closed on Tuesday, December 28, we have extended it to two weeks before the start of the semester to allow students to contact campus support offices, including the IT HelpDesk.

New Inclusive Access Information

In the November 16 newsletter, ID&D announced changes to the Inclusive Access (IA) program for affordable course materials that is made available to students on the first day of classes. The change involved moving from RedShelf partner that enables the connection through an integration tool in MyClasses to VitalSource as our new partner.   

What does this mean to faculty preparing courses for the winter and spring 2022 sessions? The good news is there is a very minimum change in the work needed to get your course(s) ready for winter and/or spring 2022. 

Initial Setup: 

Faculty utilizing IA for the first time will need to: 

• Enable "VitalSource Bookshelf" tool link on the course navigation bar. 
• Add IA Information Page and Instructions.
• If using publisher courseware, pair/link your MyClasses course section with publisher course section. 

Reusing Courses – Out with OLD in with the NEW: 

Faculty reusing courses from previous semester with “old” IA instructors will need to: 

• Disable the “Required Course Materials” tool link (OLD). 
• Enable “VitalSource Bookshelf” tool link (NEW). 
• Delete the “Required Course Materials - …” page (OLD). 
• Delete the “Opt-Out Instructions” page (OLD). 
• Import the "Textbook and Course Materials with Inclusive Access" page from the Canvas Commons ((NEW) 

More information about Inclusive Access, including publisher-specific setup instruction guides, can be accessed from the Inclusive Access & Publisher Integration Setup ID&D knowledge base articles. (Login with SU credentials is required.) 

New Quizzes: Turned On For Everyone December 20

Starting with the summer 2022 session, the Quizzes feature in MyClasses will change! Quizzes will be replaced with the New Quizzes functionality and the Classic Quiz builder will no longer be available to create assessments. Starting Monday, December 20, 2021, New Quizzes will be turned on for all courses. Faculty will have the option to continue using Classic Quizzes and New Quizzes in the winter and spring sessions. This is a great opportunity to begin transitioning assessments to New Quizzes, while keeping your existing assessments in Classic Quizzes.

When creating a new assessment, a prompt will display to choose which quiz engine you want to use when you click the Add New Quiz button in MyClasses.

Why start building in New Quizzes now?

New Quizzes offers additional question types, additional assessment delivery options, the ability to share questions banks (now called item banks) and the ability to setup accommodations for students for all assessments in a course.

Stay informed through ID&D's Quizzes Knowledgebase article for transition timeline, comparison of features and methods to convert existing assessments.

New Quizzes Drop-in Session: 
Friday, December 10 • 10 a.m.

Want to know more about New Quizzes? Ready to convert an assessment to New Quizzes? Are you using New Quizzes but you have questions? Join ID&D for a virtual drop in session 10 a.m.-noon Friday, December 10, for assistance. 

Belonging and Inclusive Teaching Fellowship Opportunity

SU faculty (full and part time) who are teaching during spring 2022 are invited to participate in the Belonging and Inclusive Teaching Fundamentals Virtual Fellowship. The virtual fellowship invites faculty to explore evidence-based teaching practices that support student engagement and success by shaping the learning environment to recognize and build on the diverse experiences and strengths of all students. Faculty fellows practice inclusive teaching strategies and reflect on their impact. Through learning by doing and experience-sharing within a small cohort of fellows, faculty develop their teaching capabilities with techniques that engage students and help them to feel seen, respected and included as capable partners in the learning process. The fellowship curriculum is designed with a particular focus on race and ethnicity as salient dimensions of social identity for faculty and students. 

• Who is eligible to apply? University System of Maryland faculty who are teaching classes during spring 2022. Lumen Circles work well for any faculty member, in any appointment involving teaching, in any discipline, at any stage of career. To be eligible, USM faculty must be teaching a class during all or part of the time the fellowship is running.
  
  
• When does the fellowship begin? Fellowship circles run for nine weeks from the start date. Spring 2022 start dates are January 26, February 2, February 9, February 16, February 23 and March 2. Again, to be eligible, applicants should be teaching for at least part of the time the fellowship is running.
  
  
• What is the deadline for applying? Applications for spring will be accepted on a rolling basis up to a few days before each start date, but we encourage you to submit your applications by Friday, January 21, 2022, for best consideration. You will have the option of selecting your preferred start date on the submission form.

Visit the USM Belonging Circles application page for more details and for the application submission form.

DUE TODAY: Call for Proposals: SU Teaching and Learning Conference

Mark your calendars for Friday, February 18, 2022, as SU hosts our annual Teaching and Learning Conference from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
 
The annual TLC conference brings together teacher-scholars across campus to share and discuss teaching innovations and best practices. A call for proposals is currently open for 20-minute sessions, 40-minute sessions, panel discussions (up to 4 presenters) or poster presentations on a variety of themes related to the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL). Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

• Innovative teaching strategies 
• Implementation of High Impact Practices
• Culturally relevant and inclusive pedagogical strategies 
  
• Assessment of Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) 
• Best-practices for online and hybrid learning 
• Student motivation and engagement 
• Teaching practices that encourage critical thinking
• Teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic 
  
• Integrating technology 

Deadline to submit your session proposals is TODAY (Tuesday, December 7)! 

SU is an Equal Opportunity/AA/Title IX university and provides reasonable accommodation given sufficient notice to the University office or staff sponsoring the event or program. For more information regarding SU’s policies and procedures, please visit www.salisbury.edu/equity.