Course promotion

This course promotion page is intended to establish and clarify a fair and equitable approach to the promotion of new courses. In addition, the page includes general course promotion tips for departments.

Arts Undergraduate Office policy on new course promotion

  • A new topic in an existing seminar or discussion course rubric (e.g. ARTS 190; PSCI 403; etc.) will count as a new course offering for these purposes.
  • New course offerings will be promoted once per term in smARTSpace on LEARN during open course selection periods.
  • We can also promote new courses on the digital screen in the PAS corridor and share on Twitter at any time.
  • To avoid burdening students with unsolicited communications, the AUO will not send course promotion emails to students.
  • The department is responsible for creating online and print course promotion:
    • Include course title, code, description, pre-requisites, and/or a link to a website for more information.
    • A one-page PDF poster with new course information can be submitted for posting near their office.
    • Emails with poster attached may also be sent to the department’s own majors, as well as to the Arts undergraduate advisor list, available from the AUO.
    • Note: do not use the Artsannounce email list for course promotion, as the list is intended for events.
  • Please submit new course information by
    • May 1 (Fall offerings)
    • September 1 (Winter offerings)
    • January 1 (Spring offerings)
    • Anytime for digital screen and Twitter promotion.

How to promote your course

Please note: for safety reasons, course instructor and location information cannot be included in online course promotion or listings.

Choose an eye-catching image

  • Select a relevant image for course promotion. Landscape (horizontal) images work best for web, social media and digital screens. If you choose a portrait (vertical) format, look for one that can be cropped for a variety of uses.
  • Choose an image that is licensed for re-use (to avoid copyright issues). There are many sources of free images available for re-use including:
    • A Google Image search. Go to Tools>Usage Rights and select "labelled for re-use"
    • Pixabay
    • Unsplash

Set up a landing page (if needed)

  • A landing page can provide more information about the new course, such as a longer course description.
  • On the department website, create a web page about the course, which should be located within the Undergraduate section of the site, e.g. Undergraduate>Courses.
  • Add the title, description and any other relevant information as text on the page along with the image.
  • Avoid uploading an image of the course poster — it isn't accessible to people using a screen reader or a screen magnifier, search engines will ignore it, and it could be difficult to read on a mobile device.

Create a homepage banner (if needed)

  • Create an attractive homepage banner image, write the course title in the caption, and link the caption to the new web page about the course. Make sure your new banner is the same size as existing banners on your website.

Promote on social media

  • Promote the course page link on your departmental social media – including handles or hashtags of relevant departments whose students may be interested in; also tag student clubs or groups such as Arts Student Union (ASU) and look for relevant student clubs outside your discipline.
  • Create an image and copy for each channel. Remember, each channel has different image sizes and functionality. (For instance, Twitter and Facebook let you include the link right in the post - avoid using "link in bio" because it's an extra step people won't likely take.)

Create a poster

  • Create an attractive poster using the same image used for web and social media (it can be cropped differently for different purposes. Think "consistent, not identical".)
  • Send the page link and the poster PDF to undergraduate administrative assistants in relevant departments, including those in other faculties, if appropriate, as an elective course (department administrators should be listed on their respective websites under ‘Our people’). Ask them to share posters with students via print on noticeboards and/or social media.
  • Print the poster and take 20 copies to the Arts Student Union office in AL; they will post them for you in Arts buildings free of charge (you just need to fill in a short form)

Submit to the Registrar's Office website

Things to avoid

  • Do not use the Artsannounce email list for course promotion, as the list is intended for events and is mostly used by faculty and staff.
  • Using the same poster/graphic across all of your channels. What works on a wall often doesn't work on web or social media. A little time crafting graphics and messages for different purposes will help increase engagement. Content that doesn't follow best practices can be a reputational risk.