The Center and You!
The semester is in full swing, and your friendly colleagues at the Center hope that you are hitting your groove. Now may be a good time to take advantage of some of the professional learning opportunities that are available; this issue has many options that may pique your curiosity. If you are looking for individual help on a particular project or want to try something new and would like to discuss it with a peer, we have a wonderful team of faculty coaches in addition to our professional learning offerings. If you have any questions, or suggestions for professional learning opportunities that you would like to see offered, please let us know. For those faculty who kicked off the 12-week semester, we wish you a happy first week!
MATC Professional Learning 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.
Extended Deadline--Innovation Grant Opportunity for Mattering, Belonging and AI Projects
The deadline for Innovation Grant proposals has been extended to Friday, September 20, at 5 p.m. Proposals should focus on projects that create opportunities or develop systems that enhance mattering, belonging or the incorporation of Artificial Intelligence. All elements are not required to submit the proposal. Requests must not exceed $5,000. Complete form below and submit it to Araceli Robles Estrada. A committee will review each proposal and send confirmation by October 4. Don't miss this chance to bring your innovative ideas to life!
Collaboration Connection:
Recently, the Curriculum department notified the pathways which Course Outcome Summaries (COS) must be reviewed as part of this year’s 3-Year Review. This is per the COS Process SOP.
- As a COS Developer, we need your help in order to ensure that faculty have access to their curriculum throughout the course of the year (when the COS is in WIP, faculty do not have access to the course’s curriculum and cannot view the COS!). You can do this by making sure the COSes for which you are responsible for are submitted by the deadline. Developers whose COSes are on the three-year COS Review cycle were emailed in September. Faculty are encouraged to engage in meaningful curricular discussions. Below is a suggested timeline to help you navigate this; you can use the following as a checklist by making a copy of this Google Doc.
The Curriculum department has a dedicated staff member for reviewing the COSes you submit. This will allow for a faster review of your submitted COSes, and a direct consultation if there are any changes required in your submitted COS. The Curriculum department is excited to offer you this added COS support!
Friendly Reminders:
Keeping You Posted:
Hispanic Heritage Month: September 15 - October 15
Hispanic Heritage Month, a time of celebration of Hispanic and Latino culture, has begun. Use this time to educate, connect, and to cultivate appreciation and understanding of Hispanic and Latino culture with inspiration from the lesson plans at Share My Lesson.
- Apply before Sept. 27 for one of 40 State $250 OER Course Maintenance Grants to update older OER courses and/or for one of 12 State $1,500 OER Course Adoption Grants to convert a course to OER and less than $50 in textbook costs.
- The Wisconsin Open Education Symposium will feature presentations throughout the year: beginning with Discovering and Navigating OER held on Sept. 24 at 12 pm in Microsoft Teams; a recording will be available afterward here.
- Register for the Oct. 8 - 10 virtual and in person international Open Ed Conference
Upcoming Career & Internship Fairs
The CareerHub is hosting the following career & internship fairs for your students and we need your support in encouraging students to attend. Please spread the word! Participating in career fairs provides students a chance to network, enhance communication with employers, and secure job/internship prospects. While registration isn't mandatory, students can sign up for this event via Handshake for a chance to win a prize. Students should bring a resume and have the Handshake app on their phones. They can contact the CareerHub at careerhub@matc.edu for assistance or view Setting up a Handshake Account How to Build a Resume.
Manufacturing, Construction & Transportation Career and Internship Fair
Tuesday, September 24, 11 a.m.-2 p.m., Oak Creek Campus, Upper and Lower Atriums.
Community & Human Services and Healthcare Career and Internship FairMonday, September 30, 11:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m, Downtown Campus Room M605
Business, Creative Arts & STEM Career & Internship Fair
Tuesday, October 1, 11:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m, Downtown Campus Room M605
Changes to Blackboard’s Interface
In the September 2024 edition of Online Campus News You Can Use, learn all about important changes to Blackboard's interface and training opportunities that faculty and staff should know about, as well as tool updates, tasks and upcoming events to help faculty deliver high-quality online instruction.
Additional Professional Learning Opportunities:
2024 WTCS Faculty Summit
The Wisconsin Technical College System Office is excited to host the second Faculty Summit! This fully virtual, free event is focused on innovations throughout the system, and is intended for faculty, presented by faculty, with topics that impact faculty!
We invite you to share new ideas that you've implemented in the classroom that resulted in positive impacts on students. Innovations may come from new classroom activities, integration of "take aways" from previous professional learning, trial & error experiences, faculty fellows projects, professional learning community activities, action research, scholarly research, etc.
We encourage sessions that connect to the core Faculty Quality Assurance System (FQAS) focuses of: Curriculum & Assessment, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, Student Success, Teaching Methods
The summit is being held over two days, offering different times to support everyone, full and part time/adjunct faculty:
Wednesday, November 13, evening sessions
Friday, November 15, morning sessions
Submissions for proposals to present are now open! Submit by October 4th
Facilitating the Integration and Evaluation of Equity Considerations into Assessment and Program Improvement: A Rubric to Guide your Way
In this free webinar, we share the creation of a rubric that aligns with outcomes assessment processes aimed to improve student learning and development in higher education. More specifically, the rubric was created to align with professional standards and explicitly evaluates equity-related aspects of each component of the outcomes assessment process. Additionally, we highlight the rubric as a necessary step in a broader change management effort. We then share procedures of the initial use of the rubric to evaluate outcome assessment reports. After analyzing rubric scores (e.g., G-study) and qualitative feedback from several raters, we then describe additional support resources intentionally created to facilitate more reliable ratings. We freely share the rubric, training reports, and support materials to enable a culture of improvement in higher education institutions.
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!
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