Newsletters - Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence

October 2025

Good morning from the Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence (CTLE)! We are pleased to present our October newsletter, which includes ideas for mid-semester energy boosters; information about upcoming programs and a new Faculty Fellowship opportunity sponsored by the CTLE and the Office of Institutional Effectiveness; and a very warm welcome to the new Meredith Professors and MP Faculty Fellows and to the Academic Integrity Office, recently relocated to the CTLE, plus a link to their brand new blog “Beyond AIO Policy.”

MID-SEMESTER CHECK-INS AND SLUMP-BUSTERS

The midpoint of the semester is a great time to check in with your students. In addition to soliciting Mid-Course Feedback, consider asking your students to reflect on their own individual achievements and challenges. Here are some questions suggested by King’s College:

In what ways have you been successful so far this semester?
How have you supported the success of others so far this semester?
What are three ways you could improve in the remaining half of the semester? Be specific.
How will you make these changes? Who will support you? When will you do each step?
What do you need to make these changes that you don’t currently have? Who can you talk to on campus who can help you with that?

Make sure to review student responses, and follow up by offering kudos, suggestions, and information about resources in response to students’ answers.

And don’t forget to check in with yourself as well. If your teaching batteries are running low, here are some tips for overcoming a mid-semester slump:

OCTOBER CTLE PROGRAMS

Workshop: AI-Proof or AI-Ready: Crafting Resilient Assignments

Dr. Doug Young, one of the 2025-2026 Meredith Professor Faculty Fellows, and Teaching Professor of Medical and Chemical Engineering, will facilitate a hands-on studio for faculty to redesign one of their own assignments to better align with course learning outcomes. Using evidence-based frameworks and best practices, participants will explore how AI may be used or misused by students and develop strategies that preserve both rigor and creativity. Through guided activities such as role play, redesign challenges, and collaborative feedback, faculty will identify vulnerabilities and reimagine tasks that emphasize authentic learning. Each participant will leave with an AI-ready assessment draft and contribute to a shared library of models for the CTLE community. We will be offering two sessions of this workshop: one in-person and one via Zoom.

October 2, 12:45-1:45 p.m., CTLE
October 3, 11:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m., Zoom

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Workshop: Getting Useful Student Feedback on Teaching

This workshop, facilitated by Dr. Jessamyn Neuhaus, will help instructors at any stage of their career identify a variety of strategies for eliciting formative, actionable, and useful feedback about teaching from their students. We will address some of the challenges and limitations of administering and reviewing end-of-the-semester course opinion surveys, and explore additional, easy-to-implement ways that instructors can create a positive culture of feedback in their classes throughout the whole semester. This workshop is in-person.

October 7, 2:00-3:15 p.m., 550 Bird Library (CTLE)

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Workshop: Motivation and Student Writing in the Age of AI with Guest Speaker Emily Pitts Donahoe

Dr. Emily Pitts Donahoe, Associate Director of Instructional Support in the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning and Lecturer of Writing and Rhetoric at the University of Mississippi will be presenting on the new and ongoing challenges of motivating students to engage in the work of learning how to write effectively in the age of generative AI. This workshop is via Zoom.

October 8, 3:00-4:00 p.m., Zoom

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Workshop: Building an Inclusive and Understanding Classroom: Exploring Bias and Microaggressions

Please join the CTLE and Community Standards for a workshop on creating an Inclusive and Understanding Classroom, facilitated by Ebony Graham, CTLE Faculty Developer and SCOT Coordinator and Kofi Addai, Associate Director for Bias Response. This workshop will include discussions on how bias and microaggressions manifest in the classroom, present teaching strategies aimed at cultivating community and student understanding of their peers, and share adaptable approaches to fostering a more inclusive and equitable learning environment for all students. Bring your lunch and come ready to learn!

October 22, 11:30-1:00 p.m., 550 Bird Library (CTLE)

NOVEMBER CTLE PROGRAMS

Faculty Panel: “Building a Research Team with Undergraduates in Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences”

Interested in expanding your research and creative activity to include undergraduate researchers? The path to building a lab or research team isn’t always as clear for faculty in fields outside of STEM. This session will feature a panel of SU faculty members who have successfully engaged multi-level research teams that include significant undergraduate contributions. Join us for a conversation about how to design projects that provide opportunities for collaboration with undergraduate students, establish a working structure, recruit and train students, and find funding to support the team. Co-facilitated by Kate Hanson, Director of Office of Undergraduate Research and Creative Engagement (SOURCE) and Jessamyn Neuhaus, Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence (CTLE).

November 3, 12:00 p.m.-1:00 p.m., Zoom

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Brown Bag Lunchtime Workshop: Using In-Class Workshops to Increase Student Engagement and Save Instructors Time

Dr. Mark Brockway, one of the 2025-2026 Meredith Professor Faculty Fellows and Assistant Teaching Professor of Political Science, will facilitate this interactive session about adding in-class workshop activities to in-person class meetings. Student workshops are an effective way to increase student engagement in course materials and concepts, connect students to the world outside the classroom, and foster productive relationships between students and instructors. In workshops, students learn by doing, which helps transform course concepts into long-term skills students will take with them when they leave the class. Despite their benefits, workshops are often not used as an instructional tool because instructors lack the knowledge, time or resources to use them. The goal of this workshop is to bridge that gap by showing instructors how to quickly and easily create their own workshops, giving participants templates for established workshop activity ideas, and offering an easy method for incorporating workshops that saves instructor time. Bring your own brown bag lunch and beverage!

November 12, 12:00 p.m.-1:30 p.m., 550 Bird Library (CTLE)

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Workshop: AI in the Classroom: Experiencing Student Perspectives

Dr. Doug Young, one of the 2025-2026 Meredith Professor Faculty Fellows, and Teaching Professor of Medical and Chemical Engineering, will facilitate this interactive studio where faculty step into a student role to use plug-and-play AI tools on realistic course tasks. Teams tackle rapid challenges in writing, brainstorming, and ethics, then compare outcomes to surface shortcuts, friction points, and blind spots. A guided debrief links the experience to classroom culture, academic integrity, and equity, translating insights into practical guardrails and teaching moves. Each participant leaves with a concise set of course-ready practices, sample prompts, and a debrief guide, and contributes takeaways to the CTLE resource bank.

November 13, 12:45 p.m.-1:45 p.m., CTLE
November 14, 11:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m., Zoom

ICYMI: ITS ONLINE LEARNING SERVICES SERIES “AI FLUENCY FOR FACULTY”

Open to all instructors regardless of your AI experience level, this is an opportunity to build your expertise with the University’s AI tools through interactive, online sessions:

Oct. 3 (noon-1 p.m.): Designing AI-Enhanced Assignments—Creating student assignments that effectively incorporate Claude and Gemini.
Oct. 17 (noon-1 p.m.): Course Development in Blackboard with AI—Using Blackboard’s AI Design Assistant to create course materials.
Oct. 31 (noon-1 p.m.): Interactive Course Agents—Building conversational learning tools with Blackboard’s AI Conversations.
Nov. 14 (noon-1 p.m.): Personalized Learning Mentors—Creating adaptive learning support using mentorAI.

All instructors who participate in four or more sessions (live or recorded) will earn a certificate of completion, a digital badge, a letter for your permanent record and entry into a prize drawing. If you have questions, please contact Michael Morrison at memorr02@syr.edu.

OIE + CTLE FELLOWSHIP OPPORTUNITY

The CTLE and the Office of Institutional Effectiveness (OIE) are selecting a faculty fellow to act on the most recent assessment results for one of Syracuse University’s university-wide learning goals, Civic and Global Responsibility (CGR). This fellowship supports one faculty member in reviewing existing CGR data and conducting follow-up focus groups with key student groups to further reflect on student learning strengths and areas of improvement. Any full-time faculty member is eligible to apply, and the Fellowship comes with a $4,000.00 stipend. The deadline to apply is November 17. Complete information and a link to the application can be found here: Faculty Fellow for Civic and Global Responsibility

WELCOME ACADEMIC INTEGRITY OFFICE!

The CTLE is very pleased to officially announce that the SU Academic Integrity Office (AIO), staffed by Kate Marzen, Director of Academic Integrity, and Ashley Jimenez, Program Support Coordinator, have joined the Center. Their extraordinary dedication to promoting and administering the SU Academic Integrity Policy, including supporting instructors’ effective teaching and students’ authentic learning of academic integrity skills, is an enormous asset to our campus community and to the CTLE’s mission and vision. Learn more about Kate and Ashley on our Meet the Team page.

The “Beyond AIO Policy” Blog

During the First Year Seminar Shared Experience week, the Academic Integrity Office (AIO) hosted an escape room-style game, “Escape from Bird Library.” If you’ve ever wondered what it would take to get 19 students actively immersed in discussing, debating, and thinking about academic integrity–and having fun doing it–this is it! Read more about “Escape from Bird Library” and find out how AIO can facilitate this 50-minute activity for your own class in their new blog feature “Beyond AIO Policy” Click this link to read the blog: October 2025: Finding Joy in Academic Integrity.

WELCOME MEREDITH PROFESSORS AND FACULTY FELLOWS!

Congratulations and a very warm welcome to the newly appointed 2025-2026 Meredith Professors Nina Brown and Rachel Razza, and to the MP Faculty Fellows Mark Brockway, Zachary Huitink, and Doug Yung, who will be partnering with the CTLE this year and offering a range of support and services to instructors this semester. Learn more about the Meredith Professors and Faculty Fellows on our Meet the Team page.

Faculty Fellow Drop-In Hours

Two of our MP Faculty Fellows will be offering drop-in hours this semester for individual consultations and conversations. No registration or appointment necessary! Just come on by.

Come brainstorm with Mark Brockway about ways to increase your students’ active learning and engagement in the classroom any time between 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on the following days:

October 6: 550 Bird Library (CTLE)
October 20: 550 Bird Library (CTLE)
October 27: 548 Bird Library (Mower Faculty Commons)
November 3: 550 Bird Library (CTLE)
November 10: 548 Bird Library (Mower Faculty Commons)
November 17: 550 Bird Library (CTLE)
December 4: 550 Bird Library (CTLE)
December 8: 550 Bird Library (CTLE)

Come by and talk with Doug Yung about ethical, creative, and responsible uses of generative AI in teaching and learning any time between 1:15 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. on the following days:

October 16: 548 Bird Library (Mower Faculty Commons)
October 23: 550 Bird Library (CTLE)
November 6: 550 Bird Library (CTLE)
November 20: 550 Bird Library (CTLE)

CONSULTATIONS

We are available to support and assist any instructor, at any stage of their career, with any teaching-related issues, including but not limited to syllabus review, designing assignments, soliciting and interpreting student feedback, and navigating student biases and stereotypes about professors. All consultations are entirely confidential. We do not initiate CTLE consultations with individuals at the behest of a third party such as Chairs or Deans. We do not share identifying information about consultations or participation in our public events with any other office, department, or program.