Designing Welcoming Environments to Encourage Learning

Recommendations

• Send a welcome email to your students before class begins

• Discuss the importance of attendance on the first day

• Take and record attendance in each class

• Contact students if they miss class

• Learn students’ names and refer to them by name

First-Day Welcome Activities

The first day of class is an opportunity to share your vision of the class with your students. Introduce yourself as a scholar and educator, provide insight into the features and design of the class, and provide students with insight into the ways the class is designed to help them learn the content. 

Change the First Day Learning Experience: Design Welcome Activities that

• Creates excitement for the course

• Encourages community among students

• Familiarizes students with the learning environment

• Allows the students to get to know you as the professor 

Resources

Calendar Tool - EKU Class Schedule Calendar Import for Students

Encourage students to import their class schedule into their Outlook calendar. Reference this help document for instructions. 

Email all Advisors & Instructors 

Faculty can use the “Send Emails” tool in myEKU to communicate with a student’s other instructors and advisor. For access, go to: my EKU > Faculty card > Advisor Roster & RAC

Communication Samples 

Welcome Email Sample #1

Dear Students,

Welcome to <course name>. My name is <instructor name>, and I will be your instructor for the course. [Consider adding 1 or 2 sentences of additional information about yourself, such as how long you have been teaching, areas of interest, personal details, why you’re excited to teach this course, etc.].

About the Course

The course will meet in person on Monday, Wednesday, Fridays from 10:10 - 11 am <Provide meeting times/location or other instructional type. Include a few sentences about the course. This could be parts from the syllabus>. 

Getting Started

To access the online materials of the course login to Canvas. Course material can be found <location>. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions, concerns, or need a discussion about the course.

Attendance and Class Participation

EKU requires students to attend the first day of class or risk being dropped from the course. If you are unable to attend the first day please e-mail me prior to the first day. Class attendance and participation is critical to your success. It is expected you will attend class. If you are unable to attend or participate please contact me. 

If you have any questions about the course, please contact me at <contact info>. I will respond to you within <e.g. 24 hours> of your message. 

I’m looking forward to our course and getting off to a great start!

Welcome Email Sample #2

Dear <Course> Students,

I look forward to meeting you during our first class together on <date> in <classroom #>. (The <building name> is located next door to <campus reference point> and behind the <campus reference point>. When you walk into the building, the classroom will be directly on your right. Enter through the class doors, and use this Campus Map to help further.) There is no paper textbook for our class, but there is a free electronic textbook. An access code for our course book will be provided in our syllabus.

Our class's Canvas course site is available, which includes a tab to our syllabus. Please look around the site and resources. Additionally, please take a moment to complete this Welcome! Google Form <link to welcome form> before our class begins. This helps me to get to know you a bit. More on this next week. If you want to learn more about me, check out the "Dr. Last Name" tab under "CLASS CONTACTS" in our Blackboard course site.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to email me at <email address>. I can't wait to meet you!

<Professor Name>

Email after missing 2nd class

Dear <Student Name>

I have noticed you have missed class for the second time this semester. I am concerned about your attendance. In our course, attendance is part of your grade, and class participation is an important part of the learning process. 

I hope to see you in our next class. If you have any questions or concerns please email me. I’m happy to meet during office hours or by appointment. 

Best,

Progress Reports (Week Four)

Dear Students,

We are now at week <three / four> in the course. Each semester, EKU uses Progress Reports to allow for students to receive feedback on their progress in the course. This feedback can be used in the early weeks of the course to help you stay on track, improve performance, or seek academic support that will encourage your success. Please let me know if you would like to discuss your progress in the course to date. I’m happy to meet during office hours or by appointment. 

Best,

Checklist

• Introduce yourself

• Allow students to introduce themselves

• Discuss and evaluate the learning environment together

• Provide a course overview and ensure familiarity with the key components 

• Expectations for class time (design active-learning into class meetings)

• Expectations outside of class (provide clear access to resources) 

• Instructor responsibilities (the best way to communicate with you and expectations for responses)

• Student responsibilities (be transparent about the ways for students to be successful in each learning assessment and the course overall) 

• Learning Assessments (how student learning will be assessed in the course and the timeline for students to receive feedback)

• Cooperation/communication/resources (references and links to student academic resources) 

Attendance Policy (This is language included in Student Success Seminars)