Volume 2, Issue 9--Published: Wednesday, January 25th, 2023

Getting to Know the Center:

Welcome back awesome faculty! The Center hopes that the semester has been off to a good start. We have some big news to share with you–The Center has a new website!  The new website is mobile friendly, designed by faculty for faculty, and is the result of months of collaborative information sharing across the college. At The Center, we strive to provide the support, resources, and information you need when you need it, and we hope that the new website will support our culture of faculty collaboration and teaching innovation that enhances student learning and empowers employees. The Center appreciates the collaborative work and effort across the College that went into creating and launching the new website. As always, your feedback is welcome.

Our Work--The Center and You!

Beginning-of-the-semester Student Engagement Best Practices:

Some students may need a little extra support at the beginning of the semester. If a student hasn’t attended yet or hasn’t completed assignments, a  best practice is to send a friendly check-in message. This email template can be used to create a dialogue with students that can foster their engagement in the course throughout the semester. Please feel free to use as much or as little of the text as you would like.

Another option is to utilize EAB Navigate to send a referral  to help connect students with MATC resources that are designed to help students navigate the beginning of the semester.

Want to make your Student Support Hours feel less like Office Hours?
 
Did you know you can use 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. 

If you haven’t used this function before, 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 to help you navigate this; it contains everything from syllabus / announcement language to step-by-step instructions for directly embedding the Google Meet link.

Student-Centered Syllabus Toolkit and Template Video is now available!
Did you miss the training session on NSCD for the Student-Centered Syllabus Toolkit and Template? Did you attend and want to review some of the concepts? The video from the Student-Centered Syllabus Toolkit and Template NSCD session is now available for you to review. We hope that you will find this a helpful resource to review what has gone well and what could be improved on. If you are thinking about utilizing this resource in future semesters, now may be a good time to view this video as you notice your students’ interactions with your current syllabus at the beginning of the semester.

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.  

Holocaust Remembrance Day

In honor of Holocaust Remembrance Day on the DEI Committee invites you to listen to the story of Edith Herszenson Pump, a child victim and survivor of the Holocaust.

Edith and her parents, Mendel and Ellen (Chia) Herszenson, were the only family members to survive the Holocaust after losing their parents, their siblings and their cousins. The presentation takes place on  Friday, January 27 from noon-1:30 p.m. via Zoom

 

Need COS Help? COS Reboot Workshop is coming up!
Are you a Developer for a Course Outcome Summary (COS) that needs to be reviewed and/or edited? The Curriculum Department is offering a Course Outcome Summary (COS) Reboot Workshop. This workshop is designed for COS Developers (those who create/edit COSs) who would like a refresher in learning the current requirements of a COS and the most efficient way to create/edit them. It is also designed for newly assigned developers. This workshop is scheduled so you can attend virtually (through Zoom) or in-person at the Center for Teaching Excellence (room M201 of the Downtown Campus). Upon completion, the COS Reboot workshop qualifies for 2 FQAS hours in the Student Success/Teaching Excellence category.
Join us on Friday, February 9th from 11am to 1pm!

Collaboration Connection:

This unique, virtual learning series is designed to increase capacity for racial equity leadership among Wisconsin educators. Local and national content experts who are knowledgeable in navigating our current racialized landscape from a place of strength and resilience have been identified for this series. Each speaker will provide learning opportunities around educational equity and justice from each of their unique perspectives. There are NO registration fees to participate in these events on Thursday, January 26, 2023 8:30am-5:15pm. Join virtually for one session or the entire day!

Save the Date-–M-Cubed Professional Development Day!  

On Friday, February 17th, 2023, the annual M3 Professional Development Day will be held virtually  from 8-11 am. A general session followed by break-out groups for the three primary subject areas of Math, Science, and English Language Art will occur. This day is an opportunity for the faculty from the three participating institutions of MPS, MATC, and UWM to get together, share best practices, and streamline curriculum, assessment, and instructional strategies. 

Friendly Reminders:

Coming in Summer 2023–Blackboard Ultra Update!

Blackboard Ultra will be live starting with the Summer 2023 semester. To help all faculty feel supported in this transition, the Online Learning Department is planning robust training sessions throughout the Spring 2023 semester. We are kicking off our communications and training events with videos in SumTotal, so that you have an opportunity to explore the changes and assess your professional development needs to successfully make this transition for our students. The Sum Total videos are brief; combined, they are 13 minutes total. The Sum Total Videos are informational and are meant to support your development and knowledge of Ultra before training begins, so you can plan accordingly.  If you’d like to get started now with an Ultra shell, please check out this document with instructions Ultra Pilot or contact the Online Learning Department to be connected with a Blackboard Liaison. Together, we will be Ultra ready when the time comes!

Save the Date: Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) Day of Engagement coming up on March 10, 2023!

Would you like to learn more about where MATC stands with HSI? Are you interested in contributing to this important initiative? Join us on March 10, 2023 from 8 am to 1 pm at the Milwaukee Downtown Campus. Guest speakers include Dr. Antonio Flores, President of the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU) and Dr. Margarita Melendez, U.S. Department of Education HSI Program Specialist. This professional development opportunity is free!  More details and registration information will be available soon. This event is eligible for FQAS hours.

Keeping You Posted:

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

Blackboard Course Shell Deletion Coming February 2023
On February 1, 2023, Blackboard Client Support will permanently delete semester course sections from past terms SU2020 and FA2020. Course shells from these terms will not be available for faculty or student access in Blackboard after this date. If you have not already done so as a part of the regular end of semester course process, download files from these semester shells for your records before 5:00 PM CT February 1, 2023. Thank you for your continued cooperation. This annual maintenance helps ensure Blackboard’s continued availability and smooth performance.

Additional Professional Development Opportunities:

Strategies for Success Through Equitable Teaching and Learning is an interactive professional development series for faculty, staff, and other higher education professionals invested in high-quality digital learning. Participants engage in weekly webinars presented by experts. Registration for a...

Earn professional learning microcredentials to develop pedagogical skills related to digital technology with a focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion. You’ll learn practical strategies for leveraging digital tools in the classroom, building inclusive courses, and advocating for your own well-being. Valued at up to $1,600, Course Hero is offering all three courses at no charge to our inaugural cohort of students.

Four-day intensive learning opportunity to strengthen your organization's DEI systems.

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!

Here's an inconvenient truth about inclusive teaching: there are no quick fixes. It's inconvenient because faculty are stressed. They face pressures in their research, service, and increasingly in their teaching that the pandemic has made almost unbearable, and there seems to be no end in sight...
What motivates an adult to learn: curiosity or a simple need to know? Educational researchers have come up with an array of answers to that question over the years. The truth is that adults are complex individuals so there's no one-size-fits-all answer.

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