About | Faculty Development | Assessment | e-Learning

Hello Creighton Colleagues,

It’s truly my honor to be joining the Center for Faculty Excellence as the interim Associate Vice Provost and to welcome you all to a new academic year. Some highlights of my prior work with the CFE and its past iterations include being an eFellow (2011-2012), Faculty Associate (2016-2018), and Distinguished Educator in Teaching as Scholarship Awardee (2022). I extend sincere thanks to Dr. Deb Ford for her support in my transition and to the dedicated and talented individuals in the CFE for their warm welcome. We are ready to provide you tools and resources to help you flourish in your faculty role.

The eLearning team, under the leadership of Director Kate Johansen, MS, has been collaborating with faculty to prepare fall courses, exams, and media. Be sure to self-enroll in the Generative AI Resources BlueLine site where you can also sign up to join an informal group of faculty and staff that are comfortable exploring and discussing generative AI for instruction and other uses.

Sarah Oliver, MEd, MBA, Program Outcomes Specialist, is leading preparations for our annual fall University Assessment Symposium. I hope you consider submitting a proposal to present your student learning assessment work.

Once again, Mary Emmer, MS, Faculty Development Specialist, has a full slate of faculty development opportunities planned for the fall. We’re excited to launch our use of the Bridge platform for easy registration and program attendance to the over 25 programs offered by our 15 Faculty Associates and collaborative partners across the university.

On October 18th, Todd Zakrajsek, PhD, Associate Research Professor and Associate Director of the Faculty Development Fellowship in the Department of Family Medicine at UNC, will join us virtually for a Q&A to discuss his newest book, The New Science of Learning: How to Learn in Harmony With Your Brain. We hope you consider registering for this book club and meet the author event.

Finally, please consider nominating yourself or a worthy colleague for our Distinguished Educator in Teaching as Scholarship Award. The call is now open.

Have a great fall semester!

Lou Jensen, OTD, OTR/L
Associate Vice Provost- Interim, Center for Faculty Excellence

The CFE hosted a Coffee and Conversations the first week of the semester where faculty could connect, explore the CFE’s collaborative spaces, and record their thoughts on the fall semester. It was wonderful to see so many of you! 

The Call for Nominations for the Distinguished Educator in Teaching as Scholarship Award is now open:  Faculty are invited to self-nominate or recommend faculty for this University-wide teaching award, to be granted at the February 2024 Convocation.  Read instructions for completing the online application.  Application Deadline: Oct. 10 at 10:00 a.m. 

CFE invites faculty and professional staff who teach, as a part of your ongoing formation experiences, to actively engage with a community of scholars in teaching excellence.  When we join together as a collaborative, educational community, we encourage and are able to celebrate the best of Creighton’s educational experiences.  

These ongoing formation experiences are led by Faculty Associates, Creighton colleagues, and collaborative partners with the Center for Faculty Excellence.  

To explore and register for faculty development programs that best match your interests and availability, visit the CFE page on Bridge, Creighton’s training, learning and professional development platform:   

Programs in date order.

Hosted by the University Assessment Committee and the CFE, this year’s symposium will once again include a virtual poster session, opening October 25, and several virtual workshops over the weeks of October 30 and November 6, 2023. Each session will provide an opportunity for faculty and staff who support curricular and co-curricular activities to consider what others across the university are doing to keep student learning assessment simple.

Let Sarah Oliver know if you would like the opportunity to be considered to present a workshop session. 

As Creighton colleagues, faculty, and staff of curricular and co-curricular areas, you are invited to share your individual or departmental work in the 2023 fall virtual poster sessions. Assessment is an important process to continuously improve student learning and our programs. The goal of this poster session is to celebrate assessment work that is being done across campus and to learn from the assessment processes of our colleagues in other parts of the University. Learn more.

I've been an instructional designer with the CFE for the past 3.5 years. In fact, I was hired about a month before the school prepared for closing due to Covid-19. I primarily support the programs in the Heider College of Business, Health & Wellness, Leadership Studies, Medical Humanities, and Healthcare Ethics. Prior to joining Creighton, I was an adjunct instructor teaching developmental writing skills to students in a small, diverse, urban community college in Reading, PA. After about six years, my husband joined the military and we moved to Florida and then to Nebraska. One of my favorite aspects of my job is being able to collaborate with faculty and find creative solutions for improving online student learning. I have the opportunity of working with wonderful faculty and staff who are passionate about finding innovative and engaging methods for learning activities. Outside of my job, I enjoy watching movies with my husband and cat, Fermi (named after the physicist).

Creighton utilizes Respondus Lockdown Browser and Respondus Monitor as part of its suite of academic technologies, both of which are assessment tools for learning systems. Lockdown Browser limits what students can access during a quiz, including other web browsers or applications. Respondus Monitor is an additional level of exam security support, built on top of Lockdown Browser, that takes video of students while taking their exam. Both tools are optional, and also already integrated into Blueline. Recently, Respondus updated their tools to include options for screen recording during quizzes, increased speed in pre-exam steps, faster proctoring results, fewer video interruptions, and more. The Respondus website is a great resource for updates, as well as training and best practices.

If an instructor would like to begin using Lockdown Browser and/or Monitor in their courses, we recommend setting up an ungraded practice quiz early in the term to acclimate students to the process, as well as ensure the software is running correctly. Contact the eLearning team for more support on integrating Lockdown Browser or Respondus Monitor into your Blueline courses.

Occasionally, an instructor may need to adjust the time limit for an individual to take a quiz or grant another attempt. This feature is called "moderating" and is available on graded quizzes & surveys. Refer to the corresponding tab on the following pages in the BlueLine Faculty Guides:

Creighton has partnered with Canvas Support to provide BlueLine support even when the CFE and myIT Service Desk are unavailable. You can call, chat, or email Canvas Support for all questions or problems related to BlueLine. Canvas Support contact information can be found via the Help button in the navigation bar in BlueLine.

Lou Jensen, Associate Vice Provost-Interim: LouJensen@creighton.edu | 402.280.5678 
Faculty Development: 
   - MaryEmmer@Creighton.edu | 402.280.4997
Assessment: SarahOliver1@Creighton.edu | 402.280.3906  
eLearning:
  - Instructional Design Team: elearning@creighton.edu | hotline 402.280.3428  
  - Exam/Online Proctoring Team: exams@creighton.edu | hotline: 402.280.5665    
  - eLearning & Media Design: PhilBeagle@Creighton.edu | 402.280.3055