Review the pedagogical and technical information below to inform your progress in Week Eleven. Have questions about what you learned here or ideas for future tips? Join Coffee & Answers (open support Zoom sessions with the Academic Technology Team) or email the Office of Teaching and Learning.
Don't miss the important Spring 2027 registration updates and advising guides included below!
Pedagogical
What does it truly mean to integrate Cura Personalis into our daily interactions and course design?
Defining Cura Personalis
Cura Personalis is defined as care for the whole person, and as faculty and staff at a Jesuit institute we want to educate and develop them into fully whole adults. Cura Personalis is that we see all of our students individually and consider all of the pieces of their life when working with and educating them.
First Generation Students & Cura Personalis
Three challenges for many first gen students are: 1) navigating college culture, including understanding jargon, 2) feeling too intimidated to ask their professor questions and not wanting to look/sound dumb, and 3) figuring out how to keep up with school work, while working, and often handling family responsibilities. Tips to address these challenges:
- Explain academic terminology, expectations, and available resources explicitly.
- First gen students may be learning college expectations while simultaneously navigating coursework. Don't assume students already know what office hours are, how to study for a college exam, how to interpret a rubric, or even how to communicate with a professor.
- Offer multiple ways to ask questions, including office hours, email, and anonymous question submissions.
- Students are more likely to seek help when they believe their faculty members care about them and their success. Build trust by learning students' names, inviting questions, and communicating that having questions is a normal part of learning, not evidence that they don't belong.
- Build in reasonable flexibility and communicate late work policies clearly.
- First gen students often bring their full lives into the classroom, including work schedules, family responsibilities, financial pressures, and personal aspirations. Caring for the whole person means recognizing these realities while maintaining academic expectations.
Ignatian Pedagogical Paradigm
There are concrete ways of instilling Cura Personalis into your own instruction, and one might be adding experience into course learning. One of the experiential learning models at SJU is the Service-Learning Program, which is developed from the Jesuit educational model of Ignatian Pedagogical Paradigm of:
- Context - understanding student life and culture
- Experience - providing intellectual and affective learning opportunities
- Reflection - of meaning for self and others
- Action - the external expression of learned content
- Evaluation - of student growth
Service-Learning, housed in the Faith-Justice Institute, “is a form of experience-based education where students engage in service as part of their academic course work…”
– Danielle Critelli - ‘13, '15 (MS), ‘22 (MS) (She/Her); Associate Director; The Faith-Justice Institute
– Dr. Rebecca Smith - Associate Professor of Practice; Sociology
Technical
How do we translate our care for the whole person into our digital course design?
Creating an accessible course in Canvas helps ensure that all students, regardless of ability, device, or learning context, can fully engage with course materials. Did you know that Canvas now has a course-wide Accessibility Checker which will scan Pages & Assignments? The tool quickly flags common issues such as missing alternative text for images, poor color contrast, or incorrectly structured headings. Other strategies for improving course accessibility include:
- Use structured headings (Heading 2, Heading 3, etc.) instead of simply bolding text so screen readers can navigate the page more easily.
- Provide descriptive alt text for images so students using screen readers understand visual content.
- Write meaningful link text (for example, “Download the syllabus”) instead of vague phrases like “click here.”
- Upload accessible documents, such as properly formatted Word files or readable PDFs with selectable text.
- Include captions for videos and transcripts for audio, supporting students who are deaf or hard of hearing and those studying in different environments.
- Maintain a consistent course structure, such as predictable module layouts and clearly labeled due dates.
- Preview materials in Student View or with accessibility tools to identify potential barriers before students encounter them.
By integrating these practices into everyday course design, instructors make their courses more inclusive, usable, and effective for all learners.
Additional Resources
Spring 2027 Registration Begins Soon!
The Spring 2027 course schedule, student registration times, and registration PINs (for programs that require them) are now available. Registration start dates are listed below. Please note that class standing is determined by earned credits.
- Monday, November 2nd – Graduate and degree completion students
- Tuesday, November 3rd – Seniors (84+ earned credits)
- Thursday, November 5th – Juniors (54–83 earned credits)
- Tuesday, November 10th – Sophomores (24–53 earned credits)
- Thursday, November 12th – First-years (0–23 earned credits)
Registering for classes can be a complex and stressful process for students. Undergraduate Advising Support offers tools, guidance, and resources to help you and your advisees navigate registration successfully.
Registration Resources for Hawk Hill/UC Advisors
- The Advisor Checklist helps you prepare for meetings with your advisees.
- Review the session recording form the Spring 2027 Registration Info Session held on Thursday, October 23.
- Access additional tools in the Registration Resources section of the Faculty Advisor Toolkit for Hawk Hill/UC Faculty.
Registration Resources for Lancaster Advisors
- Review the session recording from the Faculty Drop-in Session held on October 9: Preparing for Spring 2027 Registration, Checking Midterm Grades, and Communicating with Students
- Access additional tools in the Registration Resources section of the Advisor Toolkit for Lancaster Faculty.
Registration Resources for Students
Undergraduate Advising is sending regular emails to students with key reminders and registration tips. Please encourage your advisees to review the Student Registration Guide. There are separate links for Lancaster and Hawk Hill/UC undergraduate students.
– Maria Beazley - Director, Undergraduate Advising Support
– Matthew Lesuer - Associate Director of Undergraduate Advising Support, Lancaster
Are these tips helpful? Do you have a topic we should include in future weeks? Please let us know by emailing otl@sju.edu!