Andrea,

💯 Have any of those calls or emails made you think, “I must be doing this particular thing right”? What was that thing? Sharing what students respond to is one of my favorite ways to exchange best practices.

It’s always wonderful to get an email or call from an alum, no matter what they are doing, but it is especially great when they have found their path.

Happy July, everyone! While many of us are using the summer months to recharge and prep for the fall, it’s also the perfect time to look back on the impact of your hard work. Whether you’re an instructor in the classroom or a staff member working behind the scenes to support student success, the energy you pour into your campus is a shared…

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Happy Monday! In case you missed it, tomorrow (7/7) from 8:00 – 10:00 pm EST, ACUE platforms will be unavailable as we prepare to welcome Single Sign-On (SSO) for a seamless login experience between ACUE Commons and Canvas!

What do you need to do? Log in as usual using your current credentials once maintenance is complete. That’s it! 😎…

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Professional – Acceptance

I’m coming back from sabbatical & realizing that slowing down means I don’t want to speed back up to where I was before sabbatical. I’m currently teaching and am in awe of past me. I would leave lecture and within 2 hours send an announcement, upload a recording, post an after class problem, write & print a quiz for…

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I think the university hadn’t decided on what they wanted to do. And since summer hires aren’t known super far in advance, I guess they forgot about it?

Professional – Acceptance

Personal – Content

The externship article was timely. I’ve been working on a fellowship application to bring similar opportunities to humanities professors.

I hope the weeks ahead offer time to rest, explore, and make space for yourself. This week’s Round-Up includes pieces that connect to topics addressed in ACUE’s Quick Studies, including those found in the AI for Higher Ed and Preparing Workforce-Ready Students tabs.

Happy reading,

Gail

Can Price-First Admissions Improve College Access?

Inside…

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@jmaitlandwccnet-edu

💯 It’s amazing how much time and effort we put into course design, assuring alignment between outcomes, objectives, assessments, and learning materials. We want learning to “go somewhere.” We need to carry this energy into our committee work (even if it moves slow)😊

The two goals have a common point, namely – “balance.” In other words, the professional goal is developing a better balance between teaching and research; here, the main challenges are time and energy investment. On the personal side, this is the balance between strictly professional endeavors, and other creative and life endeavors; again,…

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Hey Everyone,

My two words to focus on for professional growth and my courses would be “continuous improvement”. I tell my students all the time that no one is asking for perfection, but for continued improvement in learning and understanding. That should also apply to myself as an instructor and the quality of my courses and course content.…

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Oh that one hits home! I seem to get pulled into many “think tanks”. I love brainstorming but then I want to do something or we have just wasted time. I am learning patience since it appears everything in education moves very slowly but creating timelines and deliverables upfront is huge!

@jmaitlandwccnet-edu

Wow. I arbitrarily chose three years, so it’s interesting to see that it seems to be (or may soon become) a general standard at some institutions.

I don’t have any advice, but I can share another factor I consider. I loathe endless meetings about meetings that simply review what happened in the previous meeting😅. I limit…

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Congratulations to Kenneth @Kenny for being our Week 7 winner!

I am not stepping down yet. However, we have been discussing 3 year term limits for Dept. Chair in our meetings. I think three years is sufficient and allows others to try it out as well. Build that empathy!! In terms of managing my “no’s” this semester, I am going to really focus on time blocking. I have always lived by my Outlook, but…

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@jmaitlandwccnet-edu

Jennifer,

What strategies do you/will you use to step away from current roles? I accepted a few committee chair positions where my predecessors had been in the roles for seven years or more. I immediately self-imposed a three-year term limit. I’m curious how other people step down or away without abandoning initiatives…

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Professional: fundamentals Personal: purposeful

I have a problem saying “no” and consequently get pulled in too many directions (professionally and personally). After three years in my current role, two years as dept chair and two years on faculty development committee (and a dozen other committees, pilot groups, etc.), I have a good foundation…

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Workforce-ready skills

Just two Words? I am envisioning a public service announcement flyer to stick over my workspace, modeled after the D.A.R.E messaging from the 80s: “Just Say No.” I have a terrible habit of overcommitting, across the board.

Professional/Courses; Enthusiasm

Personal: Balance

I have taken for granted the excitement that permeates the start of the fall semester, so my goal is to embrace that energy and work to expand it through the term. To do that well, I need to effectively balance all aspects of my life

Being present is so true. I need to leave my phone at home more often.

@cingram5nccu-edu

Chrystal,
Please share your wisdom. I can always make my syllabus stronger!

~Melissa🌺

Thank you for responding. I have to redo all my lectures anyway and update current event references, pages of a textbook, learning outcome references, etc, so I am going to do it all at once. The new thing for me is the quizzes inside the lectures. I will learn as I go. Thanks again!

Industrious (work): I like being busy enough to feel like I am living my professional life well without being overwhelmed – the happy place between bored and buried!

Present (personal): Life is short – I want to be more present to the moments in my life!

Strong Syllabus!

Communication/Self-Care

Lack of Institutional communication breeds anxiety. By transparently sharing general and institutional knowledge, organizations can alleviate uncertainty. This builds reassurance and peace of mind, which are ultimately vital for employee well-being and self-care. So I will be sharing and communicating everything I know…

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Professional – I am building a set of musical performances designed to encourage mindfulness, centeredness, and being present, in an effort to cater to mental health issues our campus community may be having. My goal is a performance every 3-5 weeks using a variety of media including acoustic and electronic instruments.

Personal – Lose some…

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Felt only right to “heart” this post 😊

My word professionally is AI. I’ve got to figure out how I want to address that given the current cultural climate. For me personally, the word is heart. As I get older, I want to start doing more based on how I feel instead of what is just logical all the time.

Nothing specifically. Just doing the things that interest us and making them a priority.

Melissa,

This may be the most teacher-friendly balance formula I’ve seen: lifelong learning to satisfy our curiosity, nature and meditation to keep us grounded, exercise to keep us energized, and puppies to remind us that not every problem requires a rubric. 🐶💕