Reducing the Cost of Textbooks

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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.

Learn more about this project.

Innovation at Department Level

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Department Innovation Grants

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.

2019 Awardees:

Grace McClurkin, Department of Mathematical Sciences - "Active Learning Library"

Emily Beard-Bohn, Sherrin Frances, & Conor Shaw-Draves, Department of English - "Writing About Writing"

Scott Kowalewski & Bill Williamson, Department of Rhetoric & Professional Writing - "Using Makershpace in PTW"

Learn more about the Department Innovation grant.

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.

Online Learning

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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. Poonam Kumar serves as the director of Online learning and provides leadership in implementing best practices for supporting online and hybrid learning.

Learn more about the Online & Hybrid training sessions we offer

Faculty Development

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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:

1. New Faculty Summer Institute
2. Workshops and sessions for mid-career faculty
3. Training for Online/Hybrid Teaching
4. Mentoring for SoTL research
5. Individual Consultation

 

 

Providing a Platform for Showcasing Innovation

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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.

Learn more about the Teaching and Learning Symposium and other events.

Advancing Scholarship of Teaching and Learning

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The Center helps advance innovation and excellence in teaching by mentoring and supporting faculty to conduct Scholarship of Teaching and Learning projects. The Center offers a summer institute on Scholarship of Teaching and Learning and provides a two-year long faculty learning community to help faculty get started with the design and implementation of a Scholarship of Teaching and Learning project.

Visit our Resources page for more information on the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning.