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Guide to Orientation Letters
Home > Academics > Online Education > Faculty Support > Guide to Orientation Letters
Outside view of College of the Canyon's Library
Guide to Orientation Letters
Home > Academics > Online Education > Faculty Support > Guide to Orientation Letters

Guide to Orientation Letters

Faculty Guide to Orientation Letters

Welcome!

If you are a new instructor at COC, please see the FAQ section for why we post orientation letters for students, who should submitt letters, and what to include (and not include) in our letters.

If you are scheduled to teach a class in an upcoming semester, please check the Orientation Letter site to make sure the letter(s) posted apply to your upcoming course(s). Read below on how to edit an existing letter, or submit a new letter.

laptop showing student-facing orientation letter website

How to Review Your Letters

If you are scheduled to teach a class in an upcoming semester, please check the Orientation Letter site to make sure the letter(s) posted apply to your upcoming course(s). You may then decide to edit an existing letter, or submit a new letter.

How to Edit an Existing Letter

  1. Visit My Orientation Letters (Log-in using your CanyonsID).
  2. Click on the letter's Edit Link to open your letter.
  3. Make your changes, then click Save.

If your letter is linked on the Orientation Letter site, you will be able to immediately see updates on your published letter. If you scroll to the bottom of your letter, note the "Last updated" date to verify your most recent changes were updated. You may use the same edit link to make changes to your published letter as often as you'd like.

Note: If you make significant changes to your letter, such as modifying semester-specific information, or changing the length or format, please email the Online Ed team to let them know to update the link on the website.

  • You can now access and edit all of your existing orientation letters from your Faculty MyCanyons Account! Here's how:

    1. Log into MyCanyons
    2. Click on the Faculty Resources square
    3. Click on the My Orientation Letters Portal link.

    Access My Orientation Letter Portal from Faculty Resources in MyCanyons

    From the portal you can review your letters to ensure they are up to date, and make edits as needed before each term. Any edits to your existing letters will be automatically updated on the Orientation Letter page for your students.

How to Submit a New Letter

  1. Visit My Orientation Letters (Log-in using your CanyonsID).
  2. If you haven't previously submitted a letter for your course, click on the Orientation Letter Submission Form at the bottom of the page.
  3. Fill out the fields on the Orientation Letter form. Then click 'Save'.

After you submit a new letter via the Orientation Letter form please allow up to five business days for your letter to be added to the Orientation Letter site where students can access it.

New Feature! Embed a video in your letter

If you are looking for a way to spice up your letters, consider including a welcoming video to help students get to know you and learn about your class! The time between when a student registers, and the first week of class, is a high-opportunity zone to build trust, reduce anxiety, and set students up for success.

  • Adding a video to your orientation letter can be an effective way to help students understand what to expect in your course, anticipate time commitments, and begin preparing for success!

    Watch this short video for how to embed a video into an orientation letter to welcome and introduce students to your course. The same steps are described below the video.

    To embed a video into your orientation letter, follow these steps:

    Frist, log into your Orientation letter portal from either your MyCanyons account or the Online Education Faculty Support website. Your Orientation Letter portal will display all the letters you have submitted. Here, you can edit an existing letter with the Drupal Edit link or click on the Orientation Letter Form to Create a new letter.

    Next, on the Orientation Letter form, you will see the option to include a video.

    • You can embed a video from either YouTube or Canvas Studio.
    • With either option, you'll need to provide a title and brief introduction to your video, and then paste in your video ID.

    To find the video ID from YouTube:

    • Navigate to your YouTube video and select the 'Share,' button .
    • Then select and copy the unique ID at the end of the shareable link.
    • Then, paste it into the orientation letter form.

    If you are adding a video from Canvas Studio:

    • Find the video in your library and click on the three dots next to the video title. From the drop-down menu, select 'Share Media'.
    • On the 'Links' tab, copy the video ID, which begins after the word 'embed and paste it into the form.
    • After you've added the remaining content, scroll the bottom of the page and click 'Submit'.

If you have any questions about your published letter or special requests, please email the Online Education team at online@canyons.edu or call 661-362-3600. Thank you so much for all that you do to support student success in your courses!

Orientation Letter FAQs

  • Title V Requirements

    We have a legal obligation under the California Education CodeTitle V Section 55005 - Publication of Course Standards to disclose any required technology to students prior to enrollment. Title V requires that "[f]or each course offered, a community college shall make available to students through college publications all of the following facts before they enroll in the course:

    ….Whether the course is offered in a distance education format, and if so, include the following information:

    1. All online and in-person synchronous meeting days/dates and times;
    2. Any required asynchronous in-person activities;
    3. Any required technology platforms, devices and applications;
    4. Any test or assessment proctoring requirements."

    When students are looking to register for a course, or when browsing the schedule of classes, they are directed read their Instructor's Orientation Letter to provide this additional information.

    Humanize Your Class to Improve Student Success!

    Orientation letters are a great way to humanize your course before it begins by introducing yourself to your students! Orientation Letters Help Students to:

    • Understand course requirements.
    • Plan their schedules around any mandatory OnlineLIVE class sessions they need to attend.
    • Anticipate the time commitments & how they can succeed in your class.
    • Prepare for any hardware / software they may need.

  • Per the recommendation by the Academic Senate and requirements in teaching via Distance Education, all classes will need an Orientation Letter which describes for students: How the class will be taught (OnlineLIVE /synchronous, Online /asynchronous, or a combination of both), technology needs, and other relevant information necessary to meet the standards as outlined in the Course Outline of Record, while ensuring students have guidance on necessary virtual support services available to them.

  • The Orientation Letter Form will prompt you to include information about your course. You may also use this Orientation Letter Template to create your draft letter first before uploading it to the orientation letter form.

    Tip: To make your letter permanent (applicable to multiple sections, terms, and course lengths), you might consider wording like "I will send an email to the class one week prior to the start date with additional information" instead of "I will send an email on August 12th". For classes that have specific meeting dates and times, we have included wording to direct students to refer to their class schedule for the meeting dates and times.

  • You do not need to include information about how to log into Canvas or how to access resources such as Online Education, The Learning Center, Academic Accommodations Center (AAC), Online Counseling, and the management of stress. This information is automatically added to the end of every orientation letter.

In order to ensure students have access to orientation letters when they need them, the Orientation Letter website does not specify a particular semester, and displays letters that apply to all semesters.