Creating a Faculty Institute
Everett Community College Academies Presentation
Peg Balachowski & Alyson Indrunas
Instruction Commission
May 8, 2014
EvCC Professional Development
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HOW TO BUILD A BETTER TEACHER
Peg Balachowski
Faculty Mentor
Everett Community College
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 Goals
 Who
 Development
 Time
 Focus
 Cost
 Implementation
 Results
 Assessment
 Materials
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 What are the qualities of a great teacher?
 Is formal training other than content expertise
necessary for CC instructors?
 How do we nurture transformation and change in
a risk-averse world?
 How do we encourage educators to embrace
innovation, cope with change, and learn from
failure or struggle?
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Build teaching expertise
Prevent “cave dwelling”
Shift is from access to success
Develop faculty who “disturb the
universe”
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MISSION STATEMENT
The New Faculty Teaching Academy
will serve as an agent for innovation
and transformation, and will seek to
foster excellence in teaching and
learning practices. Toward this end, the
Teaching Academy will be designed to
provide opportunities for professional
growth to new faculty.
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A literature review revealed that:
1. Many faculty teach as they
were taught
2. Many faculty development
programs fail to make
significant changes
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Activities must include a range of
activities to improve, renew, or
assist new faculty in their varied
roles.
Opportunities for collaboration
should be included.
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 Promoting innovation in the classroom;
 Facilitating paths to success in teaching
and the development of exemplary
teaching practices;
 Engagement;
 Developing opportunities for
leadership.
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The learning process does not
come without risk. How do you
st
develop 21 century skills when
most of us were educated with
20th century pedagogies?
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Orientation (2 days – Week 0)
Begin developing the cohort
community
Begin developing the campus
community
Scavenger hunt on campus
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Monthly meetings
Participants present
material from book
to group
Other critical
discussion topics
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Rich conversations
Deep investment in transformative
teaching
Faculty interested in catalyzing
student engagement
Improvement in student evaluations
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Pre-Survey
Post-Survey
Teaching Perspectives Inventory
Personal Reflections
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 “Hearing and seeing how other faculty use
classroom technology is really inspiring. Also,
forming a contact with a person who has
experience with the technology can be really
beneficial when it comes time to troubleshoot
an issue.”
 “The idea that the diversity of programs we
represent is striking: commonalities abound
about approaches to structuring courses and
classes, challenges are similar.”
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 “There are partnerships that are
developing out of these relationships
that would never have been thought about
let alone come to fruition without your
vision to construct an academy this way. It's
a wonderful example of thinking outside
the box.”
 “This kind of ‘coming alongside’ new faculty
at EvCC is powerful and empowering.”
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 “EvCC presents a culture of deliberate
sustenance of new faculty - it speaks to
value of person as learner/teacher and
contribution to the college's mission, ‘one
student at a time’.”
 “I was able to meet other instructors from
different departments and I was able to
walk away with actual changes and
improvements to my courses ready
for implementation.”
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Orientation – 2 days
Food – light breakfast each day
Lunch each day; one lunch with
Deans’ Council
Beginning Fall 2014, cost of
attending over 2 days (change in
contract) at 30 hour rate ($41.11)
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Welcome by President, VPI
Discussion of strategic goals
Policies
Scavenger hunt
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Enrollment Services, eLearning
Alignment of core learning
outcomes
Center for Disability Services
Library tour; Security scenarios
Student evaluations (IDEA)
Homework
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 2012-13 Academic Year 14 faculty
 2013-14 Academic Year 11 faculty
 2014-15 Academic Year 8 faculty
Materials
How LearningWorks @ $25/each
Composition book for reflections
Printing (minimal)
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Personnel
My time – 1/3 release as Faculty
Mentor
Additional Dean in Academy
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 Canvas course
 Modules for just in time issues
 Frequent contact with faculty to discuss
student evaluations, professional
development opportunities, networking,
assessment, classroom management issues,
teaching techniques
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 Doing, sharing, explaining, supporting,
arguing, teaching each other…these
reliably lead to learning.
 Interdisciplinary nature of Academy helps
to break down silos.
 When people are respected as
professionals they engage in their
profession.
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 Faculty receive a strong start in their
EvCC career during the orientation
 There is committed support with the
availability of someone to answer
questions and provide guidance as
needed
 Faculty support each other
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Mentoring Adjunct Faculty: Title III
Best Practices
Alyson Indrunas, M.A., M.Ed.
eLearning Director
Everett Community College
Nobody grows up thinking: “I want to
be an adjunct when I grow up.”
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ROI
 As we move towards a cultural norm in higher education
of adjuncts carrying the brunt of teaching labor, there is
a need to establish mentorship and support that
currently does not exist. If we are going to be honest
with ourselves about increasing student engagement and
success, then we have to admit that we must change how
we support teachers…the return-on-investment
for institutional professional development is to
advocate for mentoring, networking, and
training adjunct faculty.
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Associate Faculty Academy
 Share strategies from Everett Community College
 Collaborate with faculty members and encourage them
to use online resources to improve student engagement
and retention.
 Can two tenured faculty and one adjunct faculty, one
dean, and a Director of eLearning create an online
course to promote professional development for new
adjunct faculty?
Associate Faculty Academy Overview
 The college received a five-year Title III grant which administrators
initiated in fall 2012 to strengthen academic programs by improving
course delivery.
 The project focused on instituting faculty development initiatives to
expand Quality Matters assessments, use eLearning tools, and
develop annual cohorts of newly-hired faculty.
 Four faculty mentors from three different disciplines led the effort,
by providing training, one-to-one assistance, and assessment.
YEAR 1: 20122013
Winter:
• QM Training
• Collaboration
Spring:
• Brain Dump of Major
Ideas
• 1st cohort of faculty in
Angel
Summer:
• Instructional Designer
Built Course in Canvas
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Fall:
• Second Cohort in
Canvas
Winter:
 Cohort 3
 The word is out!
Revision:
 Motivation and
Follow-up
 Rethinking our
requirements
 Revisions based on
lessons learned
Spring:
New Lead on project
Year 2: 2013-2014
Lesson Learned? Be Creative!
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The Classroom Where We Learned
The 21st Century Classroom
Decades of Change
What is the Associate Faculty
Academy?
How Do We Do It?
 The Associate Faculty Academy which will begin during their first quarter
of employment and end with a self reflection after receiving the IDEA
survey results from their first quarter. “New” faculty are defined as
“new to EvCC.”
 Administrative Assistants will forward the names and course assignments
to the Dean of Arts & Learning Resources within one week of hiring
new associate faculty.
 These faculty will be contacted by the Arts & Learning Resources division
office with the start date of the Academy and the name of their
assigned Title III project mentor.
Time and $ Investment
Faculty are invited to
participate in two face-toface meetings with the Title
III mentors to foster broader
discussions of instructional
best practices, share useful
pedagogy, and engage with
the EvCC academic culture.
Faculty will be compensated
for their completion of these
activities for a total of $500.
On campus activities
 Orientation to the
Academy (1.5 hours)
 Classroom management
strategies & problem
solving (1.5 hours)
OL Activities
 LMS Canvas activities (8
hours)
Main Goals for “New” Teachers
By networking and collaborating with other faculty members in this
course, we hope that teachers:
 1] gain insightful information about the culture of Everett
Community College
 2] complete activities that are useful for their teaching
 3] participate in cutting edge faculty professional development.
Course Objectives
What do we want new faculty to know?
Develop and Post course syllabus
 Develop and post to Canvas a course syllabus which includes EvCC
established course objectives and outcomes
Submit a BIT (Behavioral Intervention Team)
 Submit a BIT report to document student behavioral issues and
concerns.
Demonstrate Learning Objectives Alignment
 Demonstrate in the syllabus the alignment of student learning
objectives with assessment strategies using Quality Matters
standards
Objectives Continued
Engage Students
 Engage students through the use of a welcome message in the Canvas
classroom.
Construct Gradebook
 Construct a Canvas Gradebook to provide student feedback.
Select IDEA Form Objectives
 Select objectives on the IDEA survey faculty information form based on
established course outcomes
Write Reflection
 Complete a written reflection and assessment of the Academy.
How do we get started?
 A letter from the Dean of Arts and Learning Resources:
“A big dog on campus cares about me!”
Two key words in the letter from the dean:
 Upon completion of these activities, you will receive
compensation for eight hours of work at the special
assignment rate of $41.11 per hour.
 Lunch included!
Driven Teachers + New Campus
=Overwhelming Experience
How do we start?
Associate Faculty Academy
Pre-Assessment
Post-Assessment
Pre-Assessment
Post-Assessment
Supporting New Teachers
 How did we put this together?
Syllabus Ten Essentials
Day Zero for Teachers
1. Course Title, Schedule and Class Location
2. Instructor Information
 Include the instructor’s name, office location, hours, campus phone, and
faculty email address.
3. Textbooks and Other Materials
 List the textbooks and other materials required or recommended for the
course. This section should also detail special equipment required or
recommended. Include ISBN, author(s), edition, and year of publication
for students who buy their books off-campus.
Day 1 for Students!
4. Course Description and Learning Objectives
 This section includes the course description and objectives taken verbatim
from the current course information form.
5. Course Requirements
 This section describes what students are expected to do in the
course. The narrative might include description of such things as
participation in class activities, group work, readings, discussion, projects,
tests, and other forms of assessment.
Syllabus Ten Essentials
6. Assessment and Grading Policy
7. Attendance and Participation Policy
8. Course Accessibility and Accommodations
9. Syllabus Caveat “This course is subject to change…”
10. Course Calendar/Course Outline
Wordle
Reality? Our grant will end.
What then?
You may be thinking, I don’t have a grant. What can I do?
 Organize the full-time faculty who consistently participate in
professional development, and ask them if new part-timers can
observe their courses. Classes that are on your LMS are ideal for this
type asynchronous mentoring.
 Start with discussions about course design that are particular to
your institution’s learning management system (LMS).
How do we institutionalize this?
 If there is funding available, compensate part-timers for attending
trainings and demonstrations done by other faculty.
 I see these sessions as working in two complimentary ways. The full-
timers get to showcase the goals they have for their departments,
and part-time faculty are made to feel that their time and input are
both valuable.
Use your homegrown talent!
 If you have professional
development grants, then open
those up to adjunct faculty who
are using innovative teaching
methods.
 While companies will often send
their own product trainers to
demonstrate such tools, it is
perhaps more effective when
teachers learn how to use them
from each other, given that this
more local interaction can then be
followed up at will.
Interdepartmental Mentorships
 The teacher ego can be a fragile thing, and cross-disciplinary
mentorship can enable teachers to talk about pedagogical practices
without belaboring details of content.
 Encourage networking between departments beyond Welcome
Week!
 Pay for innovative faculty to go to local conferences together as
groups.
We have to change our thinking!
 Teachers who feel supported and valued transfer that satisfaction
onto their students.
 Instead of seeing this task as daunting, we can facilitate professional
development by understanding the symbiotic nature of student and
teacher success.
 As we look for more ways to ensure student success, we have to
think of ways to support teachers who have long-term goals and
short-term contracts.
Access this EvCC PowerPoint:
http://bit.ly/1g0pR6l
Alyson Indrunas, Director of eLearning
aindrunas@everettcc.edu
425.388.9585
NISOD Webinar on June 26, 2014 11:00-12:00pm (PST)
Peg Balachowski, Faculty Mentor
mbalachowski@everettcc.edu
425.388.9502
Thank you for inviting us!
Q&A
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