{"id":8389,"date":"2026-01-05T06:00:27","date_gmt":"2026-01-05T11:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/itds\/?p=8389"},"modified":"2026-01-05T08:47:35","modified_gmt":"2026-01-05T13:47:35","slug":"start-of-term-checklist-spring-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/itds\/2026\/01\/05\/start-of-term-checklist-spring-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Start of Term Checklist &#8211; Spring 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">As you prepare for the coming Spring term, take note of our Spring support resources, tips for setting up your Canvas course, and some steps for success in your courses!<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Key Dates for Upcoming Term(s)<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">First Day of Spring Classes: <strong>Friday, January 16, 2026<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Last Day of Spring Classes: <strong>Monday, May 4, 2026<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<li>Spring Canvas courses will be automatically published <strong>3 business days<\/strong> before the start date.<\/li>\n<li>Review the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/academics\/academic-calendar\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>Academic Calendar<\/strong><\/span><\/a> for all session dates.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Please note that online programs may follow different dates!<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<h2><strong>A Checklist for Setting Up Your Canvas Course<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Whether you are teaching a course for the first time or are continuing to teach an existing course, our <\/span><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/canvas\/faculty\/getting-started\/\">checklist<\/a><\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> will provide you with tips for success!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">If you are teaching more than one section of a course and plan to <\/span><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/montclair.instructure.com\/courses\/3\/pages\/merging-sections-cross-listing-2?module_item_id=5093485\">cross-list<\/a><\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> them in Canvas, please remember to do so before adding any content to your courses. Cross-listing after content has been added can result in loss of materials and student data.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">When cross-listing courses, the course information section of the Montclair Syllabus will display the details from the master course, and this portion cannot be edited. If you need to include course information for additional sections, you can add a new component to provide those details. Visit <\/span><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/itds\/instructional-tech\/simple-syllabus\/updating-the-montclair-syllabus-for-cross-listed-courses\/\">Updating the Montclair Syllabus for Cross-Listed Courses<\/a><\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> for additional information.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Canvas Updates<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Canvas releases new updates about every three weeks, and ITDS will continue to share highlights with you. You can also stay up to date anytime by visiting our<\/span><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/canvas\/news-and-announcements\/\"> Canvas Updates <\/a><\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">page, where we post the latest changes and what they mean for teaching and learning.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Canvas Integrations: <\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">For a comprehensive list of pre-installed Canvas integrations visit our <\/span><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/canvas\/integrations\/\">Integrations<\/a><\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> page.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">For more recommendations, please visit our <\/span><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/montclair.instructure.com\/courses\/3\/pages\/overview-designing-your-canvas-course-2\">Designing Your Canvas Course<\/a><\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> page.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Faculty Development Opportunities<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/itds\/faculty-development-support\/annual-conferences\/annual-spring-symposium\/\">The Spring 2026 Teaching Symposium: Designing for Engagement &amp; Excellence<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Monday, January 12, 9:00am &#8211; 3:00pm<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Annual Spring Teaching Symposium is a virtual faculty development event that will look ahead toward the start of a promising new semester, while reflecting on lessons learned from the fall. It includes external speakers, faculty presentations, instructional technology workshops, and much more.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">This year\u2019s event will kick off with opening remarks by Dr. Jessica Murphy, Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education, Success and Academic Innovation, followed by our keynote speaker Dr. Bonnie Stewart\u2019s talk. Dr. Bonnie Stewart, Associate Professor of Online Pedagogy &amp; Workplace Learning at the University of Windsor, is a longtime educator and digital researcher whose work in participatory learning has spanned all eras of the web!<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/itds\/faculty-development-support\/eotl\/\">EOTL101: Empowering Online Teaching and Learning: Foundations for Success<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/montclair.co1.qualtrics.com\/jfe\/form\/SV_eWiZNPQC5yOMkiW\">Cohort 1: Monday, February 2 \u2013 Sunday, March 1<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/montclair.co1.qualtrics.com\/jfe\/form\/SV_eWiZNPQC5yOMkiW\">Cohort 2: Monday, March 30 \u2013 Sunday, April 26<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">EOTL101 is designed to enhance online teaching competencies. This foundational course is intended to provide faculty with an overview of online teaching and learning, applicable to both online and hybrid courses. Participants will explore strategies for creating inclusive online learning environments, the qualities of successful online instructors, and considerations for conducting effective assessments online. Standards for evaluating online courses to align with best pedagogical practices will also be shared. The cohort experience allows for a rich exchange of ideas and practices between faculty and peers across the university. This course provides a critical foundation for first-time online instructors, or for instructors hoping to tune up their online teaching practice. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/montclair.co1.qualtrics.com\/jfe\/form\/SV_eWiZNPQC5yOMkiW\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>Register for EOTL101<\/strong><\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">!<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>One-on-One Consultations with ITDS<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>Preparing for Spring 2026 Support: <\/strong>To prepare for the Spring 2026 term, the ITDS team will be available for teaching support starting Tuesday, January 13 through Friday, January 23 from 10am to 3pm, excluding weekends. Support will be offered both in-person and online. In-person support will be available as walk-in assistance on the 5th floor of University Hall, no appointment needed, just stop by with your questions. For online support, please schedule an appointment via <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/itds.as.me\/Spring2026\">https:\/\/itds.as.me\/Spring2026<\/a><\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>ITDS Walk-In Office Hours for Faculty: <\/strong>We\u2019re excited to continue the addition of our walk-in office hours designed to offer convenient, in-person support\u2014no appointment needed!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><strong>When:<\/strong> Mondays, 2:00pm \u2013 4:00pm (starting January 26)<br \/>\n<strong>Where:<\/strong> University Hall, 5th Floor<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>ITDS Consultations: <\/strong>ITDS staff are made available year round to meet with you to discuss your course(s) and provide guidance on designing your course(s) across modalities, instructional strategies, syllabus design, teaching\/learning activities, instructional technologies and more. You can set up an appointment with one of our ITDS staff via the <a href=\"https:\/\/itds.as.me\/schedule.php\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">ITDS Consultation Scheduler<\/span><\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>Technical Support<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Make sure your devices are registered on the campus network (see the<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/information-technology\/connect-to-wireless-network-faculty\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong> Connect to Wireless<\/strong><\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> page). If you need technical support, please contact the <\/span><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/information-technology\/it-service-desk\/\">IT Service Desk<\/a><\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> or your academic technology team. You may also review information on classroom technology on the <\/span><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/information-technology\/audiovisual-services\">Audio-Visual Services website<\/a><\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, check <\/span><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/nest.montclair.edu\/\">NEST<\/a><\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> for modality, room, and other details.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Get a head start this Spring with our start of the term checklist!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":459,"featured_media":8299,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8389","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-announcement"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/itds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8389","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/itds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/itds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/itds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/459"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/itds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8389"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/itds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8389\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8392,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/itds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8389\/revisions\/8392"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/itds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8299"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/itds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8389"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/itds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8389"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/itds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8389"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}