On the heels of a successful spring rollout, the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities (CSCU) system and ACUE presented their work to the state’s Board of Regents for Higher Education last week.
ACUE and the CSCU system partnered this year to prepare and credential faculty across four CSCU campuses: Eastern Connecticut State University, Housatonic Community College, Naugatuck Valley Community College, and Southern Connecticut State University. At Thursday’s meeting, Jane McBride Gates, Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs of CSCU, and Penny MacCormack, Chief Academic Officer of ACUE, shared the results and provided their vision for how stronger instruction system-wide can help more students succeed.
Faculty who participated in the program improved their ability to implement a range of evidence-based practices across the course’s 25 modules. They reported that the content was relevant to their teaching and said they would recommend the course to other faculty. Students also noticed a positive difference in their learning experience.
“We know from decades of research that evidence-based teaching practices improve retention and graduation rates and narrow achievement gaps,” Gates said. “After seeing the results and hearing the enthusiastic response from educators this spring, we believe this has the potential to deliver unprecedented support to our faculty and be a key driver of improved student outcomes for the entire system.”
Attendees also got to hear directly from a faculty member who completed the course and one of her students. In videos, Housatonic Community College Professor Laura Turiano and Loretta Lloyd-Ebron explained how the class “came alive” with the implementation of a teaching technique that Turiano learned in ACUE’s course. Watch the videos below and read our earlier blog post on Housatonic here.
Video: Professor Laura Turiano on how the “jigsaw technique” increased student engagement
Video: Loretta Lloyd-Ebron describes her experience in Professor Turiano’s class
Faculty and students weren’t the only ones who had a positive experience. Campus leaders celebrated the accomplishments of their faculty through news releases and media coverage.
“I believe that the quality of teaching across CSCU’s campuses is the core of our work for preparing more of Connecticut’s citizens to thrive in the state’s global economy,” said Matt Fleury, Chairman of the Board of Regents for Higher Education. “Investments that support faculty and students are critical to our mission, and we are encouraged to see that our partnership with ACUE is already improving the teaching and learning experience.”
“It is an honor to present to Connecticut’s Board of Regents for Higher Education and share the exciting results from this past semester,” said MacCormack. “The passion and commitment that these educators show for their students is inspiring, and we look forward to continuing this work next semester.”
