Cordes Teaching and Faculty Support Center February Events

February faculty training and workshops include sessions on showcasing teaching for tenure, ways to redesign a course, how best to use technology and building student honesty into assessements. The RSVP list for Cordes Teaching and Faculty Support Center events coming in mid- to late February include:

• Showcasing Your Teaching for Promotion and/or Tenure
  Wednesday, Feb. 15, 3:05-4:20 p.m., HILL 202
  No RSVP needed.
  Who: all faculty

• Not-So-New Faculty Lunch Meeting: Course Re-Design: What's New on Campus
  Thursday, Feb. 16, 12:30-1:45 p.m., CORD 349
  RSVP by noon, Feb. 9.
  Who: not-so-new faculty

• Not-So-New Faculty Lunch Meeting: Course Re-Design: What's New on Campus
  Friday, Feb. 17, noon to 1:15 p.m., CORD 349
  RSVP by noon Feb. 9.
  Who: not-so-new faculty

• TIPS: Learn to Use Blackboard Ultra
  Monday, Feb. 20, 10-11 a.m., in the Faculty Collaborative
  RSVP here.
  Who: all faculty

• Technology and Care to Promote Students' Success - Cordes Chair - Adnan Alrubaye
  Thursday, Feb. 23, 1-2 p.m., CORD 349
  RSVP by 5 p.m. Feb. 20
  Who: all faculty

• TIPS Lunch
  Monday, Feb. 27, noon to 1:15 p.m., CORD 349
  RSVP by Friday, Feb. 17
  Who: all faculty

Program Descriptions

Showcasing Your Teaching for Promotion and/or Tenure
Wednesday, Feb. 15, from 3:05-4:20 p.m.
Hillside Auditorium 202

Have you heard stories about the stress of trying to apply for promotion and/or tenure? Do you know that faculty are required to show the quality of their teaching? This first-of-its-kind session is appropriate for tenure track faculty and teaching faculty in the professorial ranks.  It is designed for faculty considering promotion and/or tenure in the coming years. Attendees will see the guidelines with various items and examples provided on how to effectively showcase teaching. Faculty will also receive tips that can be started now to plan for preparation of the packets either for the current year or future years. After the session, faculty will be able to understand how to best present teaching effectiveness on their packets. 

This session will be available in person and on Zoom.

• Richard Cassady, University Professor of industrial engineering and TFSC co-director
• Jacquelyn Mosley, professor in the School of Human Environmental Sciences and assistant dean of DEI
• Samantha Robinson, teaching associate professor of mathematical sciences
• Chris Shields, teaching associate professor of sociology and criminology

Follow the Zoom link to attend remotely.

Course Re-Design: What's New on Campus
Not-So-New Faculty Lunch
Thursday, Feb. 16, from 12:30-1:45 p.m.
or Friday, Feb. 17, from noon to 1:15 p.m.
Cordia Harrington Center for Excellence 349

In a session designed to impact how you think about designing your classes, Jim Gigantino, vice provost for academic affairs, will lead a discussion of the new modes of delivery that will be available on campus and some information about the mixed mode pilot that will be undertaken in the fall of 2023. 

David Jensen, associate professor of mechanical engineering, will discuss a course he designed to be taught in a mixed mode form and share how he has been using the materials the last couple of semesters. He will provide examples from his class along with two instructional designers from the Global Campus — Adam Brown and Ken Muessig — who assisted him as part of a TFSC grant. 

Kathryn Zawisza, director of academic tech and innovation, will discuss how Blackboard Ultra can help with re-designing a course due to the ease in using it across multiple devices.

Information in the session can be useful to incorporate in your day-to-day classes, potential winter weather days or even a new way of teaching your classes each semester. 

Technology and Care to Promote Students' Success
February Cordes Chair — Adnan Alrubaye
Thursday, Feb. 23, from 1-2 p.m.
Cordia Harrington Center for Excellence 349

Join the Wally Cordes Teaching and Faculty Support Center for an informal conversation about teaching with the February Cordes Chair, Adnan Alrubaye. Alrubaye teaches courses in both the poultry science and biological sciences departments, and he serves as the associate director for the cell and molecular biology graduate program. He teaches multiple sections of the General Microbiology course, with courses sizes ranging between 30 and 400 students. Alrubaye's topic will be about tools he uses to provide the best learning experiences for students to help them achieve their learning goals. His philosophy when it comes to working with students is to value their success as his own. He uses advanced teaching technologies to promote students' learning and success that would apply to any course size.

Alrubaye is widely recognized for his contributions to students and academic success. In recent years, he has received the Dr. John and Lois Imhoff Award for Outstanding Teaching and Student Mentorship; the Fulbright College Master Teacher Award; the Collis Geren Award for Excellence in Graduate Education; the Hoyt H. Purvis Award for Service in International Education; the Golden Tusk award from the Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion; and the U of A Most Outstanding Faculty Member from the Associated Student Government.  He is a Senior DEI Fellow for International Support and a member of the Teaching Academy.

The Wally Cordes Teaching and Faculty Support Center invites six outstanding teaching faculty each academic year to serve as Wally Cordes Chairs. Faculty are selected as Cordes Chairs because they embody the student-centered teaching excellence that late University Professor Emeritus Wally Cordes exhibited throughout his 40-plus-year U of A career.

TIPS: Assessments, Assignments and Academic Integrity
Kathryn Zawisza, Chris Bryson and Chris Bray
Monday, Feb. 27, from noon to 1:15 p.m.
Cordia Harrington Center for Excellence 349

Assessing student knowledge is an important part of any class. Making sure that these assessments are secure, and that academic honesty is built into the course, is also a key to success for student learning and outcomes. The U of A has technology and resources for faculty to assist in assessment and assignment creation. With new information coming out about resources for students to use, such as ChatGPT, online collaborative resources and tools such as CHEGG, it is easier than ever for students to use tools we may not want them to use. This session will discuss tools, methods and ideas for combating or even embracing some of these tools to create assessments and assignments that focus on student learning.

Join Kathryn Zawisza, director of academic technology and instructor of philosophy; Chris Bryson, executive director of academic initiatives and integrity; and Chris Bray, academic technology systems architect, as they discuss strategies and tools for assessing students and maintaining academic integrity.