As a course instructor, you play a key role in a student’s education and success. Student Success strives to be a resource for you as well. Through online resources, professional development series, and connection to other resources on campus, we are all working together to support the success of our students.
Being a Mentor
Students often look to instructors for support beyond the course, such as career/field advice, research opportunities, personal and/or academic difficulties. As a mentor, you can assist students in navigating campus policies, resources, and opportunities. Encourage students to utilize the many resources available to them on campus.
Center for Teaching and Learning & Student Success
Effectively designing, organizing, and implementing your course is a key component of teaching excellence. The Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) offers support for faculty and instructors in providing excellence in instruction and student learning. Resources include online teaching tips, individual course and syllabus consultations, and a wide range of workshops, seminars, and learning communities focused on course design and instructional activities, multimodal course development, diversity, and contemplative pedagogy.
Another key component to approaching and implementing your course is student success—understanding our students today, the leading indicators of their success, and the resources on our campus designed to support students. Student Success offers a Success@UMass Development Series designed to discuss and consider these aspects of student success as well as offer resources and training on promoting academic skill development and leveraging technologies to promote student success.
Academic Alert
The UMass Academic Alert initiative strives to partner with instructors to identify students experiencing academic difficulty and connect the student with resources to support their success both in and out of the classroom.
Academic Honesty
At times, you may find yourself with a case of student academic dishonesty. The Academic Honesty policy and procedures, published annually in the academic regulations, offers both an informal resolution and formal charge option for instructors. An informal resolution attempt is always preferred prior to submitting formal charges. Instructors in need of guidance in these situations are invited to contact Academic Honesty to discuss the policy and options for moving forward. Additionally, we encourage you to consider and communicate (via a syllabus) the expectations set for the students in your course related to citing sources, group work, deadlines, etc. Link: umass.edu/honesty
Course Development & Teaching Resources
- Important Campus Resources for Instructors
- Moodle Resources
- A Quick Tour of Moodle for Instructors
- Activity Types in Moodle
- VoiceThread – a tool for engaging students in asynchronous media-rich conversations via text, audio, and video that can be integrated into Moodle
- Zoom Resources
- Software
- UMass students, faculty, and graduate students can access free and low-cost software, including Office 365 Education (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneNote).
Equity & Inclusion
- Undergraduate Curriculum & Teaching
- Undergraduate Retention & Equity
Questions
One of my students is in crisis. Who should I talk to?
The Dean of Students Office is the best resource on campus for students in crisis. You can submit a Student Support Request & Referral here.
In addition to teaching a course, I serve as an advisor. Where can I find advisor resources?
Student Success houses a variety of resources for advisors and also offers a professional development series.
I am an instructor for a seminar course. Where can I find seminar specific resources?
Student Success offers a variety of resources for seminar instructors online.
