What We Do
The Center for Teaching Excellence (CTE) at Baker College is committed to supporting and promoting effective teaching and learning across the Baker College community. This is accomplished in various ways, such as our role in onboarding and training new faculty through our First Year Faculty Experience (FYFE) Orientation and Quality Teaching and Learning Professional Development, as well as establishing a continuous improvement and growth mindset through our coaching and Faculty Growth and Evaluation Process (FGEP). The CTE also provides faculty with pedagogical support, professional development opportunities, and the necessary information and tools to be successful while teaching in all disciplines and in the various modalities (On-Ground, Online, and OnlineLive) offered at Baker College. The Baker College CTE’s goal is to foster an intellectual community of faculty devoted to improving their teaching practices and increasing student learning.
Support Process
The mission of Baker College is to provide an inclusive, innovative, and transformative educational experience which allows students to positively impact their lives and the world around them. The Baker College Learning Model provides a structure for teaching and learning opportunities for students and faculty.
The Baker College Learning Model is a foundational document that communicates the philosophical approaches and support structures the College adheres to. The Learning Model also provides instructors with details on the Learning Structures that impact students’ achievement in the most positive ways. The Learning Model is rooted in research conducted by Chickering and Gamston (2006), and their published work in the American Association of Higher Education on the 7 Principles of Good Practices in Education.
First Year Faculty Experience (FYFE)
The FYFE Orientation is a three-week training and orientation that prepares faculty to enter into the classroom, in any delivery mode, and be successful by:
- Highlighting important information for them to start their course, and lesson-plan for the first two modules of their first course.
- Giving insight into how to find information regarding Canvas, BC teaching requirements and expectations, etc.
- Providing a foundation for BC’s teaching expectations, our LMS (Canvas), and tools to get them started in their first course.
FYFE (New Faculty Onboarding) provides an introduction and familiarizes new faculty with the following:
- Baker College Culture
- Policies and Procedures
- General Operations
- Faculty Expectations
- Canvas Functionality
- Lesson-Planning
- Program/Delivery-Mode Specific Information
Quality Teaching and Learning (QTL)
Baker College’s Quality Teaching and Learning (QTL) Professional Development focuses on expanding faculty’s dedication to growth and continuous improvement. This is accomplished by engaging in a 2-to-3 hour long asynchronous professional development specific to topics related to assessment, curriculum, and instruction, as well as academic initiatives and best practices for leveraging technology in the classroom.
Faculty Growth and Evaluation Process (FGEP)
The Faculty Growth and Evaluation Process is an evidence-based process focused on helping faculty identify their strengths regarding teaching and student engagement, as well as their opportunities for continuous improvement in the following four categories: Planning & Preparation, Professional Expertise, Learning Environment, and Learning Facilitation.
To learn more about the four categories, see the following resources:
A central activity to the FGEP is an observation of the faculty member’s teaching by a faculty developer (and possibly the program director), followed by a conversation to review the findings from the observation to discuss strengths and opportunities for improvement. The FGE process consists of self-assessment, faculty developer feedback consisting of the above-mentioned categories surrounding teaching and learning (determination of exceeding, meeting, partially meeting, or not evident using the FGE assessment rubric), as well as opportunities for professional growth plans (PGP).
Professional Growth Plan (PGP)
The goal of the faculty Professional Growth Plan (PGP) is to provide the opportunity for growth and continuous improvement in the areas of quality teaching and learning. The PGP will provide a planning process, with set goals (both short-term and long-term), that identify both professional development needs and teaching objectives. Your PGP is a changing document, since needs and goals will almost certainly evolve over the year(s). The aim is to set clearly defined goals with objectives and expected outcomes. Then, to help you reach those goals, your PGP will help you create an approach for building upon current strengths and skills over the next year while providing a plan for you to address areas where you may need further development. Both short-term and long-term goals are unique to each faculty member and are based on the rating for each domain with support and resources added by faculty developers.