Volume 2, Issue 16--Published: Wednesday, May 3rd, 2023

Getting to Know the Center:

Almost there–this is the final push! At the Center, we know how exhausting and stressful this final turn can be. The efforts that you are making to help our students are monumental; every course completion puts students one step closer to graduation and positively influences the trajectory of their academic and professional careers.  As you support our students, the Center is here to support you. Please do not hesitate to contact us or stop by our downtown location in M201. Our pep talks are free...and we are really good at them!

Our Work--The Center and You!

It’s Turn-In-Your-TAP time!
If you are a Full-Time Post-Probationary faculty, you need to complete one TAP each year.  If you haven’t already, it’s time to take the final steps to complete the submission of your TAP:
  • List any additional actions you’ve taken towards your goals. 
    • If the actions are also FQAS activities then submit them into SumTotal as well.

  • Arrange for your final meeting with your Peer Coach, share your results and get written feedback and a signature from your Coach on your TAP form.
  • Save the completed form and submit it to SumTotal under “TAP: Teaching Action Plan”.
  • You are required to submit your completed form every year prior to June 30

If you are a Part-Time Post-Probationary, Part-Time Probationary, or Full-Time Probationary faculty, you only need to complete one TAP each FQAS cycle. Please see The Center’s website for your suggested timeline.

Let's Finish Strong! End of the Semester Student Engagement Email Templates:

We know how challenging this time of year can be, so the Center  is providing email templates that you use to connect with your students–feel free to modify or copy and paste.

We hope this takes something off your plate at this busy time of year.

Collaboration Connection:

 
 
More Good News! Faculty Can Earn Up to 20 FQAS Hours for Ultra Course Conversions!!
 
 
 

LPIC’s 21st Century Classroom Work Team and the Professional Development Work Teams in collaboration with the Department of Online Learning and the Center for Teaching Excellence have collaborated to honor the work faculty are doing to convert or prepare courses for Ultra.  Faculty can earn up to 20 FQAS hours for Ultra conversions; below are the details:

  • 4 hours of FQAS per course update per person.
  • Maximum of 20 hours - anything above would need a PARCE form with an explanation (for example: completing DMOs for whole department /team, etc.) and signature from supervisor.
  • Submit in SumTotal a screenshot of course in Ultra as proof
    • Counts as attestation of validity. Requires specification of requirements (as depicted in a valid screenshot ).
    • Screenshots to be reviewed by CTE Faculty Development Coordinators 
      • FQAS Process for acceptance/denial determines outcome.

  • Counts towards Student Success/Teaching Excellence

Below is an example screenshot:

Have an Idea for an LPIC Work Team that you would like to propose for 2023-2024?

The objective of the  Learn Pillar Integration Committee is to keep student success at the heart of all decisions and actions. LPIC provides a structure for faculty involvement and decision-making across all Academic and Career Pathways within the college. If you have an idea for an LPIC Work Team that you would like to propose, please fill out our form.

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.  

Blackboard Ultra--Coming Soon to All Courses!

The Online Learning Department is working hard to support the college’s transition to Ultra Course View for the Summer 2023 term, providing workshops, training courses, consultations, and web-based resources.

 

Upcoming Lunch and Learn!
On Friday, May 12th  from noon to 1pm, Vida Cross, part-time faculty and writer, who specializes in writing pedagogy, will present "The Use of the Pronoun We."  She states, "As I complete a larger text, I challenge myself and students to consider how we as writers, readers, and listeners can evolve from 'I' and 'You' to 'We.'  How does community exist in our writing? How do we imagine and encourage community building in prose and poetry?"  This presentation, "The Use of the Pronoun We," was originally shared in November 2022 at The University of Central Arkansas's C.D. Wright Women Writers Conference. The C.D. Wright Conference is a conference for the multidisciplinary exploration of writing and writing pedagogy.  Vida Cross will share her approach to writing pedagogy, consciousness building, writing theory, and community.

Summer OER Course--Exploring Open Educational Resources (ZERD 209-800)           1 credit, Online, 06/11-07/30/2023

This course will:

  • Introduce the participants to Open Education Resources (OER).
  • Explore the OER search engine tools and provide a roadmap to adapt existing courses to OER platform.
  • Provide a thorough examination of open pedagogical practices in making education affordable, innovative and student-centered for lifelong learning.
  • Analyze the role of OER in student equity and diversity.
  • Enhance the knowledge of participants including, but not limited to, the open resources available in the area of interest.
  • Examine the copyright practices in OER.
  • Introduce the participants to college, state, and national level resources to support OER innovations.

MATC UndocuAlly (DACA) Training

You are cordially invited to join the CareerHub and DEI Office at this half - day training in supporting undocumented/DACAmented students and becoming an ally.

The workshop sessions, led by our UWM partners Alberto Maldonado and Mai Yer Yang, will focus on historical information, policy, and important terminology affecting undocumented/DACAmented communities. Participants will be able to:

  • Identify barriers and challenges affecting undocumented/DACAmented students and how to best support them.
  • Refer undocumented/DACAmented students to appropriate campus and community resources.
  • Understand the basic level of becoming an ally including benefits and risks.
  • Identify the five actions an ally can take to advocate for undocumented/DACAmented students.
  • Enhance knowledge of local resources, opportunities, and current strategies and best practices to support undocumented/DACAmented students.

Participants: MATC Staff and Faculty

Location: Downtown Campus, Room M605

Date: Thursday, June 22 | 9:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

In - person

Register below to save a spot and secure lunch. Feel free to share this form with other MATC staff and faculty members.

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.

MATC OER encourages everyone to attend the May 10th, 1pm, webinar Understanding Student Experiences of Renewable and Traditional Assignments by the National Consortium of Open Educational Resources (NCOER) and hosted by the Midwestern Higher Education Compact (MHEC). This webinar will "share [a] recent study's findings on the role of open pedagogy in increasing student engagement." Also, MATC will be offering ZERD 209 this summer to introduce Open Education concepts, practices, and resources (for more information, please see the above link).
Check out the Spring MATC OER Newsletter with our Spring 2023 OER Faculty Feature, an overview of MATC OER accomplishments and upcoming events, and OER opportunities and news regionally, nationally, and internationally.

Friendly Reminders:

The Housing & Food Security Committee would like to remind Faculty & Staff that the  Student Resource Center offers new Legal services with a visiting Lawyer from Legal Action of Wisconsin Housing Department to assist with housing questions that students may have.  Please connect with the SRC here.

In addition, the SRC offers Food Pantry Services at the following Dates/Times/Locations:

Downtown Milwaukee Campus
S Building, Room S215
Monday closed for restocking and deliveries.
T-Th 10 a.m.-6 p.m.
F 8 a.m.-4 p.m. and by appointment with Haley Weber

Downtown Milwaukee Campus Food Pantry (pdf)

OTHER LOCATIONS AND HOURS

Mequon Campus
Room A102
M-Th 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
F 8 a.m.-4 p.m. and by appointment with Sophia Lococo

Mequon Campus Food Pantry (pdf)

Oak Creek Campus
Room A107
M-Th 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
F 8 a.m.-4 p.m. and by appointment with Margaret Dishaw

Oak Creek Campus Food Pantry (pdf)

West Allis Campus
Room 137A
M-F 10 a.m.-3 p.m. and by appointment with Elizabeth Padilla

West Allis Campus Food Pantry (pdf)

Education Center at Walker's Square
Room 484
T, TH 2-5 p.m. and by appointment with Annette Velez

Education Center at Walker's Square Food Pantry (pdf)

Additional Professional Development Opportunities:

This unique, virtual learning series is designed to increase capacity for racial equity leadership among Wisconsin educators. Through an experiential learning strategy, the Education Equity Leadership Series supports a learning environment suited for authentic self-reflection and engagement, while...
With new AI tools like ChatGTP offering seemingly original content that can be used by students to be passed off as their own for assignments, the issue of academic integrity has become very serious in the face of these new technologies. Join The Chronicle on May 16 (1pm CST) as we convene a panel of instructional experts to discuss what ChatGPT means for academic integrity and explore the other opportunities machine learning and artificial intelligence tools can create for plagiarism. This hour-long discussion will provide you with expert insights to navigate this unforeseen landscape in academic integrity, and stop instances of cheating before they become problematic in your classroom.

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!

"Last impressions can be lasting impressions."-Donald Redelmeier (Lewis, 2017 p. 236) Have you worked with students for months to create a learning community only to have the final interaction take place in a sterile room where students silently write and then slip out?
While the emergence of ChatGPT has created considerable consternation among faculty who fear students will use it to write their assignments, the positive side is that it provides a powerful tool for faculty to use in developing course content. ChatGPT can assist in all areas of course development,...

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