Based on the 2023-24 Teaching & Learning Subcommittee's (TLS) Annual Faculty Professional Development Needs survey, and ongoing conversations with partners on campus and in academic technology and faculty development across the system, we have developed the following list of priorities in line with CTET's Strategic Plan for the coming academic year. If you have any questions, feel free to email us at ctet@sonoma.edu.
Priority #1: Address impacts from generative artificial intelligence (AI) on academic integrity and investigate opportunities for new kinds of instruction
This was the top-priority identified by campus faculty in the aforementioned TLS annual survey. Faculty feel uneasy and are addressing this new technology with all of its profound affects on teaching. It arguably is more transformative for how we teach than any other new technology since the advent of the World Wide Web in the early 1990s. CTET is co-leading a campus working group with the mission of exploring these new technologies, conducting a technical pilot of new academic integrity tools, and providing a series of professional development workshops for faculty on a variety of topics throughout the year (e.g., redesigning assignments to mitigate cheating/plagiarism, student-centric approaches to academic integrity concerns, teaching research and writing intensive courses with AI, and more as the year wears on). We will be presenting on this initiative at Academic Senate on September 15, 2023 and encourage all interested faculty to attend and learn more about the campus response to this new technology.
Priority #2: Evaluate and enhance SSU's academic technology services.
CTET will be conducting two major academic technology pilots in 2023-24. We are examining new platforms in Academic Integrity (currently provided by TurnItIn) as discussed above, and for Video Creation and Management (currently provided by YuJa) as contracts for both services end this year. We are partnering with the Academic Senate's Academic Technology & Instructional Spaces Subcommittee (ATISS). ATISS will advise both pilots, providing faculty voice and guidance, and ultimately will make recommendations on platform choice. If you are interested in participating in either pilot program, we encourage to email CTET to learn more.
Furthermore, CTET is taking over support for classroom technology as part of our mission to support campus teaching. We have expanded our support hours to 8am-5pm, and we will be committing to address all urgent calls for classroom technology during class time to minimize disruptions in teaching.
Priority #3: Collaborate with peers to support campus faculty.
CTET is doubling its efforts to work with campus partners to enhance and streamline support for faculty development. In particular, we are working increasingly closely with the Offices of Faculty Affairs & Success and Academic Programs to ensure that programming offered across Academic Affairs is delivered in ways that is most effective for campus faculty, and reduces confusion over where to go for certain kinds of support. As always, CTET is happy to answer any questions we can, and we are working hard to make sure we can provide you referrals to the appropriate folks on campus when it is outside of our area.
Priority #4: Develop a comprehensive program of support for inclusive teaching.
Our faculty fellow for Inclusive Teaching, Dr. Megan Burke is back from sabbatical this year, and collaborating with Faculty Director for Teaching & Learning, Dr. Matthew Paolucci Callahan to expand on our previous offerings in this area. We will continue to provide our Identity Informed Working Group in Spring 2024, and we are excited to be offering a new initiative on "Trans-Affirming Teaching" to support the student experience at Sonoma State. It is crucial that the diverse gender identities of our students be fully recognized and affirmed in academic spaces. This initiative will provide a number of development and networking opportunities for campus faculty throughout the year, so please stay tuned as we are able to announce these events in the near future.
Priority #5: Accessibility in course instructional materials
CTET continues to provide high quality support to campus faculty to remediate instructional materials in Canvas through our Accessible Content Partnership program. We have invested in new tools to provide more speedy response time on content remediation, and our faculty fellow for Universal Design, Dr. Sandra Ayala is available for individual faculty consultations for how to redesign your materials and assignments with an eye toward universal access. Further, the Chancellor's Office is in the process of reimagining the system-wide Accessible Technology Initiative, and CTET is an active participant in these conversations on behalf of SSU.
Priority #6: Online and HyFlex as future growth models for education
We aim to provide a robust program of faculty development and support for best practices in online and hybrid teaching. As such, we are continuing our previously offered HyFlex Teaching Program for campus faculty in Summer to Fall 2023 to prepare them for the realities of teaching students in mixed-modality teaching environments with hands-on support and guidance in best practices. Further, we are kicking off a new research and faculty development program, our Quality Learning & Teaching (QLT) Working Group that will take a cohort of campus faculty through the process of obtaining QLT Certification for their online courses from the Chancellor's Office. This program will also be studying the effects of course redesign (using the QLT rubric) on students through a comprehensive program of research, both to validate the QLT rubric itself but also to identify ways we can improve training and support for campus faculty.
As always, we welcome your feedback and input.
Best,
Dr. Justin Lipp
Director, CTET