Hello and welcome to Transy! We are Melissa Fortner (Psychology) and Julie Perino (Academic Affairs), the Co-Directors of the Bingham Center for Teaching Excellence (BCTE).

The BCTE runs what has long been called New Faculty Roundtable, an orienting series of meetings to help early career colleagues with teaching development, community building, and understanding how Transy works.

The picture above is of last year's New Faculty Roundtable!

While Kim Naujokas in the Dean’s Office, the administrative assistant in your division, and/or your program director will provide onboarding help (e.g., office keys, your ID card, parking pass, laptop, etc.), we at the Center can help you with course preparation (syllabi, Canvas use, assignments, texts, etc.) and direct you to the right onboarding resources as needed.

Click on this link to access Google Chat; you'll need to sign in with your Transy account to join. You'll see a pop-up window with an option to Join the Space. Once joined, you'll see notification options from which to choose. 

Chat is the middle icon in the far left sidebar of Gmail in web browsers and the bottom bar in the Gmail app, or as a stand-alone app. 

We can use this Space to introduce ourselves, share resources, and ask questions as they come up so that everyone benefits from the answers. (As we tell our students, if you have a question, others are wondering the same thing!)

We are available both before and after you are on contract to provide in-person and asynchronous support, helping you get started. Please don't hesitate to contact us with questions, big or small, in the New / Early-Career Faculty Google Space, at bcte@transy.edu, or via text or phone (Melissa's cell - (859) 221-0218; Julie's cell - (217) 720-6133).

Also check out the calendar of new/early-career faculty-specific events. These and all BCTE events are listed on this site's home page. You'll also eventually get calendar invites for any New Faculty Roundtable event. In the meantime, note the New Faculty Luncheon and Happy Hour the week before classes start.

Below you'll find a number of resources to browse, many of them links to resources we strongly recommend you review as you settle in and prep your courses. 

We strongly recommend that you review all linked material, except for those items we have noted as optional. If you encounter any broken links, please let us know!

Please do familiarize yourself with Transy's services:

1. Navigating Transy's network

2. Registrar

3. Library video or slide deck orientation (your preference), and a Quick Look doc

4. Academic Center for Excellence (slideshow has audio embedded in each slide - enter "Slideshow" mode and click on the audio icon on each slide for best experience)

And, as questions arise about the curriculum and academic regulations, many answers can be found in the Academic Catalog (optional for now).

1. Transy uses Canvas. 

Individual faculty members range in the depth of their use, from nothing more than uploading a syllabus to fully integrating all course materials in Canvas. Do use it yourself in some capacity. Our IT department loads shells for each of our courses for the school year in early August. 

(Optional) Canvas training module for faculty, with links to resources for all levels of experience.

2. Syllabus template from Dean's office

Before each Fall and Winter semester, the Dean's office shares a syllabus template. This is last year’s version. The purpose of the template is to showcase what types of information you ought to include in a syllabus or on Canvas, the use of Styles for screen readers, and to convey the mandated sections.  It’s pretty boilerplate, and you don’t have to use its formatting or content if you have developed your own. (For example, I don’t use this template! ~ Melissa) 

The only parts you do need to include in your syllabus or on Canvas are the (a) legally mandated sections - Equal Opportunity, Harassment, and Non-Discrimination - and (b) recommended syllabus language - The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), Online Conduct, and Statement of Community. If you use the “recommended” sections, you can reword as desired.

Part of our plan for world domination is to take over the syllabus template and offer more dynamic options. (Which is why we'll never conquer the world - that's a bad plan.) Until then, if you want to talk syllabus construction, we’re always happy to do so!

3. Other elements to include in your syllabus or somewhere in your Canvas courses 

• Please share this Canvas page of academic resources with students by linking to it in your Canvas courses or on your syllabus.

• Include something about academic integrity, including an AI policy. Transy's academic integrity policy (Inside Transy --> Dean's Office --> Policies, Procedures, and Handbooks) allows individual faculty to choose their level of allowable/required AI use in courses (AI at Transy website). Do communicate something to students in your syllabus or Canvas! 

• Transy's Writing Center: Consider shouting out the Writing Center, Transy's space for supporting student (and faculty!) writing projects. The main page of their website provides a convenient link for students to schedule an appointment. The rest of their site contains info on the services they provide to students (Student Services, What to Expect), as well as a message for us faculty on how we can both facilitate student support and be supported ourselves.

4. Grading conventions

Individual faculty are free to develop their own grading systems, and colleagues use a variety of approaches, from ungrading to wild points systems (looking at you, Mark Jackson) to standard percentage systems corresponding to the +/- letter grades (e.g., 90-92 = A-, etc.). 

For final grades, Transy does use a +/- letter grade system for final grades - for each student you'll report a final grade through Self Service as a letter grade only. The Academic Catalog lists the possible letter grades and their corresponding GPA points. 

Here we'll post answers to questions as they arise.

What's the AI situation?

Transy faculty, staff, and students currently have access to free ChatGPT for EDU accounts; use your Transy email to sign up, and make sure to choose the Transylvania EDU option if asked. Also free NotebookLM accounts, using your Transy account.

You'll hear more about teaching with and around AI - we annually offer workshops on the topic! In the meantime, feel free to browse the AI at Transy website.

When do I absolutely need to be on campus?

You should definitely plan to attend the all-day faculty workshop and first meeting, ~9:30 - 3:30, on Thursday, August 28. Look out for details and times from the Dean’s office. We'd also like for you to attend the New Faculty Orientation Luncheon on August 27 from 12:00-2:00!

How should I respond to students emailing me to ask for a course pass into a course that's full?

This happened to a few of last year's new faculty, and I (Melissa) wrote up a kind of long explanation, which you can find in this doc.

Does Transy offer access to Microsoft?

Yep! We're a Google Workspace campus, so many of us use Google Drive for documents. However, if you prefer Word, Excel, etc., here are IT's instructions to get access.

Where is the Bingham Center for Teaching Excellence?

The lower level of the library, on the corner closest to Broadway and Third. Enter the library’s front doors using your Crimson Card. 

The checkout desk is directly in front of you; go down the steps to the immediate left of it.

Take a left at the bottom of the steps and make your way down the hallway and through the study area. Take a left at the hallway past the curved staircase and elevator. We're right there!

If you get lost, the people at the checkout desk will happily help you find your way!