Shauntae Brown White, Ph.D., ACUE-credentialed associate professor in the Department of Mass Communication at North Carolina Central University, cultivates a supportive and inclusive learning environment for her students—in the physical and virtual classrooms.

North Carolina Central University’s (NCCU) Professor Shauntae Brown White, Ph.D., is passionate about intentionally cultivating a classroom environment in which her students can thrive—and where maintaining a focus on mastering course objectives is a key ingredient to success.

It’s this focus, she said, that made the transition to a virtual classroom during the COVID-19 pandemic relatively simple.

“A well-designed class is going to be well-designed whether it’s face-to-face or online,” White said, emphasizing that clear learning outcomes and assignments eased the transition for her and her students.

For White, helping her students master course objectives during the coronavirus crisis also involved keeping their well-being in mind. Seeing several of her students struggling with anxiety, she considered how to make virtual learning as simple as possible—while simultaneously ensuring that her students could master the course content.

“My approach is really to look at what my learning objectives are and what is the bottom line,” White said. “For everything else—I decided, we don’t have to do this.”

White recently earned the University of North Carolina Board of Governors’ Award for Excellence in Teaching. One of 17 honorees in 2020, White was recognized for being an outstanding faculty member making extraordinary contributions in the University of North Carolina System.

Fostering a Collaborative Class Culture

As an instructor who prioritizes student success, White carefully considers how to foster an environment most conducive to collaborative learning and critical thinking. Creating meaningful connections and discussing relevant issues also plays a key role in her courses.

“I try to look for ways that students can see real-world connections,” White said.

As a professor at a historically black college and university (HBCU), she is considering how to discuss recent events in the Black Lives Matter movement with her students during the fall semester—notably how to guide her Media Law students to think critically about protesting. “Within the last fourteen days, we’ve seen real-world connection as it relates to first-amendment rights.”

For her, this is all part of a strong classroom culture where learning is meaningful and where no one is fearful of sharing what they bring to the table—a culture she starts building on day one.

“[Students] get more out of it when they are engaged—and engaged with other learners,” White said.

At the beginning of the semester, she has her students participate in a jigsaw method activity with their syllabus. She has found that this method, which she learned through ACUE, successfully encourages interaction with other students. And throughout last semester, White continued to employ five to six minute team-building activities during her classes. Although it takes time, she finds that this is a necessary component of shaping students.

“Some professors might say ‘that’s five or six minutes that I can’t afford to waste.’ But I think it really makes an impact on creating a culture that is safe for learning,” White said. “It creates an environment where they feel comfortable talking and sharing with each other and receiving criticism.”

The evidence-based practices recommended in ACUE courses allowed Brown to build on her 20 years of experience in the classroom. “I gained language and theory, or reasoning, behind some of the things that I already do…to have even more structured class discussions,” White said.

White restructured elements of her courses, revised several PowerPoint presentations, and started segmenting each class into several shorter lectures interspersed with discussions.

Additionally, she began helping her students emphasize major ideas connected with powerful images—and found that it helped speed up class time while also helping students grasp core concepts.

“I tend to find that students don’t know how to take notes,” White said. “So I really liked that…they’re not writing 50 words [but rather] 10 words.” This, along with the “admission ticket” technique helped White’s students finish each class with a major takeaway or question to consider.

White now serves as an instructional trainer for NCCU’s Office of Faculty and Professional Development. Already, she’s had an opportunity to conduct workshops on her syllabus activity.

On her ACUE experience, White called it really “awesome” adding “no matter if you’re seasoned or if you’re a novice, I think everybody can benefit.”

Dear colleagues,

We teach because we believe in the power of education to transform lives. But the events of the past week leave us doubtful. The barriers of racial, economic, political, and medical inequality feel nearly insurmountable, the challenges too great.

Yet as educators we also know, perhaps better than most, that transformation is possible. We live this positive change together with our students, as they learn and discover and go on to lead fulfilling, contributing lives. These are the hopeful stories which we have the honor to help write.

Thank you for the work you do every day. We know how challenging it is and will be in the coming months. Thank you for the opportunity to support this work. ACUE is dedicated to developing the inclusive and respectful classes that every student needs to learn, and that model the communities and country in which we seek to live. We’re so proud of the work ACUE-credentialed faculty do to support students and promote equity.

We are committed to supporting our partners, faculty and students in finding a better way forward, together.

Susan Cates, Chief Executive Officer

Jonathan Gyurko, President and Co-Founder

Penny MacCormack, Chief Academic Officer

Salt Lake Community College (SLCC) faculty support students through demonstrating their own vulnerability and humanness.

When Emmanuel Santa-Martinez and Dalia Salloum started the academic year at Salt Lake Community College (SLCC) as first-year, full-time professors, they had no clue what would await them come spring semester. As concerns over COVID-19 caused colleges and universities around the globe to transition to virtual learning, educators had to rethink their framework.

ACUE-credentialed biology professor Melissa Hardy and her colleagues had a week to determine the best way to adapt the coursework to best serve their students—with the understanding that many may need extra accommodations.

They recognized that many of their students also had job and family responsibilities. Through the COVID crisis, the SLCC faculty has committed to working with students by providing extra resources and granting extensions on projects—whatever it takes to ensure student success.

“We had students who lost jobs, some who were facing family challenges, and others who work in healthcare or retail,” Hardy said. “On top of that, they’re now having to take online classes, a new experience for many—all while some are rightfully worried about being exposed to viral infections.”

Focusing on Essential Learning Outcomes

Hardy and her colleagues opted to review their coursework and condense it down to the essential learning outcomes. They tried to keep all coursework student-centered, actionable and focused. “We went learning outcome by learning outcome and developed an outline, some micro-lectures, online Canvas quizzes, worksheets and discussion boards for each module. It was really bare-bones and organized,” Hardy said.

“The modules have been really efficient. Our students don’t feel we’re teaching less. Yes, we’re missing the face-to-face, but we’re keeping the same standards and the students appreciate it,” Santa-Martinez said. 

Leveraging Open Educational Resources

The faculty at SLCC are taking advantage of open education resources (OER) like OpenStax to provide additional resources to their students during the remote transition

“I’ve been an evangelist for OpenStax for a long time. Not only is it free, but our students don’t have to create a login and give their information to some big corporation to access it,” Hardy said. “The movement toward OERs is really a social justice movement—it’s inclusive, equitable and accessible. A lot of the commercial textbook companies are providing similar services in the short-term, but this is OpenStax’s mission.”

The flexibility OpenStax provides is especially valuable to non-traditional students. “I have one student who told me she likes OpenStax because she has the option to study on her phone during her work breaks. The material is straight to the point, provides great images, and it’s easy for me to incorporate specific sections and attributions right into my lectures,” Santa-Martinez said.

Building Human Connections

Salloum is amazed at the resiliency she’s seen in her students. “I have one student who is a nurse and her schedule went crazy with COVID. I called to check in on her and she’s in tears,” Salloum said. “However, a couple of weeks in, she’s back on our classroom discussion boards helping other students. It’s really nice to see they didn’t just throw their hands up in the air.”

Hardy said this ability to recognize the humanity piece of education is something she took away from her ACUE course. “I try to show students we’re all human. We’re not just talking heads—we’re real people with real challenges. Showing vulnerability to my students is important and builds a connection that shows we’re all in this together.”

Salloum, who along with Santa-Martinez, is in process of finishing ACUE’s course in Effective Teaching Practices, reflected on a portion of an effective teaching module that focused on helping students persist in their studies. “It was so nice to see a course focused on college teaching has a module on encouraging your students,” she said. “When I tell my students that I believe in them, they really do respond. And I’m seeing it with higher retention rates and better outcomes.”

“Through it all, the last semester has been a time for Santa-Martinez to reflect. “This experience has taught me that it’s okay to be vulnerable. We’re all human and our students see that. And having our whole team pursuing the same goal is inspiring and motivating—we’re all pushing our students to succeed.”

Melissa Hardy, PhD is an ACUE-credentialed assistant professor of biology at Salt Lake Community College.

At the time this piece was published, Emmanuel Santa-Martinez, PhD, assistant professor of biology and Dalia Salloum, PhD, instructor of biology were completing their ACUE Certification in Effective College Instruction.

Resilient Faculty Series

We’re highlighting the extraordinary leadership of educators from every region in the country, to honor and celebrate the amazing work of #ResilientFaculty. We want to hear from you! Send in your stories on social media with the hashtag #ResilientFaculty or tag @ACUE_HQ. You can also email us at [email protected]. Or, directly contact a member of the ACUE team.

This spring semester, the precalculus team in the math department at Cal State LA drew on their expertise and a powerful combination of partnerships to help students to excel, even in uncertain times. The school has worked with ACUE for several years to equip educators with effective teaching practices. And, Cal State LA uses Open Education Resources (OERs) like OpenStax to reach more students.

For decades, issues around equity gaps in higher education have challenged top educators across the world. Many believe there is no single event that has shone a spotlight on equity issues more clearly than COVID-19.

The spring 2020 semester will likely go down as a unique and especially difficult semester for students and staff alike on post-secondary campuses across the nation, as the rapid spread of COVID-19 halted in-person learning and launched instructors into the fully online world of remote teaching.

The Power of Partnership

Thankfully, at universities such as Cal State LA, a powerful combination of partnerships has allowed their students and faculty to excel, even in uncertain times.

For years, Cal State LA has been recognized for its commitment to innovative teaching and student success. The school has worked for several years to equip educators with effective teaching practices through ACUE and to reach more students with Open Education Resources (OERs) like OpenStax, Canvas and Rover—all of which have proved to be invaluable as the math faculty transitioned to remote learning.

“OER is very helpful when the resources are meticulously prepared—didactically, pedagogically and scientifically,” says ACUE-credentialed professor Hichem Hajaiej.

Checking in on Students

The timing of California’s shelter-in-place order came just one week before Cal State LA’s second common midterms. Hajaiej, who also serves as coordinator for precalculus courses, remembered how his supervisor at the High School of Pedagogy of Lausanne, a famous Swiss pedagogist, had shared that “a good coordinator must always opt for the best solution for his students and instructors, even if this requires extra work for him.”

This thinking led Hajaiej to survey his students to discover how the pandemic would impact their ability to learn.

“It turned out that some students can only connect at night, others were working to survive, and some needed to take care of their families,” he says. “I did take into account all these kinds of problems that any student may encounter and made sure to offer a solution that was fair and practical. I work a lot on equity and inclusiveness, and this was a good opportunity for me to put it into practice.”

Adjusting for Change

From the first day of sheltering in place, the course coordination team, Hajaiej and his assistant Sharon Hung, reviewed all the midterms of precalculus and adjusted the exam accordingly to account for changes in instruction. Hajaiej worked with OpenStax to use its Rover online homework platform on the implementation of the midterm on the platform. Though it wasn’t a quick or easy adjustment, implementing midterms for students on a platform in such a short time wouldn’t have been possible without the prior OER foundation and the existing collaboration between him and OpenStax.

“The successful transition of online instruction in precalculus is also the fruit of a teamwork: The support of Cal State LA’s dean of undergraduate studies was exceptional, the Center for Effective Teaching and Learning (CETL) offered many online courses to prepare instructors, and the Smart Start for Student Success program trained PLUS students to run virtual tutoring sessions in record time,” Hajaiej adds.

Sharon Hung, ACUE-credentialed adjunct math lecturer at Cal State LA and precalculus course specialist, agrees.

“The readings are available online, and they can be accessed anytime and anywhere. It gives students easy access and saves them hundreds of dollars,” she says. Though Hung shares that the transition to fully remote teaching has been a challenge for her and her students—both missing the in-person interactions that make learning so valuable—she notes that using Canvas, Zoom and Rover has allowed her to hold interactive virtual meetings, maintain office hours and accept and return written work during the rest of the semester.

Bao Ngoc Ngo, an ACUE-credentialed math lecturer at Cal State LA for six years, credits the partnership of the CETL, precalculus coordinator and Rover team with coordinating the shift to remote teaching: “When COVID-19 forced remote instruction, I have not struggled as much as I thought I would. Besides receiving endless support from the Center for Effective Teaching and Learning, our department’s precalculus coordination team works hard to coordinate the courses to make my teaching easier than before.”

Student Impact

Seeing the data back up their assumptions has been incredible. For instance, the pass rate of Hajaiej’s two precalculus classes for the second midterm was over 90 percent.

“The number of thank-yous I got from my students after I finished my first online lecture was incredible. I was so touched by all their nice messages. I felt that they did not want me to stop lecturing. I really missed them a lot,” he says. “Teaching is my oxygen, helping students is the air I breathe. In precalculus, I have also taken into the equation of students’ success the psychological and emotional aspects. In this extreme transition period, I felt that I needed to do more to help students overcome this new challenge. I definitely prepared them well for the reprise.”

“It was important to keep them updated right after the shelter-in-place order was announced and to give them a detailed account of the next steps and the extra help that Smart Start was offering. I sent individualized emails to all my students to check on them. I also sent the struggling and borderline ones their tailored action plan with some OER links that can help, and I tripled my office hours during the first week of reprise,” he continues. “I surveyed my students about their familiarity with Zoom. I prepared a video for those who did not feel comfortable with this tool and had a one-on-one virtual meeting with them. I also tried to keep them engaged by scavenger hunting. The participation was exceptional and there was excellent interaction between my students. The historic pass rates are tangible proof of our big success in this challenging transition.”

The Association of College and University Educators (ACUE) and the National Association of System Heads (NASH) are pleased to announce a new collaboration that will deliver unprecedented support to faculty, strengthen their command of evidence-based teaching practices, and in doing so, help many more students succeed succeed in college and beyond. Over 1,500 faculty at four prominent public systems of higher education will have the opportunity to develop proven approaches relevant to both in-person and online teaching, to the benefit of nearly 300,000 students. The initiative is made possible through 2.4M dollars in generous support from the Charles Koch Foundation.

ACUE, NASH, and the Foundation came together around a shared vision that recognizes the singular importance of faculty members in a college student’s life. ACUE courses in effective teaching practices for in-person and online instruction have been embraced by thousands of faculty and hundreds of institutions nationwide; efficacy studies show that students learn more—more equitably with their peers—when taught by ACUE-credentialed faculty. NASH also has a proven track record of leading major national initiatives, through its member systems, to improve student achievement and equity. In recognition of ACUE and NASH’s unique capabilities, the Foundation has provided the necessary resources to scale this proven work and meet the needs of faculty. This support is particularly relevant during this unprecedented time of change across all of higher education.

“ACUE is thrilled to partner with NASH and the Charles Koch Foundation to launch an initiative that will benefit faculty and hundreds of thousands of students across the country,” said Susan Cates, ACUE’s CEO. “The collaboration could not come at a more important time to support the public university systems that are such a powerful force in the economic and civic life of the country. Our missions are strongly aligned, as we share a core conviction in the importance of faculty and effective instruction.”

“We know quality learning experiences lead to better and more equitable outcomes for students,” said Rebecca Martin, executive director of NASH. “We are grateful for this collaboration’s alignment on the importance of supporting faculty to deliver quality instruction including ACUE’s expertise in pedagogically-sound, evidence-based teaching practices and the Charles Koch Foundation’s support of innovative educational programs that lead to student success.”

The four initial systems selected to participate in this initiative are the California State University System, the City University of New York, The Texas A&M University System, and the University System of Missouri. More information about this initiative can be found here and at this Q&A document.

More information about this collaboration can be found here and at this Q&A.

About ACUE: The Association of College and University Educators (ACUE) is on a mission to ensure student success through quality instruction. In partnership with colleges, universities, higher education systems and associations, ACUE prepares and credentials faculty in the evidence-based teaching practices that improve student achievement and close equity gaps. Numerous and independently validated efficacy studies confirm that students are more engaged, learn more, and complete courses in greater numbers—more equitably with their peers—when taught by ACUE-credentialed faculty. ACUE’s online, cohort-based credentialing programs are delivered through institutional partnerships and open enrollment courses endorsed by the American Council on Education. To learn more, visit acue.org.

About Charles Koch Foundation: For four decades, Charles Koch’s philanthropy has inspired bold new ideas to help people improve their lives. Inspired by a recognition that free people are capable of extraordinary things, the Charles Koch Foundation supports research, educational programs, and dialogue to advance an understanding of how people can best live together in peace, prosperity and challenge convention. The Charles Koch Foundation provides grants to support a wide range of inquiry including criminal justice and policing reform, free speech and open inquiry, foreign policy, economic opportunity, and innovation. To learn more visit charleskochfoundation.org.

About NASH: The National Association of System Heads (NASH) is the association of the chief executives of 40 colleges and university systems of public higher education in the United States. Formed in 1979 for the purpose of seeking improvement in the organization and governance of public higher education systems, NASH serves as a forum for the exchange of views and information among its members and on leveraging the power of systems to advance innovation and change in public higher education. To learn more, visit: nashonline.org

Viviana Pezzullo, graduate teaching assistant and PhD candidate at Florida Atlantic University, relies on simplicity and human connection to reach her students during the transition to virtual instruction.

Viviana Pezzullo, a graduate teaching assistant at Florida Atlantic University (FAU), started the spring 2020 semester excited for the opportunity to teach an Introduction to World Literature course.

“Teaching literature is what I really love,” says Pezzullo. “It’s what I want to do at the end of this, after all.”

When Pezzullo, who grew up in Italy, studied in France, and worked in Poland, decided to pursue her PhD in Comparative Studies, she made the journey to Florida. FAU’s approach to teaching and learning, which includes providing graduate students the ability to teach and giving instructors the ability to try new approaches and techniques, appealed to Pezzullo, who hopes to pursue a career in education. “I wanted the pedological experience, and I knew that teaching as a graduate student would help my growth as an educator,” she explains.

Little did she realize that so soon into her teaching career, a pandemic would force her to rethink what she knew about instruction. While one of the language courses she was teaching was already online, she had to switch her Intro to World Literature course to an online model.

“My first instinct was to figure out how to maintain that same level of energy I have in that face-to-face class,” she says. “I have a very active group of students who, like me, were sad to not be in the classroom environment anymore. During the move to virtual learning, I tried to keep things as simple as possible, recognizing this transition was hard for them, too.”

Pezzullo, an ACUE-credentialed instructor, looked for ways to apply what she’s learned in her effective teaching practices course into her virtual classroom—starting with checking in with her students and asking them for feedback on how to adjust assignments in the most effective way.

“I decided to reach out to all my students in a survey to let me know by name how they are doing, where they are, if they have their own computer or if they have to share with a family member, if they are still working — practical questions like that,” Pezzullo explains. “I wanted to be able to personally reach out to my students who are struggling.”

One student, for example, responded to say she was having a hard time and was worried about completing the work since she has difficulty with reading. Pezzullo decided to record herself reading the text and sent the recording to that student to make the transition less stressful.

There were other tools Pezzullo tried to pull out from her ACUE “toolkit” as well. For instance, since classroom participation made up a significant percentage of her students’ grades, she had to rethink how they could receive credit for virtual participation, implementing both video and written discussion.

“I developed a checklist that also serves as a rubric to share with my students that shows what they need to do to earn their participation grade—including engaging in comments through videos and providing thoughtful responses to other students,” she says.

Additionally, she created bi-weekly video announcements that communicate upcoming deadlines, answer questions she regularly receives through emails, and recognize students who have provided helpful contributions to the class’ virtual discussions. Pezzullo has found providing audio feedback while grading students’ textual analysis has been helpful in not only saving her time but also giving her the opportunity to offer her students actionable pieces of advice to address specific areas in her grading rubric.

“I think the most common mistake people make when trying to transition to online teaching is to try to replicate what they would do in the classroom, and that’s just not possible,” Pezzullo says. “So I did all I could do to simplify my assignments and instruction, while also trying to incorporate some of the activities my students enjoyed in class.”

Viviana Pezzullo is an ACUE-credentialed graduate teaching assistant in the Department of Languages, Linguistics and Comparative Literature and a PhD Candidate in Comparative Studies at Florida Atlantic University.

Together with Active Minds, we are pleased to announce a new resource designed to help college and university faculty support student wellbeing and mental health. Creating a Culture of Caring, released April 9, provides practical approaches that faculty members can implement in the everyday.