Newsletter November 7, 2024
cte.utah.edu

This has been a week. With a time change, the onset of cold weather, and a contentious national election, many of us are struggling to find the balance between staying informed and maintaining our own wellness. Check in with your family members, friends, and colleagues, and especially your students. Talk or don’t talk about national events, but check the connection.

In the classroom, the check-in serves a critical role in grounding you all in the present and acknowledging the individuals in the room. If appropriate, you may want to devote some class time to talking about national events. There are resources in recent MBECTE newsletters and in the recent Academic Senate statement for how to talk about the election in the classroom. Check-ins can also be as simple as asking students how they’re feeling, what music they listened to this morning, what they’re planning for the weekend, or a Zoom favorite – “show me your pets.” This article on check-ins from Inside Higher Ed provides some strategies for implementing check-ins and keeping them from derailing your class period.

The Martha Bradley Evans Center for Teaching Excellence (MBECTE) is seeking one graduate student to join our team as Graduate Fellow. This paid position begins in the Spring 2025 semester (or sooner if available), with the potential to renew in subsequent semesters and to work hourly during Summer2025. The position is designed to be flexible with graduate students’ program responsibilities.

This unique opportunity allows you to strengthen the teaching and leadership components of your CV, increase your own knowledge of best practices in higher education pedagogy, and assist faculty and other graduate students refine their teaching skills. It may also provide exposure to online and hybrid teaching environments.

Graduate Fellow / Generalist (20hrs/week) – work closely with MBECTE staff to support instruction across disciplines on the Salt Lake City campus. Potential responsibilities include:

The benefits of working as a MBECTE Graduate Fellow include:

Strong candidates will possess the following:

To apply, submit the materials by November 15, 2024 to: 

CTE 2025 Grad Fellow Application Link

University of Utah policy 6-100 requires instructors to post course syllabi that include course outcomes and learning objectives, course expectations for earning credit and grades, and if applicable, a preliminary schedule for major examinations and assignments. Per policy, this information must be made available to students every semester, one week in advance of classes starting. For the Spring 2025 semester, all instructors are required to post core syllabi by December 30, 2024. 

To support instructors in complying with PPM 6-100, the Martha Bradley Evans Center for Teaching Excellence (MBECTE) has prepared a Syllabus Design Page containing a core syllabus template and instructions on how to post a syllabus to the class schedule via CIS. This process will create a hyperlink to the syllabus within the class schedule. MBECTE has created a webpage listing up-to-date university policies and resources for required syllabi posting. 

If instructors have questions about syllabus requirements or recommendations, they are welcome to schedule a consult with a team member from MBECTE.

The University of Utah’s University Professorship is a special rank that recognizes tenure-line faculty who have demonstrated extraordinary skills in teaching, distinguished scholarship in their field, and an interdisciplinary approach to undergraduate instruction. The University Professorship provides time and funding for faculty to launch new Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SOTL) projects related to general education courses. We highlight general education courses with this award because they have broad impact across disciplines and can make significant differences in our efforts to provide exceptional educational experiences for students. University Professors hold this special rank for two years. The application cycle for the 2025-27 University Professorship is now open. For more information, see the University Professorship website. Apply by December 2, 2024.

The Teaching 4 Learning Conference (T4L) 2024 will be hosted in Orem, Utah, by the Office of Teaching and Learning at Utah Valley University. As the flagship annual event of the Intermountain Consortium for Faculty Developers, T4L brings together educators and leaders from across higher education to explore innovative teaching and learning practices.

Conference Theme: Reflecting, Rethinking, and Redefining Teaching

Higher education faces unique challenges and opportunities in a rapidly changing world. We invite you to share your insights, research, and practices on how we can better prepare students for the demands of our evolving global landscape.

Thematic Areas for Submission:

Session Formats:

Submission Guidelines:

T4L welcomes proposals from individuals, teams, institutions, employers, and other partners. Student proposals are also encouraged.

To submit your proposal or for more information, please visit the T4L website.

 

 

Applications due for University Teaching Grants: January 27, March 7

Applications due for John R. Park Teaching Fellowships: November 11

Nominations due for Community Engaged Teaching and Scholarship Award: November 11

Nominations due for Early Career Teaching Awards: December 6