We are excited to launch the Concourse syllabus management system for the second 8-week term. Concourse greatly simplifies the syllabus creation, replication, review, and storage processes. To prepare second 8-week faculty to use this product, we are offering several training opportunities to prepare for the term. In my experience with this product, it is very intuitive and simple to use. To begin, please find the Concourse tab in Canvas Course Navigation panel for each assigned second 8-week course.

Recommend moving Concourse Syllabus link under the Home link.

I would recommend sliding the tile further up the Navigation list, so it is easier to access. Using this tile, you can begin editing your course syllabus. An important item to note, please DO NOT click on any of the red “x’s” within the Concourse syllabus. You will become more familiar with the product very soon, however, that button deletes the field for that part of the syllabus.

Please see the training video and materials for Concourse below and attached. We encourage you to review the training materials to become familiar with the system.

Webinar recordings (fully asynchronous):

*To access the webinar recordings above, users will need to select Sign Up in the upper-right corner of the website to create a free account. If you think there might be some faculty resistance to creating another account (completely understandable), the videos are downloadable. One person at BHC could create an account to access the videos and then download them for hosting on a platform that your faculty find more usable.

Knowledge base articles for syllabus editors:

How do I edit a syllabus in Concourse? - This article explains how to add and edit items and subitems.
How do I edit syllabus content in Concourse? - This article explains how to add tables, images, and pasted text from other platforms.
How do I copy syllabus content in Concourse? - This article explains how to copy content from one syllabus to another, which is a great time-saver for faculty.

A quick start guide for syllabus editors is attached to this message.

You can also review our instructor training templates, which are downloadable from our knowledge base. These templates are available as a slide deck or Word doc that you can customize before delivering or sharing. These templates include step-by-step instructions for using each syllabus item; with these templates, you can make minor textual and image changes to provide instructors with a fully customized and applicable resource in less time than generating training materials normally takes. Concourse leaders typically download the Word document and make it available as an asynchronous resource; the slide deck can be customized to support synchronous training if you would like.

We also have some pre-recorded train the trainer webinars and a quick start guide for Concourse trainers (also attached). Please note that the quick start guide for trainers references the CV feature, which I understand is not enabled in your Concourse environment. The other training suggestions on the guide apply to your implementation.

In addition to the Concourse materials, both myself and Dr. Barnes-Tilley will be available for training/troubleshooting:

Dr. Barnes-Tilley will be available Tuesday, Oct 6, from 2:00-4:00 p.m. Via Teams (link forthcoming), as well as Thursday, Oct 8th from 9:00-11:00 a.m. in the TLC Q1-213 for both in person and virtual attendance (link forthcoming). If attending in person on Thursday, please bring your laptop.
I have reserved the computer lab in Q3-315 from 9:00-2:00 on Tuesday 10/13 for both in-person and virtual assistance (link forthcoming).
Dr. Barnes-Tilley will also be available next Friday, Oct 16 afternoon by request, if additional training is needed.

Thank you,
John Castree

Dean of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Black Hawk College
6600 34^th Avenue
Moline, IL 61265
309-796-5048
Castreej@bhc.edu