APRIL 03

The classes are listed in the Registration Guide and in Campus Cafe. As a special note to Lab Faculty working with first semester students, this is the first time the students will be enrolling themselves in classes so they may need some additional guidance. Please remind students to contact financial aid after registering for summer courses because summer financial aid is different from fall and spring.

MID-TERM LEARNING CHECK-IN NOTES - 8 WEEK COURSES

Mid-term learning check-in notes are due by April 7. Here is a link with information and examples for providing these notes to students. It is very important to copy lab faculty on the feedback to students as they are a critical part of our students’ success team. Lab faculty are listed on the students’ information page in Campus Cafe. If you have any questions on how to find that information, please reach out to Karen Casper.

If you are teaching a 16 week course and any of your students are at risk of an Incomplete or an F, please reach out to the student and their lab faculty to see what can be done to help the student successfully complete the course. 

Graduate Forms

We will be conducting graduation portraits for graduating R.I. area students on Tuesday, April 04 and Wednesday, April 05 this week. Students have selected time slots between 5-8 P.M. that works for them. Please remind graduating students to fill out the cap, gown, and shirt order form.

401 Gives

Today's your last chance! Your gift makes our CommUnity a place where WE CAN DARE:...to do it just...to rock the world...to be unbound...to be the future. We dare YOU to dream big and support CU for 401 Gives HERE.

Help us spread the word about CU on your Social Media @collegeunbound

Together we can "Dare to Dream Again" of the possibilities at College Unbound.

OFFICE OF LIP

Lab Faculty: For those of you who have students planning to graduate this May please note all the Big 10's need to be completed in order to Walk and be conferred on Graduation Day, May 13, 2023. Capstone has new iterations and no longer is a space to finish up Big 10 portfolios. 

Submissions of Big 10 are due on APRIL 8, 2023 to be considered for graduation.

We have over 300 submissions due from incoming Capstone students and must have them processed and credited with the Registrar's office. From now until April 16th - Please stay on top of assessments so we can get them all successfully through the process!!

All submissions are to be sent via the new Big 10 submission form.

BRAND NEW: Earn 1 Science credit through our newest Sprint - CPR/First Aid certification. If you are certified in either CPR or First Aid, you can complete this form for 1 additional Science credit.

If any faculty or students need assistance or have any questions we encourage everyone to talk to us virtually during Office Hours:

• Tues 12:30-1:30 P.M. EST
• Fridays 4-5:00 P.M. EST

You can also ask a question via email at big10@collegeunbound.edu.

Need additional help? Meet with Our Big10 Specialist and Alumni Mentor Caitlyn Blankenship caitlyn.blankenship@collegeunbound.edu or use the link below to schedule a meeting with her. https://calendly.com/caitlyn-blankenship/cubigtens

The Office of Learning in Public appreciates your cooperation and support on behalf of all our potential College Unbound Graduates.

- Lizz

LAB FACULTY

Dear Lab Faculty,

Thank you for being part of this powerful educational community at College Unbound. I know we are still in the process of refining all of our processes and often make mistakes outloud. My yoga teacher this week said we are in between so much these days, we are in Winter+ Spring= Sprinter weather still and our bodies literally do not know how to respond as one day it is 30 degrees (like today) and the next 60 degrees. We are oscillating from wanting to rest and hide under covers to rejuvenate and also go outside and frolic like flowers, relearning how to bloom slowly, petal by petal. Then add the stress that we will have the largest graduating class ever at College Unbound with over seventy brilliant students who we love and respect and have been part of our community finishing all of their Big 10s and LIPS by April 8th and embarking on another season of their lives with BAs in hand and backs straight and proud of their accomplishments and knowledge. We will celebrate each of these graduating students “seniors” with speeches that will now happen during week 15 during their lab cohort times on Tuesday, April 25th or Wednesday, April 26th (please disregard the invite for May sixth and seventh as those are changing to accommodate PA’s first graduation). Each individual Lab class can decide if they are going to be completely virtual or hybrid (for in-person classes) to make sure that family members far and wide can join but also know you can invite people in person if everyone is safe and wears masks indoors (as Covid is still a thing). In terms of exhibitions happening the following week in week 16th, the graduating students can do one final exhibition in class with everyone else or their speech can count as credit for their final exhibition. That is also up to the Lab faculty member’s discretion this year. Capstone students will also have exhibitions for their Capstone class so they are doing a lot of amazing work during this time and might need extra text messages and words of encouragement during these last few weeks. 

We are working with our communication team to send out Exhibition invites. Please fill out the form by Saturday, April 15th, 2023 so we can send them out in time. Please update if you are going to hold your exhibitions in person, hybrid, or virtual and what designated times you want on the invites and then each student will be able to send out their own individual invitation to their family and community. 

Also be sure to reference this wonderful summer 2023 registration guide which we will review further TONIGHT from 6:30-8pm at our Lab Faculty meeting tonight on zoom. 

I wanted to acknowledge that these are difficult times to be educators. Our thoughts go out to those in Nashville and those murdered and the 175 people killed in mass shootings in schools from Columbine High School in 1999 in the United States until today and Monday’s shooting. It is too much. Our hearts are with you all and our kids as we navigate this scary world together. 

And to close, this is a poem by the Boston African American activist, community organizer and activist Mel King who died at the full age of 94 on Tuesday and wrote this poem:

Let us keep struggling together. 

In peace, love & solidarity, 

- Sage

TA2BA CORNER

Summer is right around the corner! ☀️

I am so grateful for the sunny days we’ve had lately and so excited for the education-related courses we will be rolling out this summer! As students are considering signing up for courses, here are a few useful things to keep in mind:

• The Registration Review Form is a great resource for understanding advising-related terminology, what courses make sense for students each semester, TA2BA related course offerings, and more!
• TA2BA Pedagogy courses being piloted in Summer 2023: 
• SEL: Supporting Social, Emotional and Behavioral Learning for All Learners
• SPED: Understanding Inclusive Teaching & Classroom Practices for Neurodiverse Learners
• Math Pedagogy: Building a Constructivist Math Community
• Education-related courses (non-pedagogy): 
• Education & Race in America
• Community & Education
• Many TA2BA students have inquired about funding for summer courses. We are waiting to hear back about a grant to cover 2 courses per student. We will update you if we receive the grant, but in the meantime, students can go ahead and sign up for courses without any financial obligation until after the drop period

As always, reach out with any questions!

- Aubrey

PA & NJ CORNER

Amazing PA/NJ Lab Faculty:

It is hard to believe how time flies and we are embarking on the last stretch of our semester!

Important reminders:

• Week 16 Exhibitions will be here before you know it: May 3 & 4
• CU PA/NJ Graduation will be on Sunday, May 7 - details to follow
• CU Graduation in Providence is Saturday, May 13
• Encourage Lips and Big 10s with students:
• Big 10 Resource page
• Lips Resource page
• Big 10/Lips drop in hours are Tues 12:30-1:30 / Fridays 4-5

Many of our students have had life experiences that have impacted their educational journey. Our supportive roles at CU as Lab Faculty allow our students to work through those experiences and achieve success. Here is an excerpt from the Association of College and Research Libraries on Trauma Informed Pedagogy:  

Trauma-Informed Teaching Strategies

• Empower students to make the best decisions they can for themselves and their learning by building in flexibility and a contained set of choices where possible 
• Spell out the “why” of tasks and assignments along with the “what.” Tie them explicitly to bigger-picture goals.
• Reduce and focus information and create predictable structures to help manage information overload, decrease uncertainty, and improve cognitive functioning.
• Communicate empathetically to create and reinforce connection and to reassure. “Help me understand” is a useful phrase. Familiarize useful with communication techniques that promote self-regulation, like de-escalation techniques, psychological first aid, and nonviolent communication.
• Demonstrate unconditional positive regard (genuine respect and care for students as persons), even if a student is acting out. This is important for helping those who’ve experienced trauma restore their sense of self.
• Avoid the romanticization of trauma narratives or implication that trauma is desirable. This can be dysregulating for those with trauma histories or invite trauma disclosures without providing an appropriate environment or adequate support.

Many of us are likely already striving to teach in ways that adhere to some of these principles and strategies. As collective and individual traumas of varying degrees are and will continue to be present in every institution and in virtually every class, the time is ripe for ‘us’ to take advantage of recent advances in other fields and more deeply integrate current understandings of trauma and learning into our instructional practice, for the benefit of all students.

- Melina & David

ADDITIONAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

Sincerely,

All of Us at College Unbound, including:

Adam Bush

Co-Founder, Provost

Karen Casper

Academic Affairs Coordinator

Aubrey Schabowsky

Director of Educator Preparation, TA2BA Program

Deborah Kronenberg

Learning Coordinator

David Bromley

Coordinator of Growth, CU Philadelphia

Sage Morgan-Hubbard

Director of Lab Faculty

Michael Walker

Director of Institutional & Action Research/Chief Information Officer

Lance Eaton

Director of Digital Pedagogy

Elizabeth Colon

Director of Learning in Public

Melina Kuchinov

Assistant Director, CU Philadelphia