In Practice: Pre-Course Contact

From the Rubric

• Incomplete: Instructor does not initiate contact prior to or at the beginning of the course.

• Aligned: Instructor initiates contact prior to or at the beginning of course.

• Exemplary: Instructor provides multiple resources to help students successfully start the course.

How to Implement

Before the class officially starts, instructors can contact students to welcome them and provide an overview of what to expect. This pre-semester message can also alleviate anxiety students might have about the course by humanizing the instructor. Types of pre-semester outreach can include:

• A welcome message

• A welcome video

• A link to a liquid syllabus (typically created through Google Sites)

These forms of outreach will ideally include information about the class (Canvas usage, first week activities, contact info, links to resources etc.).

Additional Resources

• Video: Humanizing Pre-Course Contact with a Liquid Syllabus