Teaching

This page contains information and links for instructors teaching in the Faculty of Land & Food Systems (LFS).

If you are new to UBC, see the Guide to Teaching for New Faculty at UBC.

If you are new to LFS, see the New to LFS page for general HR information.

Access to Canvas

You will not have access to your Canvas course until the steps below have been completed:

  1. Your teaching appointment is active. Typically this will be done two weeks before the start of class. (Contact Melanie Train to confirm.)
  2. You have been added in the Course Schedule. (Contact LFS Student Services to confirm.)

Once the steps above are complete, you will automatically gain access to Canvas and the Faculty Service Centre (FSC).

TA Access to Canvas

Your TAs will not have access to your Canvas course until the following criteria are complete:

  1. Their LFS TA Online Application is complete.
  2. Their contract start date has passed - typically the first day of the term.*
  3. They have been added in the Course Schedule.**

*TAs cannot be given early access to Canvas due to union regulations.

**If this has not been done automatically within two business days after completing the LFS TA Online Application or if your TA loses access during their appointment period, please contact Virginia Frankian.

Canvas Setup and Training for Instructors

  1. Contact The LFS Learning Centre to book a consult for Canvas and other learning technologies, including:
  1. Upload your Syllabus in Canvas (see also Course Syllabus Guidelines)

Before the first day of class

  1. Consult the Course Schedule to see what room you will be teaching in.
  2. Consult UBC Learning Spacesto see what equipment is available in the room.
  3. Go to the room and test the AV system to make sure you have the right connectors for the projector and can connect to the wireless.
  4. If you encounter difficulties, book an AV Services Classroom Orientation. (Select Request a Service > Request Desktop or AV Support > select Audio Visual as support type.)

During class

If you encounter difficulties with the Classroom AV system, contact the Audio-Visual Services Helpdesk at 604 822-7956 or av.helpdesk@ubc.ca.

If you require extra equipment that is not in the room, the LFS Learning Centre may be able to loan you the equipment. View and book available equipment on the Learning Centre’s Booking page.

For information on changing your curriculum, please read the process document here.

For information on funding, see Finance Policies and select LFS Teaching Funds Policy and Course Fees.

You may also apply for the Teaching & Learning Enhancement Fund (TLEF), a central UBC fund for envisioning, creating and implementing innovative teaching and learning.

Teaching Assistant Hours

Contact the Academic Coordinator, Virginia Frankian to find out the following:

  • whether TA hours are assigned to your course
  • how to use the LFS TA Application to view and select TAs

To find out whether additional TA hours can be assigned to your course, please contact the Associate Dean, Academic, Sandra Brown, directly.”

Evaluations are an important part of teaching in LFS and can affect Promotion, Tenure and Reappointment.

Mid-Course Feedback

LFS strongly encourages the use of Mid-Course Feedback.

You may book a consult with the LFS Learning Centre to discuss this topic further.

Peer Review of Teaching

LFS has a specific process for reviewing teaching within the Faculty. For more information, see Peer Review of Teaching.

Final Course Evaluations

Final course evaluations will open in the last two weeks of a course. Instructors and students will receive a notification email with instructions.

If you do not receive an email on the survey open date for your courses, or if students inform you that the course is not being evaluated, contact support@seot.ubc.ca.

If students do not receive an email, they can still access the course evaluations within Canvas.

Questions are separated into three sets: University Questions, LFS-specific questions, and instructor-defined questions.

It is strongly recommended that you give students the option of completing the survey in class by setting aside 20 minutes at the beginning or end of a lecture.

You will not be able to access to your evaluations until after the exam period and all LFS final grades have been submitted.

All final grades must be submitted through the Faculty Service Centre (FSC). For instructions and submission deadlines, see the Faculty Service Centre (FSC) User Guide.

The deadline for submitting final grades for courses without final exams (e.g. directed studies, internships, thesis) is typically five (5) days after the last day of the exam period.

If you cannot submit a student’s grade by the deadline, please contact LFS Student Services.

For more information on the various resources available for undergraduate students, see LFS Student Services.

For graduate students, see the LFS Graduate Student Handbook.

Early Alert

Academic Misconduct

All academic misconduct cases must be reported to the Associate Dean Academic, Sandra Brown.

More information can be found on this page here.

Resources and information for Instructors and Students about Teaching Assistantships can be found here.