The Center leads and supports several projects and initiatives that help in promoting innovation at the department and institutional level. We believe that institutional change and long-term success of innovative practices depend on change and innovation at the department level. The Center offers a wide range of programs and services to engage faculty and departments to address institutional goals and priorities.
Hover over the images below and click "More" to see what some of our recent initiatives include:
National data suggests that cost of textbooks is one of the major barriers in student success. Funded by a Title III grant, the Center is leading a five-year initiative to reduce the cost of textbooks in General Education courses to support institutional goals of student retention. During this five-year project, the Center will collaborate with faculty to help them incorporate open education resources in their courses and to rethink the pedagogy and course design to enhance the student learning outcomes.
The Center provides funding to departments to experiment with new pedagogical approaches. These projects have led to broad department-level changes in curriculum and teaching practices.
2020 Awardees:
Aneesha Gogineni, John Herman, Peggy Jones, Department of Mechanical Engineering - "Hands on Active Learning Approach in Mechanical Engineering Courses"
J. Blake Jonhson, Shaun Bangert, Department of Art - "Improving Video with Better Sound and Lighting"
Collaborating with Departments to Support Student Retention
We collaborate with the university's Student Retention Committee and other departments to identify barriers to student success and develop strategies to support student retention.
Saginaw Valley State University is committed to providing students options for learning in different formats. The University offers several courses and programs in online and hybrid formats. Dawn Hinton serves as the director of Online learning and provides leadership in implementing best practices for supporting online and hybrid learning.
Research shows that faculty need different types of support and professional development at different stages of their career. The Center offers a variety of workshops, institutes, teaching tables, faculty learning communities and other activities to help faculty advance their knowledge and skills of evidence-based teaching practices. We offer the following programs for faculty:
The Center organizes several events and Teaching Tables throughout the year to showcase and share the innovative work of departments and faculty members. These include an annual Teaching and Learning Symposium, Teaching Tables, and other events.
A Faculty Learning Community (FLC) is a peer-facilitated group of 6-12 faculty members who collaborate in exploring and applying best practices of higher education teaching. This community commits to meeting twice per month for a year–long program which is structured to provide encouragement, support, and reflection.
In addition to the shared learning around a specific topic, FLC members work on personal projects that improves their specific course or program. The knowledge gained as a result of participation in the FLW will be shared with the SVSU community.
Faculty Learning Communities have been shown to promote cross-campus collaboration while encouraging faculty to engage in the scholarship of teaching and learning. FLC’s are effective in addressing the learning needs of students while improving teaching effectiveness and providing professional benefits to the faculty involved.
Experiential Learning will be the theme of FLC’s in 2021-2022.
Click here for more information on FLC’s or to apply to a SVSU Faculty Learning Community.
