Confirm Academic Activity
In order to receive federal financial aid, students must be actively engaged in each course in which they are enrolled. It’s critical that faculty teaching credit-bearing courses, including dissertation, thesis, independent study and research courses, verify students’ academic activity in Webcourses@UCF. Visit the Center for Distributed Learning’s website to read their Academic Engagement for Financial Aid FAQs. For information about academic activity and financial aid from the student perspective, read the Confirmation of Academic Activity Frequently Asked Questions. As a reminder, faculty should ensure that they do not inaccurately confirm a student’s academic engagement, which could result in financial aid funds being reversed from student accounts and/or create compliance issues for the institution. For more information, read the Academic Activity Guide for Faculty Members (pdf).
Post Your Syllabi and Grades in Webcourses@UCF
To help students plan for the semester and, ideally, to minimize add and drop requests, please make your syllabus available in Webcourses@UCF on or before the first day of classes. If you need assistance posting to Webcourses@UCF, email the Center for Distributed Learning (CDL) at webcourses@ucf.edu. Beginning this fall, faculty are expected to post grades for course assignments in Webcourses@UCF throughout the semester. For more information about the gradebook, read the Webcourses@UCF Guides.
You can review the Required Elements of the Course Syllabus.
Impact of August 29 Football Game on Thursday Classes
UCF’s football season opener is on Thursday, August 29, during the first week of classes. The university will close at 2 p.m. on that date. If you teach a class that meets for the first time at or after 2 p.m. on August 29, the Registrar’s Office will contact you and your affected students with information about how add/drop and other processes will be adapted this year for these courses only. Email registrar@ucf.edu with questions.
Textbook Desk Copy Resale Regulation
If you are approached by or receive emails from individuals offering to buy textbooks from you, please remember that university regulation 2.032 states that employees may not receive payment for instructor or sample copies. You may refer such solicitors to Business Services using their Campus Solicitation form. Several groups on campus are working to develop alternative options for disposing of unwanted or unneeded texts. During the fall semester, the Division of Teaching and Learning will reach out to faculty and students to offer and solicit suggestions to this problem in order to facilitate student success, support textbook affordability and promote recycling to reduce waste from textbooks.
Spring Textbook Adoption Deadline
Thanks to your efforts, UCF has once again hit our target of making all textbook adoptions available to students at least 45 days prior to the beginning of the semester. UCF’s spring 2020 adoption deadline is November 1. Remember that you must also submit adoption information for classes that do not require a textbook.
New Student Support Features in Canvas
Faculty referrals to selected student services are now available in Webcourses@UCF. The Faculty Tools area contains links to student UCF Cares resources and links to forms to report student misconduct and Title IX (“Let’s Be Clear”) incidents.