You would be hard pressed to find a university that doesn‘t claim that it provides excellent teaching. However, you might also be hard pressed to find many that can provide concrete evidence of that assertion.
ISU can back up its claims about the quality of instruction with evidence in many forms and from many different sources (some of which are topics for future columns). The evidence that I‘d like to highlight here is the annual Teaching and Learning Symposium, which is coming up again on January 7, 2009. If you are not familiar with it or have never attended, you are one of a shrinking minority on campus. It has been held every year for close to a decade now (this January‘s is the ninth annual), and it continues to grow in size, quality, and prominence.
Just looking at attendance figures is a testament to ISU faculty‘s commitment to thoughtful, informed approaches to instruction and the importance of teaching in ISU‘s campus culture. Last year‘s record attendance (265) was the third year in a row of setting a new high-water mark, and represents a 100% in-crease over the January 2005 attendance. Keep in mind, this is for a symposium held outside normal working schedules of many faculty (before the semester officially starts) and on a chilly winter day.
Even more telling than attendance numbers are the quality and quantity of the scholarship that is the core of the event. This year we fielded more than 50 separate symposium proposals involving more than 120 co-presenters. This is an impressive number of educators whose dedication extends beyond teaching their courses to include scholarly work on teaching and learning. This January‘s program encompasses 36 separate sessions where ISU educators will share the results of studies, outcomes of a grant-funded projects, or updates on programs.
Presenters (and attendees) are doing what the best teachers have al-ways done: Investing time and energy into enhancing their teaching. They are on a path toward teaching excellence, and their presentations are invitations to join them on this path.
Highlight of the day is the luncheon, where we come together as a community to share a meal and to connect as a family of educators. As master of ceremonies at the luncheon, it is so amazing to me to look over the sea of faces that fills the room as evidence that so many of my colleagues care as deeply about good teaching as I do. Their presence inspires and motivates me, and it may do the same for you.
The luncheon is also when we hear from our keynote speaker, which in the past has included some of most noteworthy names in higher education. That tradition continues this January, when the keynote speaker is Dr. James A. Anderson, chancellor of Fayetteville State University. He has authored several prominent volumes addressing diversity in education. At the luncheon I will also introduce this year‘s University Teaching Award winners and announce the 2008 Path to Excellence Awards to the three departments with the highest per-capita faculty hours spent in CTLT professional development.
However, you may find that the greatest rewards of the day are from connections that you make with colleagues. Every year I am told about conversations that arise after a panel when people realize that they share an avid interest in a topic; a luncheon chat that develops into a friendship; a discussion during a break that leads to a collaboration (actually, that last one is my own experience).
If any of this sounds appealing to you, I encourage you to join us for the day on January 7. Registration free and open now. Even lunch is on us. Be sure to register soon so you, too, can be counted as part the evidence confirming ISU‘s reputation as a place where good teaching is valued and rewarded.
