Provost Communications

We have a few quick academic-related updates for you in advance of the all-college welcome on Tuesday, August 25th (during the common hour in Emerson Suites): 

AI and Teaching/Learning: New this year, the CFE and Provost’s office have prepared a statement of values related to the use of Generative AI in teaching and learning, to guide faculty. In addition, on the syllabus template (see the next item) there is a link to three options to choose from if you are seeking syllabus inserts clarifying whether students will be permitted to use GAI in their classwork, and how/whether the instructor would be using GAI.

Syllabus Guidelines:  As always, on the Provost’s Faculty Resources page, you can find updated syllabus guidelines. This includes links to: college policy about required elements on a syllabus; a refreshed syllabus template that provides both required and optional syllabus inserts; and guidelines for how to incorporate Credit Hour Expectations and Time Spent into the syllabus.

Please take a moment to review these materials and incorporate these updated materials into your syllabi (some links in the refreshed template are new!). In this way, you can help ensure that our students receive consistent information across all the coursework they complete at the college.    

Attendance Policy: The Ithaca College attendance policy can be found on this dedicated catalog page. We would like to highlight that students must be excused from class or examinations:  

1. on days that conflict with religious beliefs, in which case the faculty member is responsible for providing the student with an opportunity to make up the work missed, and the absence does not count towards any instructor-established maximum absence policy for the class  
2. for family or individual health emergencies, and to appear in a court of law  
3. to participate in local, state, or federal elections.  

Staffing Updates: There have been some staffing changes over the summer in our office. Please welcome:

• Kristin Morse and Sage Weber. Kristin and Sage have joined the office this summer as Academic Specialists. Kristin’s role has a primary focus on faculty affairs, Sage’s role focuses primarily on curriculum and extended studies. We are very excited to have them both on board!

CFE Leadership: Matt Clauhs will be returning to his department full-time in Fall 2027 after a distinguished term as CFE co-director since Fall 2022. His many contributions have made a profound impact on faculty success! For those who might be interested in a CFE Co-Director position beginning Fall 2027, please be on the lookout for a call for applications.

Course reserves: If you will be putting course materials on reserve through the library for Fall courses, please plan to submit those as soon as possible in general, the library asks you do this at least 2 weeks before the start of the semester. Requests should be submitted via Canvas using the Course Readings tool. Please also see this Intercom post for more details from the Library about support with course readings.

Canvas advising sites. All advisors have an Academic Advising site in Canvas. The course site provides a space for advisors to share resources, post Announcements or send messages with Inbox, and invite students to set an appointment using Scheduler. The Academic Advising site builds consistency for students across the college, meeting the request of both students and faculty to have academic advising resources in one space and on a familiar platform.

If you have any questions, feedback, or need support with the Academic Advising site in Canvas, please contact Matthew Clauhs, Co-Director, Center for Faculty Excellence (mclauhs@ithaca.edu) or Jenna Linskens, Director, Center for Instructional Design & Educational Technology (jlinskens@ithaca.edu). 

Deadlines 

Upcoming Events   

We are looking forward to seeing you at the first all-college faculty meeting and best wishes for the start of a new semester! 

Melanie Stein, Provost 
Ingrid Johnston, Associate Provost
Chris McNamara, Associate Provost 
Brendan Murday, Associate Provost