This year’s Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) Fellows Program Showcase was inspiring. Here are key takeaways, and don’t forget to access the recording for more insights!
Examples of CTL Fellows’ Achievements and New Program Initiatives
Highlights from this year’s CTL Fellows and program activities include:
- 45 college teaching and learning events, ranging from all-college lunch-and-learns, panels, and workshops, to a book club, informal coffee hours, peer mentorship, and more! – attracting around 500 attendees.
- 130 individual teaching consultations, collaborative strategic planning with college administration, and fostering a sense of community and cross-college synergy around teaching and learning.
- Two new program initiatives: the College Administration Liaison group and generative AI efforts.
Connections to OSU’s Prosperity Widely Shared Strategic Plan
In her welcome, Vice Provost for Academic Affairs and Senior Vice Provost, Alix Gitelman expressed gratitude for the program and highlighted alignment with Prosperity Widely Shared (PWS) Strategic Plan and the work of the CTL. Attendees considered how professional development opportunities for teaching faculty contribute to student success, and the importance of integrating these into college strategic plans. The CTL Fellows showcased how their work aligns with the PWS goals.
College Highlights
College of Engineering (COE): Shane Brown and Devlin Montfort discussed their efforts around Graduate Assistant and ULA Training/Mentoring, Collaborative Mentoring for Student Engagement Program, ENGR 2xx Engagement Activities, and All-College Teaching & Learning Discussion Events. Montfort emphasized a cultural change towards caring for each other as a path to excellence. Brown shared successes and learnings from mentoring experiences and all-college lunch break panel events, which brought together up to 60 faculty per event.
“We wanted to give examples so people could walk away and say, ‘Now I have a better way of doing Active Learning, a way that’s implementable.’ This is a great way to spend time with people to help them learn. We were really excited about this.”
— Shane Brown and Devlin Montfort, COE
College of Health (COH): Michelle Bump, Cathy Crowell, and Tasha Galardi focused their work on relationship-building to elevate teaching and learning across the college. They highlighted successful Lunch and Learns on student mental health attended by all levels of teaching faculty, and their approach to offering pedagogical support related to curriculum changes, particularly Core Ed. Bump reminded the audience that quality teaching happens every day and faculty need to feel appreciated and supported for their efforts.
“Some of our successes, over both of those endeavors, was that our faculty are really engaged. They want and are willing to make changes and adapt.”
— Michelle Bump, Cathy Crowell, and Tasha Galardi, COH
OSU-Cascades: Scott Geddes and David Engel have served as CTL Fellows and in the OSU-Cascades Faculty Success Center for the past three years. Geddes discussed the advantages of long-term collaboration with the CTL Fellows program and partnerships with UIT Academic Technologies and Ecampus. He emphasized the growing relationships and trust established with faculty through diverse programming and mentorship activities. He highlighted their ability to set and achieve larger goals over time, such as an upcoming objective to facilitate easier movement between campuses and classes.
“As trust is built, we’ve also become a nice pathway for faculty to communicate with college administration. We’ve been able to fill many roles, and it’s been such a positive experience.”
— Scott Geddes and David Engel , OSU Cascades
Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences (CEOAS): Demian Hommel highlighted goals such as offering personalized pedagogical support, collaborating with college administration to identify opportunities, and organizing events responsive to professional development needs. He noted the effectiveness of a record breaking number of one-on-one sessions and the increased visibility of teaching and learning within CEOAS.
“The one-on-one sessions have been particularly effective. That’s where the magic happens.”
— Demian Hommel, CEOAS
Recurring Themes and Future Visions
The showcase underscored several recurring themes:
- Providing relevant, practical, just-in-time, and individualized support: All colleges highlighted the benefits of individual contact with faculty, from peer mentoring to one-on-one consultations. They also pointed to providing useful, practical support. Crowell noted, “Faculty are looking for some kind of easy, engaging opportunities to learn and then put it into practice in what they’re teaching.”
- Benefits of multiple years of collaboration with the CTL Fellows Program: Associate Vice Provost and Executive Director of CTL Regan Gurung observed, “More people are finding a community for talking about teaching and learning. It’s been a really neat year to see the ground swell.”
- Big picture hopes and visions from CTL Fellows: The CTL Fellows reflected on thoughtful goals for the future, including taking a systems thinking approach. Hommel, remarked, “What we ultimately want to do is stop thinking about teaching as this thing that’s separate, but find better integration between teaching, research and outreach.” The conversation came full circle to Prosperity Widely Shared opportunities around college strategic planning for teaching professional development.
“As our teaching faculty succeed, so do our students.”
— Scott Geddes encapsulated a key takeaway from the showcase
Showcase Recording
Watch the full showcase here to gain an overview of the CTL Fellows’ efforts, impact, and visions for teaching and learning in their colleges. And for fun, listen to the Pathways to Success song with lyrics written by ChatGPT and music by Suno.
- Welcome: Alix Gitleman, Vice Provost for Academic Affairs and Senior Vice Provost (min 1:29)
- Program Overview: Cheridy Aduviri, CTL Fellows Program Assistant Director (min. 2:22)
- COE: Shane Brown and Devlin Montfort (min 9:10)
- COH: Michelle Bump, Cathy Crowell, Tasha Galardi (min. 24:19)
- Cascades: David Engel and Scott Geddes (min. 29:23)
- CEOAS: Demian Hommel (min. 36:25)
- Regan Gurung, Associate Vice Provost and Executive Director of Center for Teaching and Learning (min. 41:09)
- Closing: Cheridy Aduviri (min. 45:37)
“Thank you to all of our 2023-24 CTL Fellows for your dedication! Thank you to all the college administration, our program partners, and those supporting teaching and learning at OSU!”
— Cheridy Aduviri, CTL Fellows Program Assistant Director
