KENTUCKY STATE UNIVERSITY
POLICIES AND PROCEDURES
feedback loop of substantive interaction whereby the online instructor evaluates students' work and instructs them accordingly. Students can learn from and respond to the instructor's substantive feedback as the course progresses. The course schedule should be posted in the syllabus within the online course.
Before the online course is made available to students, the online instructor should complete a few setup tasks to establish a welcoming presence within the course.
Fostering a positive faculty-to-student relationship is vital in building community in online courses. A well-written and personable faculty profile can set a positive tone for the course. This puts students at ease and increases their confidence to reach out with questions and ask for help.8 Instructors should set up a profile, including a brief bio, professional headshot, contact information, email, best contact hours, and any other desired information before the course launch in a timeframe specified by the institution. Apart from this faculty information displayed within the online course, the course can feel “uninhabited” when students explore the course upon gaining access.
In addition to personalizing the course with faculty information, the instructor should also post a welcome announcement and display it on the landing page for the online course. The welcome announcement further conveys an active faculty presence within the course. It is an initial point of connection with students and provides them with guidance on the next steps to take upon gaining access to the course.
This communication should focus on essential course- and content-specific items rather than student policy and logistical information. For example, the welcome announcement might introduce the following:
A few details about the instructor.
Comments about the relevance of the subject matter.
The location of course documents, such as the syllabus and course schedule.
Actions the students must take to establish a presence in the course through academic engagement.
Guidance on the best ways to contact the instructor for various reasons.
The welcome announcement should be posted before students gain access to the course; a good target would be 5 days before the start of the course (which typically falls on a Thursday). However, after students gain access, the welcome announcement should be sent by email to the student as well (this might require the instructor to select an option to email the announcement once the course goes live;