Congratulations on your new position in the Faculty of Social Sciences at McMaster University!

This manual has been designed to help familiarize you with information that will be of assistance in relation to your new teaching position.  It has been written broadly so that it applies to new sessional instructors, new faculty members who are in contractually limited appointments (CLAs), and new faculty members who are in tenure-track or teaching-track appointments. The manual covers everything from getting your McMaster email account to receiving the results of course evaluations.  It is hoped that having all of this information at your fingertips will make your teaching experience easier and more enjoyable.

The emphasis in this manual is on teaching in the undergraduate program.  If you have any questions, or if you are wondering about something that has not been covered in this manual, please feel free to get in touch with one or more of the key contacts in your school/department.

Please Note:  The links were checked and working at the time of writing but they may become outdated over the next year.  In case the links become broken, we have attempted to provide enough information that you can still find the websites or referenced materials through a search.  

Faculty Contacts

Several staff members in and outside the Faculty of Social Sciences can assist you with specific teaching related questions, issues, or problems as they arise. Feel free to contact them for assistance.

Nick Marquis

Learning Technologies Consultant

Email: marquis@mcmaster.ca

Phone: (905) 525-9140 Ext. 24487

Office: LRW 1806 (1011B)

Social Sciences instructors can request a variety of teaching supports for classes including classroom setup questions and assistance, assistance with Avenue to Learn, editing course videos and managing digital content for courses, reviewing course material for digital accessibility, technical accommodations support for instructors or students in classes, real-time technical support during assignments, quizzes, virtual classes and more.

Michelle Alway

Faculty Liaison for Accommodations

Email: alwaym@mcmaster.ca

Michelle’s role is to help instructors implement accommodation strategies for students registered with Student Accessibility Services (SAS). She can help with student accommodation requests, provide guidance on pedagogical course design to ensure that the accommodation suggested by Student Accessibility Service works for the instructor and the course, complete and submit accommodation testing spreadsheet request forms, etc.

Stephanie Verkoeyen

Educational Developer, Faculty of Social Sciences Key Contact

Email: verkoeys@mcmaster.ca

Office: Mills Library, L504

For pedagogical support, the MacPherson Institute offers a wide variety of teaching and learning-related programs, workshops, services, and supports, including consultation and resources on specific teaching methods and course design.