Contact Info
Kate Elliott
Director, CELT
Associate Professor of Art History
Luther College
700 College Drive
Decorah, IA 52101
Phone: 563-387-1587
Faculty Learning Communities and Teaching Partnerships
Faculty Learning Communities
A faculty learning community is a cross-disciplinary faculty group of four to six members engaging in an active, collaborative, yearlong program with a curriculum focus on specific topics about pedagogy in higher education.
Unlike a brown bag workshop or a one-time faculty development event, FLCs allow participants extended time to explore the topic and to develop and implement a change in pedagogy. Meeting monthly with the same group of colleagues also fosters another goal of FLCs—to create a sense of community and common purpose among the participants.
Topic-Based FLC Themes for 2022–23
Facilitator: Christy Vrtis
Meets monthly on Thursdays 9:40–10:50 a.m.
Participants will read Kathleen F. Gabriel’s text Creating the Path to Success in the Classroom: Teaching to Close the Graduation Gap for Minority, First-Generation, and Academically Unprepared Students and discuss best practices for teaching developing learners during the first semester. Second semester we will focus on creating activities designed to increase learning for all students, and especially developing learners, that we can then implement in our courses going forward.
Facilitator: Rachel Brummel
Meets monthly on Mondays 3–4:30 p.m.
A centerpiece of our new curriculum is a new focus on community-based learning, especially in our revamped Paideia 450 course. But what is community-based learning anyway? During the fall semester this FLC will dive deep into the research on community-based learning and assist the Paideia program and the Curriculum Committee in establishing common Student Learning Outcomes for these experiences. Second semester we will focus on designing individual Paideia 450 classes to be taught in the 2024–25 academic year.
Structure and Application Process
Application for the 2022–23 Faculty Learning Communities
Successful applicants will participate in a kick off meeting with CELT director, Kate Elliott in early September. During the academic year FLC members will engage in monthly ongoing discussions with the other cohort participants to share ideas, work through challenges, and begin plans for dissemination of their work. Participants will also be asked to report back to the faculty in a CELT workshop or other venue during the spring semester.
Each FLC carries an award of $750.00, in two installments—the first after fall work, the second payment will be made following implementation the development of a new or modified course, assignment, or classroom environment and creation of a deliverable to be reported back to the faculty.
Teaching Partnerships
CELT awards semester-long Teaching Partnerships to pairs of faculty for the purpose of fostering collaboration and innovation.
Teaching Partnerships are on hold for 2022–23. Please inquire about our ACM Funded Faculty Fellow Program
Teaching Partnerships will be awarded to pairs of faculty who commit to visiting each other’s classes, giving feedback on each other’s teaching, discussing challenges and successes in teaching, and sharing strategies for improving teaching effectiveness. Teaching Partners may be from the same or different departments. All faculty are eligible to apply.
Teaching Partners are expected to:
- Establish goals for the partnership
- Observe each other’s teaching in the classroom, lab, studio, or field at least twice during the semester
- Meet at least four times during the semester to discuss teaching observations, give feedback, and share teaching strategies
- Submit a brief report and evaluation of the Teaching Partnership experience by Monday, December 19, 2022
Applications are due Friday, September 16, and should be submitted by email attachment or shared link to Kate Elliott (ellika03@luther.edu) Each application must include the following:
- Name, department, and email address of each teaching partner
- List of courses being taught by each partner this semester
- Brief statement from each partner explaining why you are interested in this program and what you hope to gain from it
- Joint statement of partnership goals for the semester
CELT will provide campus meal tickets for coffee or lunch to use when meeting either in person or over Zoom for partnership discussions. In addition, each partner will receive a $125 stipend in your paycheck when all of the expectations outlined above have been met, including the submission of the brief report of your activities and takeaways.
Funding is available to support five Teaching Partnerships this semester. Teaching Partnership awards will be announced on Monday, September 19.
Contact Info
Kate Elliott
Director, CELT
Associate Professor of Art History
Luther College
700 College Drive
Decorah, IA 52101
Phone: 563-387-1587