Academic Policies and Practices
This video will orient you to teaching at the college. It reviews some strategies for successful teaching and covers basic academic policies, practices, reporting systems and requirements. View the reference links below the video too. Your first resource for answering questions should be your academic departments. They have lots of experience supporting new adjuncts entering their programs.
Columbus State Students
Course Outline and Syllabus
Syllabus Policy
As noted in the video, several required sections in the syllabus have been placed online to reduce the size of the syllabus shared with students. Direct students to this Syllabus Page for this information. You should also go over this information with your students at the start of class. See the college's Procedures 5-10 (B) for the full details.
Feedback and Finals
Classroom Assessment Techniques (CATs)
The policy and practices video summarizes the importance of providing frequent formative assessment to give students feedback on their learning and to help faculty adjust their teaching accordingly.
Final Exam Schedules
Refer to the academic calender for the semester in which you are teaching to identify your final exam time. Classes are required to meet during final exams at the scheduled time and location only.
The Starfish Early Alert System
Starfish is found inside Blackboard. It is a monitoring tool that lets you send kudos and warnings to students who are not attending or doing poorly. Warnings are copied to relevant retention and intervention specialists. Some departments have arranged to have the Blackboard grade book trigger alert notices through the Starfish system. Check with your department to see if this is enabled. Contact Ryan Fissel (614-287-2550) for Early Alert training.
Reporting and Forms
Blackboard Online Instructor Permission Form
This is a guide for using the Instructor Permission Form in Blackboard. This will enable you to route an add request to the registrar's office without having
to fill out an Add/Drop form. (Click here for more details on the FAC and Blackboard). NOTE: It is the policy of the College to not accept late student registration.
See you chairperson if you have questions.
Using Cougarweb
Cougarweb is the system where you report attendance for federal financial aid, mid-term progress reports and final grades. It is also where you view your official roster. This is also where you go to accept your teaching contract. To access CougarWeb go to https://cougarweb.cscc.edu or click on the link to Cougarweb in the upper right corner of the College home page. Click the log-in link at the bottom and enter your college username and password. Then select "Cougarweb For Faculty." Here is a manual describing Cougarweb processes.
Adjunct Faculty Observation and Evaluation
Other Academic Support
Teaching at a Regional Learning Center?
Delivering instruction at a Regional Learning Center is designed to mimic what an
instructor would encounter on the Columbus or Delaware Campus. SMART Classroom technology
is available in all classrooms. Site Specialists are assigned to a location to ensure
that the facilities are clean and prepped and that the equipment is functioning properly.
Most locations have academic and financial aid advisors, testing center resources,
tutoring resources, computer labs, and other student services. For site specific information,
visit cscc.edu/rlc or speak with a site specialist directly.
The Library
The College Library has many services for faculty and students. See the faculty services page for a detailed listing. Services include:
- Library instruction sessions customized for a specific research assignment.
- How to link to online resources and remain compliant with copyright law
- Avoid fines for late materials owned by the Columbus State Library.
- Customized resources for courses.
The library is located in Columbus Hall, on the Columbus Campus, and Moeller Hall on the Delaware Campus. A librarian is available at the Columbus Campus Center for Technology and Learning (TL) computer commons and at the Delaware Campus Learning Center to provide reference assistance.
Academic Testing
Now that courses are taught remotely, students are taking tests remotely as well. All tests should be converted using the Blackboard Test feature. The Faculty Assistance Center(FAC) can help convert your textual or paper and pencil tests to Blackboard. Faculty can choose to use a lockdown browser and/or remote test monitoring for these tests. Faculty can also proctor exams live by using Collaborate, Teams or WebEx, with the help of the Academic Testing staff. With the use of these tools, faculty are asked to keep access and equity issues in mind given the current environment and explore alternative assessment methods where applicable.
Contact:
Phone: 614-287-2478
Email: testingservices@cscc.edu
Faculty Assistance Center (FAC)
Digital Education & Instructional Services (DEIS) Division
The FAC is a valuable resource to all instructors who need help with any aspect of Blackboard. The FAC offers remote services:
Live chat Monday-Friday between 9am-4pm through FAC Live Online!
Submit an online request at teaching@cscc.edu
Schedule a one-on-one Blackboard consultation