New Faculty Resources

Getting Started

If you are new to CSUB, welcome!  We look forward to working with you as you create a vibrant career for yourself and life-changing experiences for your students.  This section is designed to help you

  • Get to know our student information system (myCSUB)
  • Find help for each of the five teaching modalities
  • Choose course materials
  • Understand the needs of students with accommodations
  • Schedule office hours 
Questions? Contact either:  New to campus? Take the virtual tour! California State University Bakersfield (csub.edu)

Discover MyCSUB

Our primary student information system is called “myCSUB.”  This is where you can locate your schedule (including classroom assignments), check enrollment, enter grades, and access information to help you advise your students. Once you have logged into myCSUB, you will be on the “Faculty Center” tab.
 
a screenshot of myCSUB faculty center displays class schedule and times
 
While you will learn all the different functions throughout your first semester, here are the two you probably want to explore sooner than later: 
  • My Schedule:  View your teaching schedule for a specific semester, access your class roster, see class details, and enter grades at the end of the term. Note the “icon legend” at the top:

a screen grab of clickable icons corresponding with myCSUB

  • Class Roster:  Note the icon on the far left of the schedule above. Click it to View Your ClassRoster and/or to Email Students on Your Class Roster. 
For more information on myCSUB, see Faculty Guides. 

Prepare for Your classroom: the 5 modes 

To better equip you for designing the best possible learning experience for your students, let’s review the five instructional modalities offered at CSUB. Note the key factors are not just whether your classroom is physical or virtual, but also whether a course requires students to meet at specific times. In the following chart, we also include where to go for help with your “classroom.”
 
Course Modality Resources 
FTF “Face-to-Face Class” is a traditional class experience with a specific timeslot and a physical classroom on campus. For help in Smart Classroom, call (661) 654-HELP
ITV “Instructional Television” is also an on-campus class with an assigned day and time. If you are on the CSUB main campus, the classroom will be in an ITV studio in the lower level of the library where it will be broadcast for Antelope Valley students, who will be in a designated classroom on the AV campus. For help with ITV, call (661) 654-6700 To learn more about ITV, check out: Instructional Television | California State University, Bakersfield (csub.edu)
A1 “Fully Online” means all instructional materials are in Canvas and students can view them each week at any time.  No rooms or timeslots will be scheduled.

If you need help with Canvas, contact the Faculty Teaching & Learning Center.
⦁ Call 654-3020 or
⦁ Email tlc@csub.edu

When your students have questions about Canvas, send them to ITS (include these in your syllabus!): 
⦁ Call (661) 654-HELP
⦁ Email servicecenter@csub.edu 
S1 “Zoom Class” meets over the video conferencing tool, Zoom. While there is not a physical classroom, there is an assigned day and time slot each week when students are required to log in and to participate.  To activate your CSUB Zoom account, scroll to middle of this page:  Faculty Tools | California State University, Bakersfield (csub.edu)
S2 “Flex Class” is designed to use both an on campus and virtual classroom.  Divide your students into two cohorts.  Each cohort will come to campus on specific days, while learning remotely the rest of the week.  These courses are assigned a designated Flex Classroom that allows you to Zoom while teaching FTF cohort.

For help in Smart Classroom, call (661) 654-HELP
⦁ ITS has included videos on using a SmartFlex Room

⦁ Faculty Tools | California State University, Bakersfield (csub.edu)
In Spring 2022, we created this 3-minute Course Delivery Video for Students to explain the 5 instructional modes, what students can expect, and tips for being successful in each modality.    

Choose Course Materials 

As you select books, media, and other material for your courses, there are many campus resources to assist you in ensuring all class materials are accessible to all CSUB students.
Ordering Books: the CSUB 'Runner Bookstore
CSUB uses eFollett for ordering textbooks, which will then be sent to the ‘Runner Bookstore. They will arrange for new, used, and/or rental options of the textbooks you select.  Most departments also request that faculty copy someone in the department who tracks books, so check with your department regarding their policies.  
Lowering Course Costs: the Walter W. Stiern Library
The CSU system is committed to increasing “the quality, quantity and ease of access to free and affordable academic resources for faculty to choose for use in CSU instruction, scholarship, research and creative activity.” In addition to saving students money, both Affordable Learning Solutions (AL$) and Open Educational Resources (OER) have increased student retention and degree completion while also allowing faculty to make more equity-minded reading choices.
How can you lower costs and diversify your course content?
 
  • Use Open Educational Resources in place of a for-purchase textbook. Open use textbooks are available in many disciplines. 
  • Use a library E-book. These may not be traditional textbooks. However, the CSUB Library purchases many E-books with unlimited user access. These books are available to all students. Your Library Liaison can help to ensure that the E-book you choose is licensed for this use.
  • Place a copy of your textbook on Course Reserves in the library for student use.
  • Contact Kirstin Lattimore about AL$.


Another approach, depending on your discipline, is to assign multiple readings from various sources instead of a traditional textbook. You can tailor the resources to your students' needs and link to articles already licensed for student use.

Understand the Needs of Students with accomodations 

How Do I Know If a Student Needs Accomodations? 

You will receive a letter from Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) regarding the need for accommodations. Most often the student will approach you at the end of the first class to talk to you about it. 
 
  • What are Common Accommodations?
  • Extra time on quizzes/exams
  • Note-taker
  • Media captioning
  • Accommodations in the classroom
How Can I Be More Inclusive in the Classroom?
If you have a deaf or hard-of-hearing student in a face-to-face classroom, you can imagine how difficult it is to watch both the instructor and the interpreter and take accurate notes.  Please consider adopting the following accessibility practices (note how these will benefit all of your students too!):
A pace that is too slow is as difficult to interpret as a pace that is too fast.  
The visual learner cannot watch the interpreter and look at a PowerPoint at the same time. After introducing a PowerPoint, allow time for the student to obtain the information conveyed and then focus on the screen before you proceed.
When talking to your student, look at the student, and not at the interpreter. Use “I” and “you” rather than such third-person statements as “ask her” or “tell him.”
Many new videos are already captioned but do check!  If the media is “closed captioned,” make sure you know how to turn on captions.
Ask all students to raise their hands and be recognized before speaking. Wait until the interpreter has finished communicating the entire prompt, so that the student has time to process the question and raise their hand to participate in the discussion.
The task of interpreting is cognitively and physically demanding. The allowance for breaks is especially important when there is only one interpreter in the class.
Schedule office hours

Why do we hold office hours?

  • We are contractually obligated to hold 5 office hours per week [see University Handbook 303.1.3 below].
  • You can get to know your students better (and vice versa). It is common to feel disconnected in an online teaching environment, so take the opportunity to put a face and voice to students’ names.  Plus, students want to work harder for faculty to whom they feel connected.
  • Students can ask questions and receive answers efficiently. Emails that go back and forth between can take more time than having a face-to-face conversation.
  • You can motivate students to succeed. There are two types of students who tend to seek out office hours: the high achievers and the struggling. During office hours visits, high-achieving students can be motivated to go even further, while struggling students can be guided to improve.
  •  You can learn how the course is going. You may think the course is progressing well. However, your students may have a different impression (or hidden struggles). Meeting with students during office hours can help you determine how the course is going and let you make timely adjustments.

Fun fact: some professors have rebranded this time as “Student Hours” because some students mistakenly thought “office hours” meant that it was the professor’s time to be left alone to work in their offices!  Whatever you call them, be available, be welcoming, and remind your students that this time is for them.  The FTLC made a video for students

 

University Handbook 303.1.3—Scheduling Office Hours
As members of the campus community, faculty members are expected to be regularly present on campus and available for interaction with students and colleagues. Full-time teaching faculty shall schedule office hours, so they are on campus and available to their students and colleagues at least five hours per week, and for at least one hour per day at least three (3) days each week of the academic term, including finals week. Deviations from this policy that would result in fewer days and/or hours per week require the formal written approval of the department chair and the appropriate school dean. Teaching faculty shall schedule office hours at times convenient for students, and these shall be included in course syllabi and clearly posted on or near the faculty member’s office door. Faculty members shall also make reasonable efforts to meet with students and colleagues who are not available during scheduled office hours. Part-time teaching faculty shall schedule office hours at the rate of at least one hour per week and with an additional 20 minutes per week for each WTU taught above 3. These are minimum expectations, and department policies may specify expectations for additional office hours. (Revised June 12, 2015) Teaching on-line courses does not reduce the expectation for being present on campus.