WCU's Commons for Teaching and Learning Excellence

Dynamic Stability

Last Friday, I had the great privilege to attend the "unconference" hosted by the Distinguished Professors at WCU. Our conversations revolved around supporting each other in collaborative works that transcend our current organizations and our current systems.  We considered what it means to be and/or to create a "hub of innovation" at WCU.  We talked about making sure in innovating that we are able to cooperate with and leverage existing areas of excellence, about where we have room to grow as an institution in our support of faculty as innovators, and about what some of the models for innovation might be.

I was encouraged to be among a creative and engaged group of faculty and excited by the possibilities that stand before us.  As someone who is tasked with keeping the current systems running, though, I recognize the delicate balance that we often walk between the dreaming and the day-to-day.  We aspire to greatness and are willing to push the limits, but we expect the water to run, the internet to work, the electricity and the environmental controls to be "on," and to stay in an environment that is safe for all.

October is a pivot month for all of us.  As faculty, no doubt, you are considering what has gone well, what might be changed for the better in the future, and what has served its purposes.  October is also often a pivot point for our curricula, a time when students realize just how much is to be done.  Additionally, most of us have the joy of experiencing the liminal beauty of our lush forests as they move through the glory of the many-colored transition that highlights a cycle of dynamic stability.

I'd like to invite you to join us in considering the dynamism that comes with our growth and how it relates to learning spaces on campus.  The Space Management Committee and the Academic Space Advisory Board are seeking your input about the configuration and upgrades of our general classrooms.  They work to have bi-annual forums to seek faculty input.  They are having one on October 18.  See the info below and come and participate.

In the beauty and the dynamic change, the staff of the CFC  hope to be by your side through the iteration, innovation, and engagement that is a part of your mission as faculty and our mutual mission in service of education.

Here for You,

Jonathan D. Wade, PhD
Acting Director, Coulter Faculty Commons

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the Coulter Faculty Commons at 828-227-7196.  If you have a basic Blackboard question or need, the ITHelp Desk can get you started at 828-227-7487.

Check out our webpage at cfc.wcu.edu

Open Forum on Academic Learning Spaces

Faculty, your feedback, and input on the direction of academic space management is highly important to the groups that are tasked with using the resources we have to upgrade and maintain the classrooms in which you teach.

Twice a year the Academic Space Advisory Board, a campus board chartered to consider the use and continuous improvement of academic learning spaces, calls for an open faculty forum to hear your concerns and ideas about how the next wave up classroom updates should progress.

On Thursday, October 18 at 3:30 pm, you are invited to join the ASAB to learn about current plans for classroom renewal and to give your input about the process and direction of those plans.

What: Open Forum on Learning Spaces

Where:  The Grand Room in the UC

When: Thursday, October 18, at 3:30 pm

For more information feel free to contact Larry Hammer, the chair of the committee or Jonathan Wade.

Collaborative Learning Workshop

Location: Hunter Library 186

Time: November 6, 1:30 – 3:00 p.m.

Join Dr. Maurice Phipps and the Coulter Faculty Commons in Hunter Library 186 on November 6 from 1:30-3:00, to learn more about collaborative learning, particularly how to use low and no tech sorting strategies to more effectively engage students in group activities. 

This workshop is for professors who wish to use group work in their teaching or are already using groups that may not be working very well. The use of groups without some specific strategies can produce conflict and ineffective learning. Cooperative Learning is a method that can enhance learning by making groups functional. It can include concepts like distributed leadership, skills like conflict resolution and strategies like setting group norms and jigsaws.

This initial workshop is to give a basic understanding of Cooperative Learning including the five elements required to make it work but also to stimulate many other ideas on making group work enjoyable as well as effective.

The workshop will be followed up with the formation of a support group for anyone wishing to dive deeper into cooperative learning, experiential learning, and making groups work effectively.

To register, visit this link. Registration will close October 5. If you have any questions please contact Jonathan Wade. 

We are Archiving and Deleting Large Courses

As a reminder, if you have a course over a gigabyte in size, and have been notified by the CFC, the course needs to be reduced in size by mid Fall semester. Please refer to the instructions sent in a previous email on how to back up your course content and how to move videos to Panopto. Click the purple button below for resources. You may have to sign into Panopto.

Faculty Writing Groups are underway!

Do you need a quiet place away from your office to complete some research or work on a manuscript? If so, the Coulter Faculty Commons has started hosting their weekly Faculty Writing Groups.

If you are a professor based on the main Cullowhee campus we will be hosting a group in our Writing Studio on Mondays in Hunter Library room 182 from 10-12.

If you are a professor based at HHS we will be hosting a writing group at the HHS campus on Tuesdays from 1-3 in HHS 333. 

If you have any questions or would like to sign up for a group please contact Kelsey Woodburn.

Brown Bag Lunch:  Formative Assessment

October 18, 2018

Third Thursday Brown Bag Lunch Sessions are designed to provide proactive and quick training, tips, and tools to help faculty members continually pursue excellence in their teaching. The next session is scheduled for October 18, 2018, 12:00-1:00 in Hunter Library, Rm. 166

October 18: Formative Assessment