Announcement/Events

Submitted by: Jennifer Brewer, jbrewer1@uca.edu on 01/07/2026

CETAL’s Spring Programming Is Here!

Spring semester is officially in motion, and CETAL is rolling out a lineup of faculty learning experiences designed to fuel your teaching, spark new ideas, and build community across campus. Whether you want to explore new tools, strengthen your instructional practice, or connect with colleagues across disciplines, this spring lineup is built to meet you where you are—with strategies and conversations you can use right away.

Here’s what’s happening this spring:

• Coaching Circles – guided, small-group support
  • New Faculty Teaching Academy
  • Early Career Coaching Circle
  • Academic Leadership Learning Community: Strong Ground

• Faculty Learning Communities – collaborative, semester-long learning cohorts
  • Community Cafe: Teaching & Learning in STEM
  • Global Learning Research & Reading Group

• Book Groups – shared reading, thoughtful discussion, and community connection
  • Teaching with AI Book Group: More Than Words: How to Think About Writing in the Age of AI
  • Student Success Book Group: Mind Over Monsters: Supporting Youth Mental Health with Compassionate Challenge

• Bear Bites Learning Lunches – bite-sized professional development over lunch
  • Creating Cultures of Thinking in the Classroom
  • Expanding Worldviews Through Our Curricula: Experiences with and Ideas for Intercultural Instruction
  • Making the Core Rubric Work for You: Practical Strategies for Assessing Student Presentations
  • Exploring Some Specs of Specification Grading
  • First-Day Scavenger Hunt: Kickstarting Engagement

• Bear Necessities – informative, faculty learning with a caffeine kick (We have snacks and coffee!)
  • Exploring Some Specs of Specification Grading

• NEW! AI Community of Practice – explore generative AI with curiosity, creativity, and practical classroom applications

🔗 Explore the CETAL website for more details about our spring programming!

If you’re a longtime CETAL participant—welcome back. You know we aim for programming that respects your time and delivers ideas that matter. If you’re new to CETAL programming (or just haven’t jumped in yet), consider this your invitation: CETAL programming isn’t a closed club—it’s the place to get strategies, community, and professional development that gives you tools.

🔗 Registration is open now!

Come for the tools. Stay for the people. Leave with ideas that strengthen your teaching. 💜🐻

 

Submitted by: Jennifer Brewer, jbrewer1@uca.edu on 01/05/2026

UCA faculty and staff—get ready for a session that actually gets it.

CETAL is excited to invite you to a virtual book talk with Dr. Sarah Rose Cavanagh—psychologist, educator, and author of Mind Over Monsters: Supporting Youth Mental Health with Compassionate Challenge on:

• Wednesday, January 28
• 2:00–3:00 pm
• Zoom

Dr. Cavanagh’s work explores how emotion, motivation, learning, and resilience shape student success—with an emphasis on strategies that are meaningful, evidence-based, and sustainable for faculty.

If you’ve been part of the Faculty for Successful Students initiative, think of this as a power-up hour full of the insight-filled moments that connect the dots between student challenges and real classroom support.

And if you haven’t been part of the Faculty for Successful Students series, this is still a can’t-miss hour. Why? Because supporting student mental health isn’t a niche teaching topic—it’s part of every classroom, advising conversation, email exchange, and moment when a student is trying to succeed while carrying invisible challenges. You’ll walk away with research-backed strategies that help students thrive without draining your own bandwidth, plus language for talking about motivation, emotions, and resilience in ways that feel natural—not scripted.

This session is designed to:

• Deliver practical, research-grounded ideas you can use right away
• Offer perspective from someone who understands teaching from the inside
• Give you a well-earned intellectual breather from grading, inbox triage, and the eternal “just one more thing…”

And because great conversations deserve to continue: CETAL will also host a spring semester book group centered on Mind Over Monsters for those who want to keep the momentum going with colleagues across campus.

🔗 Register for the virtual book event

🔗 Register for the spring book group

All faculty welcome! Join us on January 28. Bring your curiosity. Leave with ideas worth sharing.

See you there, UCA!

Center for Excellence in Teaching and Academic Leadership (CETAL)
University of Central Arkansas

 

Submitted by: Jennifer Brewer, jbrewer1@uca.edu on 01/05/2026

The University of Central Arkansas’ Center for Excellence in Teaching and Academic Leadership (CETAL) is thrilled to announce the promotion of Vicki Parish to Assistant Director of CETAL.

In this expanded leadership role, Vicki will continue advancing CETAL’s mission to support teaching excellence, foster innovative academic leadership, and champion faculty success across all course modalities. Her dedication to faculty development, collaborative partnerships, and student-centered learning initiatives has made a lasting impact on our campus community.

Vicki brings experience, leadership, and a passion for empowering instructors at every stage of their teaching journey. This promotion reflects not only her outstanding contributions, but also CETAL’s continued commitment to strengthening faculty support, academic innovation, and institutional belonging.

Please join up in congratulating Vicki on this well-deserved achievement. We are excited for the vision, leadership, and momentum she will bring to CETAL’s next chapter.

Center for Excellence in Teaching and Academic Leadership (CETAL)
University of Central Arkansas