Augustana Instructor Teaching Toolkit 2026/27

Course Planning Documents - Updated for 2026/27 academic year as of June 10, 2026

Below you will find .xls files with important dates and timelines noted that you can make a copy of and use for planning for your individual courses. Remember that the Student Academic Conference (SAC) - which is a stand-alone event in Fall and part of the Augustana Showcase in Winter - is a non-instructional day (aside from students who are required to participate in SAC related to their class coursework) and timelines associated with it are also included in the course planning outlines. Consider scheduling your students to present. Review the offerings from the last couple of years to get an idea of the types of presentations (e.g., new the past couple of years we have tried out having shorter presentation slots – so consider whether your students might want to present a short talk (e.g., 5 minute thesis style or ignite talks), or perhaps you would like students to present a 10 or 15 minute presentation. (Given scheduling constraints we would like to keep 30 minute presentations to a minimum if possible, but understand that may not be possible for everyone). You might also consider ways to have your students attend without presenting – as we are always seeking out ways to have more attendees at the event. You will receive a survey early in the semester to get more information on which classes are participating. Note - you have to be logged in with your UAlberta account to access the course planning documents. 

Textbooks and Required Readings & Zero Textbook Cost Initiative 

(Note new course material access program effective for the 2026/27 academic year!) 

Make sure that you have completed your Bookstore textbook requests (as primary instructor you will have received email reminders). When selecting class materials, consider using Open educational resources (OER), which are a great alternative to traditional textbooks that can be freely shared with your students and adapted to better meet your needs. The University of Alberta Student Association has been promoting their zero textbook cost initiative. You are encouraged to complete the survey. 

A Zero Textbook Cost (ZTC) class is one in which students do not incur any additional costs for accessing required course materials. The new Teaching, Learning and Evaluation Policy Suite lists ZTC as a component in multifaceted evaluation of teaching and learning.  

If you decide on a conventional textbook, you can reach out to the publisher and request an instructor copy. They'll send you a free copy (often referred to as an examination copy) as long as you're listed as instructor of the course on the website (which you should be at this point). Then you can request textbook or other materials copies through the UofA Bookstore. Note that new for the 2026/27 academic year the U of A is adopting a course material access program with a flat fee of $259 per semester for students. Through this program students will have access to the latest editions of course material. They will primarily be delivered digitally through Canvas, with print being available through the Bookstore if digital options are unavailable.  

The Augustana Campus does not have a Bookstore onsite, but physical course materials will be delivered to our campus for free.  Course material flat fee will include required textbooks, literature, online publisher courseware, most lab manuals and coursepacks. However, lab supplies, art and stationary supplies, chemistry lab manuals, uniforms or other non-text items will not be included. Students will automatically be opted out if none of their digital or printed course material has a cost associated with them. You can learn more here. 

To designate your course as ZTC and join the hundreds of other instructors who have declared their courses, complete the Google form. Once submitted, the Office of the Registrar will label your course as ZTC for the specified term. If you have questions please contact ett@ualberta.ca.

In a session hosted in March 2026, the following resources were also shared that may be useful for instructors:

• Searching for open course materials: Contact your subject librarian or oer.support@ualberta.ca. Our search team will search the library catalogue and online for open textbooks or ebooks - discover what is freely available in a subject area. 

• Reading list service: Create a reading list in Canvas

• Request a purchase for the library: The library's Collection Strategies Unit considers these requests and typically fulfills them if the item is available for purchase. Materials that support research and teaching are given first priority. 

• Creating open textbooks can also be done through the library through our free ebook authoring tool Pressbooks: Example of a UA authored book (This one is being used at 20 different institutions) 

Learning Management System (LMS)

Canvas is the LMS for University of Alberta. To learn more about Canvas visit the website here and access resources HERE. To set up your class page - start here. [The previous LMS eClass has been retired and was set as read-only effective August 15, 2025. Classes previously offered in eClass have been migrated over to Canvas.]

CTL Canvas consultations are 1-on-1 sessions where they help you with your specific course and meet you where you are at, and include up to 3 hours with one of their specialists. Whether it's for a quick call where you just want to know which button does what you want, or you would like the full 3 hours to reorganize your course, CTL developers can do that! So if there's anything you want to explore further or you feel like you need to start from the top to get things right, their team will be happy to assist you. 

Check out the Canvas Course Readiness Checklist.

If you want to learn about what types of Digital Teaching and Learning Tools are available for you to use - you can learn more here. 

Proctoring, Accessibility and Student Success (PASS) - formerly Accessibility Resources (AR)

PASS promotes an accessible, inclusive and universally designed environment at the University of Alberta. Individuals with documented disabilities are connected to the resources and supports needed to achieve full potential. PASS serves prospective and current students with disabilities affecting mobility, vision, hearing, learning and physical or mental health. To learn more about the services that they offer visit them here. Note - providing accommodations is a requirement - it is not optional - it is the law!

If you have concerns about a student in your class that you would like others to follow-up on (e.g., a student is not attending class) - you can use the Early Alert System - learn more here. 

Students, faculty, instructors, and staff can contact the PASS office by emailing augpass@ualberta.ca. 

Important Information to be aware of: 

• Registering Exams and Submission Deadlines:

  • Once your course syllabus is created, be sure to submit your Exam Details for all of your exams, quizzes, pop quizzes, and other timed evaluations in Accommodate. This should be completed at the start of the term whenever possible. For guidance on exam registration, please review the Instructor Guidelines.

  • Please ensure exam details and test copies are submitted at least 5 business days before the exam date to allow us to coordinate proctoring.

  • The deadline to submit final exam details is approximately 1 month before final exams. Keep an eye on your email for this exact deadline. If you do not yet have a final exam written, please enter the exam details anyway. You will still have time once exam details are submitted to upload your exam. If you have any issues, email augpass@ualberta.ca.

  • Once your exam is uploaded to Accommodate, our proctors view this as permission to print off and prepare your exam. If you make any changes to your exam details after you have uploaded the exam, it is very important that you email augpass@ualberta so we know to update it.

  • If you are using a Universal Time Multiplier, it should be indicated in the exam details as follows:
    If you have created the exam to take 60 minutes but are giving everyone 120 minutes, you are giving them a 2.0 universal time multiplier. Please indicate that the exam is 60 minutes and that you have applied a 2.0 universal time multiplier.

• Accessible Course Materials

  • To further support student accessibility, instructors can access resources here, allowing students to independently access alternate formats. This benefits all learners and helps create a more inclusive classroom environment. You will need to install the Accommodations Dashboard in your Canvas course, and you can encourage your students to use the SensusAccess tool to allow students to convert course materials to other formats.

•  Memory Aids 

  • You can access information about the use of memory aids that are part of some student accommodations HERE.

Referring Students: 

If you have students asking you about accommodations or if they identify a health concern, here is the information to share with them:

Dear student,

Please follow the steps below to begin your process for accommodation registration based on medical grounds.

1. Log into Accommodate.

2. Read and acknowledge the Privacy Statement and click Submit.

3. Go to Accommodation> Registration> Accommodations Registration Form. Complete this form which will activate you in the system. Be sure to indicate that you are an Augustana student.

4. Review the criteria for required medical documentation and convert your documents to PDF. 

   1. The Verification of Disability form will need to be completed by your physician, psychiatrist, psychologist, or nurse practitioner. 

   2. Name format: Last name.first initial.mmddyyyy (e.g., Smith_J_20220125).

   3. Use the date on which the documentation was completed.

5. In Accommodate, go to Documents> click Add New Document> Upload your document.

6. Select Submit.

7. Book an appointment with an Accessibility Advisor to register for academic accommodations. Do not book the appointment before completing the previous steps.

*If your documentation is more than 5 years old, you may need to get it updated. If you book an appointment, we can discuss the options and figure out the best route to go for new documentation. You are not approved for accommodations until you receive your official Letter of Accommodation. 

For more information on the accommodation process, please go to this link.

Directed Readings/Studies

If you are interested in supervising directed studies/readings with students – you can learn more about the process for that here. For more detailed information on the process - please be sure to also review the information here. 

Library

You can request library instruction for your class, create a reading list of course materials, and share library guides with your students. For more details and additional services, visit Information about the U of A Library for Augustana Faculty Members. 

The Augustana library also offers one-off opportunities for students to write exams in the library (e.g., if they are away and need to write early due to an athletic conflict). You drop off the exam ahead of time – and provide instructions in a form provided by library staff. Exams must be written Monday to Friday, 8:30am to 4:00pm. Students need to bring their OneCard and they will write behind the front desk of the library. Learn more HERE. 

Photocopying, Scanning, and Course Packs

Photocopier/scanners are located in the hallway behind the Learning Commons, 2nd floor Faith & Life Bldg, the Classroom Building outside C167, and in Hoyme. Your departmental speedcode should automatically appear on the photocopier screen when you tap your OneCard on the sensor. If not, contact the administrative assistants at augadmin@ualberta.ca to get that set up. The departments cover the cost of handouts and printing of exams - but not the cost of a full course pack or lab manual. Those instead should be handled separately. 

You will find instructions for creating a coursepack here. Please be aware that if you are preparing course packages for sale through the bookstore, you will need to fill out a Copyright Compliance Review Form, found here.

Student Perspectives of Teaching (SPOTs)

Each term you teach students will evaluate you in a series of questions that were recently updated. You can learn more about the process and questions here. You are REQUIRED to provide 15 minutes of in-class time for students to complete these surveys when you are not in the classroom. 

Writing Centre

The Writing Centre does not provide editorial services; rather, it offers feedback in the form of suggestions, comments and encouragement intended to get students to develop their writing skills over the long term. Learn more about the centre here. 

Orientation Resources

Orientation for new instructors will be held on August 17, 2026 from 9 am - 1:30 pm. Slides from the orientation along with recordings from previous offerings will be made available. Reach out to Anne McIntosh if you would like these resources as we are not sharing the link here for privacy purposes. We also have a recorded the orientation session that was hosted for Winter 2024 instructors led by Anne McIntosh - it is more condensed - you can watch it by asking Anne for the link, but for up to date information review the 2026 orientation materials once they are available. 

Training Links

-How to submit grades in Beartracks

Instructors - please be sure that you are using the  remarks when appropriate when submitting your grades on Beartracks! For example a 1 should be used next to the grade to indicate that grade includes a mark of ‘0’ for final examination missed, or for term work missed, or both. This information is important context to include, as otherwise the assumption is that all term work has been submitted and the grade reflects their performance based on everything.  For example - if a student has a final grade of F but they had an assignment or project or exam they didn't complete in the course then it should be submitted as an F1 to properly reflect the lack of everything being completed in the course. 

-Beartracks FAQs

Grading Information Video

1. In the 2023/24 academic year Shauna Wilton led a session to talk about grading. Especially if you are new, you should watch the video here to learn more about grading. Remember too to provide feedback in a timely fashion to your students! The video provides helpful tips for instructors at Augustana and will be useful to watch. 

Incompletes - When students are unable to complete requirements for a course during the regular schedule and require a deferral 

As instructors, we may encounter unexpected situations for our students and be unsure of the process. In terms of short-term situations such as an illness that prevents a student from writing an exam, then a solution can be to transfer the weight of the exam to the final or another agreed upon solution. The decision on how to proceed in these types of situations should be handled directly between the instructor and the student and no one else needs to be involved. However, there are also situations that go above and beyond short-term issues that may prevent a student from  completing all of their course requirements within the semester schedule. These situations are more complex - and so here we are sharing information to help you know how to proceed in these situations.

If you have a student who will still have remaining requirements for the course to complete at the end of the term when you are ready to submit your grades - when you enter your grades into Beartracks you should enter "IN" - which indicates that the student is still working to finish up one or more assessments in the course. The student then has up to four months to resolve the incomplete grade(s). The student should coordinate with their instructor to arrange to submit the required assignments and/or schedule missed exams within this time period. 

Once you have a final grade to submit, the primary point of contact is the Department Administrative team (augadmin@ualberta.ca). They set up the grade change in Campus Solutions, and then share it with the Department Chair and Jonathan Hawkins for final approval. If at the end of four months (or whenever we need to finalize the grade), if nothing has been received from the student then the instructor submits a final grade based on the work completed, and will typically add an indicator of '1' (so, for example, "D+1") to show that a significant piece of work wasn't submitted (this helps to explain the grade on their transcript).

If part of the missing assessment is the final exam, then there is additional paperwork involved. The student must complete the Application for a Deferred Exam. This is reviewed by Jonathan Hawkins, who follows up with the student and instructors as necessary. In situations where the student is aware that they will be unable to complete the final exam in advance of the scheduled date, they are encouraged to fill out this form well ahead of the exam. Alternatively, in emergency situations that arise, students are required to complete the form within 48 hours of the scheduled start time for the exam. The instructor and student still coordinate to arrange a time for the final exam to be written at a later date. If the exam can still be written within the time frame of the exam period, then it may be possible for the regular procedures for grades to be submitted can still be followed rather than following the process for an "IN" outlined above. 

Academic Integrity (AI)

The University of Alberta introduced a new Student Academic Integrity Policy (SAIP) that came into effect September 1, 2024. The policy can be viewed here. 

Academic integrity information can be found in Student Success and Experience Student Conduct and Accountability here. 

Non-academic conduct violations should be reported to Student Success and Experience directly.

The policy allows instructors-after making the Associate Dean, Undergraduate, aware of a possible violation of SAIP by the student, to recommend to the Associate Dean their preference for having their concern addressed either through a) non-disciplinary accountability options or b) a complaint process. 

If instructors believe that there has been a violation of the Student Academic Integrity Policy, they are encouraged to meet with the student. If, after the meeting, instructors want to report a violation, they can do so here. (If you would like to review the information that you will need to complete in the form prior to submitting it - you can review the entire form contents here  * do NOT fill this PDF out - use the linked google form!) 

Anne presented about the process for student academic integrity cases and a brief overview of the reporting process at Faculty Council meeting on April 1, 2026. You can review the slide deck here. A presentation will be given each year early in the academic year. 

Are you taking students off campus in your course?

Local field trips

For a local field trip, you can follow the Field Trip Travel Checklist. 

You should still do a risk assessment and inform students of any hazards, but you don't need to do the full Field activities Plan. Students will need to complete an Emergency Information Form that need to stay on campus. 

Travel abroad courses

Please ensure that you are reviewing and following the steps outlined on the Field Research Pre-Planning site.  As travel abroad activities rank at at least a 2 on the Risk Management Matrix each instructor will need to ensure their students complete the Field Research Training as well as submit a Field Activities Plan for review well before departure. 

Are you peer reviewing another instructors class? 

You may have someone attend your class to provide feedback on your instruction. This may occur when you invite others to attend your class. This could be as part of a teaching square, but might also be via an indvidualized request for feedback you have to a peer, or through the program lead for your discipline visiting your class because you are a newer ATS instructor. The newly updated peer review classroom visitor form can be found HERE. 

Centre for Teaching and Learning (CTL)

If you are looking for more resources related to teaching - as also mentioned above - CTL has lots of resources available. For example - if you are interested in how to navigate the use of artificial intelligence in your classroom visit their page about that HERE. If you are looking for resources on evaluative rubrics - you can find more information HERE. There is much more that you can find on their website about pretty much any facet of teaching and they are available for individual consultations too! 

You can also consult the Ask for Help section of the CTL Website. If you would like to meet with a member of the CTL team for pedagogical support (design, delivery, and implementation of teaching ideas) then please feel free to connect with them using the consultation intake form here. Be sure to also take advantage of the opportunities for in-person consultations when they arise on our campus (these take place once a semester in conjunction with our teaching seminars).

Teaching Awards at Augustana

Are you an innovative educator? Consider nominating yourself for an Augustana Teaching Award. Information about teaching awards at Augustana and beyond can be found HERE. You can download the Narrative CV template - which is found here, which should be included in your nomination materials. 

Deadline for nominations is September 30th annually.

Classroom Software Needs?

If you have any particular software that you require to be installed on the classroom computer that you are teaching in please reach out to TLS (780-679-1600, tls@ualberta.ca ). There is no guarantee that TLS will be able to provide the software installation but they will do their best to work with you. 

Accessibility, Community, and Belonging (ACB)

Rooted in the university’s deep commitment to community engagement and transformative collaboration, we work toward a university community where all have access to success and enjoy a meaningful sense of belonging. In support of this commitment, Paula Marentette is our inaugural Director of ACB at Augustana. You can learn more about ACB HERE. To help support ACB in your classroom, consider taking modules that you can learn more about HERE. 

You can learn more about the Disability Cultures + Access Hub, which is a database of U of A resources that can help students, faculty and staff to navigate disability-related barriers, register for and implement accommodations, improve accessibility and engage with disability cultures HERE. 

Experiential Learning Fund

Augustana has an experiential learning fund established by the Dean, the amount set on an annual basis, and adjudicated by a team selected by the Dean. It is intended to support experiential learning at Augustana, with a priority for project-based core courses. 

Budgetary Guidelines:

• Who can apply? Any full-time faculty member or contract instructor teaching in the Fall or Winter semester.

• What can be covered? Transportation costs (e.g., bus costs, mileage for drivers using personal vehicle for carpooling) for a field trip; honoraria for workshops/performers; materials/resources that would not otherwise be available (e.g., video collections).

• What is not covered? Food, meals, or beverages, unless they can be tied to a particular pedagogical activity. Materials normally covered under Departmental budgets (e.g., lab equipment that will become part of your ongoing discipline activities) - if you are unsure seek input from your Chair prior to submitting your request.

Priority funding will be given to CORE courses

• Has the faculty member adequately linked the activity/materials/guest/other expense to the course objectives?

• Does the budget comply with the overall guidelines and mandate for the fund?

• Are the costs reasonable? 

• Given all the requests received, are the funds being equitably distributed? 

• While not a criterion of evaluation, instructors are encouraged to seek multiple sources of funding.

The deadline is end of May annually - with possibility of late applications for individuals who are assigned courses after this date, with decisions being finalized in June each year. Applications for the 2026/27 Experiential Learning Fund are now closed for regular applicants. If you have a late breaking request (e.g., you have been assigned a course after the deadline) - please reach out to Anne McIntosh to see if there is a possibility of still acquiring some funding. 

Note: beyond the ELF fund, you can also reach out to the Chair of your department to see if they have discretionary departmental funding available to support additional guest lectures and/or other materials such as software for class activities that are not covered by ELF. The Dean's office sometimes has special funding available to support Indigenous guest speakers as well. 

Looking for alternatives to Scantrons for multiple choice questions?

Colleagues recommend using Zipgrade (https://www.zipgrade.com/). You create your score sheet in Zipgrade and print that off for the students to use for answers. You will also make an answer key on the app, then you simply use your phone to scan the sheets and you will get a score for each student. If you have to correct your answer key, the student scores will automatically update. Note: if students crossed out answers or some that were erased but still dark, you will likely have to manually adjust those sheets/answers. You get up to a certain number of sheets per month for free, and the price for subscription is quite low. 

Inviting Elders/Knowledge Holders to campus 

Thank-you to Willow White who shared the guide from the University called “Elder Protocol and Guidelines” that should be considered when inviting Elders/Knowledge Keepers to visit your class. The document is very comprehensive, but the most relevant pages are 12-14 “Elder Protocol.” The key aspects of protocol surrounding inviting an Elder are extending your request with tobacco, providing a gift of appreciation, covering travel expenses, providing cash honoraria (recommended amounts), providing food for the Elder, and providing an attendant to support the Elder during their entire visit (greeting the elder and making sure their needs are met like the bathroom, rest, food, water). 

Program coordinators/leads

Each discipline at Augustana has a program lead. As an instructor at Augustana, be sure you know who the program lead is for the discipline you are teaching in - they can be a primary point of contact for new instructors and guide them on specifics related to the discipline. The program leads assist with recruiting academic teaching staff (ATS; including conducting a classroom visit for ATS members and reporting on it; support timetabling, provide leadership on changes to curriculum, assist with developing and maintaining external-facing program materials, liaise with academic advisors and more.  To learn more about curriculum changes and the paperwork that is required for that - visit the U of A Calendar Guide HERE. 

Early Alert System

As also mentioned in the PASS section above, Augustana has an early alert system that helps the Student Academic Services team follow-up with students. Instructors are encouraged to use the early alert system when they are concerned about a student (e.g., the student is not attending class). This is particularly important for first-year classes as we frequently have students who register in courses but are no longer able to attend and do not know they need to drop their classes. The only way for SAS to flag these students is if an instructor lets them know they are not attending. 

You can access the early alert form and learn more HERE. 

Exploration Credits

Exploration credits provide an opportunity for students to take a course in an area outside of their comfort zone without risking their GPA.  Exploration credits provide students with the opportunity to apply for a credit/no credit notation in eligible open elective courses. Undergraduate students (excluding students in Open Studies or on academic probation) in a 4-year degree program or a 5-year combined degree program are eligible for a maximum of 12 units of exploration credits. 

Instructors will not be informed about who is taking the course as an exploration credit, regardless of when a student submits their application. However, after the course is complete, it is possible for an instructor to learn who received exploration credits as departments will have access to posted grades.

If you have a student interested in taking one of your courses as exploration credit, please advise them to contact the Student Academic Services office to discuss their eligibility. Learn more HERE. 

Student Technology Recommendations

If you are interested in knowing what the University of Alberta recommends for student technology, to help inform how that may align with what you are doing in your classroom computer activities - you can learn more HERE. 

Still have questions?

Anne McIntosh is the current Associate Dean, Undergraduate (effective July 1, 2025). Reach out to her to set up a time to meet and chat more. She is happy to help in any way that she can to ensure that you and your students have a great teaching and classroom experience. You can contact her HERE.