Volume 3, Issue 1--Published: Wednesday, September 6th, 2023

Welcome Back Awesome Faculty!

When we say awesome, we mean it! At The Center, we know how hard you work to ensure MATC students have the best educational experience possible, including undertaking a massive reboot of your courses with Blackboard Ultra. We appreciate how much and how often you go “the extra”--in the relationships that you build with students, the welcoming classroom that you create, the expertise that you bring, and all of the things that you do that you feel may go unnoticed. At the Center, we are a community of your peers, and we see you! We are here to support you as you support our students to not only become inspired, but empowered, to achieve their goals and aspirations. lease do not hesitate to contact us!

Have you conducted research related to your work at MATC or participated in a student-centered initiative? Have you presented at a conference or participated in a competition with MATC students? 

If yes, MATC wants to celebrate your work! You can share your findings and initiatives as one of a small group of colleagues who are selected to fill a 90-minute breakout session at MATC Day on October 17th. Selected candidates are eligible to receive a $150 stipend. The due date for submission is Wednesday, September 20th.

According to NPR, “students often don't know what office hours are – or what they're for, or how they're different from class time. They're part of what some students say is a hidden curriculum – the set of rules on a college campus that no one ever tells you about.”  

The Chronicle of Higher Education points out that “the potential of office hours often goes unrealized, because of how the time is used — or because students don’t show up. A growing number of professors are trying to change that.”

MATC’s  Student Support Hours are intended to give a fresh update to a concept that students may not have fully understood before–Office Hours. Many students, especially first-generation college students, do not know that Office Hours are a time that faculty reserve for students. The more aptly-named Student Support Hours seeks to change this. 

If you are still having the common Office Hours experience described in the above articles, those resources  have  suggestions for making your Student Support Hours more meaningful. You may also want to consider using Google Calendar to set up Appointment Slots so that your students can directly book a time with you during your Student Support Hours or other times that you have available during the week.  It is very similar to creating a meeting invitation in Google Calendar and takes only a couple of minutes. The Center has created a guide that contains everything from language for an announcement  to step-by-step instructions to directly embedding the Google Calendar link. 

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 courses are free to MATC faculty and eligible for FQAS hours, so that you can plan and develop your own professional development goals and outcomes.  

The MATC Open Access Team has secured $125,000 in state funding to promote OER course and materials development, largely through widely-distributed faculty grants. More details will be announced soon. OER materials and courses created through the new state-funded faculty grants will be housed in a state-wide online repository. 

Looking for ways to become more involved? Submit a presentation proposal by Sept. 1 for the Oct. 27 WTCS Open Education Symposium. Registration is now open for the virtual, international Open Education Conference Nov. 7-9.  Keep an eye out for the upcoming MATC OER Fall Newsletter for more opportunities and announcements.

Intro to Blackboard (ZERD-190)

This introductory course introduces you to the Ultra Course base navigation, gradebook functions, and foundations of adding content, assessments, communications, and activities to a course.  Faculty may enroll in our free professional development course  to learn how to use Blackboard Ultra tools for teaching and learning online. 

MATC Professional Development (ZERD) Courses 

MATC offers free ZERD course opportunities that you can register for in Self-Service. Many courses begin in September and October, so now is the time to sign-up!

EAB Navigate Faculty Resources are Available to Help Connect Students!

Since faculty are first to build relationships with students for any given course, you are a vital part of a student's SUCCESS TEAM in EAB Navigate.  

Our Student Care Referral System incorporates the EAB Navigate platform for faculty and staff to refer students to many campus services. The Referrals: Guidelines to Know document provides foundational points for issuing referrals and communicating with students about how the system works or why we use it. Key to your role is calling students or using Navigate to text students when you've not been able to connect with them in class or by email. Your efforts can then included in the comments when issuing the referral to a student-facing office to help with next steps.

Our goal with Center Connections is to keep you informed, not only about The Center's work, but to help you navigate other college-wide initiatives that directly impact faculty.

Eras Senior Network is the non-profit leader that serves older adults throughout Milwaukee county.  We take volunteers of all ages to provide basic needs services to older adults as well as intergenerational volunteering opportunities.  You could:

• Tutor students through MPS Elementary schools who have fallen behind from the pandemic.
• Drive older adults to get groceries, dialysis, doctors or bank appointments.
• Make weekly friendly phone calls from your own home to an older adult who is isolated.
• Clean yards seasonally so clients avoid ticketing by city.
• Become certified in Medicare education and help people enroll.

Save the Date! 2023 WTCS Faculty Summit

The Wisconsin Technical College System Office is excited to host the first Faculty Summit. This fully virtual, free event was created for faculty, is presented by faculty and features topics that impact faculty! The summit is being held over two days, offering different times to support both full and part time/adjunct faculty:

Interested in presenting and sharing new ideas that you have implemented in the classroom? The Request for Proposals (RFPs) will be coming out soon!

2023 – 24 FQAS Competency Course Schedule

WTCS offers FQAS Competency Courses through the system office for the academic year. Registration is open for all classes right now. Faculty can register for whatever they need as early as they want! 

Course Fee: $60 per course

Fall 2023 Curriculum & Assessment – October 9 – November 12 (Stephanie Vobornik)

Spring 2024 Teaching Methods – January 22 – March 3 (Lea Ann Turner)

Summer 2024 Diversity, Equity & Inclusion – May 6 – June 16 (Meredith Reeves)

Student Success – May 20 – June 16 (Lea Ann Turner)

Are you looking for effective brain-based strategies to help you reach Dual Credit high school students?

This series of 2 webinars is for college instructors who are teaching dual credit students. We know that students who participate in Start College Now and other college coursework are motivated to succeed!  Whether you are a new instructor or you have experience working with high school students, attend either or both of these sessions to learn and practice proven brain-based strategies to help you reach high school learners.  There is no cost to attend this event! Dr. Clavon Byrd, an Instruction and Leadership Coach and Consultant, will provide these sessions.   

Friday, September 22, 1:00-2:30, Session 1:  Brain-Based Instructional Strategies During Adol-ES-SE-N-CE

This interactive workshop is designed for higher education professionals who work with high school aged students. This workshop addresses meaningful outcomes, which may be used immediately with high school aged students. Program participants will be able to:

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?

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