The Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence will offer three professional development programs this coming spring to support faculty seeking to incorporate diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility principles in their course and curriculum design. The series will also help faculty prepare for the next round of institutional accreditation.
“The University has committed to the Shared Competencies as a framework for the essential skills that students need to acquire while at Syracuse. This is a key part of how the Middle States Commission on Higher Education evaluates how we design and deliver the student learning experience,” says Associate Provost Chris Johnson. “This professional development series is a valuable opportunity for faculty to enhance their teaching skills to prepare for the University’s self-study and site visit in 2026-27.”
All sessions will be offered on Zoom and each program will consist of a kick-off class and two working sessions aimed at putting principles into practice. By the end of each series, each participant will have created a deliverable: a redesigned syllabus reflecting best practices in equity-minded pedagogy, a “signature assignment” for a course, or robust feedback rubrics embedded in Blackboard. Space is limited.
“These collaborative learning sessions will provide a deep dive into three aspects of the current Shared Competencies course tagging effort that is taking place across campus between now and Sept. 1, 2022. Participating faculty will be equipped to understand how learning goal alignment, signature assignments and meaningful feedback contribute to more effective student learning,” says Anne Mosher, associate professor of geography and the environment in the Maxwell School and Provost’s Faculty Fellow for Shared Competencies and High Impact Practices.
Martha Diede, director of the Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence, adds, “To develop a Shared Competency, students need regular feedback throughout the semester. As part of this series, we’ll be helping faculty to make equity-mindedness a foundational element of their course designs, develop competency-focused rubrics, set up and use the Blackboard tool, learn techniques for reducing the anxiety that students experience from summative feedback and engage in a high-impact teaching and learning practice—signature assignments.”
The professional development tracks are:
Designing Equity-Minded and Aligned Syllabi (Register Now)
Jan. 13, 2022, 1–3 p.m. Kickoff featuring Mary-Ann Wilkelmes, director of the Center for Teaching and Learning at Brandeis University.
Feb. 16, 2022, 10-11 a.m. Working Session 1
March 23, 2022, 10-11 a.m. Working Session 2
Giving Game-changing Feedback on Student Work (Register Now)
Feb. 4, 2022, 12-1:30 p.m. Kickoff, “Rubric Roadmap–Focus on Teaching and Learning”
Feb. 10, 2022, 2-3:30 p.m. Working Session 1, “Build Your Rubric in Blackboard with Michael Morrison”
March 31, 2022, 2-3:30 p.m. Working Session 2, “Ungrading with Martha Diede”
Transforming an Assignment into a Signature Assignment (Register Now)
March 4, 2022, 9 a.m.–noon. Kickoff featuring Natasha Jankowski, former director of the National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment.
April 1, 2022, 9:30-10:30 a.m. Working Session 1
April 29, 2022, 9:30-10:30 a.m. Working Session 2
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