Welcome New Faculty

This page is intended to make your first couple of weeks at UCCS less stressful and more productive. The links below have been organized according to when you will need the information and where to go for it.

Essentials – Do these first!

HR Paperwork:

Sign contract, take oath (required by Colorado constitution), and most importantly, get your Employee ID number,which is a six-digit number that you will use on official forms (including parking permit application below).

Faculty ID:

University Center Information Desk, located just outside of the bookstore. You need it for everything. If you join the credit union, ENT, you can use it as a cash card.

Parking permit:

All cars parked on campus must display a parking pass. Obtain it at the Department of Public Safety (lower leverl of parking garage). An alternative to parking on campus (which is about $500/yr deducted from monthly paycheck) is to park in the Four Diamonds parking lot on N. Nevada and take the shuttle up the hill. Faculty who come to campus to teach only on certain days (M/W, for example) can get partial passes for those days.

IT Account, Email:

Your login ID is also your username for email, and it is automatically created when all of the HR paperwork has been processed. You will need this ID (which is typically your first initial and first seven letters of your last name) and password for logging into any campus computer and the classroom podia . It is also your Blackboard and Faculty Portal login. Tenure-track faculty and instructors will also be added to the online campus directory, but lecturers will not. For IT Help, call 719-255-3536 or email helpdesk@uccs.edu. The IT Help Desk web site has instructions for network access, configuring email, hardware recommendations, etc.

Computer access:

If you have a startup package, the computer setup should be arranged with IT by the departmental administrative assistant. If you don't have a computer in your office when you get here, come to the FRC and use our PCs or Macs.

Office/Phone/Keys:

Contact your departmental administrative assistant.

Ordering books :

Order online at the UCCS Bookstore site or call Sharon Coddington at 255-3250.

For the beginning of classes...

Campus policies that you should include in your syllabus:

There are several required statements that should be inserted into your syllabus regarding students with disabilities and those serving in the military:

  • "Disabilities Services: Students with disabilities should turn in their disability verification letters within the first two weeks of class. For further information, contact Disability Services, Main Hall 105, 255-3354. For more information, see the Disability Services page.
  • "Military students: If you are a military student with the potential of being called to military service and/or training during the course of the semester, you are encouraged to contact your UCCS course instructor no later than the first week of class to discuss the class attendance policy. Please see the Military Students web site for more information."

Also important:

  • UCCS Student Code of Conduct and Classroom Behavior Policy
  • Email is the official communication at UCCS and therefore you are responsible for regularly logging into or forwarding your UCCS email account to check for class and official messages. 
  • Suggested statement regarding Blackboard:

    "This course will use Blackboard for [posting materials, email, handing in assignments, quizzes, group work, etc.] and you are responsible for knowing what it posted there and due dates. The log in page is bb.uccs.edu. Log in with your UCCS credentials (user ID and password). If you need help with Blackboard, click on the help (?) icon in the upper right on the course page. If you have forgotten your password, go to the IT Help Desk web site and the Account & Password Help Quick Link to change your password.

Something to consider: Everyone using the campus lab printers must pay to print.

  • Please see the information about Pawprints (campus printing management system). Consider paperless grading (without a hard copy) via Blackboard, or asking students to print their assignments double-sided, which is the default printer setting in the labs. If faculty or staff members print in the labs, the cost will be charged to their department. Printers in faculty offices are supported by IT, but supplies and paper are purchased by the department.
  • Photocopies can be done through the departmental copier that takes a departmental code assigned by the administrative assistant. Orders for many pages or large documents can be placed through the Copy Center. The Copy Center is in the University Center. You may email your files to them as attachments to be copied and picked up later.
  • Use Blackboard to post docs or pdf files and to collect assignments to avoid printing, copying, and handing out paper.

Blackboard: The campus learning management system is Blackboard Learn 9.1.

See the FRC Blackboard Support pages for more information.

A couple of things to know about Blackboard:

  • Every instructor on the books for courses has a course shell created automatically, with the student registrations also uploaded automatically. Go to bb.uccs.edu and log in with your campus credentials. If you are the instructor of record in the system, you will see your courses listed. If you do not see any courses, you are probably not yet in the system as the instructor of record. Check with your department administrative assistant. If you have an urgent need to access your Blackboard course, contact your college Blackboard admin to be manually enrolled.
  • Save time by bringing your readings and other materials to the FRC for scanning or digitizing. You can post these in your Blackboard course shell.
  • In order for your students to access your course, you must make your course available to them. This is done within each course: Go to Control Panel > Customization > Properties and choose Yes next to Make Course Available.
  • For training on the effective use of Blackboard, call the FRC at 255-4872 or go to our Calendar for scheduled training options.

Instructional Technology

UCCS IT Helpdesk:

For technical assistance with hardware, email, UCCS campus network (wireless, VPN), or to order software with academic licensing, contact the UCCS IT HelpDesk, helpdesk@uccs.edu, 719-255-3536, Monday – Friday, 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM, located on the ground floor of the El Pomar Center (under the clock tower). You may walk in for help.

Smart Classrooms

Most of the campus classrooms are "smart", i.e., outfitted with a podium, computer, DVD/VHS player and ceiling mounted digital projector. To find out which classrooms are smart, go to the IT Smart Classrooms page and find the building on the left navigation. To find the location of your classrooms, go to the Course Information Center. If you have other questions or need assistance with the technology in the smart classrooms, contact Andy Burkart, Smart Classroom Manager, at rburkart@uccs.edu or 255-4291.

Technology and some smart classrooms in Dwire Hall and Engineering are supported by college IT staff instead of campus IT. For questions, call College of Business IT (COBIT) at 255-4440 or College of Engineering and Applied Science IT 255-3333.

Library Information