Welcome New Faculty!

Eastern email: All university communications are sent to your Eastern email. Please use your Eastern email as your official mode of communication—and require your students to communicate with you through official channels (either by using their Eastern email or through Blackboard) so you can be confident of who you are communicating with. Your department secretary will submit paperwork for you to receive an Eastern email address.

OneDrive: All faculty are provided with a cloud-based OneDrive account that can be accessed from any campus computer as well as from off campus. You can store all of your Eastern-related documents here while you are employed at Eastern. Read more about getting started with OneDrive.

Division of Technology Services (DTS) Help Desk: If you encounter problems with the podium computer in a classroom or your Eastern-provided computer, contact the Division of Technology Services Help Desk. You can also find instructions for connecting to campus wi-fi on their homepage.

Phones: The campus utilizes MS Teams for our telephone system. Phone calls can be dialed or received from any location with the MS Teams app. Use the dail pad to make a call in MS Teams.

Web Conferencing: Eastern offers two options:

• Microsoft Teams: Access video trainings on using Teams.
• Zoom:  Access video trainings on using Zoom.

Software Requests: Faculty and staff can install some software for free on their personally owned computer. Faculty who need additional software on their Eastern-provided computer, in classrooms, or in computer labs can request software purchases and installations.

This section was last updated 5/1/26.

When planning your course, your first conversation will be with your department chair about the department's expectations for the course, including the learning outcomes and the required content.

If your course is part of Eastern's Liberal Arts Core (ELAC) curriculum, there are additional requirements related to meeting the course's specified ELAC Learning Outcomes, incorporating High-Impact Practices, and submitting items for assessment. You can reach out to the CTLA with questions about your ELAC course, and we'll help you connect to the right person so that you get the support you need.

Below are some tools that can help you get your syllabus ready for the semester.

Academic calendar: When planning your course, please refer to the appropriate academic calendar for semester start and end dates, holidays, Student Wellness Day, and grading deadlines. Also look at the final exam schedule. Please note that no exams may be given during the last week of classes.

Course planning tool: Eastern's course planning tool is a step-by-step resource for building a course and communicating goals effectively to students. It utilizes backwards design to support instructors in aligning their course learning goals with assignments and course activities. You can find an editable, Word version of the course planning tool on the ELAC Sharepoin­t site. An online version of this tool will soon be available, which will automatically create a personalized, editable syllabus based on the information instructors enter into the online tool. (The tool was developed by Dr. Courtney Broscious.)

Syllabus template: Eastern has a syllabus template that is aligned with the course planning tool and includes language for all required and suggested syllabus statements. You can copy text from the planning tool into the corresponding section of the syllabus template—or you can work directly in the syllabus template. You can download the template from the Designing Courses for ELAC Folder. (Eastern login required.)

Suggested syllabus statements: The CTLA maintains a Syllabus Statements web page with statements that are required to be on all course syllabi at Eastern, as well as recommended language related to university policies, course policies, and resources and supports for students. In addition, the website has a sample of other policies that instructors may wish to include on their syllabus (e.g., AI policy, use of devices during class, attendance policies, etc.).

ELAC resources: It’s important for all faculty to have a solid understanding of Eastern’s Liberal Arts Core (ELAC) curriculum so that you can appropriately advise students—and to ensure that any ELAC course you teach meets curriculum requirements. You can read an overview of the curriculum on Eastern’s website. In addition, faculty maintain a comprehensive Sharepoint site of ELAC Faculty Resources that includes course design resources (including information on High-Impact Practices), resources specific to teaching each of the ELAC learning outcomes, the ELAC rubrics, and resources for faculty teaching LAC101. Folders include sample syllabi, lessons, and assignments. (Eastern login required.)

This section was last updated on 7/9/26.

Blackboard Ultra is Eastern's course management system (LMS) as of Fall 2026. Most faculty teaching on-ground courses use Blackboard at a minimum for posting their syllabus and communicating with students using the announcement tool. Blackboard can be your central location to upload course materials, post readings and videos, and share other resources with students. It also provides tools for posting and collecting assignments, grading through rubrics, and calculating student grades.

Get support in using Blackboard by making an appointment with a staff member at the Center for Instructional Technology (CIT).

If you’re ready to begin building your course, you can use the Blackboard Course Template. You can also access Blackboard's Help Center for Instructors.

This section was last updated on 7/9/26.

Class Roster: Once a course has officially been assigned to you, you can check your class roster via eWeb. Please be advised that your roster will change frequently prior to the start of the semester and well into the first couple of weeks of class (up to the add/drop date). Students who are not enrolled in your course should not be allowed to attend your class. See general information about using eWeb.

Mid-semester grades: Faculty are asked to enter midterm grades by the Registrar’s deadline. Midterm grades help faculty advisors and the Academic Success Center identify and support struggling students—when there is still time to help them recover. In addition, when students who are performing poorly know early enough, they can withdraw, go to a tutor, reach out to you, work with their advisor, and potentially turn around their course performance.

It is very helpful for students if there are a few graded components early in the semester so they (and you) can realistically measure their progress, which they can access by using the Gradebook tab. The Center for Instructional Technology can assist you in setting this up, including weighting assignments so that Blackboard does all the grade calculations for you.

This section was last updated on 5/1/26.