Getting to Know the Center:
Welcome Back Awesome Faculty!
Thank you. These are the first words that the Center wants you to hear from us this year. We know how hard you work to ensure our students have the best educational experience possible. The relationships that you build with students, the welcoming classroom that you create, and the expertise that you bring is appreciated. Together, we create a space where our students not only become inspired, but empowered, to achieve their goals and aspirations. Wow–we have an awesome profession to celebrate! The Center is here to support you as you support our students. Please do not hesitate to contact us!
Our Work--The Center and You!
Want to make your Student Support Hours feel less like Office Hours? The 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, didn’t know that Office Hours was a time that faculty reserved for students.
The more aptly-named Student Support Hours seeks to change this. If you are still having a common Office Hours experience (you know, sitting at your desk, wondering when the last time a student actually popped in), 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 to directly embedding the Google Meet link.
Developing a student-centered syllabus is the first step in our courses to help students feel welcomed, empowered, and committed to persisting in the course even when there are challenges. The checklist and article can help you to continue this essential relationship-building throughout the semester. The Center is available to help you with any questions related to the student-centered syllabus as well as supporting this foundational transformation throughout 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 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.
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.
Collaboration Connection:
The Learn Pillar Integration Committee is looking for student involvement, and we need your help. The Learn Pillar Integration Committee keeps student success at the heart of all decisions and actions, but we can’t do that effectively if we do not directly connect with our students. The Learn Pillar Integration Committee has created a Student Interest Form; please share this link with students who are interested in improving the MATC experience for students and participating in a structure at the college that embeds the voice of students.
Friendly Reminders:
On October 1, 2022, Blackboard Client Support will permanently delete semester course sections from past terms SU2019, FA2019, and SP2019. Course shells from these terms will not be available for faculty 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 CST October 1st 2022! Contact onlinelearning@matc.edu if you have any questions about this process.
Keeping You Posted:
Additional Professional Development Opportunities:
Inspiration, Research, and Best Practices
Part of CTE’s mission is to keep you informed about current best practices and pedagogical approaches. Each issue of CTE 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 CTE's website. Enjoy the rabbit hole!
Crisis as a Catalyst for Change and Innovation: Wisconsin Center for Education Research
“Navigating That Changing and Uneven Landscape—How Technical College Educators Grapple With Pandemic-Impacted Teaching, Learning, and Student Support"
This report is grounded in the experiences and insights shared by educators in various roles across Wisconsin’s technical colleges as they engage in adaptations, changes, and innovations since Spring 2020. Collectively, interviews with these educators reveal the following key recommendations for maintaining the innovations that cultivate a humanizing and equitable technical education.
Looking for previous issues of Center Connections?
Milwaukee Area Technical College
The Center for Teaching Excellence
