July 16, 2025

Provost's Message

Dear CU Faculty,

I find myself looking out into the world for ways to make sense of what we are currently experiencing as a nation - healthcare being stripped away from those who need it most, our neighbors being disappeared and put into cages, the right to marry who you love in jeopardy, and funds allocated to support community survivance being stripped away. There is simply no way to make sense of it. And yet, we must continue to do the work of creating change, living boldly and joyfully, and bending the moral arc of the universe towards justice with all of our might.

And, the reality is that there is no magical figure who is going to rise up to tell us how to do this. No one is going to save us and the institutions around us were never designed to love. We are the ones we have been waiting for.

adrienne maree brown's poem, “it is our turn to carry the world,” feels so meaningful to me in this moment. It calls all of us to think about what tiny corner of the world we are willing to carry as we co-create the CU experience for ourselves and our students. What tiny experiment might we enact.

it is our turn to carry the world

we are each other’s safety

right now, and every day

decide who you will protect

yourself, your own and who else

it’s time to cover all that you love

land, creatures, place, person

intertwined your roots with mine

in this way our lives become miracles

there will be strangers

they will become comrades

we will easily say our needs

we will learn to let community come closer

every part of us is a shield

our words, our trust, our hearts

our bodies in action

and the freedom to think for us ourselves

we are the adaptation

no oppressor can imagine

our love is water - form-shifting power, river, vapor, life

we flood each other with belonging….

-adrienne maree brown

One Million Experiments

One Million Experiments explores snapshots of community-based projects that expand our ideas about what keeps us safe.

Sylvia C. Spears, Ph.D. she/her/hers

Provost & Vice President for Lifelong Learning

Transformative Teaching & Learning Competencies

Over the course of the Spring semester, the Lifelong Learning team worked to develop a framework that captures the values, commitments, and features of CU’s distinct approach to teaching and learning. We sought to codify not only the instructional practices that we believe are most effective for CU students but we also sought to describe what makes the CU educational experience transformational for students and faculty. We grounded our exploration in the following beliefs about the nature of learning:

Learning is an ongoing process and not an end goal.
Individuals and communities are creators and holders of deep knowledge.
An ecosystem of support and challenge is necessary for growth and transformation.
Being in relationship with others and the world has transformative power.
An individual's inner work guides and strengthens their outerwork in creating the change they want to see in the world.

With these foundational beliefs at the center and Informed by equity-centered, trauma-informed, and relational approaches to teaching and learning, College Unbound has developed a set of Transformational Teaching & Learning Competencies for all faculty.

We have already introduced the competencies to new Lab and Instructional faculty as part of their orientation to CU and plan to provide workshop opportunities for all faculty to grow instructional practices that advance these competencies, and as result, provide the most vibrant and robust learning experience possible for CU students. Keep an eye out for an announcement about the workshop schedule in the fall.

Call for Community of Practice Conveners

The Lifelong Learning team is excited to share the launch of a new faculty support role - Community of Practice Conveners. The full description is included below. We invite interested faculty with experience and capacity to complete this interest form by July 25, 2025.

Community of Practice Conveners:

Conveners receive a stipend of $750 per semester and are expected to dedicate 15 hours per semester to cultivating a community of practice. The Workplace & World Lab Communities of Practice Conveners are supported by the National Director of Lab Faculty and the Core Course Community of Practice Conveners are supported by the Associate Provost for Administration, Advising, and Academic Support. Please click here for the full description and required qualifications.

Moodle Updates - Timeline

July 21-July 25: Moodle System Upgrade

This upgrade is essential to ensure we continue to provide a secure, and streamlined experience for our students and instructors. Your Content is Safe! None of your existing Moodle content will be lost during this upgrade. All your courses, activities, resources, grades, and user data will be migrated to the new version.

July 25: Updated Interface

Once Moodle upgrades are complete, things may look a little different:

Refreshed User Interface: The visual design and layout of Moodle may have a more modern feel, potentially with reorganized menus or navigation elements.
Minor Formatting Shifts: While content will be preserved, there's a small possibility that some complex formatting (e.g., custom HTML, embedded elements) might display differently in the new version.

August 1: Review your Moodle course details

To ensure a seamless experience, we kindly request that you review your Moodle shells after August 1st to check for any formatting issues and verify course settings and dates.

Support and Training are Available!

To help you familiarize yourself with the updated Moodle and address any questions or concerns, feel free to schedule a 1-on-1 meeting with Elaine Plourde.

Faculty Updates & Reminders

Career Services Survey

Use this faculty survey to share your interest in career support at CU!

College Unbound is fortunate to have a dynamic and diverse group of faculty. We are working to expand our career services and supports for students, and we are exploring multiple opportunities for faculty to share their expertise. Please take a few minutes to complete the Faculty Career Support interest form linked here.

Credential Updates

Help us stay up to date on your credentials!

Use this form to share any credential updates. We are collecting updated contact information, courses taught at CU or beyond, the most updated version of your resume/CV, and any other updates such as publications, certificates, awards, creative activities, etc.

Syllabus Templates

Syllabus Templates for College Unbound courses, including a general syllabus template for any course, Core course templates with course-specific content, and Lab syllabus templates are available for your reference in this Google Drive Folder. You may make your own copy of a template to develop your syllabus!

Lab Faculty- direct questions about your syllabus to Melina Kuchinov

Instructional Faculty- contact facultysupport@collegeunbound.edu with any questions.