Strategic Leadership and Partnerships to Scale a Remote Teaching Infrastructure Rooted in Jesuit Values (original) (raw)
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Journal on Centers for Teaching and Learning, 2020
To assess the perceived role and ability of centers for teaching and learning (CTLs) in supporting faculty in a time of crisis, we asked the following research questions: (1) how did CTL staff view their involvement in the process of responding to the coronavirus pandemic and shifting to virtual instruction; and (2) how did CTL staff perceive their capacity to help instructors transition to remote instruction. In pursuit of these questions, we conducted a content analysis of open-ended survey responses from 143 unique CTL staff participants. Our findings indicate that participants in CTLs who were highly involved in the pandemic response experienced active engagement (e.g., being at the table with decision-makers), frequent communication (e.g., regularly attending transition task force meetings), and recognition (e.g., feeling as though their expertise and input was valued and seen). CTL staff that did not feel involved in the process tended to frame their experiences as responding to top-down demands (e.g., fulfilling task-oriented roles rather than comprehensive engagement with decision-makers), navigating poor communication (e.g., receiving important information late in the process through email), and feeling undervalued (e.g., feeling taken for granted). CTL staff that felt prepared to respond to virtual instruction discussed having extensive expertise and/or strategies outlined for success, previouslyprepared and/or robust programming for faculty support in place, and collaborations with other departments or centers on and off campus. However, CTL staff that felt less able to address the needs of faculty expressed problems with being understaffed and illequipped (e.g., having inadequate expertise). Across all respondents, CTL staff discussed working additional hours to address greater responsibilities and/or faculty demand. To maximize the CTL’s ability to support faculty, we suggest that institutions bolster opportunities for CTLs to be involved in the decision-making process (even if an advisory role) about policies impacting instruction and communicate frequently and openly with CTL directors. If unable to devote additional resources for staffing, we recommend that administrators foster collaborative partnerships across departments (e.g., Office of Information Technology) to leverage cross-institutional expertise. Furthermore, CTLs should work to develop relationships with faculty and institutional partners through continual programming, in order to build expertise, create relationships with faculty, and embed themselves within the larger institutional framework.
2021
In the initial rush to remote instruction during COVID-19, educators focused on technologies to ensure academic continuity and relied on instructional technology teams to teach them how to use them. Soon after, instructors turned to educational development professionals for more comprehensive help to rethink face-to-face pedagogy to fit the affordances and constraints of online teaching. Historically, our Faculty Development Center (FDC) had focused primarily on pedagogical support for face-to-face classes. During the crisis, we needed both to re-envision our work to support remote instruction and distinguish our work from that of our in- structional technology colleagues. We also needed to re-evaluate our work in two other areas of our mission: pedagogical research and assessment of student learning outcomes. We recognized that a key goal of our FDC's work provided a guiding principle in the new situation: to build faculty community around teaching and learning. Although facult...
How a Small Teaching Center Made a Big Impact During the Pandemic Crises
To Improve the Academy, 2021
For many faculty developers, 2020's challenges changed our approach to our work. We found that by expanding our networks and relying on our collaborative spirit, we were able to adapt quickly and effectively to changing events. Each member of our four-person Learning + Teaching Center (LTC) team brings expertise and skills for faculty development. We employ a holistic approach to faculty development that not only provides programming for teaching improvement but also addresses the social and emotional needs of faculty and staff. The challenges of 2020 forced faculty and staff to work remotely, which necessitated more programming in how to use online technology. In addition, many faculty and staff were deeply troubled by the racial inequities brought to nationwide attention during the spring and summer. During these crises, we moved all of our programming online. We found that participation numbers increased online, but social interaction decreased. We recommend faculty developers continue offering online workshops in addition to in-person opportunities, work with faculty to adapt to new teaching opportunities, build up networks to bring in internal and external experts, and adopt an ethic of care for others and oneself.
2024
This ethnographic study delves into the lives of students, faculty, and staff at Riverside Seminary – a Protestant seminary situated in the heart of the United States. This thesis explores the power dynamics and negotiation of institutional norms at Riverside Seminary during its transition to online learning, analyzing how leadership discourse frames technological change as a sacrificial imperative and examining its implications for the Seminary's community and educational mission. This research endeavors to understand the evolving nature of the learning community at Riverside Seminary. Specifically, it seeks to explore how students, faculty, and staff have collectively shaped and navigated the changes within their learning environment. Using ethnographic research methods, including interviews and participants observations, this study provides a nuanced examination of the Riverside learning community and the impact of the changes brought on by a global pandemic. It delves into the ways in which the quick migration to an online learning modality has reshaped the educational experience. Central to this are the exploration of the themes of transcendence, human and divine. This study will also seek to explore how Riverside has created cultural classifications by which to situate themselves amongst the broader landscape of theological higher education in the United States, which is also quickly changing. The following ethnography will delve into Riverside Seminary as the institution transitions from in-person to online learning during and post-Covid as staff and faculty seek to understand incarnational learning and how to provide effective pedagogy while balancing the institution’s stated values.
Supporting Academic Continuity by Building Community
Journal on Centers for Teaching and Learning, 2020
In the initial rush to remote instruction during COVID-19, educators focused on technologies to ensure academic continuity and relied on instructional technology teams to teach them how to use them. Soon after, instructors turned to educational development professionals for more comprehensive help to rethink face-to-face pedagogy to fit the affordances and constraints of online teaching. Historically, our Faculty Development Center (FDC) had focused primarily on pedagogical support for face-toface classes. During the crisis, we needed both to re-envision our work to support remote instruction and distinguish our work from that of our instructional technology colleagues. We also needed to re-evaluate our work in two other areas of our mission: pedagogical research and assessment of student learning outcomes. We recognized that a key goal of our FDC's work provided a guiding principle in the new situation: to build faculty community around teaching and learning. Although faculty needed instruction and solutions for teaching online, they also needed a venue to think through the existential change in their teaching practice and the multiple challenges and choices they faced. In this paper, we discuss our three-pronged approach to build a vibrant, virtual faculty community: provide a sense of continuity through our offerings and services; prioritize program content to meet immediate needs; and promote complementarity between our support and that of instructional technology. Our efforts resulted in significantly expanding our reach, renewing the culture of inquiry around teaching among our faculty, and refining and reinforcing our role as complementary to, but distinct from, instructional technology.
Higher Learning Research Communications, 2022
Objectives: The purpose of the study was to illuminate and assess the experiences and feelings of the staff of a center for teaching and learning at one South African university during the early months (April–June 2020) of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns when it switched from face-to-face teaching to emergency remote teaching (ERT). It explores the practical, operational, ethical, cultural, and emotional questions that the staff of this center dealt with as they supported the university in ERT provision. Method: This paper draws on in-depth interviews with 23 staff members of the Centre for Innovation in Learning and Teaching (CILT) who revealed not only the logistical, technical, and administrative challenges faced during the ERT rollout period but the efforts they made to ensure that their efforts promoted equity (for students), agility (for the university), and psychological sustainability (for themselves). Findings: Using cultural historical activity theory as a lens to assess CILT staff activities, findings indicate that a number of contradictions and tensions emerged during this period—concerning exacerbated inequities, pedagogical compromises, cultural anxieties, and psychological pressures—that could not be fully resolved but only managed. Implications for Research: CILT staff are interested not only in providing logistical, technical, and practical support to a university but also in dealing effectively with the ethical, cultural, and emotional concerns that arise in times of crisis and transition, such as the current one. Understanding what happened during COVID-19 may offer insights into how other centers for teaching and learning can adjust to what will likely remain an unstable future in higher education. Conclusion: The pandemic ruptured the previously organic change and growth that characterized CILT development, transforming it as the staff responded to this South African university’s need to provide support to academics and students engaging with ERT.
Journal of Literacy and Technology, 2020
The impact of the coronavirus pandemic on all sectors, including colleges and universities, has been extensive. The pivot to a suddenly online teaching and work environment raises important questions regarding student learning and development, curriculum design and delivery, virtual team engagement, and the very future of higher education, and as highlighted in this essay, the ways in which institutions adapted quickly to the circumstances of a global pandemic sheds important light on the dynamics of crisis leadership in higher education.
Leadership model and planning strategies in private Catholic colleges during the COVID-19 pandemic
2021
This paper aims to examine the leadership model and planning strategy of private Catholic colleges during the COVID-19 pandemic in Samarinda City, East Kalimantan, Indonesia. This study adopted a qualitative approach using interviews, observations, and documentation to collect data from 10 lecturers and seven staff as. The collected data were then analyzed descriptively. The results of this study indicate that the leadership model that often appears as a hallmark of private Catholic college leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic is a situational and distributed leadership model, with an emphasis on principles of leadership servant in dealing with changing organizational needs. The planning strategy carried out shows a visionary leadership model, college leaders can rearrange strategies that are adapted to the situation in developing educational programs and improving the quality of the college.