Thursday January 18, 2:00 – 3:00 pm Central/3:00 – 4:00 pm Eastern
Presenter: Janice Weisenbach
During the session for faculty, participants will learn how access VoiceThread via Blackboard, create presentations, add comments, and navigate the VoiceThread interface. Participants will also learn how to create and grade VoiceThread assignments and other set-up options.
Voicethread is a tool in Blackboard that takes the idea of an online discussion board to a new level of engagement. Participants learn how to access and navigate the Voicethread options, create a basic instructor introduction, comment on a Voicethread using audio, video, or text, and set up a graded Voicethread assignment.
Here are the resources for this workshop that was held on Friday, August 12, 10:00 – 11:00 am Central/11:00 am – Noon Eastern via Zoom.
Other resources:
Voicethread is an application in Blackboard that allows for uploading, sharing, and discussing documents, presentations, images, and videos. Students and Instructors interact with the content and each other by using one of five powerful commenting options: microphone, webcam, text, phone, and audio-file upload.
If your course uses Voicethread, click on any Voicethread link in the course in Blackboard. No separate sign in is needed for students or instructors.
For help with using Voicethread contact the IT Help Desk at ithelpdesk@cuw.edu, call 262-243-4357, or contact support@voicethread.com
Updated Voicethread Resources Can be Found on This Page
Here are the recording and resources for this session that was held on 1/11/2021:
Programs listed below offered at both campuses, unless stated otherwise. For future programs, find the registration link on the Current Programs page for your campus website:
CUW Current Programs
CUAA Current Programs
With Kate Robertson
Book is included: Ritchhard, R. and Church, M. (2020). The power of making thinking visible: Practices to engage and empower all learners. Hoboken, NJ: Jossey-Bass. ISBN: 978-1-119-62604-6.
“I want my MTV!” No, it’s not an 80’s throwback, it’s the shorthand that authors and researchers Ritchhard and Church use for “Making Thinking Visible.” In this book, we learn about why making thinking visible is so crucial for our students’ learning, as well as multiple routines to bring the strategies into the classroom. Each routine includes steps for incorporating it into your teaching, assessment ideas, illustrations and vignettes from teachers in action. Bring your lunch to our Zoom meeting space and let’s talk “MTV”!
Reading Schedule (complete before each book group meeting):
June 14 – Read Chapters 1-3
June 28 – Read Chapters 4-5
July 12 – Read Chapters 6-7; review Chapters 3-5
Please plan to join us on Zoom for an hour to learn about the research conducted by two Mequon faculty colleagues who recently completed their doctoral degrees: Vittoria Sipone and Sara Casali.
Concordia Faculty Seminars are informal interactive presentations and conversations on faculty and staff projects including grants, research, and service designed to promote scholarship, spark new ideas, provide opportunities for meaningful discussion, and increase collaboration. Faculty, staff, and students are welcome to attend.
With Susan Gallanis, Kate Robertson, and Elizabeth Evans.
It’s easy to think of student engagement in terms of live interaction with your students, but what are best practices for asynchronous engagement? During this session participants will learn about research-based, practical strategies to engage students asynchronously. This session is ideal for those teaching courses which include online interaction such as online or blended courses, including those in programs using a master course template. Those teaching face-to-face and virtual courses will learn how to expand engagement beyond live (synchronous) interactions.
Presented by VoiceThread Staff.
VoiceThread is an interactive collaboration tool connected to Blackboard that enables students and instructors to build online presentations with various types of media. Other users can then add comments right in the presentation. Participants will learn how to create presentations, add comments, and navigate the VoiceThread interface. The session also covers how to create a VoiceThread graded assignment and other set-up options. Those new to VoiceThread and those with VoiceThread experience are welcome to attend.
Wednesday August 16, 8:15 – 4:00 Central/9:15 – 5:00 Eastern
All sessions are via Zoom
Designing/Refreshing Your Course and Syllabus
8:15 – 9:45 am Central/9:15 – 10:45 am Eastern
Learn about and incorporate best practices in course design, and syllabus development. Discussion includes how to improve your objectives, align course objectives with assessments, the Concordia University syllabus template latest revision, and how to connect to program and Global Learning Outcomes.
Blackboard Basics
Learn how to add content, Blackboard Assignments (“dropboxes”) and set up the gradebook for a Fall course! This is an ideal session for faculty new to using Blackboard. The session is for those who set up their own Blackboard courses.
Engaging Your Learners
11:45 am – 12:45 pm Central/12:45 – 1:45 pm Eastern
Effective teaching fosters learning; students need to be engaged for learning to happen. This session introduces strategies to engage students in multiple instructional modes.
Blackboard Tests and Respondus LockDown Browser with Monitor
1:00 – 2:30 pm Central/2:00 – 3:30 pm Eastern
The first half of this session will show how faculty can create Blackboard Tests using three commonly used question types. The second half of the session will cover Respondus LockDown Browser and Monitor. Faculty will learn the difference between LockDown Browser and Monitor, and how to enable the appropriate settings based on where students take the test.
Faculty Resources – CELT and ORSP (primarily for full-time faculty)
3:00 – 4:00 pm Central/4:00 – 5:00 pm Eastern
Learn what resources are available to you as faculty, including research/scholarship support, where to find them, and who to contact if you need more help.
For all program assessment leaders including faculty assessment committee members at each campus. This session will focus on a review of GLO #6 Analytical Fluency from the past year, including data submitted to date, and a look forward to 2023-2024 focus on GLO #3 Integrated Disciplinary Knowledge and GLO #1 Christian Faith. Leaders contribute to collegial conversations about assessment practices and experiences, their development in the phases of the assessment cycle, and share improvements made in the past year arising out of assessment results. Reminders about current year instructions, resources and support information available on the Assessment of Student Learning Outcomes channel on the portal (faculty tab), and the October 1, 2023 deadline for reports for 2022-2023 from programs (majors/graduate programs/stand-alone certificates).
With Susan Gallanis, Elizabeth Evans, Ty Landers, Jason Lane, Jan Chapman, Andrew Wahl
Are you ready for teaching the spring semester that begins August 28? During this session for Mequon adjuncts teaching in-person classes, we will share important policies and where to find them as well as many resources that address first day teaching, student support, Academic Resource Center services, classroom AV, faith and learning, Blackboard, and more.
With Brooke Johnson, Michele Hoffman
This session will walk through the new process programs will use starting September 2023 to initiate, change or discontinue programs as of the 2024-2025 academic year (beginning August 2024). Come to this program to learn about the tools and deadlines for these curriculum processes. This program is for all program directors, department chairs and academic staff involved in managing our complement of programs.
With Leah Dvorak, Brooke Johnson, Michelle Hoffman and Elizabeth Evans
This session is for faculty and program leaders and focuses on our new process for Academic Program Review (APR) beginning in September. Topics include why this process is vital to a healthy program and the complement of academic programs at our university, and how the process will work. You will learn what information is provided by OIE and what information needs to be uploaded by program representatives. The system used for this process is new for APRST and will be explained in the August 22nd program on Academic Program Change. Those programs assigned to participate in September, October or November APR should send representatives to this session as well as the 8/22 session.
Fall Study Group for Faculty using the book Showing Up by Jen Marr
In-person at the Mequon Campus
Has a student ever shared a personal struggle with you, and you did not know what to say or do? How can you support your students and colleagues when you already have your own personal challenges? Join us to explore these questions and discuss evidence-based recommendations to improve your skills in comfort and care.
Option 1 Tuesdays from 2pm to 3pm
With Holly Griskell
Option 2 Wednesdays from 3pm to 4pm
With Vittoria Sipone
All take place on Zoom.
With Catherine (Kate) Robertson
Book is included: Ritchhard, R. and Church, M. (2020). The power of making thinking visible: Practices to engage and empower all learners. Hoboken, NJ: Jossey-Bass. ISBN: 978-1-119-62604-6
All are welcome! This is a continuation of this summer’s book group on the text: The power of making thinking visible: Practices to engage and empower all learners. The text outlines multiple activities for instructors of all content areas to use in the classroom. Now is your chance to apply one or more of these strategies from the text during your fall courses and share experiences about the process with colleagues. There are no specific reading assignments! Instead, be prepared to share student work samples as evidence of “making thinking visible,” and ask for feedback and suggestions from the rest of the workgroup. Again, you need not have participated in this summer’s book group to join us this fall.
Rev. Dr. Ted Hopkins will lead a year-long book group, reading David Zahl’s book Low Anthropology: The Unlikely Key to a Gracious View of Others (and Yourself). Zahl’s book will help us see how our native understandings (and our disciplines’ innate notions) of what it means to be human sometimes collide with the Bible and other times overlap. As we better understand ourselves and our students through this scriptural perspective, we can discuss with colleagues how this perspective shapes our relationships with our students and how we integrate faith and learning in the classroom.
With Leah Dvorak
The audience for this program is Department Chairs and Program Directors. What are the expectations for the role of Department Chair or Academic Program Director? An effective chair or academic program director manages faculty, staff, programs, courses, and processes vital to student success. The effective chair also fosters a healthy departmental culture and establishes efficient, collaborative decision-making processes. A strong department chair or program director uses both management skills and leadership skills to create and sustain a successful department in which faculty and staff feel engaged and energized.
ChatGPT has quickly become one of the most debated technologies in higher education. Some faculty value it as a pedagogical tool. Others worry their students will abuse the technology and not write their own work. In this session, faculty will learn how to embed ChatGPT into their classrooms and how to set parameters for student use. Participants are encouraged to bring their lunches. Light refreshments will also be served.
With Brian German and Sandra Jahns
One of a series of Faith and Learning sessions for faculty, this session features Brian German (Theology) and Sandra Jahns (Communication), sharing on the Lutheran understanding of spirituality as a “dynamic” of sin and grace, and how this might affect teaching and learning.
With Jordan Beck, Elizabeth Polzin, and Erin Laverick
Recent changes to ADA law have impacted the ways in which CUWAA serves students through accessibility services. The Faculty Senate created an ARC Ad Hoc Committee dedicated to learning more about how these changes impact accommodations and faculty work. During this session, we will discuss the changes to ADA law, how the changes impact the accommodation process, and provide a summary from the Faculty Ad Hoc Committee. Time will be allocated for faculty questions, comments, and suggestions for further learning during the session.
With Susan Gallanis
Mid-semester is approaching so now is a good time to review your Grade Center. During this session we will discuss the difference between a points-based and percentage-based Grade Center. We will show how to set up a percentage-based Grade Center, including the import settings for any Grade Center such as setting the “external grade”. Bring your questions! We will answer as many as we can during the session.
As ChatGPT becomes more and more prevalent, instructors need to consider how they design and implement writing assignments into their classes. This workshop will offer advice and tips about how to design effective writing assignments. Not worried about ChatGPT? This session is still relevant to those who teach writing intensive courses. Coffee and pastries will be served.
With Michele Hoffman and Katie Hause-Schott, Office of Institutional Effectiveness
During this session, get a tour of the Dean/Chair and Admission Dashboards so you can understand the reports and data elements on each and how to export lists of students. All program directors, department chairs and deans are encouraged to attend this session on accessing your program information through Pyramid.
One of a series of Faith and Learning sessions for faculty, this session features Brian German (Theology) and Sandra Jahns (Communication), sharing on the Lutheran understanding of the Word and the sacraments, including how these play a foundational role in Lutheran higher education.
With Elizabeth Evans and Allison Wolf
The audience for this program is faculty, department chairs, program directors, academic support staff, and deans.
The Academic Office has seen an increase in syllabi submissions that contain information misaligned with Banner Course Information (BCI) data. BCI data is used by the Registrar’s office to create the catalog and scribe Degree Works program audits. Syllabi provided to students should match the catalog information for the year in which a course is offered.
This session will focus on our need to provide students with syllabi that match the current catalog year, the submission of syllabi to the Academic Office by Department Chairs and Program Directors, and what to do when changes to a syllabus, and its BCI data, are needed. Other areas that need attention for improvement of syllabi will also be covered in brief, and an explanation and demonstration of the updated BCI mach form will be provided.
With Stacy Stolzman & Physical Therapy Doctoral Students
Last year, the Concordia Intermural Teaching Grant (CITG) supported a teaching and learning project to expand student learning using the new School of Health Professions Simulation Lab. This presentation will show how DPT students gained acute care competencies and increased confidence in a graduate course taught by Dr. Stolzman which was supported by grant-funded faculty development at Mayo Clinic and grant-funded equipment used in the lab. See the students in action completing an acute care simulation scenario and learn the critical pieces of simulation learning. While food is not usually allowed in the Simulation Lab, you may bring your bag lunch for this event.
With Susan Gallanis and Catherine (Kate) Robertson
The audience for this program is Department Chairs, Program Directors, and Deans. During this session, we will review and discuss the teaching observation process and form used for summative faculty observations, primarily for in-person classes. We will also share effective strategies for the observation itself and the post-observation discussion. Best practices for sharing constructive feedback, and tips on how to use the form (link to observation form) for formative, peer observations will also be shared.
With Julie Parve (Nursing), Robert Wahl (Computer Science), Heather Fortuine (Rehab Science), Elisabeth Bennett (Business)
The audience for this program is faculty. In alignment with CUW’s GLO “Service and Citizenship” you can now offer your students a chance to learn while serving others. Come join us and get inspired to add a transformative learning experience to one of your courses. We will discuss availability of grants for service-learning experiences and how to apply as well as examples of service-learning experiences that have been impactful to students and the community they served. Feel free to come share your ideas as well.
The audience for this program is faculty. Panopto is a tool used to record and share videos, including voiceover PowerPoint recordings. Participants will learn how to access Panopto to create recordings and integrate the Panopto tool in your Blackboard course. Also covered is the organization of videos within Panopto and setting viewing permissions.
Do you assign writing assignments or teach a writing intensive class? Are you frustrated when students do not turn in “what you’re looking for?” Attend this session and learn how to embed mini writing lessons into your course in order to ensure students find better success on their assignments. Participants are encouraged to bring their lunches. Light refreshments will also be served.
With Justin Frisque, Tyler Shadick and Susan Gallanis
This session is for faculty. Blackboard courses have a finite amount of space before the maximum is reached. During this session, participants will learn best practices for sharing large files in their course such as videos and voiceover PowerPoints. We will also explain how using the course Content Collection can save additional course space and save you time when documents need updating or are shared in multiple locations within a course.
With Brian German and Sandra Jahns
One of a series of Faith and Learning sessions for faculty, this session features Brian German (Theology) and Sandra Jahns (Communication), sharing on the Lutheran understanding of the hiddenness of God in one’s vocation and how this plays a foundational role in Lutheran higher education.
With Leah Dvorak, Elizabeth Evans and Erin Laverick
Effective curricula at Concordia are rigorous, relevant, coherent, current, experiential, explicit and well-communicated to students. They are also aligned with mission, university learning outcomes and program learning outcomes. Effective academic programs result in healthy enrollment, retention and completion numbers, demonstrate learning as expected by the faculty, and use continuous improvement. At this session, we will present tools for planning, implementing and improving such curricula. The audience for this program includes faculty, department chairs/program directors, and deans.
Please plan to join us on Zoom for an hour to learn about the research conducted by two Mequon faculty colleagues who recently completed doctoral degrees, Erin Regis-Baily and Amber Melick.
Concordia Faculty Seminars are informal interactive presentations and conversations on faculty and staff projects including grants, research, and service designed to promote scholarship, spark new ideas, provide opportunities for meaningful discussion, and increase collaboration. Faculty, staff, and students are welcome to attend.
Presenter: Elizabeth Evans, Catherine (Kate) Robertson, Jason Lane, Ty Landers, Andrew Wahl, Garrett Stremski, Elizabeth Kirk.
Spring semester begins January 8! Are you ready? During this session for Mequon adjuncts teaching in-person classes, we will share important policies, where to find them as well as many resources that address first day teaching, student support, Academic Resource Center services, classroom AV, faith and learning, Blackboard, and more.
All sessions are via Zoom
Five sessions offered throughout the day. Register for all that you are able to attend. Session times and descriptions are included on the registration page.
Facilitators: Kate Robertson, Ph.D. (CELT) and Jonny Balsman, M.A. (Education)
What moves can you make to continue to grow your teaching practice? Join this book club to learn about instructional moves and strategies that are research based, high leverage, and focus on active learning. The book includes topics that relate to any content area, such as interactive lecturing and teaching with cases and simulations. Each chapter includes a vignette from a college classroom to further illustrate how these pedagogical choices look in practice and how they can positively impact student learning. The book will be provided to those registering: Murphy, J.T. & Levinson, M. (2023). Instructional moves for powerful teaching in higher education. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
What is cancel culture? Does it even exist? How does it impact higher education? What, if anything, should university faculty do in response to cancel culture? Please join your fellow faculty members in a discussion of a timely book that addresses these issues. In this book club, we will read The Canceling of the American Mind by Greg Lukianoff and Rikki Schlott and meet three times to discuss sections of the book on Jan 19, Feb 9, and Feb 23. This program is in-person only.
With Janice Weisenbach
During the session for faculty, participants will learn how access VoiceThread via Blackboard, create presentations, add comments, and navigate the VoiceThread interface. Participants will also learn how to create and grade VoiceThread assignments and other set-up options.
With Stephanie Barnhill and Karen Ruona
The university Registrar and her colleagues present information for department chairs, administrative assistants and other departmental staff about how to update program information for the 2024-2025 academic catalog, including how to find the link, update to four-digit course renumbering, what information has already been entered through Banner, and the deadlines to observe.
With Michael Brown
The audience for this session is faculty. Writing multiple choice exams can be challenging. What characteristics make “good” multiple choice questions good? What characteristics of exam questions should typically be avoided? What is an appropriate balance of question difficulty across the exam? After the exam, what characteristics may help decide whether to keep or throw out a question? This session will explore these topics and provide an opportunity for participants to review their own questions using these principles of best practice.
With Elizabeth Evans
Evaluating our students’ learning at the program level involves establishing learning goals, creating tools to evaluate student learning, collecting data using the tools, developing conclusions about the data, and making changes to improve student learning. Engaging faculty in the process and using the process for improvement are further vital elements. Please come to this winter faculty development program to learn more what creates effective assessment practice at Concordia in each major, graduate program, and stand-alone certificate. The audience for this program is department chairs, program directors, and faculty.
With Leah Dvorak
Effective leaders balance building positive relationships with delivering challenging information that needs to be communicated. When change is needed in individual performance or in the way a group works together, uncomfortable conversations may follow. This session provides department chairs and program directors with specific strategies for managing uncomfortable conversations while maintaining positive relationships with their faculty and staff. The audience for this program is department chairs and program directors.
With Rev. Dr. Aaron Moldenhauer
How can my academic program best live out the mission of Concordia? CUWAA has a new resource to help us remain mission-driven. In January Rev. Dr. Aaron Moldenhauer began serving as the first Vice President for Mission and Church Relations at CUWAA. His role is to serve as an internal theological advisor and to coordinate external relations to church organizations. Come to this session to learn more of the role and how it can assist you in living out Concordia’s mission.
With Kevin Gries (Physical Therapy), Kate Robertson (CELT, Education), and Jeff Walz (Political Science)
Come to this session for strategies to freshen up your face-to-face classroom discussions. Are the discussion questions you offer to your students met with blank stares? If your students do engage in discussion, is it too “surface level”? This session will offer a variety of ideas to help take your class discussions to the next level. Tools and strategies useful across a variety of disciplines, such as case studies and debates, will be shared. This session will help your class discussions be purposeful and foster student learning.
With Leah Dvorak
This session will review CUWAA’s ranked faculty annual evaluation form, process and timeline. We will discuss sources of evidence used to ensure that our faculty are effective teachers addressing the mission of Concordia, productive scholars, and contribute service to the university, church, community and/or profession. We will also cover resources CUWAA provides to help faculty achieve their goals, including the CELT (for teaching), and the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (for research, grants and scholarship), the ranked faculty first three-year development process, and how department chairs/program directors can (and should) be involved in observing, mentoring and supporting their faculty.
With Brooke Johnson and Elizabeth Evans
Please come to this session to learn about the APR process for 2024 and how to complete the workbook for those programs scheduled for APR this semester. Workbooks are due on May 15. APR is a quality review process for degree programs/departments and provides the opportunity to evaluate program quality focusing on the student experience, mission fit, competitors, and program sustainability.
With Bob Bruss (English) Sam Speckhard (Nursing)
As ChatGPT and other large language model chatbots become more prevalent, many faculty are reacting in ways both utopian (“AI will revolutionize the classroom”) and dystopian (“Students will use it to write all their work”). The truth is somewhere in the middle. Based on the work of the AI task force, this session will help faculty better understand ChatGPT and some of the opportunities and threats it presents. It will help faculty more intentionally design assignments with ChatGPT in mind, whether to encourage our students to learn how to use it effectively and ethically or to resist their ability to have it do the work for them (or both).
With April Gotzler and Jessica Schmidt
Please plan to join us on Zoom for an hour to learn about the research conducted by two Mequon faculty colleagues who recently completed doctoral degrees, April Gotzler and Jessica Schmidt.
April Gotzler, Assistant Professor of Health and Human Performance (HHP) at the Mequon campus, recently completed her Ph.D. in Global Leadership and Change from Tiffin University in Ohio. Dr. Gotzler’ s dissertation title was “Barriers to Female Leadership: Validation of an Original Instrument”.
Jessica Schmidt, Assistant Professor in Occupational Therapy at the Mequon campus, recently completed her Post-Professional Doctor of Occupational Therapy degree from Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions. The title of her capstone project was “Acute Care Rehabilitation Utilization, Functional Status, and Discharge Destination in COVID-19 Patients.”
Concordia Faculty Seminars are informal interactive presentations and conversations on faculty and staff projects including grants, research, and service designed to promote scholarship, spark new ideas, provide opportunities for meaningful discussion, and increase collaboration. Faculty, staff, and students are welcome to attend.
With Kemery Sigmund, Elizabeth Eernisse, Jennifer Becker, Linda Hensel, Chris Scudella
Want to improve a rubric you use for a class assignment, paper, or presentation? Join the CUW Assessment Committee as we share tips and tricks to improve your rubric for course or program evaluation purposes. The Committee will first host a short presentation, followed by breakout sessions where you can receive feedback & ideas on a rubric you bring with you to the session. This is an in-person event only.
With Kate Robertson and Elizabeth Evans
Whew! Your grades are in and you’ve finished the whirlwind of the semester. This is the perfect time to review and reflect on one of your courses and plan improvements for next time. Bring your reflections captured throughout the course, your syllabus and any course materials, teaching strategies and assignments to this session.
What does your course look like from the students’ POV? How did the course results align with your hopes/ goals? How did your organization, delivery of content, communication, evaluation strategies and instructional strategies make for effective learning?
After review of your course, you will develop at least three actionable changes to improve the student learning experience next time. You can use the plan as an example of your continuous improvement for your upcoming annual faculty evaluation in June. Discussion and workshop time are included. This workshop fits any course delivery, including online.
With Elizabeth Evans and Catherine Robertson
The current strategic plan includes a goal to create a Faculty Writing Support initiative. Please come to this session to talk about your needs for support, your ideas, and what you would like to see included in this initiative.
With CELT staff
Whether you are teaching this summer, or have something on your mind from a spring course, please stop in for some coffee and collaboration time with the CELT staff. Some particular areas of focus will be setting up grade centers, linking textbook resources to your Blackboard course, learning how (and why) to set up group assignments, and creating course announcements that lead to student learning and engagement. We are looking forward to assisting you with all things course design!
With Taylor Richards and Mary Buenz
Ally is an application that allows for documents on Blackboard to be accessed by multiple devices in multiple formats, such as translated HTML, mp3 for audio, electronic Braille, e-pub for e-readers, formats for screen readers and more. In order for Ally to work effectively for students, documents must be designed using specific strategies. Join this session to learn how to create a document with a high Ally score. Workshop time is included – have a document on hand that you’d like to improve.
With Bob Bruss and Faculty AI TaskForce
This workshop is hosted by the Faculty AI Task Force and the CELT. Come do collaborative work to update your assignment prompts. Bring a prompt you want to make more AI resistant, or bring a prompt to invite the appropriate student use of an AI tool. This program is part of the May Faculty Institute.
Register by Friday, May 27 (end of day) to receive a free copy of the book
Tuesdays June 7, 21 and July 12: 11:00 am – Noon Central/Noon – 1:00 pm Eastern on Zoom
With Erin Laverick and Elizabeth Evans
Why is it so hard to get students to pay attention? The answer is not just to eliminate distractions, but to “rethink the practice of teaching.” This book by James N Lang, reveals “how educators can structure their classrooms less as distraction-free zones and more as environments where they can actively cultivate students’ attention. Brimming with ideas and grounded in new research, Distracted offers an innovative plan for the most important lesson of all: how to learn.”
Wednesday May 18, 9:00 – 11:00 am Central/10:00 – Noon Eastern on Zoom
Presenters: Kate Robertson and Elizabeth Evans
Whew! Congrats! You finished the whirlwind known as the end of the semester. This is the perfect time to review one of your courses and plan improvements for next time. Bring your “student results” (your outputs) and your syllabus and your course “inputs” to this session. What does your course look like from the student’s POV? How did the course results align with your hopes/ goals? How did your organization, delivery of content, communication, evaluation strategies and instructional strategies make for effective learning? After review of a course, participants will identify changes to make for next time. You can use the plan developed here as an example of your continuous improvement in your upcoming annual faculty evaluation in June. Discussion and workshop time are included. This workshop fits any course delivery, including online.
Thursday May 19, 10:00 – 11:00 am Central/11:00 am – 12:00 pm Eastern on Zoom
Presenters: Susan Gallanis, Janice Weisenbach
Faculty will learn how to use Voicethread, a tool in Blackboard that takes the idea of an online discussion board to a new level of engagement. Participants will learn how to narrate media such as a PowerPoint, then share with students. Students can add audio, video, or text-based comments. We will also show how to create a Voicethread that can be graded in Blackboard.
Thursday May 19, Noon – 1:00 pm Central/1:00 – 2:00 pm Eastern
Presenter: Justin Frisque
This session for faculty focuses on using Panopto for recording content on a laptop. Participants will learn how to record and share a Panopto recording, do basic video editing, share a video link, and add Panopto to your Blackboard course. Also covered is how to upload a Zoom recording to Panopto and set up a Blackboard Assignment (drop box) for students to submit their Panopto video assignment.
Wednesday June 1, Noon – 1:00 pm Central/1:00 – 2:00 pm Eastern via Zoom
Please plan to join us on Zoom to learn about the research conducted by two colleagues who recently completed their doctoral degrees:
Concordia Faculty Seminars are informal interactive presentations and conversations on faculty and staff projects including grants, research, and service designed to promote scholarship, spark new ideas, provide opportunities for meaningful discussion, and increase collaboration. Faculty, staff and students are welcome at attend.
Friday May 20, 12:30 – 1:00 pm Central/1:30 – 2:00 pm Eastern.
Thursday June 2, 1:00 – 1:30 pm Central/2:00 – 2:30 pm Eastern.
Monday June 13, 11:00 – 11:30 am Central/Noon – 12:30 pm Eastern.
Wednesday June 29, 9:00 – 9:30 am Central/10:00 – 10:30 am Eastern.
Tuesday July 19, 3:00 – 3:30 pm Central/4:00 – 4:30 pm Eastern.
Ally is a tool in Blackboard to help instructors make their content more accessible. Your class is full of diverse students with unique learning abilities, needs and devices. Course content created with this in mind can benefit not only your students with disclosed disabilities such as visual impairments and dyslexia, but improve the learning experience for all of your students.
During this information session, we will show the Ally accessibility indicators, explain Ally instructor feedback report including the built-in instructions to improve the content accessibility.
Wednesday July 20, 6:00 – 7:00 pm Central/7:00 – 8:00 pm Eastern via Zoom
Presenters: Diana Belscamper, Sandra Jahns, Kate Robertson
Target Audience: Faculty who teach non-traditional courses (fully online, virtual, accelerated), but all faculty are welcome to attend. Keeping students engaged and motivated is one of the challenges of teaching across distance – asynchronous online or virtually via Zoom. Many of our faculty and students experience screen fatigue, especially in the past few years. This interactive session will provide an opportunity to share your own best practices, and will highlight theories and methods for engaging students, including
Two dates to choose from; Attend on Zoom or in Rincker 213 (Mequon Campus only)
Thursday July 21, 10:00 am – Noon Central/11:00 am – 1:00 pm Eastern
Wednesday July 27, 3:00 – 4:00 pm Central/4:00 – 5:00 pm Eastern
Presenter: CELT Staff
Faculty can get help with making your course content more accessible by attending a Document Improvement Day session. CELT staff will be available to help you edit your documents using Ally. We can also help with and demonstrate some of the common fixes that are included in Microsoft Word and PowerPoint.
After submitting your registration, the CELT Student Worker will send you an Outlook invitation for this event. Please accept this invitation as you will not receive a separate email confirmation. The day before the event, we will send a reminder. If you have any questions, please contact Susan Gallanis.
Tuesday July 26, 1:00 – 2:00 Central/2:00 – 3:00 Eastern via Zoom
Presenters: Janis Chapman, Kathleen Hoppa-Grady, Taylor Richards, Susan Gallanis
During this session for faculty, we will provide an overview of Universal Design for Learning (UDL), explain who it benefits and how UDL looks in higher education. We will share and faculty will discover UDL practices that they already use. We will also share resources and tips for expanding UDL principles when working with students.
After submitting your registration, you will receive a registration confirmation, the Zoom meeting link, and the option to add this event to your calendar. The day before the event, we will send a reminder. If you have any questions, please contact Susan Gallanis.
Wednesday August 10, 8:15 – 4:00 Central/9:15 – 5:00 Eastern
Session descriptions are below. Register for all that you are able to attend. After submitting your registration, the CELT Student Worker will send you an Outlook invitation for each session you registered for and it will include the Zoom link. Please accept the invitation(s) as you will not receive a separate email confirmation. The day before the event, we will send an email reminder. If you have any questions, please contact Elizabeth Evans.
Designing/Refreshing Your Course and Syllabus – Kate Robertson and Elizabeth Evans
8:15 – 9:45 am Central/9:15 – 10:45 am Eastern
Learn about and incorporate best practices in course design, and syllabus development. Discussion includes how to improve your objectives, align course objectives with assessments, the Concordia University syllabus template latest revision, and how to connect to program and Global Learning Outcomes.
Blackboard Basics – Susan Gallanis
10:00 – 11:30 am Central/11:00 am – 12:30 pm Eastern
Learn how to add content, Blackboard Assignments (“dropboxes”) and set up the gradebook for a Fall course! This is an ideal session for faculty new to using Blackboard. Session is for those who set up their own Blackboard courses.
Engaging Your Learners – Susan Gallanis, Kate Robertson, and Diana Belscamper
11:45 am – 12:45 pm Central/12:45 – 1:45 pm Eastern
Effective teaching fosters learning; students need to be engaged for learning to happen. This session introduces strategies to engage students in multiple instructional modes.
Blackboard Tests and Respondus LockDown Browser with Monitor – Susan Gallanis
1:00 – 2:30 pm Central/2:00 – 3:30 pm Eastern
The first half of this session will show how faculty can create Blackboard Tests using three commonly used question types. The second half of the session will cover Respondus LockDown Browser and Monitor. Faculty will learn the difference between LockDown Browser and Monitor, and how to enable the appropriate settings based on where students take the test.
Faculty Resources – Elizabeth Evans, Susan Gallanis, and Wayne Thompson (primarily for full-time faculty)
3:00 – 4:00 pm Central/4:00 – 5:00 pm Eastern
Learn what resources are available to you as faculty, including research/scholarship support, where to find them, and who to contact if you need more help.
Thursday August 11, 9:30 – 11:00 am Central/10:30 am – Noon Eastern via Zoom
Presenters: Susan Gallanis, Taylor Richards
Ally is a tool in Blackboard to help instructors make their content more accessible. Your class is full of diverse students with unique learning abilities, needs and devices. Course content created with this in mind can benefit not only your students with disclosed disabilities such as visual impairments and dyslexia, but improve the learning experience for all of your students.
During this information session, we will show the Ally accessibility indicators and Ally instructor feedback report. We will also demonstrate common fixes in Microsoft Word that can help make your content more accessible for all students.
After submitting your registration, you will receive a registration confirmation, the Zoom meeting link, and the option to add this event to your calendar. The day before the event, we will send a reminder. If you have any questions, please contact Susan Gallanis.
Friday August 12, 10:00 – 11:00 am Central/11:00 am – Noon Eastern via Zoom
Presenters: Susan Gallanis, Jan Weisenbach
Voicethread is a tool in Blackboard that takes the idea of an online discussion board to a new level of engagement. Participants will learn how to access and navigate the Voicethread options, create a basic instructor introduction, comment on a Voicethread using audio, video or text, and set up a graded Voicethread assignment.
After submitting your registration, you will receive a registration confirmation, the Zoom meeting link, and the option to add this event to your calendar. The day before the event, we will send a reminder. If you have any questions, please contact Susan Gallanis.
Friday August 12, Noon – 1:00 pm Central/1:00 – 2:00 pm Eastern via Zoom
Presenter: Elizabeth Evans
This interactive session for faculty leaders, department chairs, and program directors suggests strategies for development of effective curricula for academic programs. These strategies could be applied to new programs or to improve and refresh existing programs.
After submitting your registration, you will receive a registration confirmation, the Zoom meeting link, and the option to add this event to your calendar. The day before the event, we will send a reminder. If you have any questions, please contact Elizabeth Evans.
Wednesday August 17, 1:00 – 2:00 pm Central/2:00 – 3:00 pm Eastern via Zoom
Presenter: Susan Gallanis
Faculty will learn how to create, engage in, and grade Blackboard online discussion boards.
After submitting your registration, you will receive a registration confirmation, the Zoom meeting link, and the option to add this event to your calendar. The day before the event, we will send a reminder. If you have any questions, please contact Susan Gallanis.
Wednesday August 17, 5:00 – 6:45 pm
Presenters: Elizabeth Evans, Diana Belscamper, Dan Paavola, Susan Gallanis, Jan Chapman, Andrew Wahl
Are you ready for teaching the fall semester beginning August 29? This session for Mequon traditional adjuncts teaching in-person points you to vital information, including effective first session strategies, finding policies and resources, Academic Resource Center (ARC) services, taking attendance, Faith and Learning, classroom AV resources, and what is required in Blackboard/how to find Blackboard Resources.
After submitting your registration, you will receive a registration confirmation, the Zoom meeting link, and the option to add this event to your calendar. The day before the event, we will send a reminder. If you have any questions, please contact Elizabeth Evans.
Four meetings on Thursdays, 1:00 – 2:00 pm
September 15 in RP 201; October 6, October 27, November 10 in the Lakeshore Room
Led by: Catherine (Kate) Robertson and Holly Griskell
Book is included. Maximum participants: 16. Registration deadline: Friday, September 2.
The book: Cavanaugh, S.R. (2016). The spark of learning: Energizing the college classroom with the science of emotion. West Virginia University Press.
How do students’ emotions impact their learning? In The Spark of Learning, Sarah Rose Cavanagh explains how college faculty can leverage students’ emotions and personal experiences to improve attention and learning in the classroom. This book contains a blend of practical applications, research evidence, and classroom activities for energizing and engaging students, while also supporting students’ mental and emotional well-being. This session is in person on the Mequon campus.
Reading Assignments: September 15: Preface, Intro, and Chapters 1 & 2, October 6: Chapter 3, October 27: Chapters 4 & 5, November 10: Chapter 6 and conclusion.
Friday September 9, Noon – 1:00 pm Central/1:00 – 2:00 pm Eastern via Zoom
Presenter: Leah Dvorak
The audience for this program is Department Chairs and Program Directors. What are the expectations for the role of Department Chair or Academic Program Director? An effective chair or academic program director manages faculty, staff, programs, courses, and processes vital to student success. The effective chair also fosters a healthy departmental culture and establishes efficient, collaborative decision-making processes. A strong department chair or program director uses both management skills and leadership skills to create and sustain a successful department in which faculty and staff feel engaged and energized.
Thursday, September 15, Noon – 1:00 pm Central/1:00 – 2:00 pm Eastern via Zoom
Please plan to join us on Zoom to learn about the research conducted by two Arts and Science colleagues who recently completed their doctoral degrees: Steve Hendrix (Ann Arbor) and Josh Locklair (Mequon).
Concordia Faculty Seminars are informal interactive presentations and conversations on faculty and staff projects including grants, research, and service designed to promote scholarship, spark new ideas, provide opportunities for meaningful discussion, and increase collaboration. Faculty, staff, and students are welcome to attend.
Choose from four options
With Jordan Beck and the Academic Freedom Task Force
In this session, members of the academic freedom task force will facilitate discussions of the newly proposed academic freedom policies. We will take a case study approach where we attempt to apply the policies to topics and actual cases of interest to our faculty. There will be time allotted for open discussion where faculty can raise concerns about academic freedom challenges within their disciplines.
Led by Jordan Beck at Mequon and Josh Kittleman at Ann Arbor
Deadline to Register: Monday September 26.
Three options:
The Academic Freedom Task Force is pleased to invite you to a book club to discuss The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas are Setting Up a Generation for Failure by Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt (https://www.thecoddling.com/). A free copy of the book will be provided to the first 30 people to register thanks to a grant from FIRE.
Over the course of four sessions, we will work our way through The Coddling of the American Mind, with collegial discussions of our agreements and disagreements of the arguments presented by the authors; please read these sections prior to each session.
Session 1: Intro & Part I: Three Bad Ideas
Session 2: Part II: Bad Ideas in Action
Session 3: Part III: How Did We Get Here?
Session 4: Part IV: Wising Up
The first session kicks off the discussion with three “untruths” presented in Part I: the untruth of fragility, the untruth of emotional reasoning, and the untruth of ‘us versus them’. The second and third sessions focus on the consequences of these untruths on campuses across the US and the forces that led to these consequences. Finally, in the last session, we will discuss the authors’ suggestions for “Wising Up” (Part IV).
The Task Force encourages you to register if you are interested in current trends of campus culture, specifically related to issues of academic freedom and free expression. We want to have a wide range of opinions and experiences expressed during these book club discussions. So, we want you to register!
Friday September 16, Noon – 12:30 pm Central/1:00 – 1:30 pm Eastern on Zoom
With Taylor Richards and Susan Gallanis
During this 30-minute session, faculty will learn several fast, easy fixes to their documents that can make content more accessible for all students.
Friday, September 23, Noon – 1:00 pm Central/1:00 – 2:00 pm Eastern via Zoom
Presenters: Susan Gallanis and Catherine (Kate) Robertson
The audience for this program is Department Chairs, Program Directors, and Deans. During this session, we will review and discuss the teaching observation process and form used for summative faculty observations, whether for in-person, blended, or online courses. We will also share effective strategies for the observation itself and the post-observation discussion. Best practices for sharing constructive feedback, and tips on how to use the form for formative, peer observations will also be shared.
Friday September 30, Noon – 12:30 pm Central/1:00 – 1:30 pm Eastern
Presented by Taylor Richards and Susan Gallanis
Are you surprised by the poor quality of work you are seeing from students? High expectations are still possible when you provide adequate scaffolding. Spend 30 minutes with CELT and learn how you can help students raise their quality of work. This is especially relevant at the start of the school year when students are adjusting to new courses, new challenges, and higher expectations. Scaffolding assignments is a principle of Universal Design for Learning (UDL).
Friday October 7, Noon – 1:00 pm Central/1:00 – 2:00 pm Eastern via Zoom
With Brooke Johnson, Tammy Ferry and Sarah Pecor
The annual academic timeline/schedule of operational activities and our internal change processes are important planning tools for all academic leaders. Have you wondered . . .How and when do I make changes to my program? Which changes require approval? How do I initiate a continuing education program? The role of the Academic Program Support Team (APST) will be included. This program is for Program Directors, Department Chairs, Academic Administrative Assistants, and interested faculty from Mequon and Ann Arbor.
Friday October 14, Noon – 1:00 pm Central/1:00 – 2:00 Eastern via Zoom
With Leah Dvorak and Erin Laverick
This session covers how to request a position, develop the job description, position posting and screening, the interview and vetting process, and negotiating the hire. In addition, learn about our new three-year orientation process which begins this year. Audience: Department Chairs, Program Directors, Academic Administrative Assistants, Deans.
Wednesday October 19, Noon – 1:00 pm Central/1:00 – 2:00 pm Eastern
During this session, Susan Gallanis will demonstrate how to retrieve a Blackboard Test and convert it to a Word document. The process uses the software Respondus 4.0 (test builder) and is now available to all Concordia faculty. Participants will also learn how to troubleshoot the most common errors.
Wednesday October 26, 12:10 – 1:00 pm in the Lakeshore Room
Concordia’s Chris Cunningham is teaming with a professor at Johns Hopkins School of Public Health in a grant recently awarded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to investigate a pharmaceutical product that could ameliorate withdrawal symptoms from prolonged use of opioids. Dr. Chris Cunningham is Associate Professor of Pharmaceutical Science and Director of Concordia’s Center for Structure-Based Drug Design & Development. Chris will be introduced by Tonya Bartoletti of the Office of Sponsored Research (ORSP).
Concordia Faculty Seminars are informal interactive presentations and conversations on faculty and staff projects including grants, research, and service designed to promote scholarship, spark new ideas, provide opportunities for meaningful discussion, and increase collaboration. Faculty, staff and students are welcome to attend.
Friday October 28, Noon – 12:30 pm Central/1:00 – 1:30 pm Eastern
With Taylor Richards and Susan Gallanis
It is often inappropriate to provide choice of a learning objective itself, but it is often appropriate to offer choices in how that objective can be reached. Offering learners choices can develop self-determination, pride in accomplishment, and increase the degree to which they feel connected to their learning. Spend 30 minutes with CELT and learn how to construct choice assignments that are interesting, rigorous, and easy to grade.
UDL (Universal Design for Learning) is a framework to improve and optimize teaching and learning for all people based on scientific insights into how people learn.
Wednesday November 2, Noon—1:00 pm Eastern
With Erin Laverick
Faculty are invited to attend a CELT Lunch n’ Learn about modular lesson planning. The session will begin promptly at 12:00. Faculty are welcome to go through the cafeteria line and bring their lunches to the CMAX for this session.
Wednesday November 9, 12:10 – 1:00 pm Central in the Lakeshore Room (Mequon campus)
Facilitated by Sandra Jahns
Colleagues from among the Top Ten faculty, as rated by students, share their strategies and methods for connecting faith and learning in the classroom. Liz Paly (Physical Therapy), Stacy Stolzman (Physical Therapy), Heather Fortuine (Rehab Science), Carol Lueders Bolwerk (Undergrad Nursing), and Steven Witt (Graduate Education) are joined by facilitator Sandra Jahns (Communication).
Tuesday November 15, 6:00 – 7:00 pm Central/7:00 – 8:00 pm Eastern via Zoom
With Diana Belscamper, Sandra Jahns, Kate Robertson and Special Guests
As trends in higher education continue to change, we find more learning environments – whether face-to-face, virtual, or online – now have multiple generations in the same classes. “Traditional” students are not necessarily just young adults, and “non-traditional” students may not be only working adults. Technology, schedule flexibility, cost, and location availability have allowed or required students to find various options for their learning. Differences in life stages, work experiences, and general knowledge can pose challenges for collaborative learning.
Join us for this engaging, activity-based session to learn how to improve connections and communication among various generations in your classes. We will practice facilitation of discussions and engaging students from various age groups into relatable, thought-provoking dialogue. Conversation and fellowship among your colleagues will kick off the session!
This session is primarily for those teaching in face-to-face and virtual learning environments, but online faculty and anyone else interested are welcome!
Tuesday, November 22, 1:00 – 2:00 pm Central/2:00 – 3:00 pm Eastern via Zoom
Our Registrar’s Office will share information about how to review course offerings from previous academic years to prepare for scheduling for 2023-2024. We will also review the new academic calendar, deadlines for submitting schedule information for 2023-2024 scheduling, and how to submit a change to your schedule after it is finalized. The instructions for completion will have been sent out a few days before this session, so after you read those, bring your questions.
This session is for those managing schedules for academic courses, including department chairs, program directors and academic administrative assistants. Deans and faculty may also be interested.
Thursday January 5, 9:00 am – 2:30 pm Central/10:00 am – 3:30 pm Central via Zoom
Sessions led by: Janessa Doucette, Tonya Bartoletti, and Wayne Thompson
Audience: Full-time faculty on both campuses
9:00 – 10:00 am Central/10:00 – 11:00 am Eastern: How to Get The Most Out Of Your ORSP
In this introductory session, you will learn about all the things the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs offers to faculty, including: our new Service Request Portal, assistance with everything from IRBs to grant proposals, and unconditional love and support.
10:15 am – 12:15pm Central/11:15 am – 1:15 pm Eastern: Using Design Thinking to Chart Your Research Course
You can walk away from this session with shiny new things: research questions, a timeline and plan, project collaborators, and more. We will practice a creative approach to project planning and rekindle the research twinkle in your eye.
12:15 – 1:00 pm Central/1:15 – 2:00 Eastern: Break for Lunch. ORSP will be online for relaxed Q&A
1:00 – 2:30 pm Central/2:00 – 3:30 Eastern: What to Do with All That Data
In this session, you will get to explore the new features we are using on Qualtrics. We will analyze a real dataset together, talk about analysis strategies, and learn how to make reports and dashboards to show off our beautiful analysis. Our methodologist Wayne Thompson will be on hand to answer statistics and project design questions.
Friday January 6, Noon – 1:00 pm Central/1:00 – 2:00 pm Eastern via Zoom
With Elizabeth Evans and Susan Gallanis
This session will highlight effective practices for assessment of student learning at the program level at Concordia. This session is part of our leadership development series for department chairs and program directors.
Wednesday January 11, 2023
8:15 – 4:00 Central/9:15 – 5:00 Eastern. All sessions are via Zoom
Five sessions offered throughout the day. Register for each session you are planning to attend.
After submitting your registration, the CELT Student Worker will send you an Outlook invitation for each session you registered for, and it will include the Zoom link. Please accept the invitation(s) as you will not receive a separate email confirmation. The day before the event, we will send an email reminder. If you have any questions, please contact Elizabeth Evans.
Designing/Refreshing Your Course and Syllabus – Kate Robertson and Elizabeth Evans
8:15 – 9:45 am Central/9:15 – 10:45 am Eastern
Review and incorporate best practices in course design and syllabus development to ready your syllabi for this semester, including how to write/improve your objectives, align teaching activities and assignments with course learning objectives, use the Concordia University syllabus template and resources, and align your course with the “big picture” of Program Learning Outcomes (PLOs), Global Learning Outcomes (GLOs), and University Liberal Arts Outcomes (ULAOs).
Blackboard Basics – Susan Gallanis
10:00 – 11:30 am Central/11:00 am – 12:30 pm Eastern
Learn how to add content, Blackboard Assignments (“dropboxes”) and set up the gradebook for a Spring course! This is an ideal session for faculty new to using Blackboard. Session is for those who set up their own Blackboard courses.
Engaging Your Learners – Susan Gallanis, Kate Robertson, and Diana Belscamper
11:45 am – 12:45 pm Central/12:45 – 1:45 pm Eastern
Effective teaching fosters learning; students need to be engaged for learning to happen. This session introduces strategies to engage students in multiple instructional modes.
Blackboard Tests and Respondus LockDown Browser with Monitor – Susan Gallanis
1:00 – 2:30 pm Central/2:00 – 3:30 pm Eastern
The first half of this session will show how faculty can create Blackboard Tests using three commonly used question types. The second half of the session will cover Respondus LockDown Browser and Monitor. Faculty will learn the difference between LockDown Browser and Monitor, and how to enable the appropriate settings based on where students take the test.
Faculty Resources – Elizabeth Evans, Susan Gallanis, and Wayne Thompson (primarily for full-time faculty)
3:00 – 4:00 pm Central/4:00 – 5:00 pm Eastern
Learn what resources are available to you as faculty, including research/scholarship support, where to find them, and who to contact if you need more help.
Friday January 13, Noon – 1:00 pm Central/1:00 – 2:00 pm Eastern via Zoom
With Madelyn Kempen, Susan Gallanis and Diana Belscamper of the CELT
Audience: Department Chairs and Program Directors, Deans, Academic Administrative Assistants
This session features the current practices used in most programs for planning, development and support for online programs, courses and faculty by the CELT and departments, including the development and deployment of master courses; responsibilities of department or program staff (for hiring, textbook examination copies, and pay); faculty development for teaching online; and faculty responsibilities and support during the online course. This session provides updates to the many changed institutional practices related to online instruction after the implementation of FLAC, the move of the Instructional Design Team to the CELT, and the move of Blackboard Support to the HELP Desk.
Tuesday January 17, 2:00 – 3:00 pm Central/3:00 – 4:00 pm Eastern via Zoom
Led by Susan Gallanis
Respondus 4.0 Test Builder software is available to CUAA faculty to create and manage tests offline. Tests can be printed to paper or published to Blackboard. During this session participants will learn how to retrieve a Blackboard exam and convert it to an MS Word document. We will also demonstrate how to import test questions from an MS Word document into Respondus, then upload to your Blackboard course.
Wednesday January 18, 11:00 am – Noon Central/Noon – 1:00 pm Eastern via Zoom
Led by Maria Becker (CUW Library) and Susan Gallanis (CELT)
During this session, the presenters will provide a brief overview of copyright and fair use. We will discuss how this applies to content shared with students both in the classroom and in your Blackboard course.
Wednesday January 18, 10:00 – 11:00 am Eastern in SB 101
In this session, we will discuss the use of rubrics for both formative and summative assessment. We will explore ways to create valid and reliable tools to make evaluation and grading accurate, purposeful, and unbiased. We will also consider how rubrics can help you to monitor students’ progress and to make instructional decisions that promote learning.
Wednesday January 18, 11:30 am – 12:30 pm Eastern in SB 101
Kathleen Gabriel (2009) has argued that the first week of class is the most important week of the semester for our students and us. It’s our time to set expectations, get students excited about learning, and engage, engage, engage. In this session, we will discuss best practices for creating an engaging first week of classes. Participants are asked to bring syllabi, assignments, lesson plans, and anything else applicable to the first week of class.
Thursday January 19, 11:45 am – 12:45 pm Eastern in SB 101
Join Sara as she shares various learning strategies and formative assessments found to be effective with our students. Take away engaging tools just in time for the new semester!
Thursday January 19, 1:00 – 2:00 pm Eastern in SB 101
Join Kim Bentley, assistant director of the ARC, to learn about how to best serve students with accommodations. This session will be an informal Q & A, so please bring a list of questions.
Four meetings on Thursdays, Noon – 1:00 pm in PH 205 (bring your own lunch)
February 2, February 23, March 9 and March 30
Led by: Adam Paape
Book is included. Maximum participants: 16. Registration deadline: Friday, January 20.
The book: Badley, K. (2023). Engaging college and university students. Routledge.
What makes an engaging lesson? In this captivating book, Ken Badley provides professors with a vast toolkit of methods to engage their learners. Reading this book will help teachers in higher education as they work with curriculum, assessment, and instruction. Badley writes with wit, wisdom, and humor. This incredibly practical book is based on Ken’s extensive experiences in the world of teaching and learning. This session is in person on the Mequon campus.
With Leah Dvorak
Friday February 17, Noon – 1:00 pm Central/1:00 – 2:00 pm Eastern via Zoom.
Audience: Department Chairs and Program Directors
Effective leaders balance building positive relationships with delivering challenging information that needs to be communicated. When change is needed in individual performance or in the way a group works together, uncomfortable conversations may follow. This session provides department chairs and program directors with specific strategies for managing uncomfortable conversations while maintaining positive relationships with their faculty and staff.
Led by Janis Chapman, Director of Accessibility Resource Center
Monday February 20, Noon – 1:00 pm Central/1:00 – 2:00 pm Eastern via Zoom
Expand your understanding of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and how it looks in higher education. Incorporating UDL principles can benefit all students, not only those with a disability.
With Taylor Richards
Thursday February 23, 2:00 – 3:00 pm Central/3:00 – 4:00 pm Eastern via Zoom
This is a continuation from the Scaffolding session held Fall 2022. All are welcome even if you could not attend part 1! Scaffolding assignments helps students raise the quality of their work. During this session we will have some hands-on exploration of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Scaffolding IRL (in real life) as the kids say! Bring your questions and examples. We’ll have some examples to share as well.
Led by Diana Belscamper, Catherine (Kate) Robertson and Sandra Jahns
Thursday February 23, 6:00 – 7:00 pm Central/7:00 – 8:00 pm Eastern via Zoom
Join our conversation regarding a creative and effective way to increase engagement with students, while maximizing class time: “flipping the classroom.” We will discuss what this means, and how best to implement it in our longer virtual and face-to-face classes. In addition, we will share strategies for efficient grading and substantive feedback on assignments in Blackboard. Attention will be given to the balance necessary for adjunct faculty who might find short grading turnaround challenging, while also maintaining a full-time job. Our target audience is virtual and face-to-face faculty, but all are welcome. Come with your questions and suggestions and join in collaborative learning with your peers!
With Elizabeth Evans and various faculty
Monday February 27, 3:00 – 4:00 pm Central/4:00 – 5:00 pm Eastern on Zoom
AI is now able to write essays and pass exams. As faculty members, we need to learn about and address this new development. Do we ban it or embrace it? Please come to learn more about ChatGPT, to share your thoughts and experiences, and to help develop suggestions about how we might deal with this in our teaching, individually, and collaboratively.
With Elizabeth Evans, Susan Gallanis and Kate Robertson of CELT
Friday March 3, Noon – 1:00 pm Central/1:00 – 2:00 pm Eastern via Zoom
Audience: Department Chairs and Program Directors
In order to support our faculty, CELT has investigated and used multiple models of teaching effectiveness which frame evaluation and feedback to faculty on their teaching. Learn about models in use, where we can obtain data on elements of these models, and how you can provide challenge and support through feedback to faculty through the teaching observation process and reviewing syllabi and courses. Future reports from Blackboard Learn will also be discussed.
Led by Diana Belscamper
Wednesday March 8, Noon – 12:30 pm Central/1:00 – 1:30 pm Eastern via Zoom
Our discussion will focus primarily on strategies for efficient grading and substantive feedback in asynchronous online classes. Attention will be given to the balance necessary for adjunct faculty who might find short grading turnaround challenging, while also maintaining a full-time job. Our target audience is online instructors, but all are welcome. Come with your questions, suggestions, and best practices to share with your peers!
With Taylor Richards and Susan Gallanis
Thursday March 30, 2:00 – 3:00 pm Central/3:00 – 4:00 pm Eastern via Zoom
Ally is a tool to help instructors make content more accessible and has been used at CUWAA since July, 2022. This session includes a brief overview of Ally where we will highlight new features including a Course Accessibility Report. We will also demonstrate additional ways instructors can format documents using best practices of Universal Design for Learning (UDL).
Wednesday April 19, Noon – 1:00 pm Central/1:00 – 2:00 pm Eastern via Zoom
Audience: Department Chairs and Program Directors with full-time faculty
This session will review CUWAA’s full-time faculty annual evaluation form, process and timeline. We will discuss sources of evidence used to ensure that our faculty are effective teachers addressing the mission of Concordia, productive scholars, and contribute service to the university, church, community and/or profession. We will also cover the many resources CUWAA provides to help faculty achieve their goals, including the CELT (for teaching), and the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (for research, grants and scholarship), the full-time faculty onboarding process, and how department chairs/program directors can (and should) be involved in observing, mentoring and supporting their faculty
Thursday April 20, Noon – 1:00 pm Central/1:00 – 2:00 pm Eastern via Zoom
Presented by Faculty Laureate Michael Brown, Pharmacy
The pharmacy law course at Concordia University was rebuilt from scratch for the Fall 2022 semester. Content, assessments, and enrichment questions were developed to align with the competencies for the Multistate Pharmacy Jurisprudence Exam (MPJE) pharmacist licensure exam. Required course elements included lectures, post-lecture assignments and five exams. Optional enrichment included more than 450 lectures/MPJE Competency-aligned Jeopardy-style practice questions. Enrichment also included the ability to repeat archived assignments after their due dates before exams dates. This session will describe the methods used to develop and deliver the course, as well as share the data assessing the impact of the optional enrichment materials on students’ exam performance.
Thursday April 27, Noon – 1:00 pm Central/1:00 – 2:00 pm Eastern via Zoom
With Taylor Richards
Not sure where to begin with incorporating UDL principles into your course? Student feedback is a great place to start! During this session we will discuss how student feedback can guide your UDL practices.
Wednesday May 17, 11:00 – 11:30 am Central/12:00 – 12:30 pm Eastern via Zoom
Presenter: Susan Gallanis
This session is for faculty who build and edit their own course in Blackboard (example: traditional face-to-face courses). We will walk through the steps of a course copy, including common errors made and critical adjustments that must be done after the course copy is complete.
Wednesday May 17, 11:30 am – 1:00 pm Central/12:30 – 2:00 pm Eastern on Zoom
Facilitators: Kate Robertson and Elizabeth Evans
Whew! Your grades are in and you’ve finished the whirlwind of the semester. This is the perfect time to review and reflect on one of your courses and plan improvements for next time. Bring your reflections captured throughout the course, your “student results,” your syllabus and your course materials, teaching strategies and assignments to this session.
What does your course look like from the student’s POV? How did the course results align with your hopes/ goals?
How did your organization, delivery of content, communication, evaluation strategies and instructional strategies make for effective learning?
After review of your course, you will develop at least three actionable changes to improve the student learning experience next time. You can use the plan as an example of your continuous improvement for your upcoming annual faculty evaluation in June. Discussion and workshop time are included. This workshop fits any course delivery, including online.
Thursday May 18, 2:00 – 3:00 pm Central/3:00 – 4:00 pm Eastern via Zoom
With Elizabeth Evans, Susan Gallanis and Kate Robertson
This year the university is focusing on the continuous improvement process for learning in your program connected to your Program Learning Outcome aligned with GLO #6 Analytical Fluency. This session is for anyone who wants information on the tools, resources and support available for this work. We will also highlight the instructions for this year’s reporting focusing on GLO #6 due no later than 10-01-2023, and plans for next year (2023-2024) program assessment focusing on GLO#3 and GLO #1.
Below is the session recording and other resources from this session offered several times during Summer, 2021.
Recording (7/22 – with captions)
Recording (8/9 – with captions)
Thursday January 7, 10:00 – 11:30 am Central/11:00 am – 12:30 pm Eastern
As educators, we often hear the buzz phrase, “create an inclusive classroom.” But what does creating an inclusive classroom entail? This session will begin to answer this question and delve into ways we can be more mindful in meeting our students’ individual needs. Contact erin.laverick@cuaa.edu with questions.
Friday January 8, 8:30 – 10:00 am Central/9:30 – 11:00 am Eastern
Part of our focus on GLO#4 Critical Thinking, this session introduces four areas on which to build assignments: Analysis, Synthesis, Evaluation and Reflection. Excellent for those doing incremental improvement work on GLO#4 and anyone who develops assignments.
Monday January 11, 8:30 – 10:30 am Central/9:30 – 11:30 am Eastern
Are you stuck in a research rut? Or do you struggle to find time to research? Why not try using your classroom as a research space? Attend this fun and engaging workshop to learn more. You do not need to prepare anything, but you are encouraged to have some syllabi on hand. Contact Erin Laverick with questions.
Monday January 11, 11:00 am – Noon Central/Noon – 1:00 pm Eastern
In this session, we will introduce a tool called Voicethread. With Voicethread, faculty can share PowerPoints (including voice over PowerPoints) and other media with their students. Students can also create Voicethreads, such as class presentations. Students and faculty can add text, audio or video comments to Voicethreads. Come to this session to learn how to use this engaging, interactive tool.
Monday January 11, 1:00 – 2:00 pm Central/2:00 – 3:00 pm Eastern
During this session, faculty will learn how to access their Concordia University OneNote and OneDrive tools, part of Microsoft 365. Faculty will see how these tools can be used with Blackboard to share documents and collaborate in real time with students on documents (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, electronic Notebook). Is this Google Docs? No, it’s OneNote and OneDrive.
Choose from two options (both programs are the same):
Presenters: Michele Hoffman, Allison Wolf, Leah Dvorak
Please invite your administrative assistant to register as well; he or she will gain valuable information to assist you with the scheduling process.
We will guide you through a series of steps to enhance your knowledge and skills in scheduling courses for your program. Topics include analysis of section enrollment, how to request schedule changes, guided study protocols, and basic tips for maximizing the enrollment and rotation of your course offerings.
Strategic Course Scheduling is very highly encouraged for deans, department chairs, and program directors along with their administrative support staff, and brought to you by the Office of Institutional Effectiveness/Registrar. If you have questions, please contact Tammy Ferry.
Tuesday January 12, 9:00 – 10:30 am Central/10:00 – 11:30 am Eastern
Live out your FAITH in the classroom! Respond to God’s call to share your gifts in new ways with students and strengthen your connection with God and with neighbor. Attend this interactive session in which we will 1) explore Lutheran Vocation on a deeper level by learning ways to share your personal narrative, and 2) value the unique developmental needs of a variety of students while introducing them to discerning God’s call in their lives. This is an educational part of the NetVUE Grant program which offers a $500 stipend for faculty and staff who participate in learning experiences, develop a lesson for students, and share the evaluation of student learning from that lesson.
Tuesday January 12, 2:00 – 3:00 pm OR Friday January 15, 9:00 – 10:00 am
Room TBD and via Zoom.
Presenters: Justin Frisque, Susan Gallanis
During this session for faculty, Justin Frisque will demonstrate the classroom technology used for poly-synchronous teaching. Susan Gallanis will review effective ways to communicate with in-class and virtual students during class time. Participants in the room will have the opportunity to try out the technology for themselves.
Wednesday, January 13
All sessions via Zoom
Register for each session that you are able to attend
Learn about and incorporate best practices in syllabus development and course design. Discussion will include the Concordia University syllabus template, including the latest revision for this fall, how to demonstrate connection to Global Learning Outcomes and what is required to document the credit hour policy.
Learn how to add content, Blackboard Assignments (“dropboxes”) and set up the gradebook for a spring course! This is an ideal session for faculty new to using Blackboard.
During COVID, we use virtual delivery to supplement in-person instruction and facilitate social distancing.
This is an overview of what you need to know and how to learn about: the Concordia Zoom account, using Zoom, how to find the technology in your classroom, what is polysynchronous?, using the Instructional Continuity Channel, things to know, how to get help.
Blackboard Tests: 1:00 – 2:00 pm Central/2:00 – 3:00 pm Eastern
Respondus LockDown Browser with Monitor: 2:00 – 2:30 pm Central/3:00 – 3:30 pm Eastern
Faculty will learn how to create a Blackboard Test using three commonly used question types. We will also look at some of the most common test options used when deploying a test.
Respondus LockDown Browser and Monitor are used to deter cheating while taking Blackboard tests. Faculty will learn the difference between Respondus LockDown Browser and Respondus Monitor and how to enable the appropriate settings based on where the students will take the test.
Learn what resources are available to you as faculty, including research/scholarship support, where to find them, and who to contact if you need more help.
Tuesday January 19, 2021 from 9:00 am Central to 4:00 pm Central / 10:00 am Eastern to 5:00 pm Eastern Time.
Sponsored by the Faculty Scholarship Committee
Our traditional approach to Faculty Scholarship Boot Camp is being reimagined this year. Instead of a quiet place to work with lunch and snacks, we are planning time to learn from and share with each other about our work in the steps of a research project – from idea to publication.
Please register for each session you plan to attend. If you wish to set up an appointment for statistical or research design support, please e-mail Angela Walmsley. If you wish to set up appointment for writing support, please e-mail Julie Dresen.
If you have any questions about this program, please email Julie Dresen.
Workshop Schedule
Thursday January 14, 1:00 – 2:00 pm Central/2:00 – 3:00 pm Eastern via Zoom
Presenters: Julie Dresen, Rachel Heil
This workshop is for first-time CIRG applicants and is brought to you by the Concordia Intramural Research Grant (CIRG) Committee and the Office for Research and Sponsored Programs (ORSP).
First-time CIRG applicants MUST attend this workshop to be eligible for grant funding.
This workshop is to help faculty with the CIRG grants application process. The workshop will focus on the following:
The purpose of these grants is to support scholarly activity among interested full-time Concordia University faculty. These grants are intended to function as seed money in obtaining additional funding from outside sources. If you are unsure if your idea is eligible, please review the definition of scholarship described in the CU Faculty handbook, or review the application for further information. CIRG is a faculty committee, and full time faculty in all disciplines are encouraged to apply for a grant. Examples of past successfully funded proposals can be found in the portal link faculty page under the “research and scholarship” tab, along with the application.
If you have questions, please contact Rachel Heil.
Wednesday January 20, 11:00 am – Noon Central/Noon – 1:00 pm Eastern
During this session faculty will learn about the types of large files that can take up too much space in a Blackboard course. Over time, this can cause the maximum space limit to be reached. We will explain effective ways to share this type of content with students, without running out of course space.