Instructional Technology and Design Services
MSU campus spring

Start of Term Checklist

As you prepare for the coming term, take note of our term-specific support resources, tips for setting up your Canvas course, and some steps for success in your courses.

Key Dates for Spring 2025

  • First day of classes: Friday, January 17, 2025 (acts as a Monday class)
  • Full Spring term: January 17 – May 5, 2025
  • All Canvas courses will be published automatically on January 14, 2025
  • Review the Academic Calendar for all session dates.

Please note that online programs may follow different dates!

Special Events

The Spring 2025 Teaching Symposium: Adapting to Change and Fostering Innovation

  • Date: Friday, January 10, 2025
  • Time: 9:00am – 3:00pm
  • Location: Online via Zoom
  • Register now

The Annual Spring Teaching Symposium is a virtual faculty development event that will look ahead toward the start of a promising new term, while reflecting on lessons learned from the fall. It includes external speakers, faculty presentations, instructional technology workshops, and much more. This event will include sessions focused on course design best practices, how to set up and design your course in Canvas, AI and other generative technologies, as well as strategies for effective assessment and student engagement. These sessions are applicable to teaching in-person, online or hybrid.

This year’s event will kick off with opening remarks by Jessica Murphy, Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education, Success and Academic Innovation, followed by our keynote speaker Sid Dobrin’s talk. Sid Dobrin, Chair of the University of Florida’s English department, has become one of the most sought-after academic experts on Generative Artificial Intelligence, having delivered more than 70 talks worldwide these last two years!

 Visit the event page to register!

Spring Drop-in Support and Consultations

  • Preparing for Spring Online Support – The ITDS team will be available for teaching support to start the Spring 2025 term. This support will be available January 13 to January 24 (excluding weekends and the January 20th Holiday). Please book a time slot via https://itds.as.me/spring2025
  • ITDS Consultations: ITDS staff are made available year round to meet with you to discuss your course(s) and provide guidance on designing your course(s) across modalities, instructional strategies, syllabus design, teaching/learning activities, instructional technologies and more. You can set up an appointment with one of our ITDS staff via the ITDS Consultation Scheduler. 

Faculty Development Opportunities

Shifting Your Course to 14 or 7 Weeks

Beginning in the Spring 2025 term, the academic calendar will shift to a 14-week format to create consistency across Fall, Spring, and Summer terms. Courses currently taught in 15- or 8-week formats will need to adjust to 14 or 7 weeks. This workshop will help you adapt by prioritizing coursework based on learning outcomes. Using backward design, modifying assignments, and maximizing instruction.

ITDS offers a number of facilitated courses throughout the year offered in an online asynchronous format. The purpose of these courses is to enrich faculty pedagogy strategies and to promote student engagement across various modalities. This Spring, we are going to offer two faculty development courses:

Canvas Updates

  • Montclair Syllabus by Simple Syllabus will be the only syllabus available to instructors in Canvas starting the Spring term. Simple Syllabus is a centralized, template-driven platform that enables instructors to quickly personalize and publish interactive class syllabi. If you have not yet used the Montclair Syllabus, consult our Simple Syllabus website for additional information. If Montclair  Syllabus is not in your course menu due to a course copy, please consult the Configure Simple Syllabus in Canvas guide for more information.
  • New Quizzes is the updated quiz tool available in Canvas. New Quizzes allows for new question types, additional quiz settings, and enhanced student performance analytics. When creating a new quiz you will have the option to create a New Quiz or the traditional Classic Quiz. We highly encourage you to explore New Quizzes as this will eventually replace Classic Quizzes. To learn more about New Quizzes:

Canvas Integrations

For a comprehensive list of pre-installed Canvas integrations visit our Integrations page.

A Checklist for Setting Up Your Canvas Course

Whether you are teaching a course for the first time or are continuing to teach an existing course, our checklist will provide you with tips for success! 

For more recommendations, please visit our Designing Your Canvas Course page.

For a full view of all of our upcoming workshops, please visit our Workshop Registration page!

Technical Support

Make sure your devices are registered on the campus network (see the Connect to Wireless page). If you need technical support, please contact the IT Service Desk by calling 973-655-7971 (on campus x7971) or emailing itservicedesk@montclair.edu, or your academic technology team. You may also review information on classroom technology on the Audio-Visual Services website, check NEST for modality, room, and other details.