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Welcome
from Dr. Susan Thomason, AVP Teaching & Learning Excellence Division
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Dear ACC Faculty,
It is my pleasure to welcome you to the Fall 2017 semester and to share with you this
brand new faculty-only newsletter that you will begin to receive on a monthly basis from the Teaching & Learning Excellence Division (TLED). TLED strives to support faculty in as many ways as possible, and one way that we're focussing on is improved communications. We want to declutter your inboxes and save you time! You can spend less time searching through your GMail, as you will now begin to receive the following curated information in a monthly email from TLED:
- Select professional development & other faculty events
- "Behind the Scenes" information where you can learn more about TLED efforts here at ACC
- Faculty spotlight stories that highlight successes in & out of the classroom
- Featured 24/7/365 online resources for your teaching & learning excellence
Weekly "TLED Updates," a digest of weekly events available to all adjunct & full time faculty here at ACC, will arrive in your inboxes at the beginning of each week. In addition, we'd love to engage with you on social media. Connect with us on
Facebook and
Twitter to see pictures from our events, updates on our programs, and other ACC and higher education news.
Our hope is that you find the contents of our communications relevant, valuable, and engaging. We are excited to receive your positive comments and ideas for improvement. After all,
this newsletter is FOR YOU. Please direct your feedback to
TLED@austincc.edu.
Have a great and productive semester of teaching & learning excellence!
Susan M. Thomason, Ph.D.
Associate Vice President
Teaching & Learning Excellence Division
Austin Community College
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Professional Development
Carefully curated faculty events
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By Application Only
Register Today
Tuesday, September 5, 3:00pm-4:30pm
Wednesday, September 20, 10:00am-11:30am
South Austin: Thursday, September 7, 8:00am-9:00am
Cypress Creek: Tuesday, September 19, 10:00am-11:00am
Highland: Wednesday, September 20, 9:00am-10:00am
Save the Date
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Behind the Scenes
Keeping faculty informed about our efforts at ACC
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Provost/Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Dr. Charles Cook announced updates in the new Teaching & Learning Excellence Division (TLED). Read the Provost’s memorandum in your email inbox to learn more.
Each month, TLED plans to offer ACC LiveStream Updates. The
September “ACC TLED Updates”
will mark the first online event in this series, focusing on the innovations taking place in this new division of the college.
Tune in on Wednesday, September 13 at 9:30am
to hear from AVP Dr. Susan Thomason.
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Faculty Spotlight
Highlighting ACC faculty success in & out of the classroom
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CRAM stands for “Celebrate, Resources, And Meetup!”
Initiated by the Faculty Senate, and in collaboration with other faculty association leadership, last week the Teaching & Learning Excellence Division (TLED) hosted ACC’s first-ever
Faculty CRAM Session
. Faculty from across the district gathered at the Highland Campus for this “drop-in” development day designed to support faculty as they prep for the start of the Fall semester.
Faculty worked with Instructional Designers in the ACCelerator, participated in roundtable discussions on teaching & learning, and attended a
Chalk Talk
demonstration. Thankfully the rain was kept at bay as three local Austin food trucks (
Kebabalicious
,
Emojis Grilled Cheese
, and
Slab BBQ
) rolled in during lunch. A Faculty Happy Hour at
Black Star Co-op
perfectly wrapped up this CRAM Session by offering time for faculty to network outside their discipline and say “cheers” to the start of a new semester.
Mark Butland, incoming Faculty Senate President, noted that
“
The faculty had a blast at the first ever CRAM Session. Folks found what they wanted. Some just needed to hammer out their syllabus or set up Blackboard. Others found that they needed the help of the Instructional Designers that were roving around the ACCelerator. Lots got done, but I also saw a lot of old friends and new acquaintances, vigorous conversations, and sharing of ideas happening as well. I think this event was so wildly successful because of its simplicity: Hey, come cram in what you need to be ready for class Monday, and the TLED staff will be here to help if needed. I think next year's CRAM will be even bigger, better, and simpler!
”
Beth Frye, one of the lead planners for this event, remarked
“In our continuing quest to promote faculty engagement, the Teaching & Learning Excellence Division (TLED) and the Faculty Senate Convocation committee collaborated on our first ever CRAM Session during Fall in-service. Our goal was to provide last minute support for faculty who were developing their Fall courses, opportunities for faculty to share ideas with each other, and spaces for us to network and connect socially with our colleagues. As a participant, I was pleased to be part of several conversations about teaching and learning, meet colleagues from across ACC’s many campuses, and share this day with them. I encourage faculty to look for this next Fall. We would love to continue the momentum and build on this year's success!”
This event is one of many initiatives to come that is the product of a strong relationship already forming between TLED and faculty leadership.
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24/7/365
Online resources for teaching & learning excellence
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This month, we’re encouraging faculty to check out the first iteration of our new
TLED website
. Throughout the Fall our staff will be working to make this website even more of a “one-stop-shop” for everything faculty might need to support their teaching and learning excellence. This mega process of migrating content is one that we’re truly excited about. Of course, with a project this large, we will need feedback from those who will use the site the most--our dedicated instructors! Please send your feedback on the TLED Website Version 1.0 to the lead Web Administrator, Robert Ferguson (
rferguso@austincc.edu
).
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