Important systems related to the work of a block director include file storage, Canvas, Elentra (the curriculum management system) and room scheduling.

File Storage

Thread, and Theme Leaders (BTT) SharePoint site is the faculty facing shared workspace and file storage for the Thread/Themes curriculum.  This is where faculty share content, schedules, and assessment plans that will be used for Thread/Themes courses/sessions. Each Thread and Themes has there own folders organized by Entering class year (EYR). It is considered the file of record for yearly content and can be reviewed by LCME. Please contact the Thread/Theme admin (link to the foundations directory) for access.

Responsibilities:  

Thread/Theme Directors upload content and other materials to SharePoint and inform the Thread/Theme admin when it is ready to be posted. 

Thread/Theme Admins copy the content from SharePoint to Canvas and OneDrive.

Canvas

Canvas is the University of Washington Learning Management System (LMS). Canvas course web sites are used to distribute course materials, communicate with students, and conduct some assessment activities like quizzing and grading. The Canvas course site design is consistent across all blocks.

The Canvas Timeline: 

• About 4 months prior to the start of a block, the Development Site (Dev Site) is created. This is where the Canvas site for the block is built by the block and Thread/theme admins with input from the Block/Thread/Theme Directors. 
• 1 month prior to the start of the block, the Dev Site is copied into 6 separate Canvas Sites (one for each location in the region). Each of the regional sites has its own URL.
• Region faculty and staff have two weeks to make local adjustments. 
• 2 weeks prior to the start of the blocks, all 6 Canvas sites are published, making them available to students.

Canvas notifications: Block/Thread/Theme directors are automatically given permissions to view and get notifications from Canvas courses for all blocks. See these instructions on how to manage Canvas notifications for all Canvas courses or how to manage notifications for individual Canvas courses. Please note that students have been told they can turn off all Canvas notifications.

Responsibilities: 

Thread/Theme Directors are responsible for the content that is displayed on the Canvas site and for determining what materials get displayed on the site. (Sample Canvas Site)

Thread/Theme Admins:

• Build out the Thread/Theme Canvas pages, based on the current course templates.
• Upload and/or link all Thread/theme course materials to Canvas.
• Make sure the regional sites stay current if changes are made to materials.

Elentra (Curriculum Management System)

Elentra is the Foundations Curriculum Management System (CMS) and is a cloud database that is crucial in our reporting for LCME accreditation and for providing schedules to students.

All learning objectives (Session Level [SLOs], Block Level [BLOs], and Program Level [PLOs]) for the Foundations Curriculum are stored in Elentra, as well as all objective mappings and faculty assignments. Each learning event (session) is tagged with the appropriate SLOs, USMLE Content Descriptors, and threads/themes tags.

Though Thread/Theme Directors do not have to go into Elentra they can see schedules, sessions, and SLOs for all courses in Elentra and explore other curriculum management reporting. (See the Elentra Faculty Guide for instructions).

Responsibilities: 

Thread/Theme Directors are responsible for completing the session schedule, SLOs, BLOs, objective mapping, USMLE mapping, and Thread/Theme Tagging on the Detailed Block Schedule in time for Lockdown.

Thread/Theme Admins work with the block admins to complete the Elentra event upload sheets (due 5 weeks before the start of the block), which are used to upload all the information into the database. 

Room Scheduling and Reservations

The Foundations Curriculum uses departmental lecture halls T435 and T439, along with small group rooms on the 5th floor of the T-Wing, during regular block lecture and exam times. Additional rooms in the new Health Sciences Education Building and other campus locations may be requested in advance, though availability is not guaranteed. Faculty and students may also request small group rooms outside of regular hours for meetings, clubs, or office hours. For details, please visit the Rooms Scheduling and Reservation intranet page.