St. Cloud State University

Core Component 3B:
The organization values and supports effective teaching.

The mission of St. Cloud State University includes a strong commitment to excellence in teaching. From the time it opened its doors as a normal school preparing teachers, teaching and learning have been the primary attributes of the university and the hallmark of its mission. According to an Alumni Survey (available in the Resource Room) conducted in 2003, 88 percent of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that they received an excellent education at St. Cloud State University.

Performance Evaluation and Productivity

The professional development and evaluation of faculty is vital to maintaining quality teaching at an institution of higher education. A focus on continuing improvement in teaching, scholarship, and service to the university and community is an expectation at St. Cloud State University and must be a primary goal of every faculty member. The established professional development and evaluation process is intended to mentor faculty and provide a mechanism to improve teaching effectiveness and evaluate achievements in order to make personnel recommendations and decisions. This process clearly focuses on effective teaching and calls for documentation of teaching performance in promotion, tenure, and retention documents.

As college and university assessment activities progress, teaching effectiveness is increasingly being defined in terms of the development of learning goals and the measurement of student learning outcomes. This is supported by Articles 22 and 25 of the Bargaining Agreement which requires that teaching goals be aligned with the goals at the program, college, and institutional levels as part of the performance evaluation process. This is also supported by the alignment of assessment goals and improvement efforts across all levels of the organization. Furthermore, as a culture of assessment and accountability continues to develop and these beliefs and practices permeate the learning environment, changes and improvement will occur.

Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning

St. Cloud State University has developed a Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL) that sustains a dynamic and energized teaching and learning community on our campus. The CETL is modeled after the Center for Teaching and Learning, a system-wide resource for faculty development in the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU) System. The MnSCU center serves faculty by offering a variety of programs including leadership development, instructional development, and sharing of best practices in teaching. The mission of the campus CETL is to foster and support a culture of collaborative intellectual inquiry and academic excellence and opportunity. It is organized around the premise that academic excellence is contingent on the commitment, drive, and vitality of both students and faculty.

CETL - Faculty and Staff Development

CETL draws on the expertise of St. Cloud State University faculty and staff to provide the university community with a variety of programs ranging from one-on-one consulting and mentoring to workshops and seminars to improve teaching effectiveness. The center creates opportunities for probationary, tenured, fixed-term, and adjunct faculty to discuss issues, network, and learn from trusted colleagues. Additionally, CETL sponsors campus visits by national experts on issues and ideas of interest and importance to St. Cloud State University faculty, staff, and students. CETL strives to promote a culture of inquiry and empowered critical engagement by providing opportunities for the university community to explore and debate issues central to excellence in teaching and learning, and to the professoriate. Examples of professional opportunities for faculty include the following:

• Faculty Workshop Days, Faculty Forum Day, and University Convocation: In-house faculty conferences and workshops on teaching and learning that take place on days when there are no classes or when classes have been cancelled in order for faculty to focus on professional development.
• Stone Soup: Informal discussions about teaching over lunch. Faculty members gather each Friday during the academic year for lively discussions about teaching and professional life.
• Faculty Consultation: CETL is committed to providing opportunities for all St. Cloud State University faculty members to experience individualized, confidential consulting that supports teaching effectiveness and enhanced student learning.
• New Faculty Series: New faculty have an opportunity to come together for opportunities for mentoring and networking four times per semester.
• Book Talks: Reading and discussion of current scholarship on teaching, learning, and professional life in academe. Book Talks are scheduled each month and led by St. Cloud State University faculty. Books are purchased by the CETL and provided to participants prior to the scheduled Book Talk.
• Conferences: The CETL also organizes and sponsors conferences related to effective teaching, assessment, and scholarship.
• Perspectives on Teaching and Scholarship: CETL offers a series of workshops and talks on a variety of issues pertaining to faculty life and labor.

St. Cloud State University is proud of the strong participation rates of faculty in professional development activities. Data from the 2005 Higher Education Research Institute (HERI) Survey indicated that approximately 87% of faculty participated in a faculty development program during the academic year. (Report available in Resource Room)

CETL – Service Learning

CETL, in collaboration with the University's Service Learning Coordinator and Volunteer Connections, also initiated a grant program for faculty who wish to redesign courses to include service learning, a pedagogy that brings theory and practice together, allowing students to use and reinforce acquired knowledge while working for the good of their communities. During 2005-2006, CETL awarded ten grants whereby faculty received a three-credit reassignment to work on course revisions and connections with the communities.

The University also offers the Miller Teacher Scholar Awards. Designed to honor faculty for teaching and citizenship, the Miller Teacher Scholar Awards recognize faculty who have made outstanding contributions to the university and community through teaching and service. Each award recipient receives funds of $2,000 – $2,500 for professional development as well as a plaque, and recipients are honored at a luncheon during Fall Convocation. This award signifies the university’s recognition of the time and effort involved in meaningful and effective teaching and service.

Colleges also engage in professional development activities for faculty and staff specific to their professional field including symposiums, brown bag lunches, speaker series, seminars, and retreats.

Technology in Teaching

Over the past decade, faculty members have made tremendous progress in using technology to enhance their teaching. To illustrate the growth, during Spring Semester 2001, 66 faculty members used an online course management system (Web CT) in 79 courses. According to the fiscal year 2006 Annual Report of Learning Resources and Technology Services (LRTS), approximately 350 faculty used Desire 2 Learn (D2L) to support their teaching effectiveness in over 1000 course sections.

Technology Training for Faculty

Technology training for faculty has also been a high priority for St. Cloud State University with active participation by faculty. In fiscal year 2006, Information Media Services (IMS), under the auspices of LRTS, offered more than 270 workshops/technology instruction sessions with more than 1800 participants. Training and workshops are designed to provide faculty with the skills necessary to utilize the technology resources available at St. Cloud State University and to effectively use technology in their teaching. Ongoing training and instruction is available and ranges from instruction in the use of software and databases to web design and development, as well as use of technology in instructional and or curriculum design. During faculty workshop days, IMS and CETL collaborate to provide workshops and panel discussions for faculty on matters pertaining to instructional technologies and pedagogies in a digital age.

Based on the 2005 data from the Higher Education Research Institution (HERI) (report available in Resource Room), 68.4 percent of all faculty members at St. Cloud State University placed or collected assignments using a web-based format, higher than our peer groups. In addition 16.3 percent taught courses exclusively on the Internet. According to the NSSE survey data, students are reporting that faculty members are using technology to positively impact teaching and learning effectiveness. Faculty members have also developed and used self-paced web and supplemental electronic materials to enhance teaching and learning.

Evaluation of Core Component 3B

The university values and supports effective teaching through a strong performance evaluation system, a commitment to professional development, and continued technology support for faculty. These efforts reinforce our progress toward becoming a distinctive organization and prominent among the MnSCU institutions.

Strengths: The institution values and supports effective teaching in a variety of ways that leads to enhanced student learning. The defined retention, promotion, and tenure process outlined in the collective bargaining process support the strong commitment to effective teaching. The CETL is a strong presence on our campus and well respected by faculty. Professional development and training is abundant and effectual as evidenced by the use of technology-enhanced classrooms and the numerous online learning and distance education efforts by faculty. There is a wide array of workshops and training seminars made available to faculty by various technology support centers. The support for innovative teaching practice and research-oriented activities is present at both the college and institutional level and driven by the organizational mission.

Initiatives in Progress: The institution is working to support and celebrate effective teaching by establishing a system of awards to honor our exemplary professors who excel in teaching. MnSCU is in the process of establishing system-wide awards to honor teaching and St. Cloud State University is working to align the Miller Teacher Scholar Awards with the proposed MnSCU awards.

St. Cloud State University is also working to promote service learning as an effective pedagogy at the undergraduate level. Grants to develop and implement service learning in courses are also available to faculty.

Future Challenges: There is a need to continue to develop and support innovative teaching practices to reach diverse groups of students and solicit their input regarding their academic needs. There is continued campus discussion over the priority of teaching, scholarship and research in the tenure and promotion process, as well as a call to increase overall recognition of faculty service to the university as evidenced by the extensive assessment work assumed by faculty. Dialogues have been ongoing and will continue to evolve regarding the topic of scholarship of teaching and its role in effective teaching.