News Roundup: A path forward for faculty in higher education

This week, a blog post about the need to engage faculty to address the challenges facing higher education. A model with widespread support is to “unbundle” traditional academic roles so that faculty can focus on teaching.

A new wiki that allows students to fact-check stories they read on social media could be a valuable tool for teaching digital literacy. (ProfHacker)

Emily Sherer Stewart offers tips for teaching composition effectively, including keeping students writing frequently. (Vitae)

A free online tool for building and publishing visual novels can serve as a platform for student projects in multiple disciplines. (ProfHacker)

Unbundling traditional academic roles so faculty can concentrate on teaching is one promising workforce model with widespread support among professors, administrators, and policymakers. (Higher Education Today)

Two California State technology professionals advocate “untethering,” a process by which faculty can remotely access resources for developing digital literacy skills to enhance their teaching. (EdSurge)

Scott Hamm provides five tips for incorporating mobile apps into instruction, such as using texting for exam review. (Campus Technology)

Mentoring relationships between doctoral students and two-year college faculty can bring to light challenges like working with diverse student groups and provide opportunities to reflect on teaching. (Inside Higher Ed)

A college degree is central to economic success, Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen told University of Baltimore graduates—who are entering the strongest workforce in nearly a decade—in her commencement address. (The New York Times)

Barbara Fister suggests three open-access databases on which students and instructors can share, find, and collaborate on humanities projects. (Library Babel Fish)

Michael Bloomberg’s foundation launched an initiative encouraging colleges to substantially increase student enrollment from working-class families. (The New York Times)

Stanford University’s Tina Seelig suggests that teaching is not just about the information; instructors must build relationships with students. (Medium)

Like all creative projects, drafting and revision are essential to designing a course and planning a lesson, writes David Gooblar. (Pedagogy Unbound)

Supporting inclusivity is not enough. Instructors must also incorporate their students’ diversity and backgrounds into their teaching practices, writes Catriona Ellis. (Teaching Matters blog)

Bonni Stachowiak and Saundra McGuire, a subject matter expert on ACUE’s Course in Effective Teaching Practices, talk about teaching students how to learn on the latest episode of Teaching in Higher Ed. (Teaching in Higher Ed)