The Center for Excellence in Teaching and Academic Leadership offers structured learning communities that bring faculty together with the goal of providing regular opportunities to share knowledge, explore teaching practices, and engage in focused professional development within these specific areas. Faculty gain fresh perspectives, receive peer feedback, and develop supportive professional relationships with colleagues who share similar interests. Each semester, CETAL provides safe spaces for experimenting with new teaching methods while fostering expertise in AI integration, pedagogical innovation, and professional growth through peer coaching.
Pedagogy Learning Communities
Teaching with AI Book Group: More Than Words: How to Think About Writing in the Age of AI
Dates: Wednesdays (1/21, 2/4, 2/18, 3/4, 3-18)
Time: 2:00 p.m.
Location: TORW 319
Facilitated by: Sun Kim Thao, Stacy O’Brien
From the publisher: In the age of artificial intelligence, drafting an essay is as simple as typing a prompt and pressing enter. What does this mean for the art of writing? According to longtime writing teacher John Warner: not very much.
More Than Words argues that generative AI programs like ChatGPT not only can kill the student essay but should, since these assignments don’t challenge students to do the real work of writing. To Warner, writing is thinking—discovering your ideas while trying to capture them on a page—and feeling—grappling with what it fundamentally means to be human. The fact that we ask students to complete so many assignments that a machine could do is a sign that something has gone very wrong with writing instruction.
More Than Words calls for us to use AI as an opportunity to reckon with how we work with words—and how all of us should rethink our relationship with writing.
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AI Community of Practice: Applications in the Classroom
Dates: Wednesdays (1/21, 2/4, 2/18, 3/4, 3-18)
Time: 1:00 p.m.
Location: TORW 319
Facilitated by: Jon Baarsch, Stacy O’Brien, Jenny Brewer
Are you ready to move beyond the basics of Artificial Intelligence? Join your colleagues this spring for a dynamic, hands-on Community of Practice designed to take your AI skills from theoretical to tactical.
This isn’t just another lecture series; we are diving deep into the practical application of AI in the classroom. We will start by unpacking the UNESCO AI Competencies to ensure your students are learning global best practices. From there, we will “stress test” your assignments in a collaborative workshop, swapping tasks with colleagues to challenge each other on how AI completes the work—both brilliantly and badly. You will also get the inside scoop on current campus trends by reviewing exclusive data from student-led faculty interviews. Finally, because this community is about your professional growth, the last two sessions are yours to design based on the topics you need most.
Don’t teach in a silo—innovate with us!
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Community Cafe: Teaching & Learning in STEM
Dates: Wednesdays (1/14, 1/28, 2/11, 2/25, 3/11, 4/8, 4/22)
Time: 12:00 p.m.
Location: Christian Cafeteria Executive Dining Room
Facilitator: Kyle Hurley
STEM disciplines face unique challenges in the fields of teaching and learning. This year-long learning community will serve as a meeting place for anyone interested in improving, exploring, and growing as professionals. Our conversations in the spring will be responsive to community needs, covering such topics as technology use and misuse, student behavior and motivation, communication and coaching, the challenges of online teaching, and administrative challenges.
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Global Learning Research & Reading Group
Dates: Thursdays (1/22, 2/5, 2/19, 3/5, 3/19, 4/1, 4/16)
Time: 2:30 p.m.
Location: TORW 319
Facilitator: Allison Freed and Evan Faidley
Curious about what internationalization looks like in your own teaching and research? The current era of globalization calls for higher education faculty and staff to connect learning to diverse perspectives and transformative experiences. Drawing on contemporary practices in internationalizing student learning (e.g., collaborative online international learning (COIL), global shared learning experiences, and the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals), our group will meet twice a month to discuss and develop opportunities for curriculum planning and collaborative research. The first meeting of each month is dedicated to reading and discussion related to the internationalization of teaching and learning, while the second meeting is reserved for small groups to make progress on their research projects. We are happy to invite seasoned and new participants who are curious and excited about global learning!
For the 2025-2026 academic year, we plan to seek publication of our research and continue our inquiries from the fall semester. Regularly attending participants may select from any of the following research projects to complete with fellow group members: (a) developing cultural humility through simulative learning, (b) creating accessible and effective COIL assessment tools, and (c) investigating the impact of multiple COIL opportunities on intercultural competencies.
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Student Success Book Group: Mind Over Monsters: Supporting Youth Mental Health with Compassionate Challenge
Dates: Mondays (2/2, 2/16, 3/2, 3/16 )
Time: 2:00 p.m.
Location: TORW 319
Facilitator: Amy Hawkins and Jenny Brewer
Join us this spring for a faculty book group centered on Mind Over Monsters: Supporting Youth Mental Health with Compassionate Challenge by Dr. Sarah Rose Cavanagh. This book explores the powerful connections between emotion, learning, motivation, and well-being—and what those connections mean for supporting students in today’s classrooms. Through discussion and reflection, this book group will give participants space to think together about practical, research-informed ways to support student mental health. Conversations will focus on ideas faculty can apply.
Participants are encouraged (but not required) to attend the related virtual book event with Dr. Cavanagh on January 28 at 2:00 pm. Whether you join for the author talk, the book group discussions, snacks, a break in your day, or all of the above, this is an opportunity to connect with colleagues around student success, well-being, and meaningful teaching.
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Coaching Circles
New Faculty Teaching Academy (NFTA)
Dates: Tuesdays/Thursdays (1/27, 2/10, 2/24, 3/10, 3/31, 4/14)
Time: 1:40 p.m. (xperiod)
NEW LOCATION: TORW 319
Facilitators: Olivia Bundrick, Stacy Lom
This community for first-year faculty meets twice a month, in-person, throughout the academic year to provide new faculty with a strong foundation in research-based strategies for teaching and learning, key insights into UCA-specific resources and student populations, and a supportive environment for discussing and responding to the emergent needs of new faculty. Participants in the program will have opportunities to workshop syllabi and assignments. NFTA provides a laboratory of ideas and supportive feedback for any new faculty looking to establish a strong foundation in their first year at UCA.
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Early Career Coaching Circle (ECCC)
Dates: Tuesdays (1/20, 2/3, 2/17, 3/3, 3/17, 4/7)
Time: 3:00 p.m.
Location: TORW 319
Facilitators: Amy Hawkins, Rebekah Luong, Ashley Phillips
Interested in setting yourself up for success in your first few years as a UCA faculty member? ECCC is a learning community with a semi-structured discussion format for faculty in their second through fifth year at UCA. This group will meet twice a month throughout the academic year to support each other in the development of individualized plans to set and achieve goals in the areas of teaching, scholarship & creative activity, and service.
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Academic Leadership Learning Community: Strong Ground
Dates: Fridays (1/16, 2/6, 2/20, 2/27, 3/13, 4/3)
Time: 12:00 p.m.
Location: TORW 319
Facilitators: Nancy Reese & Amy Hawkins
This learning community explores topics and application exercises to hone participants’ leadership skills. This spring we are reading the book Strong Ground by Brené Brown. According to Amazon’s description, “This is a vital playbook for everyone from senior leaders developing and executing complex strategies to Gen Z-ers entering and navigating turbulent work environments. It is also an unflinching assessment of what happens when we continue to perpetuate the falsehood that performance and wholeheartedness are mutually exclusive. Brown offers a broad assessment of the skill sets and mindsets we need moving forward, including the capacity for respectful and difficult conversations, increased productive urgency and smart prioritization rather than reactivity, and strategic risk-taking, paradoxical thinking, and situational and anticipatory awareness skills. She identifies the toughest skill set as the discipline, humility, and confidence to unlearn and relearn.” Whether you are a new or experienced chair or director or interested in exploring academic leadership roles and responsibilities, this group is for you!
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