The Center for Advancing Faculty Excellence (CAFE) uses a colleague-to-colleague model to promote excellence and innovation in teaching and learning. Through one-time and multi-part workshops, professional development events, and special opportunities, we help faculty network with others in collegial settings to develop strategies that promote student success and cross-disciplinary understanding. CAFE is a resource that serves and supports all faculty (part-time, term, tenure track) on all five UAA campuses.

Learn More about CAFE

UPCOMING EVENTS:

Public Policy Debate

Wednesday, September 28, 2016 from 7:00-9:00 PM, LIB 307

Dr. Kyle HamptonDr. Kyle Hampton, Economics -- Photo from Seawolf Debate

Each fall, CAFE's Difficult Dialogues initiative partners with Seawolf Debate to offer a public policy debate.  Many faculty members encourage students to attend.  This event is free, open to the public, and draws a large audience.  The evening begins with a debate presented by members of the Seawolf Debate Program, followed by discussion with a panel of faculty respondents.  This time the resolution is: Investing in the University of Alaska is better for Alaska's future than investing in a gas pipeline.  

Need more information?  Contact Libby Roderick, CAFE's Associate Director, at eroderick@alaska.edu or 786-4605.

Students in Crisis or Transition: Determining the Right Choice for Student Support: Lunch & Learn

Friday, September 16, 2016 from 11:30-1:00 PM, LIB 302A

Faculty are among the first at UAA to note when a student has a problem. Not surprisingly, difficulties range from needing academic support to challenging mental health issues. In this session faculty will explore options for referring students to resources, as well ways to identify and manage disruptive student behavior in class. Learn more about options for student support, the student code of conduct, and how to make best use of resources available via student affairs to ensure a productive academic experience for all.

REGISTER


What You Should Know Before Submitting Faculty Development and Research Travel Grants
Friday, September 16, 2016 from 1:30-2:30 PM, LIB 302A

REGISTER

What You Should Know Before Submitting a Sabbatical Application

Friday, September 16, 2016 from 2:30-3:30 PM, LIB 302A

REGISTER

 

Teaching

  • Teaching Tips
    Monthly Teaching Tips
  • Difficult Dialogues
    Difficult Dialogues is a national program designed to promote and protect academic freedom and religious, cultural, and political pluralism on university campuses. Originally launched by two UAA/APU Ford Foundation grants, this project equips UAA faculty with the skills, knowledge and support to proactively and effectively introduce controversial topics into the classroom and, where necessary, field unanticipated controversy that arises.
  • SoTL/Making Learning Visible
    SoTL is scholarly inquiry into student learning which advances the practice of teaching by making research findings public and open to critique and evaluation. The intent is to create a community of “scholarly teachers” who add to the body of knowledge about teaching and learning as well as benefiting from the SoTL research of others. Check out UAA's version of SoTL - Making Learning Visible.
  • Team-Based Learning TBL
    Team-Based Learning™ (TBL) is a highly interactive, results-based educational strategy developed in the business school environment which has spread to other academic disciplines over the last decade. TBL can be used in classes as large as 200 and as small as 12. It transforms instruction into active learning and promotes the development of professional competencies in interpersonal skills, teamwork and peer feedback.  

Career Support

Teaching Tip

Strategies for holding "office hours" 

The benefits of "outside of class communication" (OOC) are well documented. Faculty/student interactions positively influence student learning and student persistence (Halawah, 2006; Kuh &Hu, 2001; Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005). The online newsletter Faculty Focus recommends several strategies for improving office hours: 1) Schedule office hours at times that are convenient for you AND your students. 2) Solicit student input to determine their best times by circulating a calendar and asking them to initial days/times that don't work for them. 3) Use tools like Doodle or an online scheduling tool like YouCanBook.Me. 4) Make yourself available in alternate locations like a Google Hangout or a table near a campus coffee stand. For more suggestions, check out the February 18, 2015, issue of Faculty Focus. We'd love to hear about your creative strategies for increasing "outside of class communication" (OOC) with students.

Center for Advancing Faculty Excellence
907-786-4644
uaa_cafe@uaa.alaska.edu