Your role as a course facilitator is perhaps the most important component of a successful online experience. In fact, in evaluations of online courses, the most common area of student feedback centers around the instructor's presence in the course. This is why the course development process at the UMB Graduate School ensures that your course is fully built before the first day of class: We want you to focus all of your energy on engaging with your students.

Just like in your face-to-face courses, you'll find a system and a rhythm of connecting with your students that works best for you. Here are a few things to keep in mind:

• Visit with your online course and engage with students frequently. We recommend being in your course a minimum of 3 to 5 times a week, and even more at the beginning of the semester when students are learning their way around the course site.

• Remember that, unless you post in the course, students don't know that you've been there. Posting announcements, emailing the whole class or individual students, and contributing to a discussion forum are ways students can "see" you online. Your contributions don't always have to be lengthy. "I can see most of you are on track with assignment X. Don't forget to .... " is perfectly fine. If you don’t leave a “footprint,” students don’t know you’re engaged with them and the course.

• Longer messages that transition the students from one unit of content to another are helpful. In an end-of-lesson email or announcement, you can draw connections to course themes, spotlight the excellent effort of an individual student (In whole class communications, only single students out for praise--never for critique!), and remind the class of ways they can improve.

• Set clear guidelines about how long you'll take to return student emails (we recommend a 24-48 hour reply policy), how long it will take you to grade assignments, etc. If something comes up that keeps you from adhering to your guidelines, let the class know when you think you'll be back on schedule.

• Don't be afraid to reach out to individual students via email or even an arranged phone call. A quick one-on-one exchange could be just what the student needs to get back on track.

• One of the most common complaints in online course evaluations has to do with timely grading. Let students know a reasonable time you expect to have assignments graded and returned to them, and then do your best to stick to it. (And let students know if something unusual comes up that delays you.)