Hundreds of administrators, professors, and advocates call to
strengthen the quality of teaching and learning to restore public
confidence and quality in higher education
NEW
YORK, June 20, 2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ --
Excellent teaching from well prepared and supported professors can
address the challenges facing higher education and restore public
confidence in the quality of a college degree. This message was
delivered by hundreds of great teaching advocates convened in
Minneapolis last week at the
National Higher Education Teaching Conference '24. Celebrating its
second year, NHETC is the only gathering of administration and
faculty leaders, funders, and policymakers exclusively focused on
higher education's core purpose — great teaching and learning.
In her parting remarks, Shonda
Gibson, Senior Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic
Affairs, Chief Transformation Officer, Texas
A&M University System, reflected on the last academic
year and the ways its events have made great teaching even more
crucial, "It has been another challenging year. We have been tested
in unrivaled ways: enrollment struggles, financial stressors,
legislative restrictions, free speech challenges, increased
scrutiny from lawmakers, regulators, and the public, the ongoing
debate – Is college worth it? And AI burst on the scene. None of us
were ready for it. We're now all racing to learn what to do with
it."
"At our core – you and I know what we are doing here together —
and as we take all this knowledge and inspiration home— has
everything to do with world-changing events and has everything to
do with our ability to impact these world-changing events."
Attendees were inspired by higher ed luminaries and social
change agents, including Michael
Sorrell, Ed.D., President of Paul Quinn
College; Jonathan Rausch,
author, activist and Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institute;
Jamira Burley, Head of Youth
Engagement and Skills for the Global Business Coalition for
Education; and Yolanda Watson Spiva,
Ph.D., President of Complete College America. An engaging student
panel shared their voices on their higher ed experiences, what they
value and what they believe is great teaching. Three institutions
whose leaders are tireless advocates for teaching excellence were
honored at the conference's awards gala. 2024 "Movement Makers" are
the University of Texas System, the
Ohio Association of Community Colleges, and Palm Beach State
College.
"This was one of the best conferences I've ever attended, filled
with strategies and ideas that resonate deeply with the heart of
higher education: teaching. There were so many excellent sessions
on equitable grading, student engagement and success, online
learning, supporting non-traditional students, assessment, faculty
development, educational technology, and policy change, plus a lot
of opportunity to network with faculty and administrators from
across the country," said Shawn Orr,
Ph.D., Dean, Ashland University. "I
left motivated to 'be an architect of solutions' (thanks Dr.
Sorrell!) and to continue to deeply engage in the great teaching
movement that is sweeping across higher education."
ACUE unveiled two new resources at NHETC '24 – the ACUE Commons
and the ACUE Learning Lab. The Commons is a virtual hub where
educators trained in ACUE's Effective Practice Framework come
together for networking, knowledge sharing, and peer-to-peer
development. The Learning Lab features self-paced Quick Study
Courses designed to help professors build on their ACUE
certification. These short, asynchronous offerings deliver ACUE's
trusted learning experience with content developed in collaboration
with subject matter experts, well-defined learning objectives,
implementation videos showing best practices in action,
opportunities for self-reflection, and downloadable implementation
guides. Beta launched in January 2024
with four AI Quick Study Courses, three new Quick Study Courses
were recently added to the Learning Lab, focusing on creating a
culture of constructive conversations, developing students'
critical thinking skills, and putting media literacy at educators'
fingertips.
"The country is watching. How we return to campuses this fall
will directly impact the confidence that American's place in higher
education," said Jonathan Gyurko,
Ph.D., ACUE President and Co-founder. "NHETC is about excellence in
every college class. It is accelerating a movement to ensure that
faculty have the training and support they need, so that every
student feels welcome, heard, and appropriately challenged to learn
and grow. I applaud the leadership of NHETC's excellent teaching
champions."
About ACUE
The Association of College and University Educators' (ACUE)
mission is to ensure student success through quality instruction.
ACUE delivers the highest-quality courses, pathways, and
certifications with quick-to-implement practices that make a huge
impact on student success. ACUE Certified instructors are shown to
boost persistence and completion for students, improve faculty
confidence and engagement and help institutions meet their
strategic goals. Endorsed by the American Council on Education,
ACUE's online, cohort-based, courses are delivered through
institutional partnerships and open enrollment courses and are
higher education's only provider of nationally recognized teaching
certifications. To learn more visit acue.org.
Media Contact
Lisa Wolfe, L. Wolfe
Communications for ACUE, 1 3129538085, lwolfe@lwolfe.com,
www.acue.org
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SOURCE L. Wolfe Communications for ACUE