WCU's Commons for Teaching and Learning Excellence

There and Back Again: Endings and Beginnings 

May is a transition time.  Years of participation in the school year have conditioned many of us to expect that May is a time when life slows down as we reach the end of a semester or a project or a school year. And we hopefully anticipate a respite before the next big thing.

For many of us that hope comes with the extra complexities that summer brings into our lives externally - most of which do not actually slow our lives down - children require extra and other provisions, visitors come in from elsewhere, reports, assessments, and projects left on the back burner get moved to the front flame, and life goes on.

At WCU we are additionally facing the possibility that the next phase of our growth and development brings a number of unknowns: Changes in our administration, uncertainty, and excitement about the way our new cost-structure will shape our on and off-campus efforts, and the continual hope in summer that the new year will be better in so many ways.

Whatever the case, whatever the transition, the CFC is here for you.  We want you to succeed.

In that spirit, I'd like to ask a favor:  Would you please fill out the annual survey below ?  We have just a few days left to keep it open, and we are working very hard to make certain that our offerings are of the most value to you. Giving us your feedback will help us to achieve that.

In hope for the summer with you,

Martha Diede, PhD
Director, Coulter Faculty Commons

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the Coulter Faculty Commons at 828-227-2930 or email us at LMSsupport@wcu.edu.

The Summer Institute for Teaching and Learning is Almost Here

The Institute is currently filled to capacity.  If you failed to register and would like to be added to the waitlist, please email Annette Parris in the CFC.  We may have available individual sessions or last-minute cancelations and Annette can let you know what your options might be.  

Academic Integrity

Change the Way You Think About Teaching and Learning

Competency-Based Education and Western Carolina

Improving Your Online Course (IYOC) - 3 Parts - All Three Required for Certification

Making Learning Stick

TPR Squared (Tenure/Teaching, Promotion/Publication, Research/Retention) 

Mindful Teaching Moments

Quality Teaching at Scale

Teaching the New Generation of Students

Universal Design for Learning (UDL)

Associated Event:  Grants Workshop
Running concurrently with the Summer Institute, a workshop for grant writing, hosted by the Graduate School, is also one of your possible choices.  Use the link below to register for either a one-day beginner's workshop on grants writing or a two-day intermediate workshop.

Other Summer 2018 Opportunities in the CFC

Course Design Days 
We'll send out a special announcement, but for more information, contact Jeanine Irons .

Writer’s Retreat
June 12-14. If you have a manuscript that you want to start or finish, another writing project you want to start or finish, or any other writing that might help you achieve your goals, we'll provide support and guidance as needed if you sign up for this retreat.   Spend 3 days with a writing coach (limited appointments available) or let us help you keep on track with the gift of time and accountability.  Contact Kelsey Woodburn for more details.

Health Educators’ Academy
In addition to educators in the College of Health and Human Sciences, this opportunity is open to other faculty members on campus. Spend five days with a facilitator who will set you up to succeed in team-based learning.  Contact Terry Pollard for more information.

Quality Matters Learning Community

The last QM Learning Community meeting of the semester took place on April 25th. Faculty members participating in this community took this last meeting as an opportunity to look at other courses that were successfully meeting QM standards, and to have their final questions answered. This learning community is one that the CFC hopes to continue growing. Dates for the Fall QM Learning Community will be coming soon! Below are some quotes from the faculty members who attended this semester.

“Excellent coaching, collaboration, and confidentiality.” 

“The QM Learning Community is always facilitated by at least two CFC QM Internal Reviewers. This is great!”

“This learning community promotes learning from both CFC experts as well as others attending the sessions. New ways to meet QM standards are jewels found every session!”

“QM training has been invaluable for my online courses.”

For information about how to join the QM Learning Community and participate in the Fall semester, contact Terry Pollard .

CFC Developing Online Faculty Support, Part Two

In the last newsletter, we indicated we had begun a review of our Center’s efforts towards supporting online faculty. One of the externally-written documents under review is the Interregional Guidelines for the Evaluation of Distance Education, published by the Council of Regional Accrediting Commissions. The nation’s seven regional accrediting bodies adopted these guidelines in 2011, including SACSCOC.

Nine guidelines shape the document, and the CFC is looking closely at how we can support four that align with our mission and scope. The questions we are currently reviewing in our consultations with faculty include the following:

Are we encouraging faculty to think through…

o   curricular goals and course objectives that exemplify best uses of online learning in different disciplines and settings?

o   development and design of online content that stimulates student-to-student conversation? For faculty-to-student conversation? For academic integrity?

o   clearly written expectations required of students before they are admitted?

o   how the course management system enables active faculty contributions to the learning environment?

o   appropriately selected technologies which support faculty assessment strategy?

In reviewing these questions, we believe we can update some of our materials, refine other things that have worked well for us in the past, and make the information more transparent, modular, and accessible through our website.

We are aiming for two audiences here—the individual faculty member looking for support, and the department chair/director, thinking about a potential workshop for their respective faculty. Remember—we can come to you!

Terry Pollard
Senior Educational Developer

Coming in August

Teaching a new course this fall?
Want to revamp an old course?
Want to teach courses designed for lasting learning?

Be sure to attend the Course Design Day sponsored by the Coulter Faculty Commons!

Coming in August!

For more information, contact Jeanine Irons at jirons@wcu.edu or extension 2762.

The Gift of Time Through Automation: Standard Syllabus Pieces to Be Included in the Blackboard Course Frameworks

We feel your pain -- Things change and doing a full reformat of your syllabus every semester is a difficult addition to your workload.  The CFC has been the publisher of updated syllabi for several years.  We've been putting the completed suggested syllabus with changes onto the web as we get them.

From now on, we'll update a much shorter document that can be used to format new courses and reformat continuing courses, but the majority of our compliance information will be found in Blackboard in the Academic Toolbox.  We'll keep all of the compliance-related pieces of student information up-to-date in the toolbox and you can refer to it in the syllabus.

For more information, contact Sue Grider .

Join Us for a Live-Streaming of the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine "Branches of the Same Tree" Report Release

Monday, May 7, 10:30 am - 1:30 pm
Bring a Lunch and Join Us for Any Part in Hunter Library 182

As a multi-disciplinary faculty center, the CFC is in full support of any efforts that reach across the curriculum and which highlight the universal in the university.  Please join us in our new Learning Studio (Hunter 166) for a live streaming of the NASEM Board of Higher Education and Workforce's most recent report.  From their announcement:  "The Integration of the Humanities and Arts with Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in Higher Education: Branches from the Same Tree, analyzes the benefits of undergraduate and graduate experiences that effectively integrate STEM, Arts, and Humanities. The report is the culmination of a two-year study that examined the evidence behind the assertion that more integrated educational experiences can better prepare graduates for life and work."

A discussion will follow.  For more information contact Jonathan Wade.

More Resources:

CFC Automated Appointments
Quality customer service is our goal at the Coulter Faculty Commons (CFC).  So, in order to serve our faculty better, we have created a new form to request an appointment with any member of our team.  Please click here to request an appointment.

The Educational Horizon
One part of the charge of the CFC is to remain ready to assist in times of change.  To do so, we are constantly keeping track of new, re-surfacing, and emerging issues in teaching and learning.  If you want a regular digest of what we are reading to be sent via email, feel free to subscribe on the page.  We usually post when we've collected about 20 relevant links.

Panopto Support Resources
Panopto is our video and audio hosting service.  It is integrated with Blackboard and it has a number of features useful for face to face and online courses.  The CFC and Helpdesk have a number of local resources related to using Panopto, but you can also click the link above to go to their support page or click this link to view their instructional videos.

Blackboard Online Help
As the Learning Management System used at WCU, Blackboard enhances the quality of online and face-to-face instruction and is used to monitor, document, and manage online and classroom events and assignments.  The LMS Team at the CFC has put together a handy list of resources for Blackboard, tailored to meet the needs of the WCU Community.

Provost's List of Faculty Resources
The Office of the Provost provides a considerable amount of helpful information on this web page. Information concerning faculty awards and recognition, support and development, to forums, gender equity, and policy and procedures is available on this site.

CFC Resources Online
The CFC works to keep our main web page updated.  We'd love to have you click in for a visit.  

CFC Feedback
We would greatly appreciate any feedback you could give us about how we can improve or add to our services.  We regularly monitor all inputs and try to respond to suggestions as quickly as possible. We thank you for taking the time to provide us with your constructive and formative feedback!