If you had money to spend on your teaching, what would you do with it? I’ve been thinking about that ever since applications for the Teaching Enhancement Awards were announced. I’ve been wondering what transformed my teaching – or what transformed me as a teacher. I’d like to hear your story; send it as a comment to this blog or as a proposal for a Teaching Enhancement Award. Did I mention that the deadline is Friday, October 10?

I had a wonderful education in teaching at SUNY/Buffalo with a full year of coursework on composition and rhetoric pedagogy, mentors who were passionate about teaching undergraduates, and students – many of whom had just been laid off as a result of the crash of Bethlehem Steel – who knew they needed to know what I was there to teach. I was equally fortunate in my first job, a rare tenure track position in literary theory (this was 1987 – not a good year) at Hamline University, a small, private, liberal arts university in St. Paul, Minnesota. As a southerner, I’m here to tell you that Minnesota winter is better than Buffalo winter. But not by much. Still, Hamline had an amazing general education curriculum designed in large part by the dean who hired me, Jerry Gaff. So I was in on the ground floor of the faculty seminars and workshops created to support the new curriculum. From that moment on I became a faculty development junkie.

All of these experiences turned me into a teacher and transformed my teaching. My colleagues and our conversations were my most profound influences. But as I became busier and busier with committee work, students, and family (yes, I was trying to have a life as well as finish writing a book) my conversations about teaching became fewer and far between. I started to miss the very thing that made me excited about the work I had chosen to do. How can we change that? (Hint: This is where Faculty Development comes in.)

Can we throw money at this problem? Yes we can. We don’t have trillions for a bailout, but as educators, we well know that a little goes a long way. But where should it go?

This takes me back to my original question: if you had money to spend on your teaching, what would you do with it?

Here’s my list of ways I have spent money that has transformed my teaching:

• Travel has led me to the places that mattered most to writers I teach:
  • London to trace Virginia Woolf’s steps through Bloomsbury to find the shop where she used to buy her pens
  • Southeast England to wander through Vita Sackville-West’s gardens – the magnificent one she created at the ruined castle, Sissinghurst, and the one at her childhood home, Knole – the largest house in England, given to her ancestor in compensation for delivering the death sentence to Mary of Scotland
  • The Lake District of northwest England to experience Wordsworth’s sublime for myself as I rode a train into Windemere in a January snow storm
  • Nottingham and the English midlands to find the house D. H. Lawrence grew up in and the realization that this gritty coal town was surrounded by lush farmland

• Interdisciplinary conferences on teaching have given me a broader perspective on the curriculum:
  • The Association of General and Liberal Studies
  • The Association of Integrated Studies
  • The Association of American Colleges & Universities
  • The Professional and Organizational Development Network for Higher Education

• Reading groups on teaching that given me a chance to talk about teaching with my colleagues: There are great books out there we could read together.

• Workshops on pedagogy have continued to change the way I teach and design courses: constructivism, writing across the curriculum, speaking-intensive classes, designing innovative courses, learning centered teaching, engaging students – the list goes on and on.

In the past, folks at USI have used Teaching Enhancement Awards in these and many other ways – including the International Studies Colloquium. Apply for one.

POST CONTRIBUTED BY: DR. KARYN SPROLES, director of Faculty Development.

Last year 110 students earned USI credit in 15 countries around the world, ranging from Thailand to New Zealand to the United Kingdom. This number is a record for USI, reflecting a 40 percent increase over the previous year, up almost 100 percent from three years ago. USI is committed to making study abroad as affordable and accessible as possible, and with hundreds of study abroad options in over 60 countries, we expect the numbers to continue to increase.

One of the most rewarding aspects of my work is to witness the tremendous growth that students experience – from the time they depart the US for their foreign destination, understandably nervous but very excited, to the time they return home, “citizens of the world” brimming with enthusiasm for all that they have experienced. As diverse as the individual experiences are, a common thread unites them: studying abroad is a life-changing experience. Indeed, this theme resounds in the responses from recent returnees to the question regarding how studying abroad has impacted their lives. Here’s a sample of what the students had to say:

“This was the single most important and life-changing venture I have ever done. My perception of life has been augmented and I look at things in a different, more lucid way. The people, the travels, the feelings, the learning, the sights, the sounds have taught me more than I could have ever imagined and I encourage everyone I come in contact with to consider studying abroad.” – Kris Pickett, Netherlands, ISEP, Spring 2008.

“My study abroad experience was literally life changing…I am a much more independent person. On top of that, I am a much more knowledgeable person. I understand the workings of the world a little better now. I am more open to trying new things and am more willing to look at things from other’s perspectives.” – Lindsey Vandoornik, Harlaxton, England, Spring 2008.

“The whole experience for me was incredible and life changing….I feel like I was rather mature before I left… but the experience of being thrown into a new environment… really pushed me into maturing way beyond where I was or would have been otherwise. It was also enlightening to be around so many people..who all had different views…Learning what others believe and why they do so…also helps your own morals and opinion to strengthen. Finally, another huge aspect is that, mind the cliché, I was able to find myself.” – Heather Keefer, CEA Cork, Ireland, Fall 2007.

What we hear from our students on an anecdotal basis has been borne out by a recent study on the long-term impact of study abroad. Conducted by the Institute for the International Education of Students (IES) the study found that “regardless of where students studied and for how long …studying abroad is usually a defining moment in a young person’s life and continues to impact the participant’s life for years after the experience.”

It is truly a privilege to play a small role in such a transforming experience. The increase in study abroad participation reflects a joint commitment on the part of many people at the University. For example, colleagues in the College of Science and Engineering have been working with our office to identify specific programs which offer a good fit for their majors. Through focused exchanges of this kind, increased access to scholarships and other financial aid, and the enthusiastic support of faculty and staff, I am confident that we will continue to see unprecedented growth in participation. Please contact International Programs and Services (ext. 1248) if you would like to arrange for a presentation to a class or student organization, or to find out more information about study abroad opportunities available through USI.

POST CONTRIBUTED BY: HEIDI GREGORI-GAHAN, director of International Programs and Services.

Four years ago, thirteen faculty members decided to hold a Colloquium, supported by Liberal Arts and CTLE, to address the iconic Parthenon from a variety of perspectives. The program would follow the Summer Olympics in Athens, and the start of USI’s new International Studies major. Carter Hall was the only venue open for that day, though we didn’t expect more than a few faculty and students to attend. To our great surprise, Carter Hall filled all day, with a total attendance of about 2,500 students. The next year the Ram in the Thicket also drew a large crowd, then the Day of the Dead and The Gothic Imagination, which coincided with the opening of the Labyrinth on the Quad. 

When we planned the Great Wall Colloquium, which will be held on September 26, I had no idea that it would coincide with the Olympics in China. This summer David Glassman, Xinran Hu, Katie Waters, Matthew Graham and Joan Kempf de Jong went to the Great Wall in China. You will see spectacular photos by Xinran, Katie and Joan, and hear poems by Matthew about the Wall at the Colloquium. 

Following a conference at the University of Leeds, I went to Hadrian’s Wall. I had planned to walk the length of it, gathering information about Roman and British religion. Eighty miles isn’t that long, I thought. A native of Los Angeles, where a commute of that distance is not unheard of, I imagined an eighty mile long sidewalk with convenient detours into museums and cafes, and that six days would more than suffice. 

First of all, I didn’t have the right stuff. Apparently jeans and Pumas just get soggier when you’re stumbling on the steep, slippery slopes of the Whin Sill in constant rain and wind, or crouching under the ruined Wall. I needed different clothes, hiking boots, walking sticks, a compass and proper maps and the brains to use them. So instead I took the local bus, the 122, named for the year Hadrian started building the Wall, and got dropped off here and there. I was wet, but the changing light on the landscape was stunningly beautiful. At dawn one morning I found the unmarked spring of the British goddess Coventina, whose Roman votive gifts included 16,000 coins, 30 altars, rings, a bronze Scottish terrier and human skulls. Facing north, beyond the Wall, into the bleak blue Scottish lowlands, and the advancing mist, I watched a farmer and his dog round up a flock of sheep. Katie and Matthew sent me to a haunted inn on the Wall, where I met John Gibson and Leslie Roberts, who had come up from their cottage in Suffolk. We didn’t see any ghosts, if such a thing can be seen, but the place felt haunted by Roman soldiers, and by the Brigantes whose families were divided by the Wall. 

Wandering along the Wall I didn’t meet a single person with an umbrella, but I met people from all over the world who were spending a week away from their normal lives to be transported there and back again, with greater understanding of people so remote, and so like us, who were also far from home. Next week your colleagues will transport you to Great Walls and Other Barriers – China, Britain, Mexico, Berlin, and the Iron Curtain. I hope that you will join us then. And to be sure, four years from now, when the Olympics open in London, we will take you there.

POST CONTRIBUTED BY: PATRICIA AAKHUS, director of International Studies.

The 2000 presidential election occurred during my first semester at USI. I can remember trying to encourage students to vote, only to be told that their vote didn’t make a difference. I responded by giving numerous examples of how one vote mattered:

• In 1645 one vote gave Oliver Cromwell control of England
• In 1776 one vote gave America the English language instead of German
• In 1845 one vote brought Texas into the Union
• In 1876 an Indiana congressman (who had been elected by a one-vote margin) cast the winning vote for Rutherford B. Hayes when that year’s Presidential election was thrown into the House
• In 1923 Adolf Hitler became leader of the Nazi Party by one vote
• In 1960 John F. Kennedy’s margin of victory over Richard Nixon was less than one vote per precinct

Still, I generated little student interest as most in my classes said they probably wouldn’t show up at the polls. The next day, though, I had one of those almost perfect learning moments when students came back to class with questions and comments and proof that votes do matter. The 2000 election still sparks conversation and debate with references to hanging chads and recount battles.

In 2004, people seemed more interested in the election, perhaps if only to see if new procedures would prevent a repeat of 2000. USI became more aware of the need to encourage students to become citizens active in public life, so the University initiated a voter registration drive. A joint effort by students, faculty, administrators, and staff succeeded by registering nearly 1,000 voters and caused voter registration to be incorporated in to new student orientation.

For the 2008 election, the University is going a step farther. Recognizing that democracy works not just by voting, the University is providing an additional way for people to get involved in the political process. In an era of a widening partisan divide and public disenchantment with politics and political leaders, we have created an opportunity to come together and learn how the political system works and what our candidates represent. Debate-A-Palooza is a nonpartisan voter education program that brings citizens together to watch a televised debate and talk about what they learned. As part of a national DebateWatch program sponsored by the Commission for Presidential Debates and the National Communication Association, Debate-A-Palooza taps into the University’s mission to create better-informed citizens who live wisely and are responsive to community needs. Debate-A-Palooza serves to assemble people for public conversation, and help us think of ourselves as united in voice rather than alienated and disenchanted.

Debate-A-Palooza will be held on Friday, September 26, on the USI Quad (the Health Professions Center if rains). The event begins at 6 p.m. with music by Deaf Megan.  From 6-7.30 p.m. students in the Communication Club and Communication Studies Program will register people for the event and distribute food tickets. Although the event is free and open to the public, registration is necessary to create the small discussion groups for the post-debate activity. The televised debate will be shown on super-sized screens from 8 to 9.30 p.m. After the debate, student facilitators will lead a short discussion about the debate and the event. The event is sponsored by the Communication Club and APB with support from Academic Affairs, the RISC Grant Program, University Core Curriculum, and the USI Bookstore.

POST CONTRIBUTED BY: LEIGH ANNE HOWARD, associate professor and coordinator of Communication Studies

When Wendy and Brandi approached Web Services to help them redesign and rework University Notes I knew we were entering a sensitive area.  Everyone on campus approaches “UNotes” differently – some read it “cover to cover,” others flip through the photos, and still others head straight to Marketplace to find deals on everything from used cars and workout equipment to baby strollers and ride share opportunities.  They had done their homework, though.  They did plenty of research and had great ideas of their own.

So we’re happy to introduce USI Today.  It’s surely different and – as you’ll soon understand – better.  You no longer have to wait for that virtual paperboy to toss Friday’s weekly edition at your doorstep.  USI Today contains current university headlines updated as the news happens.  Campus snapshots will change daily.  Announcements, new employee listings, and the calendar of events will reflect the latest university happenings.  You’ll need to keep tabs on Marketplace, because it’ll be changing faster than you can say, “1973 Dodge Dart (like new).”

A couple of new items I’m sure will be extremely popular are the feature article and the UBlog.  Each week USI Today will feature a fellow employee or faculty member whose life outside the office or classroom just might surprise you.  The UBlog represents one more way for you to share your opinions, publicize an event, or highlight the goings-on in your corner of campus.  Wendy is already seeking out guest bloggers and she’d be happy to hear from you.

Most everything you are familiar with in University Notes is still there.  Items such as “FYI,” “Accomplishments,” and “Names in the News” have been consolidated into “Announcements” and “New Employee Welcome” -  accessible via the slide menu on the bottom left hand side of the home page.  We intend to continue archiving “issues” on a weekly basis and supplying a printable PDF version for those of you who don’t care to drag your computer monitor to your favorite recliner.  You’ll still receive a weekly reminder email in your inbox just in case the week gets away from you, but you’ll also have the opportunity to suscribe to our RSS feed and have the latest employee news delivered to your Outlook inbox or your feedreader of choice.

We hope you take some time to get comfortable with USI Today and we’re eager to hear your feedback, so that we can continue to deliver university news to you in the fastest and most effective way possible.

POSTED BY: ED SCHARF, Web Services.