May 2026
Good morning and happy almost-end of the semester! In our May newsletter, you’ll find a few suggestions for summer reading, information about some of the upcoming Fall 2026 Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence programs, a link to the application for the May 26 and 27 Institutional Effectiveness Assignment Design Days (due May 12), a final blog post from the Academic Integrity Office, and a note of gratitude from the CTLE Director.
Faculty Portfolio System (FPS) Work Session: Documenting Your Teaching Effectiveness
Although it’s standard practice to consider an instructor’s Course Feedback Forms during employment, tenure, and promotion reviews, these forms are only one type of limited evidence about teaching and should never be the sole basis for evaluating teaching. Fortunately, the Faculty Portfolio System and the CV update form allows faculty to include and upload numerous different types of evidence when documenting teaching improvements, innovations, and effectiveness. In this working Zoom session, CTLE Director Jessamyn Neuhaus and Victoria Weber, FPS Administrator and Functional Business Analyst, will be on hand to answer all your questions about the variety of artifacts and evidence you can present to demonstrate your teaching efficacy, and where and how to upload it in the FPS.
- May 4, 3:00-4:00 p.m., Zoom
FPS Work Session Registration Form
Suggested Summer SoTL Reads
I know there’s always too much to read in the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) and not enough time to read it. But if you do find a few hours this summer to read a good book on teaching and learning, here are three recent and thought-provoking books on three different, timely topics:
- An Educator’s Guide to ADHD: Designing and Teaching for Student Success | Karen Costa (Johns Hopkins University Press)
- One Classroom at a Time: How Better Teaching Can Make College More Equitable | David Gooblar (Harvard University Press)
- Teaching and Generative AI: Pedagogical Possibilities and Productive Tensions | Ed. Beth Buyserie and Travis Thurston (Utah State University)
Fall 2026 CTLE Book Club
The CTLE is pleased to announce that our Fall 2026 Book Club will read Chavella Pittman’s book Empowered: A Woman Faculty of Color’s Guide to Teaching and Thriving (University of Oklahoma Press). Co-facilitated by Ebony Graham and Jessamyn Neuhaus, the book club will meet four times and to maximize people’s ability to attend, we will offer the option of an in-person meeting or a Zoom meeting.
CTLE Book Club Meeting #1: September 16
11:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. 550 Bird Library (CTLE)
or
3:00-4:00 p.m. Zoom
CTLE Book Club Meeting #2: September 23
11:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. 550 Bird Library (CTLE)
or
3:00-4:00 p.m. Zoom
CTLE Book Club Meeting #3: September 30
11:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. 550 Bird Library (CTLE)
or
3:00-4:00 p.m. Zoom
CTLE Book Club Meeting #4: October 7
11:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. 550 Bird Library (CTLE)
or
3:00-4:00 p.m. Zoom
Registration is required and the first 12 people to register will receive a free paperback copy of the book.
Fall 2026 CTLE Book Club Registration Form
About the author: Chavella T. Pittman is the owner of Effective & Efficient Faculty, a faculty development company that works with faculty and campuses across the country to help them develop strategies for great teaching and thriving faculty. She received her PhD in Sociology and a MA in Higher Education from the University of Michigan. She is currently Professor of Sociology at Dominican University. Her research interests and expertise include higher education, interpersonal interactions & marginalized statuses, research methods & statistics. She has a love/hate relationship with running, is a beer aficionado, recently cured her black thumb via growing cherry tomatoes, loves to learn, and believes black joy is resistance.
Save the Date: Developing Strategies for Classroom Incivilities Workshop
Mark your calendars! Guest speaker Chavella Pittman, author of our Fall 2026 CTLE Book Club read, Empowered: A Woman Faculty of Color’s Guide to Teaching and Thriving will facilitate an important workshop via Zoom about proactively planning for and navigating classroom incivilities. This workshop is open to all, and highly relevant for anyone on campus with teaching responsibilities.
Developing Strategies for Classroom Incivilities Workshop
September 11, 2026, 1:00-2:00 p.m. via Zoom
Registration will open on August 1.
Save the Dates: Student Reading Community of Practice
We are pleased to announce that during the 2026-2027 academic year, the CTLE will facilitate a community of practice (CoP) focused on effective teaching strategies for helping students build reading skills. As defined by the SU Office of Institutional Effectiveness, a CoP is “an organized group of professional people who share the same interests in resolving an issue, improving skills, and learning from each other’s experiences.” We will discuss relevant research and effective teaching strategies for helping students build reading skills, and we will also have an opportunity to hear insights directly from SU students as part of the CTLE’s commitment to pedagogical partnerships. Instructors of any rank, including graduate students, are invited to participate. The Student Reading CoP will meet four times during the Fall 2026 semester and three times during the Spring 2027 semester:
Student Reading CoP Meeting #1
August 31, 2:00-3:00 p.m. 550 Bird Library (CTLE)
Student Reading CoP Meeting #2
September 28, 2:00-3:00 p.m. 550 Bird Library (CTLE)
Student Reading CoP Meeting #3
October 26, 2:00-3:00 p.m. 550 Bird Library (CTLE)
Student Reading CoP Meeting #4
November 30, 2:00-3:00 p.m. 550 Bird Library (CTLE)
Spring 2027 meetings TBA. Save the Fall 2026 dates, and registration will open on August 1.
Fall 2026 Academic Integrity Book Club
This fall, the Academic Integrity Office will be hosting a group read of The Opposite of Cheating: Teaching for Integrity in the Age of AI by Tricia Bertram Gallant and David Rettinger. This book club will be facilitated by Kate Marzen, Director of Academic Integrity, and will meet in person three times to discuss the text. The event is limited to 10 people; lunch and books will be provided. Lunch will be from Panera Bread. Please register for the Academic Integrity Book Club using this link.
AIO Book Club Meeting #1: Thursday, September 17
12:00 PM – 1:00 PM 550 Bird Library (CTLE)
AIO Book Club Meeting #2: Thursday, October 22
12:00 PM – 1:00 PM 550 Bird Library (CTLE)
AIO Book Club Meeting #3: Thursday, November 19
12:00 PM – 1:00 PM 550 Bird Library (CTLE)
Applications Open for Academic Integrity Advisory Board
The Academic Integrity Advisory Board is a collaborative group that analyzes campus-wide academic integrity trends, recommends policy improvements, and develops educational initiatives to foster a culture of integrity. The board meets 2-3 times per semester, with occasional material or article review between meetings. Faculty members who are interested in pedagogical innovation, policy improvement, and understanding systemic factors that affect academic integrity are encouraged to apply, as well as staff members who interact with students, support academic success, or have insights into the systems and structures that affect academic integrity. If you have any questions, please contact Kate Marzen at kmarzen@syr.edu or by calling 315-443-5412.
The Faculty Application can be found here
The Staff Applicant link can be found here
Blog: Beyond AIO Policy
Check out the new blog post by Thomas Kehoe, a master’s student in the School of Education (SOE) Higher Post-Secondary Education program. Thomas shares his experience as this year’s Academic Integrity Office (AIO) practicum student.
Applications Open for Institutional Effectiveness Design Days
Is your course tagged with one or more of the Shared Competencies? Need time to (re)design an assignment that aligns with the Shared Competencies rubrics? Apply for a spot in the 2026 Design Days program facilitated by the Institutional Effectiveness Office. These working sessions are designed to help you turn a current assignment into a transparent assignment that helps students develop knowledge and skills related to Syracuse University’s university-wide learning goals. Any Syracuse University faculty member teaching a course tagged with one or more Shared Competencies or any Syracuse University faculty member who wishes to tag their course with one or more Shared Competencies is eligible to apply, and participants will receive a $500 stipend.
- May 26, 2026: 9:00am-noon, 400 Ostrom Ave Executive Conference Room
- May 27, 2026: 9:00am-noon, Virtual Session
Learn more and apply: Institutional Effectiveness Assignment Design Days. Applications due May 12.
A Note from The Director: Thank You, SU!
As the academic year draws to a close, I would like to extend a sincere thank you to every single person who participated in a 2025-2026 CTLE program, consultation, or event. I’m truly grateful for the opportunities to work with all the faculty, staff, and graduate students who took time to engage in pedagogical learning and reflection, and the undergraduate students who participated in SCOT and panels this year sharing their insights into the student experience on campus. I would also like to publicly thank our CTLE Program Coordinator, Nick Bennett, for everything he does to make the CTLE run smoothly and efficiently, and to SCOT Coordinator and Faculty Developer Ebony Graham for her outstanding work facilitating pedagogical partnerships on campus and her other innumerable contributions to the success of the CTLE this year. I’m also indebted to our inaugural group of MP Faculty Fellows for the exemplary professional development and invaluable teaching support they have provided to the SU community this year. Thank you Mark Brockway, Zach Huitink, and Doug Yung. Kudos and thank you to our two-person Academic Integrity Office, Kate Marzen and Ashley Jimenez, for all the work you do to fulfill the mission and vision of the AIO. And a special note of gratitude to the campus leaders, faculty, and staff who’ve supported the CTLE and collaborated with me to provide a variety of programming this year, including Lois Agnew, Nina Brown, Emily Dressing, Abigail Fite, Marie Garland, Julie Hasenwinkel, Kate Hanson, Kate Holohan, Laura Machia, Rae Ann Meriwether, Carrie Murawski, Amanda Johnson Sanguiliano, Shannon Schantz, and Jamie Winders. Thank you, one and all!
June and July Break
We look forward to sharing our 2025-2026 Annual Report with you on the CTLE website next month. The CTLE newsletter will be on break for June and July, but we will send out an informational email in late July with program descriptions and registration links for August and September events, including workshops and guest speakers. There will not be any official programming in June and July, but we are always available for conversations and consultations: Contact Us.