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All credit-bearing university courses are to include a required assignment submission, quiz submission, or discussion post in My Courses, the university’s LMS, by 11:59 PM the first Wednesday of each term. Instructors will also ensure this activity is available on the first day of the course. Surveys, self-assessments, checklists, or other activities in My Courses do not meet the requirement. The university requires courses delivered in all modalities to include the submission requirement.
This requirement enables the university to meet U.S. Department of Education requirements to verify course engagement. Utilization of the LMS in this process enables instructors and advisors to monitor initial course engagement by each student. Advisors will be in contact with students who do not complete the initial requirement. Faculty should also follow up with students who do not submit as in the normal practice.
This requirement helps advisors encourage students to participate in courses they intend to stay in and withdraw from the ones they do not. It also helps minimize back-and-forth communication between instructors and advisors. Beyond the academic implications, engagement decisions made by students early in the term have substantive financial implications.
While the requirement may be low-stakes, it does not need to be "extra" on the part of instructors and students. It should not be labeled as a "Student Engagement Requirement." For example, if the course requires discussion boards, make the first post of the Week 1 Discussion due by 11:59 PM the first Wednesday of the course. Another way is to make a syllabus quiz or quiz acknowledging course policies due by the Wednesday deadline. Students could also submit a practice assignment or take a sample quiz with fun icebreaker questions to help familiarize themselves with My Courses.
The Curriculum and Instruction Center supports this policy with examples and other resources for both CSP and CSP Global courses:
