Fall 2023 campus-level instructional resources

Dear Instructional Colleagues,

I’m excited to welcome you to the start of fall semester 2023. As always, I’m deeply grateful for all of the work you do in supporting our students and advancing UW–Madison’s mission of teaching and learning excellence. I’m writing to provide some broad instructional updates and resources, particularly for those of you who will be teaching this semester.

CTLM & Prepare to Teach Events
Whether you’re returning to campus or teaching here for the first time this fall, you’ll find timely, helpful information at these events, now through September 1. The Center for Teaching, Learning & Mentoring (CTLM) is also available to support you throughout the year.

Generative AI Guidance for Instructors
Find newly compiled generative AI guidance and resources for instructors. The guidance is intended as a first step in helping instructors begin to address generative AI within the courses they teach.

You can also join me this Friday from 9:15-10am for a virtual panel discussion about the challenges and opportunities of generative artificial intelligence in teaching and learning at the college level. The panel will cover policies, principles and best practices and will field audience questions. Feel free to submit questions in advance.

Updated Syllabus Resources
The campus syllabus webpage provides an overview of key syllabi components and related resources. Institutional-level statements that you may want to include in your syllabi can also be found in Guide. Topics include diversity, data transparency, academic integrity, privacy of student records and more.

Supporting Student Well-being
There are many campus resources to support students’ well-being throughout the year. If you’re concerned about a student or notice an observable change in behavior, please first consider contacting the student directly to discuss their needs. You may also consider contacting your department chair, supervisor, or school/college academic dean’s office; consulting with the Dean of Students Office or completing a Student of Concern form; or referring the student to UHS Mental Health Services or a Let’s Talk drop-in session.

McBurney Disability Resource Center and Accommodations for Students
McBurney Connect is the online accommodation and case management system that serves as a hub for accommodation information for students with disabilities and their instructors. Through the McBurney Connect instructor portal, instructors of record can access “Student Accommodation Letters” (previously “Faculty Notification Letters”) as soon as they are generated and before they get emailed to instructors. You can also view a list of students in the course(s) you teach who have accommodations such as test accommodations or communication access accommodations (e.g., interpreter, CART, media captioning). Students are expected to meet with their instructors to discuss the implementation of their accommodations.

Religious and Election Day Observances Reminder
An email was sent in mid-August to all faculty and instructional academic staff with guidance around religious and election day observances including further explanation and examples on putting these policy requirements into practice in courses. If you haven’t already, I encourage you to review.

Planning for and Responding to Conflict and Disruption in the Classroom
Find a collection of campus and UW System guidance and policies to support you in your planning and response to conflict and disruptions in the classroom (in person and online) and other learning environments. View in Box.

Teaching and Learning Technologies
Review the latest Learn@UW suite of teaching and learning tools available to support you, your instruction and students. This week also marks the beginning of Learn@UW’s two-week, remote fall training series. The series offers the best opportunity all year for instructors and staff to get real-time, synchronous support on centrally supported teaching and learning technologies.

Teaching Academy Fall Retreat – Save the Date!
Save the date for this year’s Teaching Academy Fall Retreat on Friday, September 29, from 9am-noon in the Deluca Forum and Mesozoic Gardens in the Discovery Building. More information, including registration details, will be shared later in the semester.