Creating a Faculty Institute

1. Creating a Faculty Institute Everett Community College Academies Presentation Peg Balachowski & Alyson Indrunas Instruction Commission May 8, 2014

2. EvCC Professional Development Instruction Commission May 2014

3. HOW TO BUILD A BETTER TEACHER Peg Balachowski Faculty Mentor Everett Community College

4. New Faculty Teaching Academy Instruction Commission May 2014

5. Topics for Today • Goals • Development • Focus • Implementation • Assessment • Who • Time • Cost • Results • Materials Instruction Commission May 2014

6. The Start • What are the qualities of a great teacher? • Is formal training other than content expertise necessary for CC instructors? • How do we nurture transformation and change in a risk-averse world? • How do we encourage educators to embrace innovation, cope with change, and learn from failure or struggle? Instruction Commission May 2014

7. Goals • Build teaching expertise • Prevent “cave dwelling” • Shift is from access to success • Develop faculty who “disturb the universe” Instruction Commission May 2014

8. MISSION STATEMENT The New Faculty Teaching Academy will serve as an agent for innovation and transformation, and will seek to foster excellence in teaching and learning practices. Toward this end, the Teaching Academy will be designed to provide opportunities for professional growth to new faculty. Instruction Commission May 2014

9. Development A literature review revealed that: • Many faculty teach as they were taught • Many faculty development programs fail to make significant changes Instruction Commission May 2014

10. Development • Activities must include a range of activities to improve, renew, or assist new faculty in their varied roles. • Opportunities for collaboration should be included. Instruction Commission May 2014

11. The Focus • Promoting innovation in the classroom; • Facilitating paths to success in teaching and the development of exemplary teaching practices; • Engagement; • Developing opportunities for leadership. Instruction Commission May 2014

12. The learning process does not come without risk. How do you develop 21st century skills when most of us were educated with 20th century pedagogies? Instruction Commission May 2014

13. Implementation • Orientation (2 days – Week 0) • Begin developing the cohort community • Begin developing the campus community • Scavenger hunt on campus Instruction Commission May 2014

14. Implementation • Monthly meetings • Participants present material from book to group • Other critical discussion topics Instruction Commission May 2014

15. Results • Rich conversations • Deep investment in transformative teaching • Faculty interested in catalyzing student engagement • Improvement in student evaluations Instruction Commission May 2014

16. Assessment • Pre-Survey • Post-Survey • Teaching Perspectives Inventory • Personal Reflections Instruction Commission May 2014

17. “Hearing and seeing how other faculty use classroom technology is really inspiring.  Also, forming a contact with a person who has experience with the technology can be really beneficial when it comes time to troubleshoot an issue.” • “The idea that the diversity of programs we represent is striking: commonalities abound about approaches to structuring courses and classes, challenges are similar.” Instruction Commission May 2014

18. “There are partnerships that are developing out of these relationships that would never have been thought about let alone come to fruition without your vision to construct an academy this way.  It's a wonderful example of thinking outside the box.” • “This kind of ‘coming alongside’ new faculty at EvCC is powerful and empowering.” Instruction Commission May 2014

19. “EvCC presents a culture of deliberate sustenance of new faculty - it speaks to value of person as learner/teacher and contribution to the college's mission, ‘one student at a time’.” • “I was able to meet other instructors from different departments and I was able to walk away with actual changes and improvements to my courses ready for implementation.” Instruction Commission May 2014

20. Costs • Orientation – 2 days • Food – light breakfast each day • Lunch each day; one lunch with Deans’ Council • Beginning Fall 2014, cost of attending over 2 days (change in contract) at 30 hour rate ($40.11) Instruction Commission May 2014

21. Orientation Day 1 • Welcome by President, VPI • Discussion of strategic goals • Policies • Scavenger hunt Instruction Commission May 2014

22. Orientation Day 2 • Enrollment Services, eLearning • Alignment of core learning outcomes • Center for Disability Services • Library tour; Security scenarios • Student evaluations (IDEA) • Homework Instruction Commission May 2014

23. Costs • 2012-13 Academic Year 14 faculty • 2013-14 Academic Year 11 faculty • 2014-15 Academic Year 8 faculty • Materials • How Learning Works @ $25/each • Composition book for reflections • Printing (minimal) Instruction Commission May 2014

24. Costs • Personnel • My time – 1/3 release as Faculty Mentor • Additional Dean in Academy Instruction Commission May 2014

25. Additional Materials • Canvas course • Modules for just in time issues • Frequent contact with faculty to discuss student evaluations, professional development opportunities, networking, assessment, classroom management issues, teaching techniques Instruction Commission May 2014

26. Bottom Line • Doing, sharing, explaining, supporting, arguing, teaching each other…these reliably lead to learning. • Interdisciplinary nature of Academy helps to break down silos. • When people are respected as professionals they engage in their profession. Instruction Commission May 2014

27. Bottom Line • Faculty receive a strong start in their EvCC career during the orientation • There is committed support with the availability of someone to answer questions and provide guidance as needed • Faculty support each other Instruction Commission May 2014

28. Mentoring Adjunct Faculty: Title III Best Practices Alyson Indrunas, M.A., M.Ed. eLearning Director Everett Community College

29. Nobody grows up thinking: “I want to be an adjunct when I grow up.” Instruction Commission May 2014

30. ROI • As we move towards a cultural norm in higher education of adjuncts carrying the brunt of teaching labor, there is a need to establish mentorship and support that currently does not exist. If we are going to be honest with ourselves about increasing student engagement and success, then we have to admit that we must change how we support teachers…the return-on-investment for institutional professional development is to advocate for mentoring, networking, and training adjunct faculty. Instruction Commission May 2014

31. Associate Faculty Academy • Share strategies from Everett Community College • Collaborate with faculty members and encourage them to use online resources to improve student engagement and retention. • Can two tenured faculty and one adjunct faculty, one dean, and a Director of eLearning create an online course to promote professional development for new adjunct faculty?

32. Associate Faculty Academy Overview • The college received a five-year Title III grant which administrators initiated in fall 2012 to strengthen academic programs by improving course delivery. • The project focused on instituting faculty development initiatives to expand Quality Matters assessments, use eLearning tools, and develop annual cohorts of newly-hired faculty. • Four faculty mentors from three different disciplines led the effort, by providing training, one-to-one assistance, and assessment.

33. Winter: • QM Training • Collaboration • Spring: • Brain Dump of Major Ideas • 1st cohort of faculty in Angel • Summer: • Instructional Designer Built Course in Canvas • Fall: • Second Cohort in Canvas YEAR 1: 2012-2013 Instruction Commission May 2014

34. Year 2: 2013-2014 Winter: • Cohort 3 • The word is out! Revision: • Motivation and Follow-up • Rethinking our requirements • Revisions based on lessons learned Spring: New Lead on project

35. Lesson Learned? Be Creative! Instruction Commission May 2014

36. The Classroom Where We Learned

37. The 21st Century Classroom

38. Decades of Change

39. What is the Associate Faculty Academy?

40. How Do We Do It? • The Associate Faculty Academy which will begin during their first quarter of employment and end with a self reflection after receiving the IDEA survey results from their first quarter. “New” faculty are defined as “new to EvCC.” • Administrative Assistants will forward the names and course assignments to the Dean of Arts & Learning Resources within one week of hiring new associate faculty. • These faculty will be contacted by the Arts & Learning Resources division office with the start date of the Academy and the name of their assigned Title III project mentor. • The Academy will be conducted online through the Canvas learning management system. Upon successful completion of the activities, the associate faculty member will be compensated for eight hours of work at the special assignment rate ($41.11/hr).

41. Time and $ Investment Faculty are invited to participate in two face-to-face meetings with the Title III mentors to foster broader discussions of instructional best practices, share useful pedagogy, and engage with the EvCC academic culture. Faculty will be compensated for their completion of these activities for a total of $500. On campus activities • Orientation to the Academy (1.5 hours) • Classroom management strategies & problem solving (1.5 hours) OL Activities • LMS Canvas activities (8 hours)

42. Main Goals for “New” Teachers By networking and collaborating with other faculty members in this course, we hope that teachers: • 1] gain insightful information about the culture of Everett Community College • 2] complete activities that are useful for their teaching • 3] participate in cutting edge faculty professional development. 

43. Course ObjectivesWhat do we want new faculty to know? Develop and Post course syllabus • Develop and post to Canvas a course syllabus which includes EvCC established course objectives and outcomes  Submit a BIT (Behavioral Intervention Team) • Submit a BIT report to document student behavioral issues and concerns. Demonstrate Learning Objectives Alignment • Demonstrate in the syllabus the alignment of student learning objectives with assessment strategies using Quality Matters standards 

44. Objectives Continued Engage Students • Engage students through the use of a welcome message in the Canvas classroom.  Construct Gradebook • Construct a Canvas Gradebook to provide student feedback. Select IDEA Form Objectives • Select objectives on the IDEA survey faculty information form based on established course outcomes Write Reflection • Complete a written reflection and assessment of the Academy.

45. How do we get started? • A letter from the Dean of Arts and Learning Resources: “A big dog on campus cares about me!” Two key words in the letter from the dean: • Upon completion of these activities, you will receive compensation for eight hours of work at the special assignment rate of $41.22 per hour.  • Lunch included!

46. Driven Teachers + New Campus =Overwhelming Experience

47. How do we start?

48. Associate Faculty Academy

49. Pre-Assessment

50. Post-Assessment