Teaching Academy
Promoting, Recognizing and Supporting Excellence in Teaching and Learning

December 2022 Newsletter

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Teaching Academy bannerWelcome to our December newsletter! As the old year fades and the new year begins, we hope you find time to read and enjoy this month’s newsletter, which includes updates, and multiple ways of staying connected with the Teaching Academy.

This month, the Teaching Academy’s leadership invites you to share your thoughts and apply your energy to setting the direction of the Academy. We look back on December’s Members+ event, which focused on annual-contract and per course instructors. We share in person, online, and in-your-own-time opportunities to build connections and strengthen your teaching.  And, from everyone who helps put together the Academy Newsletter, may you have a safe, happy and healthy new year!

Questions or comments about the newsletter? Contact Dan Pell, editor-uwta-newsletter@g-groups.wisc.edu 

 

Upcoming Events | What’s happening in the Academy?

SAVE THE DATE! The Teaching Academy’s Winter Retreat

Fri, Feb 3, 2023 in the DeLuca Forum of the WID, and online! We are pleased to share that we had a successful sound check in the DeLuca Forum, so please save the date and plan to join us online or in person – whatever suits your schedule!  Registration and details will follow. Want to help plan the retreats? Contact: retreats-uwta@g-groups.wisc.edu 

Teaching and Learning Meetups

Open to all! First and Third Thursdays, 4-6pm at the Memorial Union Rathskeller or Terrace. Every first and third Thursday from 4-6pm at the Rathskeller (or Terrace in warmer times). Come bring your teaching questions, comments, and experiences to share! Meet up with other campus educators in an informal space. Make connections! Read more. Questions about the T&L Meetups? Contact John Martin johnmartin@wisc.edu

 

From Our Leadership | It’s YOUR Teaching Academy

John Martin (Teaching Academy Academic Staff Co-chair) shares thoughts on opportunities within the Academy.

I’m excited to be the Academic Staff co-chair on the Executive Council of the Teaching Academy. I believe good learning relies on experiences and feedback — community and story sharing are a big part of that! As a volunteer organization, the Teaching Academy relies heavily on its members to put on our Retreats and Member+ events, to find students for U-CLaSS conversations, to design and maintain the website and operations. We need your skills and ideas.

  • Talk to us! Help us make the Teaching Academy meet your teaching and learning needs and the needs of your colleagues.
  • Share your ideas! What programs would you like to see? What topics would you like to talk about?
  • Bring a colleague! Invite a friend to the Winter Retreat on Friday, Feb 3.
  • Nominate an excellent educator! Remember that the Academy promotes, recognizes, and supports excellence in teaching and learning. We welcome excellent Instructors, TAs, and teaching support staff who meet requirements to become a member! If you don’t yet meet membership requirements (3 years T&L excellence on campus for faculty/staff; 3 semesters for graduate students), get involved and gain it with us as an active affiliate!
  • Help us plan and facilitate! Shape what you’d like to see by volunteering!

I encourage you to reach out to me (johnmartin@wisc.edu — I’ll buy you a hot beverage!) for a conversation on how you might help join our community to build the Academy!

Members+ Event Recap

At our fall 2022 UW-Madison Teaching Academy Members+ event our topic was “The Gigification* of UW-Madison Teaching Professionals,” meaning the progressive employment of annual contract (or per course) faculty. As ABC News in Tampa Bay recently reported, “more than 70% of professors in the Florida College System are adjunct professors. They don’t have the same job security, are paid significantly less, and do not receive the same benefits as full-time professors. That makes the position, officially, a part of the gig economy.”

We began our hour-long Members+ event with an overview of national data. For example, in a scholarly article titled, “The Gig Economy Comes to Academia,” Nelson et al. (2020) reported that “In 1975, only 10 percent of the academic labor force was full-time non-tenure track faculty. By 2015, 57 per cent of the academic labor force was contingent faculty while only 29 per cent were either tenure or tenure track.” The preface to a recent book edited by Kim Tolly and titled, The Uber-ization of the Classroom and What It Means for Faculty (which is edited by Kim Tolley) states that “One of the most significant trends in American high education over the last decade has been the shift in faculty employment from tenured to contingent. Now, upwards of 75% of faculty jobs are non-tenure track; two decades ago that figure was 25%.”

We then shared lived experiences of “gigified” faculty here at UW-Madison. A bit over half, 52%, of non-tenure track instructors at UW-Madison are Lecturers; only 13% of non-tenure track instructors at UW-Madison are Teaching Faculty, Level I; only 11% are Teaching Faculty, Level II 16% are Teaching Faculty, Level III; and only 5% are Teaching Faculty, Level IV. At UW-Madison, the Teaching Professor titles (Teaching Assistant Professor, Teaching Associate Professor, and Teaching Professor) employ less than 2% of the pool of non-tenure track instructors.

We concluded our session by discussing what we can do to increase equity regarding job security, teaching load, salary, and the like. We hope to continue this important conversation. View slides from the event.

 

Member FYI | News, Events, Training, and Learning Opportunities

Delta Program

Please share with your graduate students & post-docs! Delta offerings are designed for graduate students and postdocs to build their skills and CV’s in effective and inclusive teaching and research mentoring, and are open to anyone affiliated with UW-Madison. Join us! Sign up for our newsletter to hear about upcoming events. Spring workshops will be released soon, and great courses are registering now:

Have something to share?

Academy members work in diverse roles and learning environments across our university. If you have news, events, training, or opportunities you would like to share with the Academy, contact Dan Pell (editor-uwta-newsletter@g-groups.wisc.edu) Messages received by the second Monday of the month may be included in that month’s newsletter.

 

Join us! Honor a colleague! | The Academy is seeking nominations

Now is the perfect time to honor a colleague or nominate yourself. Our mission is to promote, recognize and support excellence in teaching and learning among faculty, staff and students across campus and beyond. The Teaching Academy welcomes nominees who work in traditional classrooms, clinical practice, field instruction, or instructional support with learners at any level.

There are three types of membership: Future Faculty Partner (FFP), Fellow, and Affiliate. Read about how to become a Member. 

Are you an FFP who has moved on to another position in the University?  Contact teachingacademy@provost.wisc.edu to change status from FFP to Fellow.

 

CTLM Updates | Engage with the Center for Teaching, Learning & Mentoring

To learn more about these programs or to register, visit the CTLM’s Professional Development Opportunities. 

Get ready to teach this Spring

CTLM is offering two pre-semester programs in January.

Course self-review tool gains national recognition

CTLM’s Course Success Self-Review was named a finalist for the 2022 POD Innovation Award by the Professional and Organizational Development (POD) Network, a national organization devoted to improving teaching and learning in higher education. If you haven’t tried it yet, check it out – it will guide you through a self-directed analysis of a course and connect you with actionable advice and targeted resources in just 20 to 60 minutes.

 

Feedback on Teaching | Seeking peer observers

The Teaching Academy’s Feedback on Teaching (FoT) program is looking for academy members to serve as peer observers for the fall semester. FoT seeks to provide a formative or summative review of a colleague’s instructional approaches, and to actively solicit a peer exchange of ideas on how to improve student learning. Please contact Andrew McWard amcward@wisc.edu if you are interested in volunteering. 

 

Social Media Update | Join the Conversation!

What are your thoughts on ChatGPT? Scary? Funny? Have you already used it? Do you have assignment ideas to share? Some background:

Join the Teaching in Higher Education public Facebook group. Questions: John Martin johnmartin@wisc.edu 

Join the discussion on Instagram: @uwteachingacademy. Questions: Bri Meyer blmeyer2@wisc.edu 

 

 

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Learning Community Update | Clinical Teachers’ Corner

December Feature: Taking a break!

Many of us take a break around the holidays. How to Say No to Taking on More Work from the Harvard Business Review discusses ways to make saying “no” easier to help you protect your time.

Simulation Curriculum Development Module (Asynchronous/Online Course)

The UW Health Clinical Simulation Program created the Simulation Curriculum Development Module to help current or future facilitators of simulation-based educational activities get a better understanding of the steps of curriculum creation. This module bases the curriculum development off Kern’s 6 Steps for Curriculum Development but focuses on how to create simulation education.  Register/Access course here. 

Explore:

Questions? Topics you would like to see? Announcements for the next issue? Contact Sara Scott (sfscott@wisc.edu)

 

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Get involved! | Ways to contribute to the Academy’s ongoing activities

  • Affiliate/Clinical Affiliate: Teaching experiential courses, from clinic to fieldwork? Become involved in growing the clinical affiliate or affiliate program. Contact teachingacademy@provost.wisc.edu
  • Analytics Committee: Help ensure that we are capturing the right information to determine who the Academy’s programs are reaching, whether participants find them valuable, and most importantly, what was learned through participation. Contact teachingacademy@provost.wisc.edu 
  • Fall Retrea​t | Winter Retreat: Join the committee to plan, organize & facilitate campus-wide teaching development events. Contact dan.pell@wisc.edu  
  • Feedback on Teaching (FOT) Committee: FoT offers an opportunity to participate in scaling up and implementing a new peer observation program across campus. Contact teachingacademy@provost.wisc.edu 
  • Member+ Events: We are seeking Fellows who are interested in organizing one-per-semester roundtable discussions among members on issues surrounding teaching & learning. Contact claire.barrett@wisc.edu 
  • Newsletter: Join the planning committee, contribute to the forum, act as guest editor for the Academy newsletter. Contact dan.pell@wisc.edu 
  • Nomination Committee: We are seeking Fellows (Faculty & Academic Staff) and FFPs to help review nominations.  Honor great campus educators & promote excellence by helping to review nominations to the Teaching Academy. Contact teachingacademy@provost.wisc.edu
  • U-Class: Explore teaching and learning from the student perspective by attending our U-CLaSS sessions. Contact jamie.henke@wisc.edu 
  • Teaching Academy Facebook Group: Are you on Facebook? So is the Teaching Academy! Join other Higher Ed teaching and learning enthusiasts for thought-provoking questions, shared resources, and asynchronous community connections. Contact johnmartin@wisc.edu 

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