Annual Report 2024-2025

Quick Facts

Workshops

Participants

Individuals

Consultations

Highlights from the Year

Focus on Non Tenure Track Faculty

You have been doing such a great job of including NTTs in your programming - Thank you.

Comment from a participant review

We offered a series of workshops specifically for non-tenure track faculty. Workshops were designed around the advancement process and using Faculty Success. In the spring, sessions focused on using tuition waivers and training on delivering online summer courses. We saw an increase of 70% for NTT faculty this year.

Continuing the Discussion on AI

Practical suggestions and applications, different faculty sharing examples...

Comment on the value of the "Generative AI: Maximizing Opportunities Workshop"

In collaboration with the Library and Research Cyberinfrastructure, we participated in an interest group around using AI in research. We also continued to offerworkshops on AI in teaching and learning.

Students & Mental Health

Practical strategies & resources

Comment about the usefulness of the "How to Recognize and Reach Out..." workshop

In collaboration with Counseling and Psychological Services, we offered three workshops on students and mental health: ACT to Prevent Suicide, How to Recognize and Reach out to a Student of Concern, and Classroom Strategies to Support Mental Health.

New Team Member, Dr. Cassia Hameline

Dr. Cassia Hameline has joined the Center as an instructional designer. Cassia supports MSU faculty by providing practical instructional tools, strategies, and insights tailored to help them meet their unique teaching goals. With a background in curriculum design and higher education instruction, she fosters a collaborative, inclusive environment where instructors can explore, expand, and refine their pedagogical practices.

• Contact Cassia at 406-994-4556 or cassia.hameline@montana.edu

Participants

Faculty Symposium

Engage to Empower: Elevating Student Participation and Learning Faculty 

In this year’s symposium, we explored innovative strategies and share best practices to enhance student involvement in our classrooms. The symposium featured two panel discussions: "Case Studies and Success Stories" with faculty, and "Voices from the Classroom" with students.

WHAT WAS THE MOST IMPORTANT TAKEAWAY FROM THE SYMPOSIUM? 

Faculty Learning Communities

Teaching Large Classes Learning Community

In this program, participants discussed the article, “Moving Theory into Practice: A Reflection on Teaching a Large, Introductory Biology Course for Majors,” by Kimberly D. Tanner. The group discussed ways to make students feel more than just a spectator and how to make the content relevant for large classes.

First Gen Book Club

In partnership with the First-Generation Committee and TRIO, the Center for Faculty Excellence is hosted a 3-session book group where they discussed College Belonging: How First-Year and First-Generation Students Navigate Campus Life by Lisa M. Munn. 

Living Lab

The MSU Living Lab Faculty Learning Community aims to connect MSU faculty across disciplines that share an interest in utilizing the campus landscape for teaching, research, and community engagement. 

Other Learning Communities

Teaching and Advising

Flipped Classrooms

CFE offered faculty a new workshop on developing and implementing flipped classrooms featuring guidance from CFE and faculty practitioners showcasing how they do both partial and full flipped classrooms in various disciplines.

• Learn more about this flipped classroom workshop

Teaching Online Program

To prepare faculty to teach online by equipping them with the best practices for organizing content and communicating and interacting with students in an online learning environment, and to meet MUS  requirements for distance education, the Center for Faculty Excellence offered a self-paced online training that culminates with a short readiness quiz.

This past year we had 100 faculty complete the Brightspace/D2L version of the course and 15 faculty complete the new Canvas version of the course.

Three (3) Instructional Innovation Grants were awarded

• Edward Dunbar, Addiction Counseling (EHHD), "Integrating AI into Online Addictions Counseling Training Program"

• Heather Mulliner, MSU Library, "Building Oral History Kits"

• Nick Childs, Physics (CLS), "Scaffolded Instruction Modules for Introductory Physics Course"

Research & Creativity

Published a paper on community engagement:

Grant, D., Motzer, N., Stoop, C., & Taylor, S. (2024). Elevating Voices: Community Partner Perspectives on a Broader Impacts Toolkit. Journal of Community Engagement and Scholarship, 17(2), Article 12. DOI: 10.54656/jces.v17i2.609

Thank you to Our Partners!