The 2025 Fall Semester Kickoff: Teaching through Transitions is scheduled for Friday, Sept. 5, in Baker Center 240/242, and will feature sessions on:

• The impact of the Advance Ohio Higher Education Act on teaching and learning.
• Stipended opportunities for deep professional learning through the Teaching@OHIO faculty development certification programs.
• Practical strategies to boost instructional impact on topics like alternative assessments, game-based learning, promoting engagement in online courses, among other topics, during a workshop carnival.

An optional workshop on the science of learning, From Disengaged to Driven: Transforming Learning Experiences, will take place at 10 a.m.

Agenda

• 10 a.m.: From Disengaged to Driven: Transforming Learning Experiences
• 11 a.m.: Welcome from Provost Don Leo
• 11:15 a.m.: Teaching through Transitions: A Facilitated Discussion about the AOHEA with Vice Provost for Faculty Development Katie Harman, Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education Sarah Poggione and CTLA Executive Director Melinda Rhodes-DiSalvo.
• 12:15 p.m.: Lunch and Faculty Panel on Teaching@OHIO certifications.
  • Place-based Learning Certification: Tiffany Arnold, associate professor of Instruction, Department of Social and Public Health, College of Health Sciences and Professions.
  • Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Certification: Muriel Gallego, associate professor of Applied Linguistics – Spanish, Modern Languages Department, College of Arts and Sciences.
  • GenAI in Teaching and Learning Certification: Bruce Hoffman, associate professor of sociology, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, College of Arts and Sciences 
  • SoTL Certification: Lisa Martin, assistant professor of instruction, Honors Tutorial College.
  • Experiential Learning Certification: Ronald Vance, associate professor, Nursing, College of Health Sciences and Professions.
• 1:30 p.m.: Workshop Carnival
• 2:30 p.m.: Concluding Remarks and Conversation.

Register here. (To use SSO, enter Ohio University and follow the prompts.)

Early-term student feedback is a powerful tool for improving teaching practice, and the CTLA has a recommended set of early-term/midterm feedback questions and an optional question bank ready for you to deploy in Canvas (search Canvas Commons for the CTLA survey and copy the module into your course) or through Qualtrics (email CTLA to request access). Benefits of collecting feedback include:

1. ABILITY TO MAKE CHANGES NOW: Unlike end-of-term evaluations, early-term/midterm feedback gives instructors real-time insights that allow for meaningful changes while students are still in the course. This can improve learning outcomes immediately rather than only informing future iterations. 
2. INDICATING OPENNESS TO STUDENT FEEDBACK: Inviting feedback signals to students that their voices matter whether or not you make changes to the course or instruction. Moreover, this activity offers time and space for you to discuss with students how to provide constructive feedback.
3.  IDENTIFICATION OF EARLY CHALLENGES: Faculty often have assumptions about what works in class, but students may experience barriers the instructor isn’t aware of (unclear instructions, overwhelming workload, etc.). Collecting feedback surfaces these challenges early, preventing them from snowballing into disengagement or poor performance. This academic year, the CTLA has included mandated Ohio Department of Higher Education student evaluation of teaching questions in the bank as optional questions, so you can test them out.
4. INCREASED STUDENT SATISFACTION: When faculty act on feedback, it often leads to better student satisfaction, higher engagement and stronger course evaluations at the end of the term. It’s a proactive approach to ensuring both teaching effectiveness and student success. 

CTLA Associate Directors Jeremy Henkel and Wendy Adams are presenting on how to deploy our surveys and use early-term/midterm feedback results in How to Get More from Student Feedback, a virtual workshop from 2 to 2:50 p.m., Monday, Sept. 15. Registration is open.

This semester, a Facilitating Student Career Readiness faculty learning community will help instructors actively engage students in career-focused discussions and activities and support their collaboration with institutional stakeholders engaged in career readiness work at OHIO.

The FLC will focus on the following:

• Identification of strategies to intentionally engage students in career readiness both in and out of the classroom.
• Examination of examples to help students connect with other resources relevant to career readiness.
• Review of successful career readiness strategies from colleagues in other disciplines.
• Creation of an artifact demonstrating the value of a degree in their discipline (e.g., student outcome information, marketing materials for recruiting events).

The program is a collaboration between the CTLA and Career Services. Facilitators include Aaron Sturgill, executive director, Career Readiness, and Imants Jaunarajs, assistant vice president, Division of Student Affairs.

APPLY FOR THE FLC.

Top Hat representatives will host three one-hour training sessions for OHIO faculty and staff on Sept. 4. These sessions are designed to help you get started with Top Hat and learn how Top Hat supports student engagement.

Two sessions, "Top Hat Overview" and "Extending Engagement Beyond Class Time," are hybrid opportunities hosted in Baker Center 233 and via Microsoft Teams.  

“Open Office Hours” will be hosted exclusively in Baker Center 233, providing dedicated time to get answers to your specific questions in person.  

Use the links below to learn more and register.  

• Top Hat Overview  
• Extending Engagement Beyond Class Time  
• Open Office Hours 

The Ohio University Alumni Association's Bobcat Network provides faculty with access to alumni volunteers to be virtual or in-person classroom speakers for "interview someone in your field" class assignments, networking assignments, mentor circles, etc.

According to OUAA Executive Director Jenn Bowie, the association has more than 12,300 users on the Bobcat Network, about 9,000 of them alumni, more than 5,000 of whom have their hands up ready to volunteer. There are 30,000 alumni associated with the OHIO Alumni group on LinkedIn. And, nearly 185,000 alumni with LinkedIn profiles.

Faculty who would like more information may reach out to the association via email.

OHIO’s Center for Community Engagement will host Engage OHIO 2025: Community & Place Based Engagement Symposium from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Friday, Oct. 24, at the Ohio University Inn and Conference Center.

This event merges institutional priorities around place-based education and community engagement, celebrating the power of university-community partnerships that advance student learning and serve the public good. The symposium will feature field trips, interactive sessions, panels, and workshops that highlight innovative teaching, shared scholarship and impactful community initiatives. Register here.

Your feedback is important to the Center for Teaching, Learning, and Assessment as we assess the quality of our offerings and plan for future events.

This survey takes just a few minutes to complete and includes both satisfaction questions and opportunities to provide input on future programming. After quality and satisfaction questions about the previous academic year, you will find open-ended comment boxes where you can share any additional thoughts. We appreciate your participation and look forward to your insights!

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