center for faculty excellence annual report 2016-17 · center for faculty excellence annual report...

Center for Faculty Excellence

ANNUAL REPORT 2016-17

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Executive Summary The Center for Faculty Excellence (CFE) has a mission to provide professional learning resources

and activities designed to help all faculty flourish as teachers, scholars, and colleagues.

Our interactions are: Foundational, voluntary, and confidential Our approach is: For faculty, by faculty

Increased Audience: The number of CFE users remains steady (579 participants), an 83% increase in the number from the 2014-15 academic year, despite a decrease in operational budget of 19% over the same two-year time period.

Improved Portfolio Outcomes: The 2016-17 CFE redesign of the Portfolio Workshops has been very successful. Faculty learned more than in 2015-16 about portfolio inclusion (+47%), due

dates (+30%), reviewer perspective (+29%, narratives (+27%), and locating resources (+26%).

Increased Orientation Satisfaction: Since the CFE revamped Tenure-Track

Orientation in the fall of 2015, satisfaction has greatly improved. In

addition to increased satisfaction rates in our exit evaluations (a satisfaction

rating of 4.4 out of 5) , the 2017 Climate Survey Orientation confirms that new

tenure-track faculty are increasingly getting what they need at orientation.

26%67%

69%72%

74%74%75%

87%

… know the significance of tenure… see the reviewer perspective…write my narrative

… know the review process… know the review schedule… know where to locate resources… know my due dates… know what to include

Portfolio Workshop Learning Outcomes

Percent of respondents who said they learned to ...

Fig. 2

7%35%

29%27%

6%25%

30%47%

Outcome Performance

Increase from 2015-16

Fig. 1

Fig.3



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Increased Degree of Satisfaction: Ninety percent reported they were

Somewhat or Strongly Satisfied with the CFE activities, an increase of 3%

from the previous year.

Learning Communities and Portfolio Workshops are the most popular events, and their satisfaction scores

increased +4% and +10% respectively.

Increased Consultations: The number of one-on-one consultations, related to either Digital Measures or of a general nature, has increased 41% over the last year. The CFE continues to run faculty consultations and workshops affiliated with the Digital Measures portfolio preparation for the review, tenure, promotion, and sabbatical process.

Increased Participation: The popular year-round Writing In The Semester

program (WITS) has nearly doubled its attendance this year.

Workshop and forum participants have

seen an increase of 58% from the previous year.

83%87% 90%

2014-15 2015-16 2016-17

Satisfaction Over TimeFig. 4

4.2

4.4

4.4

4.6

4.9

Forums

Portfolio Workshops

Orientation

Workshops

Learning Communities

Event Satisfaction Ratings

Sati

sfac

tio

n le

vel

Fig. 5

207

393

109146

2015-16 2016-17

Individual Consultations

Digital Measures General

Fig. 6

+ 41%

2015-6 2016-7

WITS

25

58

2015-6 2016-7

Workshops & Forums

154

244

Fig. 7 Participation



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Preface

We are very pleased to note the achievements of the Center for Faculty Excellence (CFE) this past year and its contributions in aiding faculty to flourish as teachers and scholars at MSU Denver. The services offered by the CFE are meaningful and valuable to colleagues as evidenced by the overwhelming majority of CFE users who are highly satisfied with programs offered by the CFE. Over 90% of faculty who participated in Center programs reported that they were either ‘Somewhat’ or ‘Strongly Satisfied’ with CFE activities. Over the past year, the CFE has continued to make extraordinary contributions to the MSU Denver community. The Center served 579 participants, which is an 88% increase from the 2014-15 academic year, and with a smaller budget (by 19%) over the same time period. In the past year, the Center also increased the number of participants in faculty and staff forums by 58% from 2015-16. The two faculty & staff forums this past year focused on very pertinent and immediate classroom concerns for faculty – Mindset & Assessment practices. The CFE continues to be adept in partnering with institutions on and off our campus for the benefit of MSU Denver faculty. Collaborators in the past year have included the Auraria library, MSU Denver Faculty Senate, Human Resources, the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, and the Student Veterans Organization, among others. These partnerships and

collaborative programs have synergistically amplified the contributions of the Center to help faculty better serve MSU Denver students. For example, in collaboration with the Campus Student Veterans Organization, the CFE has held a workshop titled “Veteran Student Boot Camp: Tools and Best Practices for Supporting Veteran Students to Graduation” several times over the past year. This well-received workshop has been valuable in helping faculty and staff learn more about how they can better support veteran students at MSU Denver. Other collaborations have similarly identified overlapping concerns with other campus centers to maximize resources and competencies to serve faculty needs. The CFE provides individual consultations for faculty on a wide variety of faculty concerns from effectiveness in the classroom to organizing faculty portfolios in Digital Measures. Over the past year, roughly two-thirds of individual consultations (393) concerned Digital Measures. For faculty at CAT II, Tenure-track and post-tenure levels, these consultations are invaluable. Over the academic year, the CFE also hosted workshops for faculty on how to prepare their Digital Measures portfolios. Moreover, the total number of one-on-one consultations increased by 41% from the previous year. As in the previous year, the CFE’s work with new faculty cannot be emphasized enough. This past year, the CFE, in collaboration with Human Resources,



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further expanded its orientation services to include CAT II faculty. In addition, the CFE’s New Faculty Institute serves as a vital support structure for new colleagues in their first year on our campus. Other initiatives, such as the WITS writing program to assist colleagues in their scholarly writing, have further added value to the CFE’s work. Over the past year, the WITS program has almost doubled its number of participants from 2015-16, which is a testament to its value and effectiveness. Other faculty support initiatives include the Faculty Commons, which is a centralized Cloud repository of resources for faculty including outcomes from Faculty Learning Communities. In summary, the CFE has distinguished itself as the premier organization on campus serving the needs of faculty in exemplary ways and thereby serving the needs of MSU Denver students. The CFE and its leadership have fruitfully exploited synergies in forging campus partnerships for the benefit of faculty in their efforts to support student success. With continued and additional budgetary support, we are confident that the CFE will only grow stronger in the coming years. The Center is a valuable part of MSU Denver’s vision of being recognized as the preeminent public urban university in the nation.

The CFE Advisory Board, September 24, 2017

Philip Bernhardt (SOE)

John Ethier (CLAS)

Lorrie Evans (Auraria Library)

Elizabeth Goodnick (Faculty Senate)

Gwendolyn Mami (OSRP)

William Mesa (COB)

Apryl Rogers-Brodersen (Business)

Jean Rother (CPS)

Arlene Sgoutas (CLAS)

Rebecca Trammel (Associate Dean, CPS)

Andrew Thangasamy (CLAS)

Diane Watkins (ITS)



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Table of Contents

Executive Summary ........................................ 1

Preface ........................................................... 3

Purview .......................................................... 5

Annual Budget ................................................ 7

Evaluations ..................................................... 7

New Faculty Orientation ................................ 9

Portfolio Workshops .................................... 10

Scholarly Writing .......................................... 10

Faculty Learning Communities ..................... 11

Faculty Commons ......................................... 13

Workshops & Forums .................................. 13

Consultations and Observations .................. 14

Committee Participation and Leadership .... 16

Staffing ......................................................... 16

Strategic Planning ........................................ 16

Purview MSU Denver’s mission emphasizes a diverse

community engaged in scholarly inquiry,

creative activity and the application of

knowledge. While this certainly refers to the

education of our students, it is also crucial to

stimulate these essential qualities for our

faculty so that they might best serve as mentors

for our students. In the spirit of the institution’s

mission, the Center for Faculty Excellence

(known by its acronym CFE) is dedicated to

providing professional learning resources and

activities designed to help all faculty flourish as

teachers, scholars, and colleagues.

Furthermore, the CFE also strives to create and

facilitate an academic climate where faculty

partner with faculty so that all may reach their

full professional potential. Such interactions

focuses upon foundational, voluntary, and

confidential experiences that promote positive

outcomes for improving the professional lives

of faculty.

Table 1 is a breakdown of faculty from the

2015-16 academic year. Our constituency

consisted of 1,575 total faculty. A total of 350

tenured faculty, 219 tenure-track faculty, 1104

full-time Category II affiliate faculty, and 1006

part-time affiliate faculty. A total of 569 faculty

(36%) were full-time, the remaining 1006

faculty (64%) were part-time.

Table 1. The CFE’s 2015-16 Faculty Constituency.

Tenured

Professor 161

Associate Professor 188

Assistant Professor 1

Tenure-Track

Associate Professor 1

Assistant Professor 114

Full-Time Non-Tenure Track 104

Affiliate 1006

TOTAL 1575

The 2016-17 academic year was one of

continued growth and success for the CFE. This

report outlines our work during the past year

and our future direction. Details about our

programming and initiatives are grouped in

Table 2 according to the appropriate activities

that deal with our four main areas of purview,

as outlined in our mission: Early Career

Development; Teaching and Learning; Cross-

Disciplinary Collaboration; and Academic

Excellence.



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Table 2. All 2016-17 programs and events categorized according to the CFE’s four areas of purview.

Early Career Development

Teaching and Learning

Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration

Academic Excellence

Orientation Tenure Track and CAT II orientation

- - -

Scholarly Writing - - - Writing Within the Semester

Provost’s Grants

Faculty Learning Communities

New Faculty Institute

Rapport & Retention

Interventions, Just In Time Teaching, On-Line Teaching,

ePortfolios for Learning, Teaching Mathematics On-

line

Growing Up Men, Multicultural

Awareness and Beyond, Faculty

Commons

-

Workshops eSRI Practice. New Faculty Reunion

Teaching Effectiveness

Institute, Veterans Bootcamp, What Employers Want

- Forums on Mindset and Assessment

Consultations & Peer Observations

Summative Peer Observations

T&L Consultations - Digital Measures Consults and Workshops

$57,000

$117,000

$63,000

$127,000

$48,000 $42,000

$788

$220

$363

$165

$241

$81 $73

$-

$100

$200

$300

$400

$500

$600

$700

$800

$900

$-

$20,000

$40,000

$60,000

$80,000

$100,000

$120,000

$140,000

FY09 FY10 FY11 FY12 FY13 FY14 FY15 FY16 FY17

CFE Annual Budget & Dollars/User

Budget Dollars Dollars/User

Fig. 9



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The conclusion of this report details the CFE’s

internal improvements and its external

collaborations.

In 2016–17, the CFE events drew 579

participants (see Figure 1), 75% who were

Tenure-Track, Category II, and Affiliate faculty;

these individuals comprise approximately 33%

of the university’s 1500 faculty. This number is

an increase of 262 individuals, an 82%

increase from the 2014-15 academic year (2

years ago), despite a decrease in

operational budget of 19% over the same

two-year time period.

Table 3 shows a percentage breakdown of

participants based upon by the Center’s activity

type. One of the most important successes has

been the additional faculty and participating in

workshops and forums (+58%) and the WITS

scholarly writing workshops (+92%).

Annual Budget Figure 9 illustrates the annual operating budget

of the CFE from Fiscal Year 2009 (FY09) to

present. The annual budget has varied based

upon yearly institutional budgeting and

deviations in internal allocations. The 2016-17

annual budget was $42,000, the smallest

allocation in the history of the Center, and a

62% decrease from the 2013-2014 budget.

However, the dollars spent per user (FY dollars

divided by annual users), a relatively simple

measure of performance, indicates that the

Center is the most efficient it has ever been,

spending approximately $73 per user in 2016-

17.

Evaluations We conduct anonymous evaluations for all our

activities. For most one-off events, we ask

participants to complete an evaluation form,

tailored to the areas of our purview. Responses

are used to guide and develop future sessions.

We also conduct end-of-year anonymous online

surveys for multi-session programs. The overall

response for CFE events is very positive. Figures

2-4 (in the executive summary) illustrate that

the mean satisfaction scores for all CFE events

were between Satisfied (4.2) and Highly

Satisfied (4.9). Learning Communities and

Workshops remain the most popular events.

The satisfaction scores for almost all CFE events

increased from the previous year, the largest

increase being the Portfolio Workshops (+10%)

and Learning Communities (+4%).

Ninety percent of faculty reported they were

Somewhat or Strongly Satisfied with the CFE

activities they participated in, an increase of 3%

from the previous year (Figure 2).

The Faculty Senate conducts its annual Faculty

Climate survey (every three years) where it also

asks participants to evaluate the CFE, both in

terms of its approval as an MSU Denver

initiative, and in regard to their satisfaction.

Figure 10 displays the 2015-16 results of the

responses. The concept of the CFE, received the

highest overall approval, (together with the

Master’s Programs) with more than 72% of

faculty reporting that they either Somewhat or

Strongly Approve. This represents an increase

from 2013 where over 83% of the faculty



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reported that they either somewhat or strongly

approve.

In regard to satisfaction, faculty on the climate

survey were also asked how satisfied or

dissatisfied they were with the implementation

of the same MSU Denver’s initiatives. The CFE

received the highest levels of overall

satisfaction (27%) of all the initiatives, more

than the master's programs (25%) and the

institution’s HSI initiative (19%). Over 72% of

the faculty reported that they were either

Somewhat or Strongly Satisfied with the CFE.

PLANNING

We are delighted that our satisfaction ratings

have improved for most of our events

particularly the Portfolio Workshops, and very

pleased with our perception among the faculty.

We view these ratings as the strongest

endorsement possible of our value to the MSU

Denver community.

Qualitative feedback taken from our evaluations

has provided us many ideas for improvement

that we will employ next year. Likewise, the

Faculty Senate analysis of their climate

responses indicates that the CFE could improve

in reaching out to senior faculty, who were less

satisfied with the CFE

Topics more in line with senior faculty is

something on our agenda to address.

Communication has also improved and we now

send bi-monthly newsletters to improve our

ability to reach faculty.

Table 3. CFE Event Participation Rates.

Activity 2014-15

2015-16 2016-17 CHANGE

Orientation 59 32 29 -9%

Workshops& Forums 30 154 244 +58%

Scholarly Writing 45 25 48 +92%

RTP Workshops 102 218 165 -24%

FLCs 67 167 93 -44%

TOTAL 303 596 579 -3%



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Figure 10. Results of the Faculty 2015-16 Climate Survey in regards to the CFE (data provided by

the Faculty Senate).

New Faculty Orientation On August 4-5, 2016, the CFE’s annual New

Tenure-Track Faculty Orientation program

drew 22 new tenure-track faculty representing

all four schools and colleges and approximately

16 departments and programs. This was the

second year that the CFE merged their

orientation with the New Employee Orientation

hosted by Human Resources, creating a

seamless orientation process for new faculty to

complete their employment and benefits

enrollment, addressing key issues for new

faculty through a series of question-and-answer

discussions, and introducing the various

university support units necessary for faculty,

and meeting a cohort of new colleagues.

A total of 21 volunteer presenters addressed a

variety of discussion topics that included:

shared governance, faculty programs and

services, student programs and services,

successful teaching and learning, resolving

conflicts, and retention and promotion. During

two different lunches, participants networked

with their new chairs as well as colleagues from

their respective school and colleges, and met

with an Information Technology specialist. The

second day concluded with a tour led by Human

Resources to help newcomers develop a sense

of the campus and to obtain their university

keys, identification, and transportation permits.

Faculty who participated in New Faculty Ori-

entation rated it highly (4.5 out of 5 on a Likert

scale). In open-ended feedback they stated that

“all content was extremely helpful. I did not find

any of the sessions boring or unhelpful” and

“excellent.” They also appreciated such “nitty-

gritty” information on “where to go to find

policies” and believed that the “classroom/IT

info was really important.”

On August 9, 2016, the CFE initiated a New

Category II Faculty Orientation together with

Human Resources that drew twelve new

Category II. A total of six volunteer presenters

addressed a variety of discussion topics that

included: faculty and student programs and

services, successful teaching and learning, and

Category II roles and expectations.

Faculty who participated in New Category II

Faculty Orientation rated it highly (4.4 out of 5

on a Likert scale). In open-ended feedback they

found “all of it was valuable” as “practical

0% 20% 40% 60%

Strongly dissaprove

Somewhat dissaprove

Somewhat approve

Strongly Approve

Do you approve in the abstract of the CFE? (n = 389)

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%

Very dissatisified

Somewhat dissatisified

Somewhat satisfied

Very satisified

Are you satisified or dissatisfied with the CFE? (n = 318)



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information for new faculty members” and

“conversations about the types of Category II

faculty, procedures for portfolios, multiple year

contracts, information about the union, student

ratings system, need for a summative review,

etc.” They also “appreciated receiving the

information from the policy book on Class II and

“really appreciated seeing Digital Measures

examples on the screen.”

PLANNING

This year’s faculty orientation has transformed

the way in which new faculty begin their MSU

Denver careers. We have broken new ground by

combining efforts with Human Resources to

provide a comprehensive and intensive

orientation that is focused on engagement

rather than lecturing.

Qualitative feedback taken from our evaluations

has provided us with ways to emphasize those

topics that faculty felt were important, and

streamline sections for maximum efficiency.

We hope to create a similar integrated

orientation experience for Category III faculty in

2018.

Portfolio Workshops In 2016, the CFE assumed responsibility for the

Review/Tenure/Promotion Portfolio workshops

and redesigned them in response to faculty

feedback. The redesign has proved to be very

successful. Faculty learned more than in 2015-

16 about portfolio inclusion (+47%), due dates

(+30%), reviewer perspective (+29%, narratives

(+27%), and locating resources (+26%) (see

Figure 2).

The workshops were received favorably (4.4 out

of 5 on a Likert scale), a dramatic +0.4%

increase from 2015-16. Figure 2 is a breakdown

of responses, indicating that the most useful

information conveyed was what must be

included in my Portfolio/Sabbatical Leave

application. All nine measures dramatically

increased (+7 to +43%) from the 2014-15

responses, indicating the change of workshop

was a success. Open ended comments about

our new workshop format included: “Very

helpful to get tips on portfolio preparation from

reviewers.” “I enjoyed hearing from different

people, having multiple voices and perspectives

is very helpful.” “It was helpful to hear other

faculty members’ perspectives and challenges

working through tenure process.” “I thought it

was much more helpful than previous years.“ “I

think that it was well organized, Thank you.”

“Seems to be getting better over the last 2

years.”

PLANNING

The CFE will increase the number of these

workshops in 2017-18.

Scholarly Writing Faculty seeking support for their scholarly writ-

ing activities have a variety of options, including

workshops on the writing and publishing

processes, writing circles, various Faculty

Learning Communities, and a dedicated quiet

space for writing.

The primary CFE scholarly writing offering is a

set of weekly writing workshops (called Writing

In The Semester, or WITS) held all year long in

order to provide faculty the opportunity to

jump-start their writing projects. Dr. Elizabeth

Kleinfeld from the Department of English, who

begins each workshop with a fifteen-minute

discussion about different practical evidence-

based strategies to become more prolific and

confident writers, facilitates the WITS series.



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In 2016–17, 48 different faculty members

attended 34 different WITS workshops to

develop scholarly publications, books and book

chapters, grant proposals, and presentations.

This represents a 92% increase over the 2015-

16 year. Faculty who participated in WITS rated

it highly (4.8 out of 5 on a Likert scale). They

stated in open-ended feedback: “WITS has

helped me to publish two articles and a major

report” and “has helped build a writing habit

and … validate time prioritized for research.”

Virtually all the participants have stated WITS

“boosted my focus” and “helped me

tremendously.”

Each year, the CFE works with the Provost’s

Office to administer the selection of the

Provost’s Mini-Grants for awards that support

grant writing. Selected faculty are provided a

stipend or release time to pursue grant writing

activities that leverage existing Facilities and

Administrative (F&A) Costs Recovery funds to

secure additional sources of external grant

funding in the future. Nine faculty were

awarded mini-grants in the fall of 2016 and

eighteen were awarded mini-grants in the

spring of 2017.

PLANNING

Scholarly writing plays an important role for

faculty, and faculty seem pleased that WITS has

become a year-long program, evident by the

fact that attendance has increase 92%.

We hope to increase participation this coming

year as well as broaden the topics and focus of

scholarly writing.

Faculty Learning Communities Faculty Learning Communities (FLCs) are cross-

disciplinary groups of faculty, numbering

roughly 8 to 12 members, engaged in active,

collaborative learning throughout the academic

year around a specific theme and toward

defined outcomes. At MSU Denver, FLCs vary by

theme or by cohort, but they all have in

common a connection to the University’s

teaching mission along with a commitment to

taking scholarly approaches toward meeting

that mission.

Ten FLCs were supported in 2016-17, a 33%

decrease from the fifteen FLCs supported the

previous year. A total of 93 different faculty and

staff members participated, a 43% decrease in

participation from the previous year.

The New Faculty Institute is an FLC that builds upon New Faculty Orientation by offering a series of six conversations over the full academic year to facilitate new faculty to meet again and discuss their experiences. Facilitated by Jean Rother (Nursing) and Michael Kolb (CFE, Anthropology), this FLC used chapters from Learner Centered Teaching by Maryellen Weimer. The benefit of these conversations was constructive camaraderie and shared experiences as well as joint discussion of best classroom practices. Fourteen first-year faculty participated in the New Faculty Institute. Faculty rated this FLC very favorably (4.9 out of 5 on a Likert scale). They stated in open-ended feedback that the New Faculty Institute “presented information that answered many of my questions and questions that I had not even considered” and “helped me to understand the expectations for tenure track faculty at MSU Denver and to make connections with peers across campus.” Comments also included: “I formed a network and got valuable advice on many aspects of being a new faculty member at MSU Denver. I became part of a group immediately, and enjoyed sharing experiences with other new members.”



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Cynthia Dormer (Nutrition) facilitated the

Rapport and Retention Interventions FLC that

explored how to plan and administer a campus-

wide workshop on classroom and online

techniques to support student rapport,

retention and eventual graduation.

Sheila Rucki (Political Science) facilitated the Developing a Student Growth Mindset for Academic Success FLC that reviewed current research on the influence of a growth mindset on the academic success of students of color, first-generation students, and other students at risk of stopping out of college in their first year. Three FLCs were offered in co-sponsorship with the Office of Diversity and Inclusion. All focused upon promoting inclusive teaching and learning on campus. Crafted with collaborations with numerous faculty and staff in multiple departments, these FLCs featured dynamic discussions, interactive formats, and practical strategies that participants could immediately implement in their classes or units. Tanya Greathouse (Social Work) offered her FLC

entitled Diversity Learning Community:

Multicultural Awareness and Beyond in both

Fall 2016 and spring 2017. This was an

Interactive Learning Community, that focused

upon Intercultural Developmental Inventory,

used to lay ground work for us to have common

language and assess and review our personal

multicultural orientation and learn how we

respond in cross-cultural situations. We learned

about implicit biases and gained an

appreciation of how they inform our

interpretation of situations and practice

facilitating critical conversations.

Steven Rissman (Health Professions) offered his

Growing Up Men FLC in the fall of 2016. His

goal was to examine what is going on with men

and to explore cross-curricular avenues for

helping men to thrive, bringing together faculty

who are currently teaching specific topics

related to the issues affecting men’s lives

(college men and the community at large),

and/or faculty who have an interest in

embedding these topics into their curriculum.

The Assessing Authentic Learning FLC was facilitated by Emily Matuszewicz (Health Professions) and co-sponsored with the Center for Individualized Learning. The goal of this FLC was to explore how student ePortfolios could be used in classrooms across campus. Members sought out departments and developed a pilot ePortfolio program that was tested in a number of departments with shared interest in using an ePortfolio in the classroom.

Two FLCs specifically addressed classroom

pedagogy. Mona Mocanasu and John Either

(Mathematics) facilitated an FLC titled Effective

Methods for On-line Mathematical

Instruction that focused upon ways to build a

community to study effective methods for

online instruction. This will benefit not just

the instructors for online (or mostly online)

courses, but also instructors that want to

implement effective online tools in their

courses.

Jeffrey Loats (Physics) facilitated the Just in

Time Teaching FLC that assisted participants in

employing the Just in Time Teaching method of

student engagement.

One summer FLC on On-Line Teaching was run

in June 2017 by Chris Jennings (Journalism and

Technical Communications) in order to meet

the needs of faculty developing on-line courses.

The focus of this FLC was on the pedagogy of

instructor presence rather than technological

innovations. Faculty who participated in this FLC

rated it very favorably (4.8 out of 5 on a Likert



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scale). In open-ended feedback they found this

to be a “great FLC” and “that all departments

would benefit from this type of focused

workshop relating to online teaching.” They also

stated that it was “really nice to see faculty

needs/conversations, etc. on such an authentic

level” and “I learned how to create a video

lecture/presentation for my online course and

was able to record video for one of my online

courses.”

PLANNING

Our MSU Denver faculty and staff seem to find

the engaged and integrated nature of a learning

community to suit their needs regarding

professional development. We hope to continue

this trend of more and diverse learning

communities in the coming year.

Faculty Commons In conjunction with the Educational Technology

Center (ETC), the CFE has maintained a series of

faculty virtual common spaces called

“communities of practice.” Known as the

Faculty Commons, these spaces are a

centralized Cloud repository of resources that is

readily available to all faculty for the

dissemination of online discussions,

collaborations, and information. This repository

helps create a learning space within the Faculty

Commons (Community of Practice), an online

shared space that offers all faculty the

opportunity to keep abreast of online practices.

Three Commons areas are now functional:

Excellence in Teaching and Learning, Diversity in

Academia, and Academic Research.

PLANNING

The Faculty Commons is an exciting new

initiative that has just begun, and will be

developed further in the upcoming year. We will

gauge interest and participation accordingly.

Workshops & Forums In 2016–17, we organized eight professional

development workshops and two faculty and

staff forums with 244 total attendees including

over 160 faculty. These activities are more

diverse than the other CFE activity categories,

and so we have grouped them here.

Faculty who participated in the Teaching

Effectiveness Institutes rated them very

favorably (4.8 out of 5 on a Likert scale) for

both Fall 2016 and Spring 2017). Open-ended

feedback indicates that faculty were going to

enact “more practical, real-world assessments,”

“more structured peer- and self-evaluation,”

and “student-centered syllabi.”

Faculty who participated in the Veteran

Students Boot Camp were highly satisifed (4.7

out of 5 on a Likert scale). The Boot Camp was

offered in both fall 2016 and spring 2017. Open-

ended feedback states: “I plan to employ

immediately this semester and to connect

incoming veterans with the right resources and

support on campus” and “I plan to launch an

affinity alumni group for veteran alumni. I have

high hopes that our veteran alumni can also

assist veteran students on campus through

campus partnership programs.”

Faculty who participated in the eSRI Workshop

rated it very favorably (4.7 out of 5 on a Likert

scale). The discussion centered around

conducting an eSRI for your course and the

history and best practices of SRIs at MSU

Denver.



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In collaboration with the Career Services Center

and the Applied Learning Center, faculty and

staff participated in a What Employers Want

workshop in February 2017 to learn more about

how to support students with career

planning. The satisfaction ratings were also

very high (4.4 out of 5 on a Likert scale). Staff

from the Office of Career Services and the

Applied Learning Center shared information

about career pathways for students and how to

assist and direct students with their post-

baccalaureate career goals.

Faculty who participated in the Mindset for

Success Forum in March of 2017 rated it as very

satisfying (4.5 out of 5 on a Likert scale). Sixty-

two people attended to hear our keynote

Martha Casazza Ph.D. discuss how mindset

affects student achievement. Other presenters

included our Mindset FLC work group and Mark

Koester (Mathematics and Computers Science)

Open-ended feedback states: “Great ideas!”

“Love to see what other faculty are doing” and

“it’s good to know that we are on the forefront

of what is being done to improve classroom

learning.”

The CFE also collaborated with the University-

wide Provost’s Assessment Committee to

conduct a Forum on Academic and Co-

Curricular Assessment. Sixty-five people

attended to hear our keynote Marilee Bresciani

Ludvik, Ph.D. from San Diego State University

discuss best practices. Open-ended feedback

stated that “I really appreciated the positive

emphasis on doing assessment … to help

develop our own assessment practices without

reinventing the wheel.”

PLANNING

This year is highlighted by continued increase in

the number, diversity, and participation rates

for workshops.

These events, compared to other CFE activities,

are often simpler to organize and execute and

so we are able to experiment by pairing with

other units to offer a broad selection of

workshops. We will continue this practice in

2018, and host a Tri-institutional Teaching and

Learning Forum during the spring of 2018.

Consultations and Observations Throughout the course of the year, the CFE

offers One-On-One Consultations to help

faculty assess and update their course designs,

work on their review, tenure, and promotion

portfolios, or discuss any matter of concern. All

of our consultations follow a confidential

process, which might include evaluations of an

instructor’s syllabus or course learning

outcomes, their curriculum vitae or promotion

portfolio, their formative or summative peer

evaluations, or other material relevant to the

consultations. In 2016–17, over 100 faculty

members across disciplines and career stages

have utilized a CFE consultation (see Table 4).

Table 4. CFE 2016-16 Individual Consultations.

2015-16 2016-17

General Consultations 109 146

Portfolio Consultations 207 393

In addition, 200 faculty members were assisted

either via email or telephone. Those who took

advantage of the consult hours stated in open-

ended feedback: “Thank you SO much for

helping me with my portfolio!” “Thank you

again for your ongoing support and

programming for tenure track faculty,” “Thank



15

you so much for your support and patience!!”

and “Thanks again for the good help you

provided yesterday.”

Excellence in teaching and learning has been a

steadfast quality of a Metropolitan State

University of Denver education, and the CFE is

responsible for delivering the Summative Peer

Observation required prior to either a tenure or

promotion review that consists of an objective

descriptive statement drafted by a peer

observer. It captures the relevant aspects of

their instructional delivery and design in order

to foster an environment for improvement and

development in faculty teaching and learning.

Peer observation is the process by which faculty

provide observational feedback to colleagues

on their in-class instructional delivery and

design.

Christine Odell (Human Performance and

Sports), the CFE’s Faculty Associate for

Summative Peer Observations coordinated 80

Summative Peer Observations in 2015-16 that

were conducted by trained volunteer faculty

(Figure 11). Over 70% of the AY16-17

observations were conducted for tenure-track

faculty, representing an 11% increase from

2014-15. Figure 11 illustrates that the number

of trained faculty who serve as observers have

decreased since 2015-16, from 28 to 20.

In the Spring of 2015, the Center for Faculty

Excellence partnered with the Faculty Senate to

convene a task force to examine the required

summative peer observation for promotion or

contract renewal. Because excellence in

teaching and learning has been a steadfast

quality of a MSU Denver education, the goal is

to improve the existing Summative Peer

Observation requirement in order to better

foster an environment for improvement and

development in faculty teaching and learning.

The work of this task force is now complete and

the decisions regarding summative peer

observations are in the hands of the

departments – there is no longer any verbiage

of a university-level requirement for a

40

64

8780

89

11 12

2428

20

2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17

Peer Observations and Observers by Year

Observations Observers

Fig. 11



16

summative peer observation in the Professional

Handbook.

PLANNING

This is the second year that the CFE has begun

recording the number of consultations and

consultation hours it conducts. The individual

consultations are conducted in confidentiality,

and so no additional data is collected.

In response to the services the Center provides

regarding Digital Measures, our Associate

Director for Teaching and Learning conducted

most of those consultations.

We will continue to record our consultation

numbers and hours for comparative purposes.

Our Faculty Associate for Peer Observation

assured oversight and consistency in scheduling

observations and match faculty with observers.

Committee Participation and Leadership The CFE staff participates in a variety of

planning and advisory circles including the: HLC

Accreditation Team Three, Council for Online

Programs; Equity in Excellence Advisory

Committee; Instructional Resources Committee;

Universal Design in Learning Committee;

Academic Technology Subcommittee; Gateway

to Completion Steering Committee;

Undergraduate Research Council; SRI Online

Implementation Committee; Classified Staff

Council Advisory Committee; and the

Constitutional Bylaws Committee. The CFE staff

had leadership roles in the: Summative Peer

Observation Task Force; Undergraduate

Outcomes Task Force; and the Digital Measures

Advisory Group.

Staffing In 2016–17, Dr. Michael J. Kolb served as

Director of the CFE, Dr. Meredith Flynn served

as the Associate Director for Teaching and

Learning, and Ms. Liz Gettings served as our

Administrative Assistant. Dr. Elizabeth Kleinfeld

and Dr. Christine Odell served as Faculty

Associates for Scholarly Writing and Peer

Observations (respectively).

Strategic Planning The Center relied on the collective wisdom and

divergent thinking of our 2016-17 advisory

council:

Philip Bernhardt (SOE)

Jennifer Capps (CPS)

Michael Erskine (ETC)

John Ethier (CLAS)

Lorrie Evans (Auraria Library)

Judson Faurer (COB)

Elizabeth Goodnick (Faculty Senate)

Gwendolyn Mami (OSRP)

Apryl Rogers-Brodersen (COB)

Jean Rother (CPS)

Brian Sevier (SOE)

Arlene Sgoutas (CLAS)

Andrew Thangasamy (CLAS)

We would like to acknowledge the contribution

to the CFE over the years of Liz Gettings,

Administrative Assistant of the CFE. Here since

the inception of the Center, Ms. Gettings retired

in May of 2017 and then suddenly passed away

in June.

center for faculty excellence annual report 2016-17 · center for faculty excellence annual report...

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