Newsletter (December 2025)

2026 Winter Retreat | Building a Culture of Wellbeing through Accessibility & Accommodations

• Friday, Feb 6 2026
• 9 am-11:30 am (doors open at 8:30 am)
• DeLuca Forum, Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery and online
• FREE & OPEN TO ALL | REGISTER TO ATTEND
• Description: As higher education evolves, building and sustaining a broad culture of accessibility is more important than ever. The Winter Retreat will be an opportunity for instructors, TAs, and those who support instruction to gather and share how they bring accessibility into their teaching and daily work. Participants will discover and discuss emerging technologies and practical strategies to remove barriers, enhance student engagement, and promote long-term accessibility practices. Whether you’re just beginning your accessibility journey or looking to deepen your practice, this retreat will help you move beyond a compliance mindset toward innovative approaches that contribute to a culture of better learning and wellbeing for all.
• Call for Speakers: Share how you bring accessibility into your teaching and daily work at the Teaching Academy 2026 Winter Retreat. You can have up to 5 minutes of stage-time at the event (in person or on Zoom), or you can record a short video. We want to hear from you! | REGISTER TO SPEAK
• Questions about the Retreat? Want to help plan the event?
  Contact Dan Pell: dan.pell@wisc.edu

Welcome our New Members!

• These individuals have been recognized for outstanding commitment to teaching and learning. Welcome new fellows to the Teaching Academy!
• Selenay Aydin, History
• Eric Walsh, Kinesiology
• Questions about membership?
  Contact the Membership Committee: uwta-membership@g-groups.wisc.edu

Join us! Honor a colleague! | The Academy is seeking new members
The end of the semester is the perfect time to honor a colleague—or nominate yourself!

• For over 30 years, the Academy’s mission has been to promote, recognize and support excellence in teaching and learning among faculty, staff and graduate students across campus and beyond. The Teaching Academy welcomes nominees who work in traditional classrooms, clinical practice, field instruction, or instructional support.
• There are three types of membership: Future Faculty Partner (FFP), Fellow, and Clinical Affiliate. Learn how to become a Member.
• Questions about membership? Are you a FFP who has moved on to another position in the University?
  Contact: uwta-membership@g-groups.wisc.edu

Writing Across Curriculum

• Teaching with Writing? Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) is Here to help!
• WAC supports instructors who use writing in their teaching in any form: everything from longer, high-stakes papers and projects to low- or no-stakes in-class writing activities. Our online resource for UW-Madison instructors, Communicating Across the Curriculum is a Pressbook filled with chapters on topics that include, but are not limited to:
  • Teaching with writing in an age of AI
  • Designing low- and high-stakes writing assignments
  • Sequencing and scaffolding writing assignments
  • Providing feedback on student writing
• Our team also offers individual consultations (Zoom or in-person) upon request. | ASK A QUESTION or REQUEST A CONSULTATION
• Questions about Writing Across the Curriculum?
  Contact Abby Letak: letak@wisc.edu

DELTA Program | Certificate in Higher Ed. Teaching & Learning

• Check out the Delta Program courses offered this spring!
• Designed for graduate students and postdocs, courses are available on a variety of topics in higher education teaching and learning:
  • Using Writing to Teach in Any Discipline: Research shows that when students write more in a course, they learn course content more effectively and engage more deeply with the material. Learn how to use writing to promote students’ active learning and create a more inclusive learning experience in any disciplinary or course context.
  • Informal Science Education: Develop your skills in communicating science to a broad array of audiences. Learn how to design and evaluate informal education experiences that make complex ideas accessible and meaningful beyond academic settings.
  • Active Learning Laboratory: Explore how to effectively use active learning in a variety of teaching and learning contexts. This course will take a “learning by doing” approach, with opportunities to examine, experience, and try out various active learning instructional methods in the college classroom.
  • See more Delta courses!
• Questions about the Delta Program?
  Contact Jess Maher: jessica.maher@wisc.edu

For TAs & Graduate Lecturers: Chinese Name Pronunciation Workshop

• Graduate instructors will learn essential Chinese language pronunciation tips and leave with the skills they need to say their students’ names right the first time. | LEARN MORE & REGISTER
• Friday, January 30 | 9:30 am – 10:30 am
• Questions about this workshop?
  Contact B Dowling: bcdowling@wisc.edu

Language Institute | Spring Event: Sustaining and Strengthening Less Commonly Taught Languages in Precarious Times: Focus on Pedagogy and Placement

• Friday, February 27 | 2–3:15 pm CST (on Zoom) | LEARN MORE & REGISTER
• Features presentations by Carter Griffith and Anna Hubbard, University of Minnesota; Ida Moen Johnson, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Ryan Platte, Northwestern University; and Aleksei Rumiantsev, Indiana University.
• The webinar follows the October 10, 2025 town hall meeting Sustaining and Strengthening Less Commonly Taught Languages in the Big Ten in Precarious Times | WATCH THE TOWN HALL VIDEO

Harnessing AI for Research in Applied Linguistics: From Qualitative Coding to Quantitative Analysis

• Thursday, March 19 | 1418 Van Hise Hall | LEARN MORE & REGISTER
• This workshop will introduce participants to practical strategies for integrating AI into research workflows. Participants will leave with concrete examples, tool suggestions, and a chance to try out using AI responsibly and effectively in applied linguistics research. Part of the 2025–26 series on AI and Research in Language Studies. | LEARN MORE
• Questions about the Language Institute?
  Contact Jana Martin: jcmartin4@wisc.edu

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 & Sarah Pultorak: editor-uwta-newsletter@g-groups.wisc.edu.
Messages received by the second Monday of the month may be included in that month’s newsletter.

Present at the 2026 Teaching & Learning Symposium

• Are you exploring innovative ways in your courses to enhance learning and create connections among students? Share your work in a presentation or poster at the 2026 Teaching & Learning Symposium: Cultivating Connection on May 14. | LEARN MORE
• Proposals due: January 23

Honor Outstanding Members

• Nominations are open for the annual Awards for Mentoring Undergraduates in Research, Scholarly and Creative Activities, recognizing faculty members, groups of mentors, academic staff, post-doctoral fellows and graduate students for the outstanding work they do in mentoring undergraduates in their areas of professional activity. These awards provide $2,000 of university expendable funds (supplies and expenses) to award recipients for excellence in undergraduate mentoring. | LEARN MORE

Pre-semester Teaching Institute

• In just a few hours, the pre-semester Teaching Institute will have you feeling better prepared for spring teaching. You’ll learn strategies for addressing the impact of generative AI on assessments, engaging and motivating students, time-saving tips for Canvas, and more. | LEARN MORE & REGISTER
• January 14, 8:30 am-2:15 pm, Union South

Enhancing Online Education

• Explore strategies to improve student engagement and learning in online and hybrid courses. Spring topics include: Instructional Materials, Cultivating Inclusivity, Designing Assessments, and Fostering Community. | LEARN MORE & REGISTER

If you’re looking for a different kind of engagement or instructional support, please contact CTLM with your request – we look forward to working with you! To learn more about these programs or to register, visit the CTLM’s Professional Development Opportunities.

Presentation Opportunity: Healthcare Continuing Ed Professionals Day

• Submit a proposal to present a poster at the 2026 Healthcare Continuing Education Professionals Day on January 23. Celebrate your contributions as a planner, speaker or coordinator who ensures clinicians stay proficient, advance patient care and drive innovation in the field of continuing education for healthcare professionals. | LEARN MORE & SUBMIT
• Submission Deadline: January 7, 11:59 pm CST

Save the Date: 2026 Healthcare Continuing Ed Professionals Day Conference

• January 23, Health Sciences Learning Center

Articles For Discussion

• Participate in discussion of articles featured in the Clinical Teacher Learning Community. Topics include learner assessment, precision education, serious games, and medical education and artificial intelligence. This online community also offers connections, news, and resources for clinical teachers. | JOIN THE DISCUSSIONS

Courses | Education Essentials

• Education Essentials is a collection of 8 modules aimed at developing key skills for all interprofessional health science teachers, in various teaching settings. Registration is free and these courses can be completed at your own pace. | REGISTER

Conference: Emerging Technologies for Teaching & Learning: Digital Demonstrations Virtual Conference

• This AAMC virtual conference is designed to showcase groundbreaking projects, tools, and educational technology solutions that have been implemented around strategic initiatives or operational excellence. | LEARN MORE & REGISTER

Conference: Society for Academic Continuing Medical Education (SACME) Annual Meeting

• This conference offers research and best practices sessions and learning from CPD/CE colleagues who have developed innovative strategies, including interprofessional and team-based education, working in the evolving CPD/CE environment, using data driven CPD, and incorporating quality improvement and patient safety. | LEARN MORE & REGISTER

Explore

• Clinical Teacher Learning Community
• SMPH Faculty Central
• University of Wisconsin-Madison Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education (UW CIPE)

Questions? Topics you would like to see? Announcements for the next issue?
Contact Marianna Shershneva: marianna.shershneva@wisc.edu