Sign up for FA26 Foundations in College Teaching program, starts Sept. 8

The six-week Fall 2026 session of the Certificate of Foundations in College Teaching runs Tues., Sept. 8, through Fri., Oct.16, and is open to all Purdue West Lafayette, Purdue in Indianapolis, and Purdue Polytechnic Statewide faculty, graduate students, postdocs, and staff. Register here.

Foundations is offered by the Center for Instructional Excellence (CIE). It provides an overview of evidence-based teaching practices and strategies.  

The online program is delivered in an asynchronous format, covers central topics in college teaching, and asks participants to reflect on concepts, experiences, and applications at the end of each topic. The program consists of four main modules: Reflecting on Teaching & Learning, Defining and Assessing Student Learning, Creating a Learner-Centered Environment, and Building Upon the Foundations. Participants should plan to devote approximately three hours during each week of the program.   

What a typical week will look like:  

• Engage with content in each unit module.   
• Share a short reflection in a small discussion group.   
• Optional: Join facilitators for weekly Coffee Hour Discussions.  

Questions about the Certificate of Foundations in College Teaching Program may be emailed to Annika Kraft and Emma Callahan at teachercertificate@purdue.edu.  

CIE is a member of Innovative Learning, Purdue’s hub approach to connect Purdue instructors to the resources they need to engage students, develop courses in any instructional modality, and enhance learning across the University. Other members include Libraries and the School of Information Studies and Purdue University Online. To learn more, visit the Innovative Learning website or email InnovativeLearningTeam@purdue.edu.  

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Purdue begins phased implementation of Simple Syllabus in Brightspace 

Following Purdue’s selection of Simple Syllabus as its system‑wide syllabus management tool, the University is conducting a phased implementation with a full launch for Fall 2026 courses, when all syllabi will be posted by instructors using the new tool. The implementation emphasizes instructor input, flexibility, and support as all Purdue campuses transition to a shared platform for creating, managing, and sharing course syllabi.   

Simple Syllabus will be integrated directly within the Brightspace learning management system and is intended to support instructors by streamlining syllabus creation and updates while preserving their control over course content, structure, and tone. The platform will help reduce duplicated effort related to institutional information and student- versus public-facing viewing. It also offers flexibility in design while providing a built-in accessibility checker.   

Internal development and/or review processes for syllabi will not be affected by the implementation this summer, which will proceed in stages to allow time for feedback, training, and refinement. (Summer Session instructors in West Lafayette and Indianapolis will continue to post their public-facing versions to Course Insights. All fall 2026 syllabi will be posted via Simple Syllabus).   

May 2026: Technical integration of Simple Syllabus with Brightspace and development of training materials.   

June 2026: Pilot of Purdue “sandbox” and training.  

July 2026: Refinement of training materials and instructor support resources from the pilot. For West Lafayette and Indianapolis courses, Course Insights will be viewable and editable for Summer 2026 and prior sessions; however, Fall 2026 syllabi must be posted via Simple Syllabus.

August 2026: Full launch for Fall 2026 courses, with ongoing support available to instructors. All public-facing syllabi components required by Indiana HEA 1001 will need to be posted using Simple Syllabus. The same document, but with additional student-facing information provided by the instructor, is shared with students via Brightspace.  

Throughout the rollout, Purdue will offer training, documentation, and campus-based support.  

For technical questions, contact Purdue University Information Technology. For questions about the Simple Syllabus implementation on your campus, contact:  

Purdue West Lafayette and Indianapolis: Innovative Learning, InnovativeLearningTeam@purdue.edu  

Purdue Fort Wayne: Center for the Enhancement of Learning and Teaching, celt@pfw.edu  

Purdue Northwest: Center for the Faculty Excellence, cfe@pnw.edu   

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Accessibility remediation tool Yuja Panorama in Brightspace: join an upcoming workshop

Following the recent announcement of Purdue’s selected digital accessibility remediation tool, YuJa Panorama, several workshops will be available for all instructors at all Purdue campuses starting May 26. This milestone marks an important step forward in supporting instructors as they work to ensure course materials meet evolving ADA digital accessibility requirements.

YuJa Panorama, integrated directly within Brightspace, is designed to help instructors identify and address accessibility issues in course content more efficiently, supporting the creation of accessible learning experiences for all students. 

To help get started, all instructors are invited to attend one of several upcoming workshops. These sessions offer a practical introduction to YuJa Panorama, demonstrate how to interpret accessibility reports within the tool, and highlight workflows and strategies for prioritizing and remediating your course content. 

Tuesday, May 26 | 11 a.m.-12 noon EDT | Tuesday session information 

Wednesday, May 27 | 1-2 p.m. EDT | Wednesday session information 

Thursday, May 28 | 3-4 p.m. EDT | Thursday session information 

Each session will cover the same material, so please select the time that best fits your schedule. The training will be recorded and available on the YuJa support website afterward. If you are not teaching a course this semester, there will be future workshops in the Fall 2026 and Spring 2027 semesters. 

Questions about YuJa Panorama may be emailed to innovativelearningteam@purdue.edu. 

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