Chapter Two - Quick Start Guides
Professional Responsibilities
VITAL faculty are hired to teach a section (or sections) to meet student and College needs. Duties related to the teaching of a course include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Developing a course syllabus in the format determined by the College and posting said syllabus to the Online Authoring System for Institutional Syllabi (OASIS), or other College approved system, 45 days before the term or no later than the first day of term/session (faculty need to confer with their academic dean to ensure compliance),
- Preparing for and delivering class, studio, clinical, or lab instruction; at days, times, modalities and locations determined by the College.
- Meeting face-to-face classes/labs/studio/clinical sessions on time and for the duration of the scheduled period
- Developing or modifying assignments, assessments and other course materials to support and evaluate student understanding of course learning outcomes established in the course syllabus and per department guidelines
- Grading student work and providing constructive feedback to students in a timely fashion, including resolution of incomplete or disputed grades
- Validating textbooks, class/grade rosters, and submitting final student grades in the mySeminoleState online portal on the schedule established by the College,
- Remaining current with how to use the College's Online Learning Management System (currently CANVAS) when teaching online, or as required by departmental guidelines
- Responding within 48 hours or at a minimum of 2 business days to communication from students, colleagues, and supervisors
- Meeting with students individually to review course work as needed on campus or online (via a college sponsored communication tool)
- Following all guidelines and directives of the department with respect to its specific expectations for teaching the course and grading
- Adhering to College policies and procedures and department guidelines. It is expected that each adjunct faculty member shall instruct students in accordance with the material listed in the discipline-approved Master Course Syllabi and as defined by the College catalog course description. The faculty member shall present the course content in such a manner as to provide students with an opportunity for success. A faculty member shall respect and encourage the appropriate expression of opinions by students.
- Adjunct faculty shall honor any student request for reasonable accommodations to which the student is legally entitled as specified in documentation issued by the Office of Disability Support Services.
- Adjunct faculty are required to use textbooks and educational resources adopted by their respective departments in compliance with Florida Statutes, and College procedures.
- To retain employment, each adjunct faculty member must maintain compliance with the minimum credentialing requirements of the college’s accreditor for their discipline as presented in the appropriate College credentialing manual and, when applicable, maintain any specific health, background screening or certifications required by the discipline, and credentialing required by other accrediting agencies.
- Each Adjunct faculty member will complete mandatory compliance trainings as required by the College.
- Adjunct faculty who teach for multiple departments must notify each respective supervisor of section assignments offered by other departments and shall not accept course assignments that exceed contact hour load maximums. If an individual Adjunct faculty member does accept section assignments that exceed contact hour load maximums, the College shall have the right to reassign course sections as needed.
Quick Start Online Resources
We know you are off to a quick start. So, let us start by saying we are glad to have you on our team. Should you have any questions about policies, procedures, or expectations, please reach out to your academic Dean for clarification.
In addition to this handbook, there are other resources available to you online. Please visit the links below for more information.
The Faculty Toolkit has step-by-step help from the Enrollment Services Office for the following processes:
- Important Faculty Information
- Exceptions to the Add/Drop deadline
- FERPA Guidelines for Faculty
- Withdrawal/Transcript Designations
- Accessing the class roster
- Recording a W4 (no shows)
- Submission of Final Grades
- Submitting Grade Changes
- Validating the Grade Roster
Other helpful online resources pages include the following:
The First Two Weeks
The beginning of each term is both exciting and chaotic. There are several things which faculty must handle well during this time so the term will start smoothly. It is important to get all the recordkeeping done accurately. Be sure to work closely with your program manager, coordinator, or dean for specific information about your course(s).
Below is a summary of important tasks and procedures to complete in those first weeks.
All employees must stay current with the 5 training courses listed below. They are found in Skillsoft Percipio.
These training courses must be completed once every 2 years.
- FERPA (Family Educational Rights & Privacy Act) for Higher Education - 30 minutes.
- Global Internet, Social Media, and Electronic Communication - 30 minutes.
- Seminole State Safety & Security - Active Threat Training - 30 minutes.
- Protecting the Rights of Minors - 30 minutes.
- Harrassment Prevention - course under development.
Your syllabi will be hosted in SSAP, the Seminole State App Portal. Login using your Seminole State username and password. Within SSAP, you will find a tab named Syllabus Manager - OASIS, the Online Authoring System for Institutional Syllabi. This system will allow you to create, develop, and maintain your syllabi. OASIS automatically provides your department with access to the electronic file for record maintenance.
On the first day of classes, faculty should give students access to the course syllabus by sharing a link or by posting the syllabus in your Canvas shell. Distance learning courses must have a syllabus posted in the appropriate section of the course shell. Prior to the first day of class, you will receive the department’s standardized syllabus for your course. Syllabi are required to be published no later than 45 days prior to the start of the term.
You will need to personalize your syllabus in OASIS by adding the following items to your syllabus:
- Professor's name
- Contact information for the professor
- College email address of Canvas email address
- How to contact the professor by phone (Adjunct faculty can direct students to call the department phone number.)
- Hours, days, times, and location of class
- Grading scale/policy
- Late work policy
- Communication expectations
- Ex: Most emails will be answered within 24 hours.
- Ex: Emails received on the weekend will be answered promptly on Monday mornings.
No personal email allowed.
You must use the College’s Outlook email or Canvas for all communication with the department, other faculty, and students. Be sure that you have access and check your school email regularly. Many of us have multiple email boxes but you must restrict your communication with the College community to the College’s Outlook email. All communication from the Dean and department personnel will come through Outlook email. You need to access that regularly for any reminders or notifications.
Students also have an established email with the College. They should contact you through your college Outlook account or the course Canvas email. They should not send you email using other providers (Yahoo, Gmail, Hotmail, etc.). Our Seminole State Outlook account has a very powerful spam and virus checker, and we must do everything we can to protect our computer systems, our colleagues, and our students from malware.
Email Template Samples
Dr. First Name Last Name
Disciple (list yours) Faculty
Seminole State College
Address- 100 Weldon Blvd.
Sanford, FL 32773
Email: Last Name initial @seminolestate.edu (Check your nomenclature)
(Office/Dept-phone number of availability)
Please Note: *** Due to Florida's very broad public records law, most written communications to or from College employees regarding College business are public records, available to the public and media upon request. Therefore, this e-mail communication may be subject to public disclosure.***
Thank you for your message. I am currently out of the office and will not be checking email regularly. My scheduled class times are (….) and / office hours (if applicable) (NOTE Online faculty should identify times for student engagement).
If your matter is requiring immediate attention, please contact the department office at [Department Email or Phone Number].
Otherwise, I will respond to your email as soon as possible.
Thank you for your understanding.
Best regards,
Signature block
Thank you for your message. The college is closed for the {state holiday/reason and dates}.
If your matter is requiring immediate attention, please contact the department office at [Department Email or Phone Number].
Otherwise, I will respond to your email as soon as possible.
Thank you for your understanding.
Best regards,
Signature block
To access your rosters, log into MySeminoleState.edu.
Access your class rosters daily until the drop-add period is over. See the Academic Calendar for important dates like the grade roster validation deadline, the add/drop deadline, and other holidays or deadlines. Go to the main webpage for Seminole State. Find the Academics tab, then choose View Academic Calendar. Under Category, choose the calendar that applies to your teaching role. For example, a Math Adjunct will choose the Faculty/Staff calendar. You can refer to the Faculty Toolkit on the website for instructions on how to post a NO SHOW (W4).
It is the instructor’s responsibility to ensure that the class roster is accurate. After the drop/add period is over, Instructor's must validate the grade roster. Any student who does not appear on the roster should be sent immediately to the appropriate Student Affairs office.
A student who is not on your roster is not allowed to attend class. Do not allow a student to temporarily “sit-in” on your class without being enrolled. This is not allowed by Florida Statute or College policy/procedure.
Students who changed last names (marriage/divorce/etc.) and whose name is not correct on your roster should be sent to the appropriate Student Affairs office for correction. Student Affairs requires a legal document (driver's license, marriage license, or court document) for verification.
Please check for students who may be auditing your class.
These students have a grading basis of "Audit" on class roster. The deadline for the student to audit OR to change from audit to credit is the last day of the add/drop period.
At the beginning of each term, faculty members will be asked to validate their grade rosters. The purpose of this validation is to make sure that only registered students attend classes. Students whose names do not appear in the roster must be referred to the Student Affairs area. To validate the roster, follow these easy steps:
- Log into MySeminoleState.
- Click Faculty Center under Faculty/Staff Tools.
- Scroll to the desired class. Click the Grade Roster icon to the left of that class.
- Ensure that you have recorded all W4’s and/or removed W4’s before you validate your grade roster. Review the Steps to Record a W4 (No-Show) to complete this process before continuing; otherwise, continue to the next step.
- Click Validate Grade Roster at the top of the grade roster. The message at the top of the page contains the date by which the validation must be performed.
- Click the appropriate validation statement (does contain W4’s or does not contain W4’s).
- Click Save.
- A message box will tell when the validation is complete. Click OK to proceed.
- Click Return to go back to the grade roster page.
- The Validate Grade Roster button and message will no longer be available on the grade roster page.
Submit W4's in Week 1 - This is not optional for faculty. W4’s are used when a student is a “No Show” for class. The W4 must be posted on the grade sheet early in the term. Read reminders through your email from the Registrar’s office for due dates and time. If they are given financial aid for a class, they enrolled in but did not attend, the College is liable for the money. That makes it crucial that every faculty member take attendance regularly during the first week and submit the W4’s.
If you submit a W4 for a student who does not attend the first couple of classes (for whatever reason) and then decides to be a part of the class, the W4 can be removed by the deadline. However, we may not give a W4 grade at the end of the term for a student who did not show up earlier in the term. That’s where it becomes an expensive situation because the College must return to the federal government the money given to the student through financial aid.
Remember that the assignment of a W4 is critical for the College to award students the appropriate amount of financial aid and reduce the College's governmental financial liability.
Please meet the deadline provided on the Academic Calendar. This will make it possible for us to report no-shows to the Director of Financial Aid.
Printing is available for all faculty members. The Print Shop operates out of the Sanford/Lake Mary campus. They have a fast turnaround, but during the busy first and last weeks of the term, you may need to give the shop a little more time. You should plan on two to three days for printing to be completed.
| Campus | Phone Number | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Sanford/Lake Mary and Heathrow | 407.708.2702 | F-101 |
- Login into the SSAP system through https://www.seminolestate.edu/ssap/.
- Find Print Shop at the left of the landing page.
- Go to My Requests and select Teaching Materials or Exam under the Choose Request Type header.
- You will now see a green box labeled Create a New Request. Click the green box.
- Complete all the fields you need for your project. You can upload either a doc or pdf version of your printing item. If you upload a document, keep the name of the document as short as possible.
- On the “Add Note” field: Use this section to include a note for the print shop staff and/or your cost center approver. Also, select the correct campus for your project to be delivered.
- You can save your request by clicking the Save as a draft button, but this will not get your order printed. It allows you to continue to edit/update the job until it is complete and ready to be submitted for approval.
- When the request is complete, click the Save and Submit for Proof button. Until you click the, Save and Submit for Proof button, your project will not be sent to the department administrator for approval or to the print shop.
- Most print shop jobs are sent over digitally. If you are submitting a hard copy, note the Job Number and attach that number to your hard copy. You should probably also make a note to yourself as well, so you can track your work if you need to do so. Don’t forget to get the hard copy to the print shop. They can’t print without it!!
- Depending on the timing and type of request you submit, it can take up to two or three business days to complete a print request. Please make sure you allow time from approvals, printing and the possibility of transfer from another campus print shop.
Campus Copiers
Copiers are located throughout each campus for faculty use. Faculty must know their employee ID number to use the copy machines. There is a limit of 20 copies to be made of a page on copy machines. All print requirements greater than 20 copies must be made through the College Print Shop.