Newsletter October 30, 2025
cte.utah.edu

Both the Martha Bradley Evans Center for Teaching Excellence and Digital Learning Technologies have recently communicated with faculty about the upcoming federal deadline (April 24, 2026) for meeting Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. We’ve posted in prior newsletters, held CTE workshops on general tips to meeting these guidelines, held DLT workshops on accessibility tools in Canvas and Adobe, and posted information on the CTE website about accessibility resources for Instructors. 

We understand that meeting these guidelines can feel overwhelming. However, it’s even more overwhelming for students with disabilities who do not have full access to course content because it isn’t formatted properly. It is not sufficient to rely just on the Center for Disability and Access, who helps faculty provide accommodations for students with disabilities. This is because not every student with a disability has the documentation needed to utilize CDA services, and some students elect not to disclose their disability (for a great article on this, see Seidel & Chessman, 2024). In addition, the general population, regardless of disability status or a variety of other factors, also benefits from well-designed course content. This latter point is an underlying principle of Universal Design for Learning. 

So here’s what we’re going to do: To help reduce the cognitive overload associated with understanding what you need to do and how to do it, we are going to host  an “Essentials” on our newsletter and our website. Each week, our newsletter will post tips and resources on how to address a specific issue (e.g., providing alt text for images, or providing meaningful titles for links or modules in Canvas). We will also post this information in a corresponding Accessibility Essentials on our website for easy reference. As always, you can also schedule a consultation with CTE staff about pedagogy questions or with email classhelp@utah.edu about specific learning tools like Canvas or Adobe. 

CTE workshops are open to all instructors, postdocs and grad students on campus. Please register with unid@utah.edu  

COMMUNICATION SKILLS: CLASSROOM CONSIDERATIONS
FOR INTERNATIONAL INSTRUCTORS

In this workshop, international instructors will explore key communication skills to help navigate American cultural norms.
Topics will include levels of discourse formality, cultural references, personal space, and other relevant issues.

Workshop
1 PM – 1:45 PM
Wed, Nov. 5, 2025
Zoom
Click here to register.

SUPPORTING YOUR INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS IN THE CLASSROOM

Discover practical strategies to connect with your international students and help them thrive in your course. Gain simple, effective techniques that not only boost your students’ success, but also strengthen your own confidence as an instructor in a diverse classroom.

WEDNESDAY
19th November 2025

WHERE
GC 3105 Conference Room

TIME
11:00 AM – 12:00 PM

In additional to our faculty development work, CTE is proud to promote the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) in areas that represent the cutting edge of higher education. This year’s Martha Bradley Evans Teaching Fellows are working on projects related to teaching Gen Z learners. Our first showcase of these fellows is on  Dr. Yao-Yuan Mao from the Department of Physics and Astronomy. His project is based on understanding how students utilize AI tools for computational tasks and then developing pedagogical guidelines and resources around the usage of AI tools for physics computing instructors. To learn more about Dr. Mao's project, see the recent story posted by the College of Science. 

Appointment to the prestigious rank of University Professor recognizes extraordinary skill in or commitment to undergraduate teaching with an emphasis on crossing conventional boundaries, interdisciplinary relationships, and a strong commitment to liberal education. Individuals considered for the University Professorship will have demonstrated exceptional ability in challenging and stimulating the intellectual curiosity of undergraduate students. The University Professorship offers faculty the opportunity to launch a project that has the potential to improve and enhance the University's undergraduate curriculum within the changing landscape of higher education.

University Professors hold this special rank for two years. The funding associated with this award supports:

Open to tenured or tenure-line faculty. More information can be found on the University Professorship page. Deadline to submit applications is December 1, 2025. 

Policy 6-100: Instruction and Evaluation is one of the most fundamental university regulations because it establishes requirements for instruction such as grading, course numbers, adding and dropping

courses, and academic standards. While certain sections of this policy have been revised over the years, it has not undergone comprehensive review for quite some time. At the direction of T. Chase Hagood, Vice Provost for Student Success, a working group of faculty, administrators, and students reviewed the policy section by section and is proposing revisions to ensure the policy clearly communicates requirements, aligns with university practices, and promotes student success. The working group proposed changes for several reasons, such as to ensure compliance with laws and regulations, to improve safety for the university community, to ensure consistent and equitable processes across the university, to increase transparency for students, and to clarify the language. Changes are not intended to impact academic freedom or faculty rights related to teaching or primary responsibility related to course content. A summary of the proposed changes has been provided by the Writing Group. 

The PPM 6-100 Writing Group will host 3 town halls to get feedback on proposed revisions before the final draft goes to the Academic Senate:

Wednesday, October 29 from 3-4pm in person in Sill Center Conference Room

Tuesday, November 11 from 11am-12pm in person in Alumni Hall, EHSEB

Monday, January12 from 2-3pm virtual via Zoom. Click here to register.

The Learning Spaces-Student Computing Fees funding request and allocation process for fiscal year 2027 began on Oct. 15, 2025, with proposals due by Jan. 23, 2026.

For details, please access the Learning Spaces webpage and proposal submission guide.

In February 2026, a task force of campus IT staff will review and recommend proposals for funding. After evaluating the recommendations, the Teaching and Learning Portfolio (TLP) governance committee will forward its selections to the Campus Budget Advisory Committee for final review and approval.

Key dates:

· October 15, 2025: Call for Learning Spaces funding proposals

· November 26, 2025: Deadline to request AV estimates

· January 23, 2026: Deadline for proposal submissions

· February 2-5, 2026: Virtual meetings between applicants and task force

· February 6-13, 2026: Preparation for final deliberations

· February 25-27, 2026: TLP deliberations

· March 11, 2026: Finalizations and notifications of awards

· July 2026: FY27 award transfer to applicants If you have any questions, please email classhelp@utah.edu.

Applications are now open for the NAIRR AI Education Fellowship at CRA, funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF).

This one-year fellowship will bring together a national cohort of 10 faculty champions to advance undergraduate and master’s AI education. Fellows will:

Receive a $5,000 stipend plus travel support for NAIRR workshops and conferences.

Serve as a champion at their institution for AI education and as a resource for other faculty seeking to teach AI courses utilizing NAIRR Pilot resources.

Lead conversations on AI education through seminars and community-building.

Contribute to shaping a sustainable community of practice around AI education.

The NAIRR Pilot Classroom Expansion AI EDU RCN is a national initiative that connects faculty across a wide range of higher education institutions — including research-emerging universities, four-year colleges, MSIs, HBCUs, and community colleges — to collaborate, share resources, and develop best practices for making AI education available for all.

📅 Applications are open now through November 1, 2025 (12 midnight ET).
🗓 Fellowship term: December 1, 2025 – December 1, 2026

Faculty and researchers with experience in AI education are encouraged to apply. Community members are also asked to share this announcement with colleagues who may be a strong fit for the fellowship.

Thank you for helping advance the future of AI education.

CTE is proud to offer a 15-credit graduate certificate in Teaching in Higher Education. The certificate consists of 4 online semester-based courses taught through CTE, as well as one elective.

Interested in learning more? Check out the certificate page.

This year, we will be offering two elective courses:

This year’s Center For Science and Mathematics Education Exchange series will explore the evolving role of AI in education. Each session will be held from 12:00–1:00 PM in CSC 206. 

The exchange series is an opportunity for colleagues in the College of Science and the College of Education to talk about ongoing issues of teaching and learning. The series is not limited to STEM scholars - everyone is welcome!

Please mark your calendars for the following dates:

In the last couple of newsletters, we discussed the April 2026 deadline for state and federal government agencies to ensure their web content (including courses) meet  Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). CTE staff put together a workshop on what you need to do as an instructor to ensure that your course meets those guidelines. As indicated in the screenshot from the workshop below, your course WCAG checklist includes: 

All images, graphics and figures have alternative text available

Official textbooks, high quality PDFs (e.g., text is selectable), or text-only documents are used in your course

All colorful content is high contrast, and you don’t use color alone to emphasize information

Modules, files, and links in the course have descriptive names  

We also encourage you to register for and attend the workshop hosted by Digital Learning Technologies on Canvas and PDF Accessibility on October 28 from 12-1 via Zoom. 

1 hour Trainings are divided by 30 minutes for a Canvas related tool, followed by 30 minutes for an Adobe related tool.

4-Nov AI: Microsoft Co Pilot

11-Nov Zoom Recording & Breakouts/Express Collab.

18-Nov Lucid Chart-Mind Mapping/Express D

2-Dec Import for Spring Semester/Adobe Assnmt

9-Dec Feedback Fruits/Adobe Express Holiday Fun

Free, but registration is required using this link: https://utah.zoom.us/meeting/register/-tmCu_trSIWNmffmJI8Eqw#/registration

TECH TIPS TUESDAY
November 4th, 2025

Microsoft Copilot
12:00 pm – 12:30 pm

Guest Speaker: Caprice Post
Information Systems Architect at the University of Utah, formerly with Microsoft.

Caprice brings deep expertise in enterprise IT strategy, cloud solutions, and digital transformation in education.

Click here to register

John R Park Teaching Fellowship

November 10

Community Engaged Teaching and Scholarship Award

November 10

University Professorship

December 1

Early Career Teaching Award

December 5

University  Teaching Grants

January 26, and March 6