Academy aims for top-notch teaching

Reading the UW Teaching Academy’s to-do list for improving teaching on campus might leave you breathless.

Hold summer institute for top teachers. Organize “boot camp” for large-lecture teachers. Help unify emeritus faculty and get them more involved. Create teaching Web sites. Pick Brotman Award winners. Hold back-to-school workshops for new and experienced faculty.

“The pace is building,” said Loveday Conquest, director of academy and School of Fisheries professor.

It’s an energy coming from both the the 1-year-old academy and other faculty members who want to tap into the fledgling group’s resources and programs.

“There are hundreds of professors that, if given the chance, want to be better in the classroom,” said George Bridges, associate dean for undergraduate education and sociology professor, who helped envision the academy. At this point, “the demand exceeds the capacity.”

President Richard L. McCormick started the academy last year at the request of faculty who wanted to pull top teaching talent on campus together to invigorate, inspire and help all faculty become better teachers.

The academy’s membership includes the 100 faculty members who have won the Distinguished Teaching Award. They’re a talent base to draw from, though all academy activities are open to all faculty, Conquest said.

Later this month, a five-day conference at Fort Worden State Park near Port Townsend will bring the true purpose of the academy to life.

Invited to the first Institute for Teaching Excellence is a group of teachers, including some department heads, referred to as “the best of the best.” Their goal is to talk about what makes good teaching, and then each will revamp, rebuild or rejuvenate one course. Most want to know how to better blend technology and writing.

“They’re already good teachers and they want to improve,” Conquest said. “Some are so senior that you might think they wouldn’t want to do something like this, and yet they’re very excited about trying new approaches.”

The institute is expected to become an annual event, and eventually it may be held twice a year to get more faculty involved. This year only 24 spaces were available for the 62 faculty who applied.

The academy’s other plans include establishing a set of teaching Web sites for all faculty to swap ideas and a “boot camp” for large-lecture teachers to share tips and tricks on keeping students aware and involved.

Emeritus faculty also have approached the academy, wanting to be a vital part of its activities.

But the academy hasn’t spent the whole year just planning. In fact one of its biggest tasks was to select the three units deserving of the UW’s first Brotman Awards. President McCormick approved and named the winners.

Named after UW Regent Jeffrey Brotman and his wife, Susan, the award recognizes collaboration within and among departments, programs and groups to improve the quality of undergraduate education.

This year’s three winners are the Community and Environmental Program and the geography and computer science and engineering departments. Each unit gets $15,000 in unrestricted funds.

The award is one of the first in the country to reward faculty for working together Conquest learned at a conference this spring.

Conquest said more colleges and universities need to encourage cooperation and collaboration among groups to get the work done with the often limited dollars available.

“Teaching is no longer an isolated act,” she said. “And the Teaching Academy is helping to make it community property.” ¶

Molly O’Connor