amarillo college employee technology training online ...copy an existing syllabus you can copy a...

Amarillo College Employee Technology Training

Online Syllabi & Curriculum Vitae (2015)

Date Modified: March 3, 2015

Table of Contents

SYLLABUS REGULATIONS ....................................................................................................................................... 1

AMARILLO COLLEGE DIRECTIVES ........................................................................................................................................ 1 SACSCOC MANDATES .................................................................................................................................................... 1 HOUSE BILL 2504 MANDATES .......................................................................................................................................... 2

GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE PROGRAM .................................................................................................. 4

LOGIN TO THE AC SYLLABUS MANAGER PROGRAM ............................................................................................................... 4 ADD YOURSELF TO ANOTHER DEPARTMENT ......................................................................................................................... 4 EDIT CONTACT INFORMATION ........................................................................................................................................... 4 DISPLAY A LIST OF SYLLABI ................................................................................................................................................ 5

COPY AN EXISTING SYLLABUS ................................................................................................................................ 6

CUSTOMIZE THE SYLLABUS SHELL .......................................................................................................................... 8

EDIT SYLLABUS CONTENTS ..................................................................................................................................... 9

CREATE A NEW SYLLABUS FROM SCRATCH .......................................................................................................... 10

MISCELLANEOUS .................................................................................................................................................. 11

PRINT A SYLLABUS ........................................................................................................................................................ 11 DELETE A SYLLABUS ....................................................................................................................................................... 11

LINK YOUR SYLLABUS TO A BLACKBOARD COURSE .............................................................................................. 12

GET THE SYLLABUS LINK: ................................................................................................................................................ 12 OPEN THE BLACKBOARD COURSE ..................................................................................................................................... 13

SYLLABUS MANAGER INSTRUCTIONS ................................................................................................................... 14

ADD A USER TO YOUR DEPARTMENT ................................................................................................................................ 14 REMOVE A USER FROM YOUR DEPARTMENT ...................................................................................................................... 14

UPDATE YOUR CURRICULUM VITAE (CV) ............................................................................................................. 15

LOGIN TO THE SYSTEM ................................................................................................................................................... 15 UPDATE YOUR INFORMATION ......................................................................................................................................... 15 UPDATE YOUR ACADEMIC CREDENTIALS............................................................................................................................ 15

SYLLABUS REGULATIONS

Academic class syllabi are regulated by:

1. Amarillo College

2. Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges

(SACSCOC)

3. House Bill (H.B.) 2504

Amarillo College Directives

1. Since the spring semester of 2011, all academic syllabi and curriculum vitae

information must be created and stored on one of the AC program servers.

2. The online course syllabus (stored in the AC Syllabus Manager program) is the

official course syllabus.

3. Your department may have some requirements about its syllabi.

SACSCOC Mandates

This accreditation board (formerly known as SACS) gives directives we as a Junior

College must follow.

1. Every academic course must have a standard, online syllabus.

2. Every academic course must contain CV information about the instructor.

3. The official syllabus is a binding contract between the school and the student and

should be the only one distributed or posted (linked) for the academic course.

a. It is permissible for the instructor to print the online syllabus to distribute to

the students but it cannot contain changes.

4. Once the syllabus has been linked to a course and students have seen it, the

syllabus must not be changed.

5. All sections of the same course, regardless of instructor and/or delivery style,

must have identical learning outcomes.

6. Syllabi must be updated and linked to the Bb course no later than the first

class meeting for any semester-- effective, Spring 2011.

House Bill 2504 Mandates

Since Amarillo College is in the state of Texas, we also have to follow the directives

outlined in House Bill (H.B.) 2504 which are not optional; they are required.

1. Every academic syllabus MUST CONTAIN a week-by-week course calendar

listing the following calendar events:

a. The weeks in which major exams are to be given. This does not include

“pop quizzes.”

b. Each assignment and its due date.

2. There must be a separate syllabus for every class and every section,

regardless of whether there are other sections of the same class being taught. It

does not matter if the classes are identical in every way.

3. The syllabus has to be within three mouse-clicks from any course page in

Blackboard. By having a menu link in the Bb course menu, your syllabus will be

within one mouse-click from any page.

4. Syllabi must be retained (unchanged) and visible online for three years after the

close of the class.

Q: When Can I use the AC Syllabus Program?

A: Once your account is manually set up by the IT department, you will be able to login

to the software and start adding syllabi.

Q: Who Do I Contact for Help?

A1: If you have never used the syllabus program before, contact one of these people to

see if you are in the system:

1. Tommy de Jesus ([email protected]) (806) 371-5985

2. Charles Hendrick ([email protected]) (806) 345-5540

A2: If you need help with using the program, call Charles Hendrick.

A3: If you cannot access the program, call Charles Hendrick

A4: If your syllabus account has not been set up, call Tommy de Jesus.

Q: Where are the manuals stored?

A: On drive P: in the Training\Manuals folder

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE PROGRAM

Login to the AC Syllabus Manager Program

1. Use a web browser such as Mozilla Firefox or Chrome to open the AC Syllabus

Manager program at: www.actx.edu/syllabus

2. Click the link.

3. Type your ACNetID (network username) and password.

4. Press ENTER.

NOTE: If you can’t login, email or call Charles Hendrick (806.345.5540)

Add Yourself to Another Department

Some faculty members teach in multiple departments. If you need to be added to

another department, you no longer have to have the IT department add you to the other

department.

1. If needed, login to the AC Syllabus Manager Program.

2. Look to see if you are in the appropriate departments from the list.

3. If you need to be in another department, click the button at the

top of the page and select the desired department.

Edit Contact Information

This information will appear at the top of any syllabus, but it cannot be added directly to the syllabus itself because it is added automatically.


2. Click the Edit Contact Information link at the left side of the screen.

3. Click on the current information to be changed.

4. Make changes as needed.

5.

http://www.actx.edu/syllabus

Display a List of Syllabi

Display Only Your Syllabi


2. Click the My Syllabi link located at the left side of the screen.

3. Sort the syllabi by clicking the column heading to be used for the sort. For

example, if you want to sort by the catalog year of the syllabi, click the

Catalog Year column heading. HINT: To reverse the order, click the same

column heading again.

Display All Departmental Syllabi


2. Click the My Departments link located at the left side of the screen.

3. Click the button for the desired department.

4. Use the drop-down arrow at the top of the first column to specify how many

records to list per page.

5. Sort the syllabi by instructor name by clicking the Instructor column heading.

COPY AN EXISTING SYLLABUS

You can copy a syllabus from yourself or any other instructor in the department. If you use the directions from a previous page of this manual to add yourself to another department, you can copy a syllabus from that new department.


2. Use the directions in the previous section of this manual to display the

departmental syllabi and sort them by instructor name.

3. Locate the syllabus to be copied. It can be one of your own or one from another

instructor.

4. As illustrated below, click the button located at the right side of the

desired syllabus.

5. From the resulting menu (shown below) click the Copy Syllabus link.

6. Use the drop-down arrows to fill out the syllabus shell form. The fields listed in

the syllabus shell appear at the top of all academic syllabi.

NOTE: A sample syllabus shell is shown on the next page.

CUSTOMIZE THE SYLLABUS SHELL

The “Syllabus Shell” contains information appearing in the top fields (catalog year,

section number, semester, etc.) of every academic syllabus.

CAUTION: Every time you choose to edit a syllabus shell, all fields in the shell have to

be corrected again. All fields are set back to default.


2. If you did not fill out the syllabus form after copying a syllabus, you can always go

back and make changes.


4. As illustrated below, click the button located at the right side of the

desired syllabus.

5. Click the Edit Syllabus Shell link from the resulting menu.

6. As illustrated on the previous page, use all the drop-down arrows to customize

your new syllabus.

a. Catalog year

b. Department

c. Course

d. Course Section #

e. Semester

f. Class Type

g. Visibility: It is suggested to leave Visibility to “Hidden” until you are

finished and you are ready for students to see the syllabus.

h. After all fields have been edited, click the My Syllabi link at the left side of

the screen.

EDIT SYLLABUS CONTENTS

Once a syllabus has been copied from another instructor and its shell has been

customized with your information, the syllabus is ready for new information.

NOTE: When the syllabus form is opened, you will not be able to edit the top fields of

the form because those can only be changed in the “Syllabus Shell.” To edit those

fields, follow the directions in the previous section of this manual.



3. Click the button next to the syllabus to be edited.

4. Click the Edit Syllabus Contents link from the resulting menu.

5. Add or edit the syllabus content:

a. Scroll down the list of fields.

b. Locate the field to be edited. (example: Supplies)

c. Click the content area of the field to be edited. This will open the content

field in a word-processing editor.

d. Type any new information as needed.

e. CAUTION: If you are copy/paste information from Microsoft Word:

i. Copy the material from Word as usual.

ii. Place the cursor in the desired syllabus field.

iii. Instead of pasting the material, click the icon named, “Paste from

Word” which pastes the material without any Word coding.

6. Click the button located below the editing window to save the changes.

7. Scroll to the top of the syllabus.

8. Click the My Syllabi link to get back to your account to see all of your syllabi.

CREATE A NEW SYLLABUS FROM SCRATCH

There may be times when you need to create a new syllabus. These directions show

you how to create a syllabus from scratch.

1. If needed, login to the AC Syllabus Program software.


3. Click the button located at the top of the screen.

4. Use the drop-down arrows to fill out the syllabus shell.

5. At the bottom right corner of the form, click the Continue to Syllabus Contents

button.

6. Locate the line of text in the syllabus, “Syllabus contents edited below…” You

can edit any field below that line.

7. Edit the contents of each field as needed.

NOTE: Make sure to click the button after each section is completed.

MISCELLANEOUS

Print a Syllabus



3. Click the button next to the syllabus to be edited.

4. Click the View Syllabus link from the resulting menu.

5. From the keyboard, press CTRL+P to open the “Print” dialog box.

6. Make any changes needed (specify a printer, change number of copies, etc.)

7. Click the OK button to send the syllabus to the printer.

Delete a Syllabus

This part of the manual is extremely important.

The only syllabi to be deleted are ones created by mistake!

If you use a syllabus in a real class, state law mandates the syllabus has to be

visible for at least three years after the semester in which the class is taught.

Do not delete or overwrite a syllabus used in a real class.



3. Click the button next to the syllabus to be deleted.

4. Click the Delete Syllabus link from the resulting menu.

5. Click the button.

LINK YOUR SYLLABUS TO A BLACKBOARD COURSE

NOTES:

Your syllabus should NOT be stored in your Blackboard course.

A link in the Blackboard course menu should open the syllabus stored in the AC

Syllabus Program.

You DO NOT have to be logged into the AC Syllabus Manager Program for this

activity to work correctly.

Get the Syllabus Link:

1. Use Firefox or Chrome to access the AC Syllabus Manager program at

www.actx.edu/syllabus

2. Use the drop-down arrow to select the appropriate catalog year.

3. In the Search field (upper right corner of window) type your department.

4. Click the button.

5. Locate the desired syllabus.

6. Click the button corresponding to the desired syllabus.

7. Highlight the web address (upper left of window) for the web page containing the

syllabus.

8. Copy the address highlighted in the previous step.

http://www.actx.edu/syllabus

Open the Blackboard Course

1. Use Firefox or Chrome to login to your Blackboard course.

NOTE: If the AC Syllabus Manager program is still open, it is suggested you

simply open the Bb course in a new browser tab.

2. Make sure the Editing Mode is “ON”. To do this look in the upper right corner of

your Bb course. The Edit Mode icon should have a green dot on it. If it does not,

simply click the button to activate the green dot.

3. Click the drop-down arrow located at the right side of the “Syllabus” or

“Course Syllabus” link in the course menu at the left side of the screen.

4. Click Web Link from the resulting menu.

5. From the keyboard, press CTRL+V to paste the web address of the syllabus into

the URL field.

6. (see the note below)

NOTE: If the SUBMIT button does not work, press the left-arrow on the keyboard

time and then click the SUBMIT button again.

7. Have the syllabus open in a new window:

a. Rest the mouse pointer on the Course Syllabus link in the Bb menu.

b. Click the drop-down arrow located at the right side of the link.

c. If an option is present to “Set Link to Open in New Window” click that

option. If it is not present, just press the ESCAPE on the keyboard to

ignore it.

8. Click the Course Syllabus link in the Bb menu to test it.

SYLLABUS MANAGER INSTRUCTIONS

Some people are Syllabus Managers in the AC Syllabus Manager program which

means those people have access to more features of the software.

Add a User to your Department


2. Click on the My Departments link at the left side of the screen.

3. Click Manage Staff button located at the right side of the desired department.

4. As illustrated below, click the Add button.

5. Use the drop-down arrow to choose the person to add to the department.

6.

Remove a User from your Department


2. Click on the My Departments link at the left side of the screen.

3. Click Manage Staff button located at the right side of the desired department.

4. As illustrated below, click the Add button.

5. Click the button in front of the name of the person to be removed.

6. Click Delete from the resulting menu.

7.

UPDATE YOUR CURRICULUM VITAE (CV)

Your CV information is stored on a different server than your course syllabus.

Login to the System

1. Login to this site: https://iresearch.actx.edu/LdapAmarilloRoster

a. Login with your network login name and password

2. In the middle of the aqua-colored table, click the “Faculty Information” link.

3. In the Search by Name field, type your last name and press ENTER.

4. Out beside your name, click the Edit link.

Update Your Information

1. Login to the system.

2. Update the information in the top fields as needed.

3.

Update Your Academic Credentials

4. Click the Add Academic Credential link. This will open a form with three fields.

5. Enter the credential for your first degree:

a. Click in the Enter Credentials field.

b. Type your least relevant/recent credential.

For example, Associates Degree would be entered before a Bachelor’s

Degree which is before a Master’s Degree which is before a Doctorate.

c. Click the Enter Degree In field.

d. Type the degree relating to the credential entered in step 5b above.

e. Click the Enter Sort Order field.

f. Type a “1” since this was your first credential

g. When finished adding the first credential, click the button. This will

save the information and clear the form for your second credential.

https://iresearch.actx.edu/LdapAmarilloRoster

6. Repeat all of step 5 for each degree. The second degree would have a “2” in the

“Enter Sort Order” field.

7. When finished entering all credentials, click the button. This will display

the original screen with the updated credentials listed. To make a correction to

any of them, click the Edit link located at the right side of the credential to be

updated.

NOTES:

#1 In the “Add Other Qualifications” field, each faculty member (full time or part

time) should list courses he/she has taken that make that person qualified to

teach at AC.

#2 Also, in the “Other Qualifications” field, list any other licensures, teaching

certificates, etc. you have. List EVERYTHING you can think of to justify your

qualifications. This is what SACS mandates.

#3 You MUST upload a brief resume’ (in Word 2007 – 2010 format)

8. Verify the list of “Courses Taught” is correct.

9. Scroll down and verify/update the “Other Credentials, Previous Positions, and

Presentations, Publications, Public Works & Awards” information.

10. Scroll back up to the top.

11. At the right side of the screen, click on the All data updated/verified link.

a. All faculty are required to verify this information each year.

12. In the upper right corner of the form, click on the Log out link.

The illustration below shows what CV information is displayed to a student.

amarillo college employee technology training online ...copy an existing syllabus you can copy a...

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