August in academia often brings about a whole lot of newness and changes that lives in the energy and opportunity of the new school year ahead of us. We have new students on campus, new faculty teaching beside us, new topics we are teaching, and even new faces in the Center for Innovation in Teaching, Assessment, and Learning. 

This newsletter will be delivered to your inboxes monthly, to give you insights into what your colleagues are doing, opportunities available to you for teaching, assessment, and learning, as well as any bits of information we think may be useful to you in your work here at Valpo.

We look forward to working with you and entering this new academic year together. 

The CITAL Team (Joann, Cindy, and Gina)

Hi, I’m Joann Martyn and I am the new Executive Director of CITAL here at Valpo. I am so excited to be here and to work alongside all of you in creating the best teaching and learning environments for our students, whether they be in-person or online, inside the classroom or outside. 

We are in the midst of some big changes in CITAL. We’ll soon have some new staff and are examining the way in which we can show up and partner with you in the current challenges and opportunities that are presenting themselves on our campus. AI has brought in a whole new depth to the conversations, as well as online learning trends in both graduate and undergraduate populations. 

The conversation at the Fall Faculty Workshop that stemmed from our AI keynote speaker, Dr. Leo Lo, was insightful, complex, respectful, and carefully examined the nuance that AI needs as we become leaders in directing how, when, why, and if it is used in our lives and in our classrooms. We will be continuing this campus conversation throughout the year as we wrestle with the practical and purposeful questions that AI challenges us to examine. 

As the semester begins, we have one simple best practice to share, something that isn’t just about mastering Canvas features, but about meeting today’s student expectations.

Students now assume every course will have an online presence. To support this, Canvas automatically creates a course shell for every class each term and enrolls your students. They look for it. It gives them a consistent, central place to find materials, no matter how much or how little you use Canvas.

To help students feel grounded and ready to engage, we recommend completing these two quick steps:

1. Add your Simple Syllabus to your Canvas course site.  
A posted Simple Syllabus gives students immediate clarity and reduces first‑week confusion. Editing your Simple Syllabus in Canvas is quick: open your course, select Simple Syllabus in the left menu, click Edit, make your updates, and then Save & Publish.

2. Publish your Canvas course.
Students cannot see anything until the course is published, it simply doesn’t appear for them at all. To publish your Canvas course, open the course homepage and click the green Publish button in the top‑right corner. Once it’s green, students can access the course.

That’s it. Two small actions that make a big difference in helping students start strong.

If you need any assistance, reach out to CITAL at CITAL@valpo.edu. This ensures the first available team member sees your message and can respond promptly.

And for those who prefer working outside standard business hours, Canvas offers 24/7 support for all Valpo faculty. You’re welcome to use their round‑the‑clock help, or send us a message, and we’ll reply as soon as we’re back in our inboxes.

Canvas now offers Ignite AI Study Tools, a new set of features designed to help students study more effectively and support faculty in guiding their use. These tools provide quick ways to generate study aids, check understanding, and engage more deeply with course content.

Faculty and students each have their own simple how‑to guides:

Faculty Instructions – Learn how to enable and manage IgniteAI tools in your courses.

Student Instructions – Show students how to access AI‑powered study supports directly within Canvas.

These resources make it easy to bring AI‑enhanced learning into your course in a thoughtful, structured way. Let your students explore smarter study options while you stay in control of how the tools are used.

*This feature is enabled by default in Canvas but can be disabled in course settings.

President Rev. Brian E. Konkol and Interim Associate Provost Joseph A. Bognar extend their heartfelt welcome to all new faculty joining Valparaiso University this fall. They are delighted to have you as part of our academic community and look forward to the energy, expertise, and fresh perspectives you bring to campus.

As you begin your journey at Valpo, know that your work shapes the learning experiences that define our university. We are grateful for your commitment to teaching, scholarship, and service, and excited to support you as you settle in, connect with colleagues, and make your mark.

Welcome to Valpo. We’re glad you’re here!

1700 Chapel Drive, Valparaiso, IN 46383

valpo.edu/cital