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Week of October 21, 2025

Conveying information to your students is one of the most important and complicated tasks you complete in your classroom. As we shared earlier in the semester, accessibility is important for all your course materials; this week we focus on PDFs. As we ramp up for April 2026 accessibility compliance many folks understandably have questions around PDF accessibility.

It is possible to remediate PDFs but this process is labor intensive and may not always be the best pathway to addressing accessibility concerns.  The consensus amongst experts is that the best way to address PDF accessibility is to offer the same information in a non-PDF file format (such as a Canvas page, a Word document, a Power Point, etc.) What format you choose depends on the information provided and how you expect your students to take it in. 

However, when using PDFs is unavoidable, the path of least resistance depends on the type of PDF that you’re working with. There are two main categories of PDFs:  

Category One: Content you Created in Microsoft Word or PowerPoint and Saved as a PDF  (such as lecture slides, your syllabus, or worksheets) 

For these materials, the best pathway is to reopen the document in its original format (e.g. Word, PowerPoint, etc.) and make the files accessible using the built-in Microsoft 365 accessibility tools. Once you’ve made the Word or Power Point files accessible, you have a few options for sharing depending on your data protection preferences and needs: 

Category Two: Scanned PDFs (such as chapters from eTexts, scholarly articles, or news articles PDFed from the Internet) 

For more support on scanned PDFs and all things accessibility join the ITS and UTLC teams at the upcoming Accessibility Incubators on November 10 and November 14. You may also visit the Instructional Design team during ID Office Hours on Tuesdays from 10 AM – 12 PM via Teams. Finally, the UTLC is always happy to consult with you and think through what sorts of information you are providing to your students and the best method for doing so. 

The Alumni Teaching Excellence Awards offered by the University Teaching and Learning Commons at University of North Carolina at Greensboro recognize and celebrate faculty members who demonstrate outstanding teaching, mentorship, and instructional innovation. Nominations are open to everyone, alumni, students, staff, and faculty alike, making this an expansive opportunity to acknowledge educators who have made a meaningful impact. The awards include several categories (matched to faculty rank and appointment type) and provide a way to shine a light on those who elevate the learning experience through both face to face and blended or online formats. For full details on eligibility, nomination procedures, and past recipients, you can visit the official site. Nominations are accepted until Tuesday December 3, 2025.

Join the UTLC and the Office of Intercultural Engagement for a conversation about student experiences in the classroom and beyond. VOISES panels provide a venue for faculty to hear the perspective of students about their experiences on campus. These moderated panels give faculty the chance to ask questions while reflecting on ways they can support student success and learning.

Please register to receive full event details and location.

This fall, we're partnering with the University Libraries for our fall coffeehouse! We will be doing walking tours with campus ghost stories and history (led by Carolyn Shankle of the University Libraries), along with hot drinks, swag, and snacks.  Tours will be at 9, 10, and 11am on Wednesday, October 29.  9 and 11am are almost full, but 10am has more space remaining.

We are limited to 20 folks for each walking tour, so if you're interested, please register so we can have an accurate head count.  If you have any questions (or need anything that's not coffeehouse related!), please email us at utlc@uncg.edu.

This fall, ITS and the UTLC are pleased to announce that we will be offering two days of accessibility incubators on November 10 and 14th! Bring your laptop and come to workshops and/or receive hands on help with course accessibility. Exact schedules are TBD, but please register so that we can start planning head counts and food.  

Open Office Hours with ITS: Learning Technology’s Instructional Design Team: Tuesdays 10am–12pm, starting 10/7 

Did you read through the Teaching Tips and think "I might need a little help with this"?

Drop in for a conversation with an instructional designer! They can assist with course and assessment design, discuss teaching questions, and help with Canvas, Teams, and other learning technology.

No registration is needed; you can just join online.

In October, ITS is collaborating on special trainings with the Dean of Students Office. 

October 27, 12 - 1 PM (EUC Azalea): Lunch and Learn: Addressing and Reducing Grading Bias

This session shares information about DOS resources and highlight and demonstrate features within Canvas that reduce the risk of bias in grading, such as how to turn on anonymized and randomized grading, and how to build a rubric in Canvas and grade with rubrics in Speed Grader. 

The entire Tech Training schedule for October is online now and there is some great information scheduled! Also, please see the UNCG CARES Team for more information about working with students in distress.

Introducing a new resource for Graduate Teaching Associates (GTAs) - the GTA Network. The GTA Network is open to all graduate teaching associates and is a space to connect, learn from colleagues, and receive collaborative support. 

Please find the meeting link at go.uncg.edu/gta.network. If you have questions, please contact Judy Fowler at JAFOWLE3@uncg.edu.

Magna Publications has a weekly newsletter with teaching tips, strategies, and the latest best practices of teaching offering approaches on a wide range of teaching topics, such as:

Visit go.UNCG.edu/TheTeachingProfessor and use your UNCG Email address to register.

Magna Publications offers a series of 20-minute and 40-minute workshops on teaching and learning topics from national experts in teaching and learning.

The UTLC has secured campus access to over 20 trainings on topics such as teaching effectiveness, generative AI, student engagement, course design, and much more.

The UTLC has additional new online resources available for you, including self-paced training options, resources for Generative AI, and teaching guides. We also have new syllabus resources up, including an updated syllabus template.

UNCG is pleased to be administering a pilot of a new teaching evaluation system, Anthology Evaluate.  Much of our feedback during the 2024/25 academic year was favorable, with users finding the system easy to use and the reporting to be accessible. 

Anthology uses research validated common questions; units can also add custom questions. The system mobile friendly and can be used in the classroom, which raised response rates for instructors who opted to do so this past year. Instructors and their heads have access to reporting one to two days after the close of the administration and can access their reports anytime they like online.

We are recruiting more pilot participants for this academic year! If you are interested in participating in the Spring 2026 Cohort, please click the button below to fill out the interest form.

If you have questions, please email the UTLC at utlc@uncg.edu.

Check out these upcoming opportunities from the UTLC and other partners on campus. Additionally, the university workshop calendar has opportunities.