Section 6: Programs and Support
SFCC’s Website: Home and Faculty Pages
Website Home Page
Much of the college’s web site is set up for student use. However, there is also a great deal of useful resources posted specifically for Faculty.
For example, you can access your email from home by going through SFCC’s home page, or you can order copies of class material using eCopyshop. You’ll do yourself a favor to acquaint yourself with all that’s available to you on SFCC’s Website.
Useful resources for Staff & Faculty:
- Access to ctcLink
- eCopyshop (to send your copy orders, even from home)
- Outlook Web Access (to get to your email from home)
- SFCC Intranet (Employee Portal)
SFCC’s Intranet: Faculty Page
You’ll notice that many things accessible on the SFCC website are also accessible on the SFCC Intranet, like eCopyshop, Online Syllabus, Link to Canvas, Link to ctcLink, and Textbook Requisition.
The SFCC Intranet can be navigated through the SFCC Home page and then Employee Portal. (You may need to sign in multiple times)
You must be connected to VPN to connect to the SFCC Intranet from off campus.
The SFCC Intranet has other exclusive items for access.
Other useful resources can be found on the Intranet Faculty Page:
- Faculty Master Contract (lower right column)
- 1.5K Fund Application and Use to Date
- Syllabus Template, which includes all required statements
- Forms – variety (class absence request, FERPA for letters of recommendation, student concerns, independent study contract…)
Early Alert Systems are designed to improve students’ persistence and promote their academic success by identifying students early in the quarter who may be at risk of academic difficulty. Over the upcoming year, SFCC will be working on updating and refining its Early Alert System and processes and will be communicating those updates to the campus community.
At this time and until further notice, faculty may submit Early Alert referrals through the “Student Conduct, Care & Behavior Report,” available on the employee portal landing page. Once a student has been referred, a team of staff led by the Dean of Student Support Services will work with the student to provide assistance and support, ideally to improve the student’s academic performance and opportunity for success. Higher education literature suggests the following as a productive timeline for faculty to identify and make Early Alert referrals:
- Day 1 of class: Notice who has not participated in the class Canvas shell.
- Day 2 of class: Send the student(s) an email.
- Day 3 of class: If no response by the student, submit an Early Alert.
How to Submit an Early Alert Referral
Early Alert referrals are currently being coordinated through the Office of Student Support Services and the CARES/BIT Team.
Please submit the referral using the “Student Conduct, Care & Behavior Report” found on the employee portal landing page.
The Dean of Student Support Services staff will assess the referral, determine an appropriate response, and provide the feedback as appropriate to the reporter.
The mission of the CETL is to support innovative and equitable teaching and learning practices to advance student success. The three goals of the CETL are to close institutional gaps with regard to student outcomes; support the Guided Pathways framework; and address faculty professional development needs.
The CETL hosts the New Faculty Academy for new and newly promoted full-time faculty members; book clubs for faculty and staff; and live sessions on a variety of topics throughout the year. Keep an eye out for emails from the director, and feel free to stop by the CETL in Library room 2-212, where you’ll usually find one or more of the eLearning instructional designers standing by for consultation. For more information, please contact CETL Director Jessica Hoppe at jessica.hoppe@sfcc.spokane.edu.
The eLearning Department and Educational Technology
The eLearning Department and Educational Technology
The Community Colleges of Spokane has a rich tradition of delivering instruction in innovative ways, and you have a dedicated team of eLearning professionals to assist you with your face-to-face, hybrid, and online classes. We are here to support you with distance education technology, course design, and pedagogy.
eLearning Support Overview
What kind of eLearning and technology support is available?
We provide support for:
- Canvas Learning Management System (LMS), which is used to deliver instructional content and communication to students, manage assignments and assessments, and record grades.
- Panopto, a video capture application that runs from within Canvas and allows you to record, edit and distribute video content.
- Respondus Lockdown Browser & Monitor, a tool that is used to reduce the incidence of cheating while taking quizzes in Canvas, through the use of a locked down browser that prevents the student from accessing unauthorized web-based content and unauthorized resources on their computer. It also includes a “monitor” component that records video of the student while they take the exam, for later examination by the instructor.
- Zoom, which is used outside of Canvas and is a synchronous video communication tool. You can use it to communicate with your students in real time. This is a very helpful tool for office hours and when a student cannot come to you.
Additional Support Services
- Instructional design support for course development, modality transitions, course reviews, and design and delivery consultations.
- Media production support for beginning-to-end video production, professional production studio, offsite filming, aerial drone filming, video conversion and close captioning of videos.
- Professional development in the areas of course design and delivery, eLearning Technology, monthly faculty development modules, on-demand
on-line training, live workshops and presentations.
Note: Support for publisher content is limited to ensuring that the correct integration tool is installed in Canvas. Support for the content itself is provided by the publisher, although we are available to work with you and the publisher to install and troubleshoot content.
eLearning Department Contacts
Instructional Technology Support
Rick Suhr | Instructional Media Specialist
I help create media for your courses and projects.
Rick.Suhr@ccs.spokane.edu
509.533.3443
Tom Gibbons| LMS Administrator
I help with eLearning technical support and software training.
Tom.Gibbons@ccs.spokane.edu
509.723.6241
Instructional Design Support
We help faculty with course design and instructional strategies.
Nick Taylor | Instructional Designer
Caleb Hutchins | Instructional Designer
Student Support
We help online students reach their academic goals.
Julie Hands | Online Success Coach
Shay McConnell | Online Success Coach
Karen Sandall | Online Success Coach
Tara Hardman | Online Success Coach
Administrative Support
Launching, implementing, and supporting eLearning projects and initiatives.
Ben Whitmore | Director of eLearning
Ben.Whitmore@ccs.spokane.edu
509-533-8202
The SFCC Library
We are a dedicated group of professionals ready to support and enhance the quality of teaching and learning at SFCC.
Library Faculty
Our Library Faculty will work with you to support your curriculum and to support student success when it comes to research and information literacy.
Visit the SFCC Library’s Faculty Information Guide for more specifics on how they do this.
Research Instruction for Students
We believe students become skilled researchers by successfully completing assignments in a wide variety of subjects that require them to locate, interpret and document quality resources. Our library faculty will work with faculty to provide general or specialized research classes in person or via Zoom. This is the best way to ensure students get individual help with their research.
SFCC Library: For Our Students
Student Research Projects, and Assignments Support
We enjoy consulting with other faculty in developing successful research projects or planning any activity involving research.
We will develop tools & guides tailored to your class assignments. We can also support your students within Canvas by guiding them to research within the virtual environment. We try to ensure that your students connect with the quality databases and web pages you want them to use.
Workshops for Faculty
Our goal is to help you improve the quality of your instruction and to assist you in locating the professional research you need.
We conduct workshops throughout the year to help our faculty keep up to date with information technology and educational resources. Themes of these workshops vary from better searching strategies using Google Scholar to locating and downloading streaming content into your courses. We will also demonstrate new online resources and research tools.
For more information or to schedule instruction, contact your liaison librarian directly or email all the librarians at refdesk@sfcc.spokane.edu or call 509.533.3834 during library hours.
Library Support Staff
Our Circulation staff will set up reserve collections for your classes, so your students have quick access to key material when they need it. We’ll also engage our interlibrary loan service to access materials for you which we don’t currently own.
Library Website
Our Faculty Services webpage offers tools and resources on everything from setting up a library instruction class and recommending new materials, to accessing article databases, ebooks, streaming videos and copyright information.
Other Research Skills and Tools.
The function of the IT Support Center is to assist students and faculty online with their technology and computing needs at SFCC.
The IT Support Center has some of the services provided to assist with SFCC-owned resources like desktop and laptop computers, electronic classroom presentation equipment, WiFi connections to student computers, and basic computer applications.
Contact IT
To contact the IT Support Center to complete a ticket or call 509-533-4357 then press #2 on your touch-tone phone.
The Support Center is monitored by staff during normal business hours. Most often you will be greeted by a staff member assigned to phone duty; however, other times you may have to leave a message. If you have to leave a message, be sure to leave at least the following information:
- Your name
- Building and/or room where computer is located.
- Tag number of the computer with problem (usually on a sticker on top of laptop or on CPU tower).
- As much detail as possible about issue that you are having.
IT Support Center Website
We also maintain a website!
It’s worth a visit!
Here you’ll find numerous training clips and how-to articles. Spend some time reading material on this website and watching some training videos; you’ll be better equipped to make good use of the teaching technologies available on campus.
The Student HelpDesk is located in building 18 room 121. The Student HelpDesk Website is the same as faculty/staff.
Other Programs
Academic Coaching
Academic Coaching (formerly peer tutoring) is a free service for SFCC students who want to improve academically. The role of Academic Coaching is to provide a supportive and challenging environment within which students can develop their ability to successfully navigate the collegiate landscape and receive one on one content support. There are two types of Academic Coaches:
Peer Success Coaches
The role of the Peer Success Coach is to work one-on-one with students to help them develop necessary technical and executive functioning skills such as managing time, setting goals, communicating with faculty, logging into Canvas, and studying strategies. Peer Success Coaches also connect students to campus and community resources.
Academic Content Coaches
The role of the Academic Content Coach is to work one-on-one with students to review course material, ask questions to stimulate analysis of content, and provide content-specific support. The Academic Content Coaches are not instructional replacements but do have experience and have been successful within the course content themselves. Academic Content Coaches are also trained to support students in developing their technical and executive functioning skills.
We know that life’s daily challenges can make it more difficult to succeed in the classroom; we also know that sometimes, students may just need more time with course material, or have it explained in a different way; and sometimes students need someone to guide them while they navigate Canvas and other technology. There is no situation too big or too small for Academic Coaching to support students through.
Contact Academic Coaching at academic_coaching@sfcc.spokane.edu or visit us at our primary Coaching Center on the main floor of the library (bldg. 2).
Concurrent Enrollment Programs
Running Start
The Running Start program offered through Spokane Falls Community College enables eligible high school students who seek expanded educational challenges to enroll simultaneously in high school and college classes, or solely in college classes, for the purpose of earning credit to be awarded both by the high school district and by the college. Classes taken at SFCC as part of the Running Start program must be at college level (numbered 100 and above). These students are under the same rules and regulations as any other SFCC student and are considered a regular college student. You’ll likely have some RS students in your classes, so it’s a good idea to acquaint yourself with the program.
Visit the Running Start Site, or for more information, call the Running Start office, (509) 533-3524.
Gateway to College
The Gateway to College program offered through Spokane Falls Community College, is an Open Doors program that allows 16 to 20-year-olds within participating school districts to earn an Associate’s Degree and/or their High School Diploma. The program primarily focuses on disengaged students who have dropped out of school or are not expected to graduate from high school by the age of 21. Gateway to College funds students’ tuition, fees, required textbooks, and their bus pass. These students are under the same rules and regulations as any other SFCC student and are considered regular college students.
Visit the Gateway to College Site
For more information, call the Gateway to College office at (509) 533-3494 or email SFCC.Gateway2College@sfcc.spokane.edu.
The MOSAIC office in Building 17 (SUB) Room 131, consists of the MOSAIC Center (center for culture, inclusion, and community) and the LGBT+ Student Center.
Email at sfcc.mosaic@sfcc.spokane.edu, call at (509) 533-4331, or visit the MOSAIC Website to read about their mission, vision, and available clubs.
All students may participate and become members of any campus club. Each club needs an advisor of which faculty receive the first request. Associated Student (AS) Clubs reflect the diverse interests of SFCC Students. Instructionally Related Programs (IRP) clubs incorporate ANY of the following criteria into their Constitution and/or Statement of Purpose:
- Competition
- Performance
- Serving a public relations function for SFCC and/or District 17.
If you’re interested in serving as the faculty advisor for a student club, contact the Director of Student Funded Programs, (509) 533-4197 for more information.
Also, you can visit the Student Clubs Site for more info about each club offered.
