Application deadline: Thursday, May 15, 2008

The LaGuardia Center for Teaching and Learning offers a wide range of classroom-focused professional development programs for LaGuardia's full-time and part-time faculty from Academic Affairs and ACE. Some programs, such as "brown bag" discussions on teaching and learning, are open to all on a drop-in basis. Other programs are limited to those in particular programs and departments. The programs listed below, to be offered pending final funding approvals, require an application and a commitment to sustained and active participation over a period of a semester or a year.

For each program, faculty and staff leaders have put together short descriptions, linked to more detailed application materials that describe each program and its goals, identify seminar meeting dates, list related eligibility requirements, and specify the support available in terms of stipends, professional development allowances, or released-time. We encourage you to explore these materials and apply for the program (or programs) that fit your goals and interests. It is possible to apply for more than one program; in fact we encourage it. If you do so, please indicate on the application form to which other programs you are applying.

All applications are due in Room M414 by 5:00 on Thursday, May 15, 2008. If you would like to send the application electronically, please send it to Judit Török at jtorok@lagcc.cuny.edu. Please be sure also to mail a copy of the application form with your signature and the signature of your chairperson to Judit Török, Room M-414. Questions about specific programs should be directed to the contact person listed below. The application forms below are in Microsoft Word format. If you would like to receive applications in another format, contact Priscilla Stadler at x5489, or pstadler@lagcc.cuny.edu.

NEW!
Teaching the Digital City: Building Information Literacy in Urban Studies
[Academic Affairs Application] [Adult & Continuing Education Application]

What is the story of New York? And who tells that story? How do we help students explore this rich, complex and ever-changing picture? Teaching the Digital City: Building Information Literacy in Urban Studies is an intensive seminar designed to help faculty grapple with key challenges as they guide students toward a deeper understanding of NYC culture, politics, business, health and society. The seminar will guide faculty to balance different modes of learning, designing experiential and active-learning assignments that advance students’ abilities to access, evaluate, and interpret data from primary and secondary sources. This seminar will also help faculty find and assess digital resources on neighborhoods and the city that could complement trips, films and books that not only deepen students' understanding of the city, but also build their information literacy skills.
Eligibility: The program is open to full-time faculty, CLTs, and long-term part-time faculty from Academic Affairs and Adult and Continuing Education. Administrators are also welcome. A special priority will be given to faculty teaching courses that fulfill the Urban Studies requirement.

Contact: Michele Piso, x5483, or mpiso@lagcc.cuny.edu

NEW!
Connecting Students, Connecting Classrooms: ePortfolio and the Power of Engagement
[Academic Affairs Application] [Adult & Continuing Education Application]

Who are our students? What do we know about their learning? Which skills and experiences do they bring to our classrooms? How can we use ePortfolio to better understand these questions? Each year at LaGuardia, thousands of our students successfully build ePortfolios. Many ePortfolios combine broad presentations of course work with fascinating personal narratives. But all too rarely do we take advantage of this rich information source to learn about our students and what they bring to the classroom. The new Connecting Students, Connecting Classrooms: ePortfolio and the Power of Engagement seminar creates an opportunity for faculty to work together to re-consider ePortfolio, focusing on the fourth component of the College’s ePortfolio mission—Collect, Select, Reflect & Connect—using ePortfolio to improve the connection between students, faculty, and learning.
Eligibility: The program is open to full-time faculty, CLTs, and long-term part-time faculty from Academic Affairs and Adult and Continuing Education. Administrators are also welcome. The seminar will NOT focus on ePortfolio technology, so faculty applicants should already posseses a working familiarity with ePortfolio, or be willing to learn the technology outside the seminar.

Contact: Craig Kasprzak, x5493, or ckasprzak@lagcc.cuny.edu

Writing in the Disciplines (WID)
[Academic Affairs Application] - Please send your application to Marian Arkin (arkinma@lagcc.cuny.edu), Room E103, and send a duplicate copy to Judit Török, Room M414.

The Writing in the Disciplines program at LaGuardia is part of a nation-wide interdisciplinary effort that explores strategies for improving student writing and using writing as an active learning tool. A year-long faculty development seminar, WID helps full- and part-time faculty develop and test writing-intensive assignments and courses and encourage students to deposit written work in their ePortfolios. Seminars are facilitated by interdisciplinary teams of LaGuardia faculty and Writing Fellows.
Eligibility: Faculty who wish to teach capstone and/or Urban Studies courses are required to complete WID. The WID program is also open to all vocational/technical faculty (CIS, AMS, or Allied Health) and faculty teaching any course required for completion of a vocational degree. While we have a number of programs during the year open to adjuncts, this program is only open to full-time faculty. We will recruit for our adjunct program in early September.

Contact: Marian Arkin, x5680, or arkinma@lagcc.cuny.edu

NEW!
Re-Thinking the Capstone Experience
[Academic Affairs Application] 

Funded by our most recent Title V grant and building upon valuable groundwork laid by a Faculty Research Team, the Re-Thinking the Capstone Experience seminar will bring faculty together to study best practices in Capstone courses nationwide and strengthen our own Capstone courses here at LaGuardia.  Through explorations of current scholarship and engagement with functional models at other institutions, seminar participants will consider a number of critical questions, including: how integrative pedagogy can inform the Capstone experience at LaGuardia; how Capstone courses can help our students meet college-wide and professional goals; how Capstone aims differ between community- and four-year colleges; what role Capstones can and must play in institutional assessment; and the ways in which ePortfolio can help scaffold Capstone pedagogy.
Eligibility: This seminar is open to full-time faculty who have been certified in Writing in the Disciplines (WID) and who have been scheduled by their department chairs or program directors to teach a Capstone course in the Spring I 2009 semester. 

Contact: Craig Kasprzak, x5493, or ckasprzak@lagcc.cuny.edu

Focus on Learning Communities Program
[Academic Affairs Application]

LaGuardia faculty have a long tradition of excellence in building effective learning communities. This seminar builds upon that tradition, offering faculty who are teaching in a range of learning community structures (First Year Academies, ESL Pairs and Clusters, Liberal Arts Clusters) the chance to meet together with partners, learn new approaches to interdisciplinary teaching, and plan their shared courses.
Eligibility: Faculty teaching in Fall 2008 as part of Liberal Arts Clusters, First Year Academy Clusters, and ESL Pairs are eligible. At least 2 members of each team should apply to participate (full teams can also apply.)

Contact: Phyllis Van Slyck, x5660, or vanph@lagcc.cuny.edu

Carnegie Seminar on Scholarship, Teaching and Integration
[Academic Affairs application] [Adult & Continuing Education Application]

The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching has sparked a national conversation in higher education about ways to apply the tools of scholarship to the study of teaching and learning. The year-long Carnegie Seminar on Inquiry, Scholarship, and Integration offers LaGuardia faculty an introduction to the scholarship of teaching and learning and an opportunity to engage in self-directed inquiry into the nature of teaching and student learning in their own classrooms. Building upon participants’ prior pedagogical inquiries (nurtured particularly in programs such as Designed for Learning, Writing in the Disciplines or in work with Learning Communities) the seminar provides faculty with opportunities to deepen their understanding and go public with their insights, using web-based course portfolios.
Eligibility: The program is open to full-time faculty, CLTs, and long-term part-time faculty from Academic Affairs and Adult and Continuing Education. Administrators are also welcome. Preference will be given to faculty with experience in DFL, WID, CTAC, Learning Communities and other pedagogy-focused programs.

Contact: Michele Piso, x5483, or mpiso@lagcc.cuny.edu

NEW!
Faculty Scholars Publication Workshop
[Academic Affairs Application] [Adult & Continuing Education Application]

The Faculty Scholars Publication Workshop is a year-long faculty development seminar designed to assist faculty in their scholarly writing and publication. It seeks to help faculty complete current academic writing projects and place them in external, peer-reviewed publications.  The Workshop builds on the work undertaken in the Carnegie Seminar and In Transit, but is distinct in two key ways:  First, those programs focus particularly on the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL); the Workshop is pleased to include SoTL projects, but will also support traditional disciplinary scholarship. Second, where those programs often start with research and inquiry, the Workshop is primarily focused on moving existing writing projects to completion and external publication.  The Workshop will use peer critique processes to help faculty strengthen and finish projects that are already underway (i.e. dissertation chapters, recently published In Transit articles, course portfolios, and draft articles and books on a range of scholarly topics).  The Workshop will require participants to support each others’ preparations for publication through constructive criticism and exchange.

Eligibility: The program is open to full-time faculty, CLTs, and long-term part-time faculty from Academic Affairs and Adult and Continuing Education. Administrators are also welcome.

Contact: Ting Man Tsao, x5661, or ttsao@lagcc.cuny.edu

Designed for Learning (DFL): Interactive Pedagogy for New Educational Technology
[Academic Affairs Application]  [Adult & Continuing Education Application]

The year-long Designed for Learning seminar includes intensive institutes, hands-on training, classroom experimentation, and reflective discussion. The core of the seminar is faculty conversation that links pedagogy and technology, exciting possibilities and "nitty gritty" realities. Areas explored include guided inquiry with on-line resources; on-line interactivity to improve student literacy and deepen learning; student and faculty-authored multimedia presentations; the creation and effective use of course web and Blackboard sites; and an introduction to ePortfolio. The seminar is led by faculty leaders and Center staff and mobilizes faculty expertise from LaGuardia and colleges nationwide.
Eligibility: The program is open to full-time faculty, CLTs, and long-term part-time faculty from Academic Affairs and Adult and Continuing Education. Administrators are also welcome. Due to funding requirements, priority will be given to applications submitted by vocational/technical faculty (CIS, AMS, or Allied Health) and faculty teaching any course required for completion of a vocational degree.

Contact: Priscilla Stadler, x5489, pstadler@lagcc.cuny.edu

NEW!
DFL Mini-Seminar on Hybrid-Online Teaching
[Application]

This mini-seminar will explore online teaching pedagogies and offer an opportunity for faculty to redesign a traditional course for hybrid-online delivery. An online environment creates opportunities to make learning collaborative, contextual and active. Faculty will explore a range of online instructional strategies and facilitation techniques, considering which are most likely to maximize learning for different students. Topics to be covered include: hybrid-online course design, effective instruction in the online environment, communication, and online assessment. Participants examine course objectives and learning activities for the selected course and complete a conversion/redesign process.
Eligibility: The program is open to full-time faculty, CLTs, and long-term part-time faculty from Academic Affairs and Adult and Continuing Education. Administrators are also welcome. Applicants should have completed DFL or an equivalent teaching with technology seminar, or have already taught courses in an online setting.

Contact: Judit Török, x5499, or jtorok@lagcc.cuny.edu

NEW!
DFL Mini-Seminar on Web 2.0
[Application available in Fall 2008]

This mini-seminar will examine the potential of Web 2.0 for best teaching practices. Reshaping the world of digital communication, Web 2.0 technologies emphasize a more open participation, collaboration and creation of user-generated content in a constant cycle. The mini-seminar will focus on the opportunities Web 2.0 technologies offer for students as collaborative authors while they engage with course content. Participants in this mini-seminar will learn how to integrate these new technological tools, such as social networking websites, RSS feeds, podcasts, weblogs, wikis and other collaborative and interactive web-tools, including a wide variety of streaming media, into their courses. Participants will develop an activity for their students, utilizing one of the exciting new Web 2.0 technologies.
Eligibility: The program is open to full-time faculty, CLTs, and long-term part-time faculty from Academic Affairs and Adult and Continuing Education. Administrators are also welcome. Applicants should have completed DFL or an equivalent teaching with technology seminar.

Contact: Priscilla Stadler, x5489, pstadler@lagcc.cuny.edu

NEW!
The Integrated ePortfolio Mini-Grant Program
[Academic Affairs Application]

Building upon current efforts to integrate ePortfolio into the curriculum, (such as the ePortfolio in the Professions seminar), the Integrated ePortfolio Mini-Grant Program invites teams of faculty leaders to advance the process of program-wide implementation. The goal is to fully implement plans for comprehensive curricular integration, designed by the program or department and supporting student learning, professional preparation, and the program assessment process. The program offers departments and programs up to $7,500 for the 2008-9 academic year to be used to support program or department–led efforts at faculty development and curriculum integration processes that may include, but are not limited to: refining syllabi and assignments to advance the effective integration of ePortfolio; processing those changes through the curriculum committee as needed; and holding workshops or mini-seminars for program or department faculty, including adjuncts.
Eligibility: The program is open to programs and departments that have undertaken the planning process for ePortfolio integration. We recommend that faculty apply in small teams of 2-3 and that they work closely with departmental chairs and program directors to prepare their proposals.

Contact: Ros Orgel, x5448, or roslyno@lagcc.cuny.edu

CTL Programs that are not currently accepting applications

New to College: Teaching the New Student Seminar
The New Student Seminar, offered through the Counseling Department, provides first-year advisement and assistance to students in their transition to college life. The course meets one hour a week during the twelve week session, and is an essential starting point for increasing students' awareness of the kinds of critical decisions they will have to make in their first semester and in the months ahead.

Working with the Counseling Department and Academic Affairs, the Center for Teaching and Learning offers a professional development seminar for faculty interested in teaching the course. Recent participants report that the wealth of information shared in the seminar proved invaluable in working with first-year students.
Contact: Michele Piso, x5483, or mpiso@lagcc.cuny.edu

Virtual Interest Groups (VIGs)
Funded by a Title V grant, LaGuardia’s Virtual Interest Groups bring students together in online communities based on shared academic/career interests and provide a three-pronged support network for developmental advisement: from a faculty leader in the field, from a member of the Counseling, Advising, and Academic Support staff, and from one or more Student Mentors who have excelled within their respective programs.
Contact: Craig Kasprzak, x5493, or ckasprzak@lagcc.cuny.edu

In Transit: LaGuardia’s Journal on Teaching and Learning
In Transit: LaGuardia’s Journal on Teaching and Learning is committed to a community of campus scholars, one in which, as Pat Hutchings and Lee Schulman have written, "faculty frame and systematically investigate questions related to student learning — the conditions under which it occurs, what it looks like, how to deepen it...with an eye not only to improving their own classrooms, but to advancing practice beyond it." Grounded in our particular classroom contexts, In Transit’s authors raise and explore the largest questions engaging educators worldwide. In that spirit, we invite faculty to develop articles with a scholarly focus on the classroom, sharing experiences, successes, problems, and insights.

The Call for Proposals for the next issue of In Transit will be released later this spring (2008). Faculty will be invited to develop proposals for writing projects, to be pursued in the coming academic year, with the editorial support of the In Transit team and peer readers drawn from across the disciplines. Please watch for the forthcoming Call.

Oral Communication Across the Curriculum
The Oral Communication Across the Curriculum (OCXC) seminar supports the development of vital speaking and listening skills in a range of courses. Participating faculty develop strategies and test activities that help students improve communication skills and better use these skills in their academic, professional and civic endeavors. In the 2008-9 academic year, OCXC will run in the Spring semester and focus on supporting professional programs taking part in the Integrated ePortfolio Mini-Grant Program.
Contact: Ros Orgel, x5448, or roslyno@lagcc.cuny.edu

Project Quantum Leap
LaGuardia's Project Quantum Leap is in its second year, bringing faculty from mathematics and other disciplines together to adapt the nationally recognized Project SENCER approach of teaching science and higher-level mathematics in "compelling contexts" to a new setting and population: LaGuardia's high-risk urban community college students in basic skills mathematics classes.
Contact: Judit Török, x5499, or jtorok@lagcc.cuny.edu

Critical Thinking Across the Curriculum (CTAC)
The Critical Thinking Across the Curriculum program at LaGuardia is based on the assumption that thinking is a process that can be understood and improved through proper study and practice. Participating faculty explore the cognitive process and develop new classroom activities and assignments that help students develop higher order thinking, problem-solving and reasoning abilities.  CTAC is on hiatus for the 2008-9 academic year, while its leader, Prof. John Chaffee, completes a range of publication projects.
Contact: Michele Piso, x5483, or mpiso@lagcc.cuny.edu

Making Connections
Making Connections is a collaborative program for colleges and universities in the New York metropolitan area who wish to advance their understanding and use of the ePortfolio. Launched in 2007, a major FIPSE grant enables LaGuardia to provide Making Connections mini-grants and a sustained faculty seminar.
Contact: Susan Lambert, x5404, or slambert@lagcc.cuny.edu