Minutes of the Committee on Teaching & Learning
for December 7, 2007

 

Present: Lori Allen, Theresa Castor, Linda Crafton, Mary Louise Edwards, Pamela Handrow, Fran Kavenik, Jim Robinson.

Meeting was called to order at ~1:00 p.m. by Theresa Castor.

I. Theresa provided an update on the work of the course evaluation sub-committee. This group has met a few times and is in the process of developing supplemental course evaluation questions to gather information regarding student responsibility and classroom learning, general education learning outcomes, and the impact of specific teaching practices on student learning.

II. Minutes from the last committee meeting were reviewed and approved.

III. An update was provided on the selection of UW Parkside’s Wisconsin Teaching Fellow and Scholar for the 2007-2008 academic year. Helen Rosenberg (Sociology) and Dana Oswald (English) were selected to be the campus’ Scholar and Fellow, respectively.

IV. The committee discussed the interim Provost’s request for nominations for the Regent’s Teaching Excellence awards for individual faculty/staff and department/unit/program. The committee unanimously decided to recommend the Theatre department for this award. A solicitation will be sent campus-wide to request nominations for the individual teaching award. The committee will request a one-page statement from nominees by Feb. 1 to select a campus nominee.

V. Other updates

1. Lori Allen and Mary Louise Edwards provided an update on a new first-year student retention initiative that will target students on probation and strict probation. A registration hold will be placed on those students’ records for the spring term. They will be required to meet with an advisor and attend a workshop. This lead to a discussion of reading skills (and problems associated with those) on the part of students. The committee requested that Christine Tutlewski be invited to the next CoTL meeting to discuss reading skills courses.
2. Jim updated the committee on the Online/Hybrid Course mini-conference.
3. The committee discussed the call for grant proposals issued recently by the UW system Learning Technology Development Council for proposals related to curriculum development and technology. The committee decided that it would be best to forward the call campus-wide.

Meeting adjourned at 2:25 p.m.

Minutes respectfully submitted by Theresa Castor.