May 2025
Hello! The Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence (CTLE) is pleased to present our May newsletter, which includes information and registration links for some exciting CTLE events coming up next semester; news about Jessamyn Neuhaus’ latest book on teaching; a fond farewell to Laurel Willingham-McLain; a warm welcome to the newest member of the CTLE team, Ebony Graham; and a note of gratitude from the Director.
UPCOMING PROGRAMS
Seminar: Learning Student Names
In late August and in September, the CTLE will be piloting a three-part seminar on learning and using student names. Participants will get a free copy of Michelle D. Miller’s, A Teacher’s Guide to Learning Student Names: Why You Should, Why It’s Hard, How You Can and will attend three required meetings.
Meeting #1: Book Discussion
- August 22, 10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m., 550 Bird Library (CTLE)
Meeting #2: Q & A with Michelle Miller
- September 3, 3:00-4:00 p.m., Zoom
Meeting #3: Progress Reports on Learning Student Names in Your Current Classes
- September 26, 3:00-4:15 p.m., 550 Bird Library (CTLE)
Space is limited to ten participants, and selection for the Seminar can be noted in the “Awards” section of participants’ CV updates, and upon successful completion, participants will receive a $250 stipend. Click here to apply: Student Names Seminar Application
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Book Club: The Opposite of Cheating: Teaching for Integrity in the Age of AI
Faculty of any rank and staff with any type of teaching responsibilities are invited to participate in the Fall 2025 book club, co-facilitated by Jessamyn Neuhaus, CTLE Director, and Kate Marzen, Assistant Director of Academic Expectations. We are reading The Opposite of Cheating: Teaching for Integrity in the Age of AI, by Tricia Bertram Gallant and David A. Rettinger. Participants will receive a free copy of the book. We will meet three times, in person at 550 Bird Library (CTLE), and lunch will be provided. There is no application process, but space is limited to fifteen participants, so register today!
- September 10, 12:00-1:30 p.m.
- September 24, 12:00-1:30 p.m.
- October 8, 12:00-1:30 p.m.
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Information Sessions: Using the Critical Teaching Behaviors Framework
What is the Critical Teaching Behaviors (CTB) framework? As Lauren Barbeau and Claudia Cornejo Happel, authors of Critical Teaching Behaviors: Defining, Documenting, and Discussing Good Teaching, write on their website, the CTB Framework “defines instructional practices to create a shared understanding of good teaching by providing a concise synthesis of research-based teaching behaviors proven effective for improving student learning. It consists of six defined categories, representative behaviors, and documentation an instructor can collect as evidence of engagement in these behaviors. Aligned peer observation and student feedback instruments allow instructors to create narrative coherence across their teaching materials.”
This Fall, the CTLE will offer four different in-person information sessions about using the CTB Framework, tailored to meet the needs of specific stakeholders on campus. Each 1.5-hour session will offer participants a “crash course” in utilizing this framework in order to better identify and document effective teaching practices. The first three people to sign up for a session will receive a free copy of the book when they attend the in-person session at 550 Bird Library (CTLE). You do not need to have the book to participate but reviewing the CTB website ahead of time would be helpful. In addition, if you would like to schedule an Information Session for your department, your P&T Committee, or other school/college group, just get in touch: Contact Us.
Teaching Professors Information Session: Using the Critical Teaching Behaviors Framework to Document Your Teaching Effectiveness
- September 12, 3:00-4:15 p.m., 550 Bird Library (CTLE)
Tenure-Track Faculty Information Session: Using the Critical Teaching Behaviors Framework to Document Your Teaching Effectiveness
- September 15, 2:00-3:15 p.m.,550 Bird Library (CTLE)
Associate Deans and Chairs Information Session: Using the Critical Teaching Behaviors Framework for Tenure and Promotion Reviews
- September 16, 11:00 a.m.-12:15 p.m., 550 Bird Library (CTLE)
Chairs and Senior Faculty Information Session: Using the Critical Teaching Behaviors Framework for Peer Teaching Observations
- September 17, 1:00-2:15 p.m., 550 Bird Library (CTLE)
STUDENTS CONSULTING ON TEACHING (SCOT)
One of the most important ways the CTLE supports teaching and learning at SU is through our Students Consulting on Teaching (SCOT) program. SCOT is a short-term partnership between a faculty member and a student consultant trained to help faculty gather learner feedback. The purpose is to support faculty in making small, meaningful teaching changes informed by both broad research on learning and student feedback in a specific course. Instructors and students consistently report that SCOT is a uniquely effective way to gain insights, build skills, and improve teaching and learning in the classroom. Sign up now to be paired with a Student Consultant for the Fall 2025 semester! Just fill out this short form: SCOT Faculty Sign-up Form
COURSE REDESIGN INSTITUTE
In August 2025, the Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence pilot Course Redesign Institute will be held on-site in 550 Bird Library (the CTLE office), sponsored by the Academic Affairs Office. This year’s Institute will focus on redesigning courses to increase student engagement. After we sent an announcement of the Institute to Deans, Associate Deans, and Chairs, we received far more applications than we anticipated, and so we are no longer accepting applications. But if you are interested in being considered for the next Institute to be held in May 2026, please fill out this short form: 2026 Course Redesign Institute Info Request. You will be notified as soon as the 2026 application form is available.
INSTITUTIONAL EFFECTIVENESS: ASSIGNMENT DESIGN DAYS
Our colleagues in Institutional Effectiveness (IE) asked us to share this upcoming opportunity with the CTLE mailing list. If your course is tagged with one or more of the Shared Competencies or you would like to tag a course in the future, you’re eligible to apply for a spot in the Assignment Design Days working sessions, which come with a $300 stipend and support for (re)designing an assignment for increased transparency and alignment with learning goals. Deadline to apply is May 9. For more information, visit the IE website: IE Professional Development.
SPECIAL COLLECTIONS RESEARCH CENTER: FACULTY FELLOWS
Our colleagues in the Syracuse University Libraries’ Special Collections Research Center (SCRC) asked us to share this opportunity with the CTLE mailing list. The SCRC is currently accepting applications for this Faculty Fellows Program, which provides a $5,000 fellowship payment, pedagogical guidance in centering archival and special collections, and ongoing class support for those interested in providing students with an experiential learning opportunity by incorporating primary source materials as central to their course. For more information and to apply, fill out this form: SCRC Faculty Fellows Application
NEW BOOK ALERT
Director Jessamyn Neuhaus has a new book out, available now for pre-order. Snafu Edu: Teaching and Learning When Things Go Wrong in the College Classroom argues that mistakes and missteps are inevitable in teaching and learning but educators can prepare a “go-bag” of insights, strategies, and practices to have at the ready when things go sideways. For info, visit Jessamyn’s website.
A BIG THANK YOU TO LAUREL WILLINGHAM-McLAIN
The CTLE is saying goodbye to our Consulting Developer, Dr. Laurel Willingham-McLain. In her time at the CTLE, Laurel provided outstanding support and innovative professional development, based on evidence-based high-impact teaching strategies, for SU faculty at all stages of their careers. She was instrumental in creating, launching, and expanding one of our signature programs, Students Consulting on Teaching, and served as a partner on and contributor to a variety of grant-funded scholarship of teaching and learning research projects on campus. During the upheaval of the pandemic pivot, Laurel ensured consistently high-quality assistance from the CTLE, and throughout her years here, she has been an essential part of creating a positive, productive, and effective teaching and learning center. We are profoundly thankful for her work and she will be missed!
Laurel writes: “Five years ago, I was privileged to join the Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence team. Initially I helped dozens of faculty adjust to teaching online during COVID-19. Other projects quickly came my way. These ranged from consulting with individual faculty, to facilitating communities of practice, overseeing faculty course design grants, offering workshops on transparent assignment design and peer observation of teaching, guiding scholarship of teaching and learning research, and leading Students Consulting on Teaching. I’m grateful for each person I have met. Each of you – faculty, staff, students – has inspired me to learn and grow. Just today an experienced faculty member told me about significant changes she is making to her courses based on what her students have taught her, and again I fell in love with my vocation. But as my contract ends, I feel called to new, volunteer challenges. As a mother of a 27-year-old man with autism and developmental disabilities, I want to create spaces where mothers like me can connect and encourage one another. I also feel called to lead small retreats for professional women so that together we can be wholly alive.”
WELCOME EBONY GRAHAM
We are thrilled to welcome Ebony Graham, our new full-time faculty developer, specializing in students-as-partners, to the CTLE Team! Ebony is uniquely qualified to assume this role, having been both a high-achieving student pedagogical partner as an undergraduate and then the full-time coordinator of a pedagogical partnership at Trinity University. She is an emerging expert and thought-leader in the groundbreaking field of pedagogical partnerships in higher education and in educational development. (Read more about pedagogical partnerships on our website, Further Reading: Students as Partners.)
Ebony writes: “I’m elated to be joining the Syracuse University Community as a Faculty Developer, specializing in Students as Partners. I will be leading the Students Consulting on Teaching (SCOT) Program and looking for ways to develop and expand the program to better serve and provide growth opportunities for students and faculty alike. I will be joining Syracuse following a two year Post-baccalaureate Fellowship at Trinity University in San Antonio, TX, where I was a Program Coordinator for the Tigers as Partners program, a Pedagogical Partnership program. I look forward to meeting all of the students, staff, and faculty who make Syracuse University the vibrant campus that it is.”
A NOTE FROM THE DIRECTOR: THANK YOU, SU!
As I wrap up my first year as CTLE Director, I would like to extend a sincere thank you to every single person who participated in a 2024-2025 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 during a year that has posed some significant challenges. 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 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, Elisa Dekaney, Kelly Delevan, Abigail Fite, Marie Garland, Julie Hasenwinkel, Kate Holohan, Laura Machia, Carrie Murawski, Joon S. Park, Jana Rosinski, Shannon Hitchcock Shantz, Cora True-Frost, and Jamie Winders. Thank you, one and all!
JUNE AND JULY BREAK
We look forward to sharing our 2024-2025 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.