Getting to Know the Center:
Our Work--The Center and You!
Faculty are encouraged to engage in meaningful curricular discussions. NSCD is a great time to meet with your colleagues and engage in meaningful conversations about the curriculum, so it’s not too late to participate in the suggested COS Best Practices timeline that has been created to help you navigate this.
In an effort to streamline the COS Review Process, the college updated its COS Process SOP through a shared-governance approach to increase faculty input. As a result, the COS process submission timeline has been modified to align more closely with the faculty nine-month contract period. We hope this schedule modification will be a win-win; faculty will no longer be asked to make COS adjustments during the summer when they are no longer being paid, and the Curriculum Department and COS Reviewers will have a more manageable workload.
The college needs the help of COS Developers in order to ensure that faculty have access to their curriculum throughout the course of the year (when the COS is not active, faculty do not have access to the course’s curriculum and cannot view the COS!). You can do this by making sure the COSs that you are responsible for are submitted by the deadline for the three-year COS Review cycle on December 9th, 2022.
NSCD COS Help:
Are you a Developer for a Course Outcome Summary (COS) that needs to be reviewed and/or edited? The Center is hosting a COS Drop-in Session on Non-Student Contact Day from 1pm-4pm with our Instructional Designer John Futterer. Bring your general questions about reviewing and editing a COS. You can even share the COS you're working on and receive direct input from John to help complete it. This session can be attended either in-person in the Center (M201A, Downtown) or you can attend virtually.
From 9-11am and from 2-3:30pm, Faculty Development Coordinators Al Luna and Lantha Little are available for virtual drop-in hours to assist you in real-time with any questions you may have with your Faculty Quality Assurance System (FQAS) progress, submission process, or to get feedback on your Teaching Action Plan (TAP).
Student Voices:
“Barriers That First-Generation College Students Face” by Giselle Guerrero, current MATC student (Associate of Arts)
Breaking down barriers for first-generation college students is essential for creating equal opportunities. Providing guidance and adequate resources to first-generation college students is essential. First-generation college students deserve the social and financial benefits that come along with obtaining a college degree. Choosing which higher education institution to attend is an important decision that will determine an individual's future. As a first-generation college student who once had to navigate the process of choosing a college, cost and location were my two deciding factors. So although I got accepted into all the schools I applied to, I chose MATC because it was most affordable and closest to my parents.
Students with parents who received higher education are able to benefit from the parents' first-hand experiences navigating college. As a first-generation student, I was unable to benefit from this parental help because my parents did not experience the college-application process themselves...
MATC Professional Development Opportunities:
MATC offers a wide-range of professional development courses in a variety of delivery modes and durations as part of our efforts to design meaningful professional development that provides just-in-time training opportunities for you to explore what you need when you need it. All of our offerings are free to MATC faculty and eligible for FQAS hours, so that you can plan and develop your own professional development goals and outcomes.
Faculty, Developers, Department Chairs, and Instructional Chairs involved in the COS development process are highly encouraged to attend this workshop within the next two months. Workshops have been scheduled during a wide variety of days and times each week, and faculty can attend virtually or in-person at the Milwaukee campus, to allow for faculty teaching schedules. Upon completion, the COS Reboot workshop qualifies for 2 FQAS hours in the Student Success/Teaching Excellence category.
Lunch and Learn: Meet MATC’s Social Worker!
Wendolyn Romo is the social worker at the Student Resource Center (SRC). She has been with MATC for about 6 months. As the social worker in the SRC, her primary role is to provide ongoing case management to students as part of our Holistic Coordinated Care Network. She supports students by connecting them to resources, collaborating with community organizations/agencies, and supporting them in their academic success. The majority of students are referred to her by faculty and staff through EAB Navigate. Come learn more about what Wendolyn does and how to best use EAB Navigate to support our students .
Join us from 12 - 1 pm on Thursday, December 1st
Any questions? Feel free to contact her before then at romowt@matc.edu or 414-297-8137
Upcoming Yuja and SmarterProctoring Workshops
Yuja is MATC's video creation and editing tool. It allows users to create video within the software, or import videos. There's a quiz feature to embed questions within your videos. Best of all, it will auto-caption videos saving you time and effort. SmarterProctoring allows you to proctor online exams to reduce the likelihood students may look up answers on exams when taking them through Blackboard at home.
Collaboration Connection:
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Part of The Center’s core purpose is to help faculty navigate MATC initiatives from a faculty perspective. A lot of positive changes have occurred at the college, and we want you to not only feel like a part of the process but to also have a sense of accomplishment in knowing that your participation has a high impact on the success of our students. |
21st Century Classroom Reviews:
Through the course review process, faculty have the opportunity to meet with faculty coaches and liaisons to improve their online delivery to benefit students. The purpose of the 21st Century Classroom review process is to encourage a culture that welcomes feedback and encourages faculty-to-faculty collaboration.
Faculty of all levels can be selected by the Online Learning Department to participate in a continuous quality course review process. If your course has been selected, a faculty reviewer will use a rubric to confirm all of the required elements are present in your course. Once the review is complete, the faculty member needs to: review the rubric, meet with an assigned faculty coach (if required based on the review), and implement any suggestions.
As a best practice, at any time, you can use the 21st Century Classroom Online Review rubric to ensure you are meeting the current requirements. As a reminder, all faculty must be certified at Level 2 to teach online; you can check your 21st Century Classroom level in SumTotal (under the menu in the upper right). If you have questions about the review process, please contact the Online Learning Department. If you have any questions about your current 21st Century Classroom level, please contact the Center for Teaching Excellence.
Friendly Reminders:
OER Updates:
OER Grants are awarded to MATC faculty to replace a traditional textbook with an existing open textbook, OER, and/or other materials that are free for students. Faculty are strongly encouraged to adopt open textbooks or OER, those materials which are freely available under a creative commons license making them easy to share, download, and print. Faculty may also adopt other free-to-student materials that are not openly licensed as long as the materials are easily accessible to students, including copyrighted online materials and library electronic resources.
Grant Information: $750 -Adopt an existing open textbook or OER in place of the current textbook for a course that has not adopted OER.
Application Deadline: December 1, 2022
For questions contact your OER Pathway Facilitator or oer@matc.edu
Let’s celebrate our students together! We are looking for volunteers for the 2022 Winter Commencement Sunday, December 18, 11 a.m., for:
- Usher (Assist with seating students on the arena floor - help late arrivals find seats - etc. You will need to have a cap and gown.)
- Student Check-in (Assist with checking in students when they arrive.)
- Marshal (Lead student processional - assist with seating - assist with recessional. You will need to have a cap and gown.)
- Processional (Participate in processional/recessional - sit with students on arena floor - congratulate students after they cross the stage. You will need to have a cap and gown.)
- Roll Caller (Recite student names as they receive their diplomas. You will need a cap and gown.)
Keeping You Posted:
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FAST Fund Launches 2022 GIVING TUESDAY Campaign! The FAST Fund helps students when they most need it. Last school year, the FAST Fund helped 765 students with almost $220,000 in aid. As COVID relief funds dwindle, our students continue to struggle. Please consider contributing to the FAST Fund 2022 Giving Tuesday Campaign. The official day of giving is on November 29th, but the FAST Fund is launching their campaign early with the hope that faculty and staff will consider helping our students on Giving Tuesday. |
MATC wants to better meet the health needs of students and is launching a new Health & Wellness Center to help with behavioral, mental and physical health. A 10-minute survey was emailed to students this week. Please help to spread the word to students about this important initiative. The survey deadline is Friday, December 9.
Additional Professional Development Opportunities:
Virtual Series on Racelighting.
The series is hosted by Drs. J. Luke Wood and Frank Harris III, distinguished faculty at San Diego State University. TO ACCESS the FREE CEU COURSE TO ACCESS the Recording from the LIVE SESSION on November 3rdTO ACCESS and use the LESSON PLAN on RacelightingThe program is designed for educators, counselors, and administrators in preK-20 education who would like to learn more about how racelighting impacts Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) as students and educators. There is one LIVE session left on November 17.. If you cannot attend live, you can register and receive the modules and recordings. Those who participate in the program can receive 2 FREE CEU's through the Center for Organizational Responsibility and Advancement.
Inspiration, Research, and Best Practices
Part of The Center’s mission is to keep you informed about current best practices and pedagogical approaches. Each issue of Center Connections includes links that are meant to be engaging, thought-provoking, and applicable to various classroom environments. For information on MATC's free access to Magna Commons publications, please see The Center's website. Enjoy the rabbit hole!
Looking for previous issues of Center Connections?
Milwaukee Area Technical College
The Center for Teaching Excellence
