Graduate Student Requests Responses for Educators’ Perceptions on Ungrading in Higher Education Study

by CFC | Apr 30, 2026 | Blog, Campus Community Connections

This is a courtesy post for WCU graduate student Ky Johnson.

Educators’ Perceptions on Ungrading in Higher Education

Hello, my name is Ky Johnson, and I am a graduate student in the School Psychology master’s program at Western Carolina University. The purpose of this survey is to explore faculty members’ feelings related to student performance, the grading process, and the controversial topic of “ungrading.” Ungrading relies on faculty providing extensive feedback on student assessments, aimed at helping the student to learn and improve, instead of providing letter grades.

You are invited to participate in a research survey exploring educators’ perspectives on ungrading in higher education. Your insights are valuable and will make a meaningful contribution to this study.

This survey is completely anonymous. You will not be asked to share identifying information, and individual results will not be shared. Participation in this survey is completely optional. This survey should take 5 – 15 minutes to complete.

To participate, you must:

Be an instructor in higher education at a public or private university.
Be 18 years of age or older

If you meet the above criteria, I kindly ask that you complete the survey using the link below:

https://qualtricsxm66k8fvwyy.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_3HMrfyiRrQNiUyW

If you have any questions about the study, please feel free to contact me at mtjohnson@wcu.edu. Thank you in advance for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

Makiyah (Ky) Johnson
Graduate Student
School Psychology Program
Western Carolina University

Congrats to this year’s BOG, CDTA, and ISA winners!

by Anabel Livengood | Apr 29, 2026 | Blog, Campus Community Connections, Teaching Award

We can finally spill the tea with you!

The winners of the UNC Board of Governors Excellence in Teaching Award (BOG), the Chancellor’s Distinguished Teaching Award (CDTA), and the Innovative Scholarship Award (ISA) were announced at this year’s Faculty and Staff Excellence Awards Ceremony on April 28.

While Chancellor Brown and Provost Starnes handed out many more awards (congrats to everyone who got honored), these three awards are coordinated by the Coulter Faculty Commons, and we want to take the opportunity to give a special shoutout to both the finalists and winners.

UNC Board of Governors Excellence in Teaching Award

Finalists: Brian Byrd, Kim Hall, Yang Zhang

We congratulate Dr. Brian Byrd, professor in the Environmental Health Sciences program, this year’s recipient of the UNC Board of Governors Excellence in Teaching Award. Throughout his eighteen years at WCU, Dr. Byrd has consistently demonstrated an unwavering commitment to teaching, scholarship, and service.

His efforts have empowered numerous cohorts of students to discover their life purposes, acquire employable skills, pursue graduate degrees, and contribute positively to our region and state. Likely due to his own academic journey, Dr. Byrd is highly motivated to provide students with opportunities to help them succeed. His support is clearly appreciated and is reflected in letters of support from his former students. Dr. Byrd encourages students to explore with curiosity, trust their creativity, collaborate globally, and present their work at academic conferences. In fact, he actually had his interview for the BOG award virtually because he was with students presenting at a professional conference.

Dr. Byrd’s passion, dedication, and commitment to making a positive difference align perfectly with the values this award celebrates.

Chancellor’s Distinguished Teaching Award

Finalists: Sarah Jackson, Emily Naser-Hall, Jenna Powers

Congratulations to Dr. Emily Naser-Hall, Assistant Professor of Film and Media Studies and Graduate Program Director in the Department of English Studies, who was selected as this year’s recipient of the Chancellor’s Distinguished Teaching Award.

Dr. Naser-Hall is recognized for her engaging, inclusive, and student-centered teaching. Student feedback consistently highlights her ability to foster a supportive and dynamic classroom environment where individuals feel respected, encouraged to participate, and challenged to think critically. Her interactive approach incorporates discussion, humor, and active learning, and helps sustain student engagement and deepen understanding, even when course material is complex.

The committee was particularly impressed by her intentional and reflective approach to teaching. She meaningfully incorporates student feedback into course design, adapts materials to enhance learning, and employs evidence-based pedagogical practices such as scaffolding and active learning. Her teaching encourages students to explore the cultural and political dimensions of film and media, while fostering empathy by treating students as active collaborators in the learning process. Dr. Naser-Hall’s use of “productive confusion” to stimulate curiosity and intellectual engagement further reflects her thoughtful and innovative approach to teaching.

Taken together, these qualities exemplify the spirit of the Chancellor’s Distinguished Teaching Award, and committee members agreed that Dr. Naser-Hall is highly deserving of this recognition.

Innovative Scholarship Award

Finalists: Chad Hallyburton, Beth Harmer, Mindy Weathers & Meghan Gangel

We congratulate Dr. Beth Harmer as the recipient of the 2026 Innovative Scholarship Award. Dr. Harmer’s research exemplifies the best of engaged, community-centered scholarship.

Her work directly addresses two of the most pressing challenges facing Western North Carolina: the opioid epidemic and critical workforce shortages in behavioral health services. At the heart of her efforts is Project AWE (Addiction Workforce Education), a learning initiative housed at WCU that trains peer support specialists and future certified alcohol and drug counselors to strengthen substance use recovery services across the region. Her Scholarship of Application stands as a model for how faculty research can translate directly into improved outcomes for the people of Western North Carolina.

Thank you!

While the CFC coordinates the process for the selection of these three awards, we would like to extend our sincere thanks to the dedicated work of the 2025-26 committees:

UNC Board of Governors Excellence in Teaching Award committee:

Alvin Malesky (chair), Channa De Silva (last year’s winner and next year’s committee chair), Hannah Buala, Joy Bowers-Campbell, Ethan Cheng, Isaiah Feken, James Hogan, Luke Manget, Minu Thomas, and Paul Yanik. CFC ex-officio member: Anabel Livengood. 

Chancellor’s Distinguished Teaching Award committee:

Faculty members included Andy Hansen (chair), Sean Mulholland, Lisen Roberts, Minu Thomas, Mona Torabi, and Ike Webster. Student members included Zachary Curfiss, Destina Erdem, Bipana Bohori, Morgan Harshaw, Mason Parlier, and Henrietta Sackey. CFC ex-officio member: April Tallant.

Innovative Scholarship Award committee:

Francine Sheppard (chair), Kia Alimohammadirokni, Georgia Ennis, Kloo Hansen, Steve Kniss, Kofi Lomotey, Lori Oxford, Joe Sun, Elisabeth Wallace. CFC ex-officio member: Scott Seagle.

Guidance from Provost Starnes on New UNC System Syllabus Regulation

by Anabel Livengood | Apr 24, 2026 | Blog, Teaching and Learning, University Support

Provost Starnes provided an update on the UNC System Regulation on Publication of Academic Calendars, Grading Policies, and Related Materials in his April 2026 Academic Affairs Newsletter:

Syllabus Regulation

The UNC System recently updated a regulation to define a syllabus and establish a requirement to make syllabi publicly available. In partnership with members of Faculty Senate and the Division of IT, the Office of the Provost has been working to establish what implementation will look like for WCU. An FAQ page is being prepared which will help faculty quickly get up to speed on the requirements. This page will go live in the coming days, and further details will be released over the summer. For now, here is an overview.

There is a template for faculty to use to prepare syllabi that meet the requirements. (See below)
Additional details that have been part of the syllabus in the past (like access to support services, class policies, etc.) should be shifted to a separate (or multiple) document(s) to be distributed to students through Canvas or other means. These documents can be titled as faculty see fit. Suggestions include class resources, course expectations, additional course information, etc.
This policy goes into effect for Fall 2026. (Summer 2026 courses are not impacted by the regulation.)
For Fall 2026 courses, syllabi will need to be uploaded to a publicly accessible repository no later than one week prior to the start of classes (Aug. 10, 2026).
The mechanism for uploading syllabi is in development, but it will be a simple process through myWCU and look similar to the menus faculty are used to seeing for obtaining class rosters or reporting grades.

Screenshot of syllabus template effective fall 2026

You can download the editable word document of the syllabus template (Version: 4.20.2026).

Update on Digital Accessibility Deadline

by Anabel Livengood | Apr 24, 2026 | Accessibility, Blog

In case you missed it, please read the following update on Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) from Provost Starnes’ Academic Affairs Newsletter – April 2026:

Illustration of an array of electronics, including a desktop computer, laptop, tabloid, and smart phone.

Image by Diego Velázquez from Pixabay

Digital Accessibility

The ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) Title II digital accessibility requirements include additional components related to how we create, publish, and maintain digital content such as course materials, social media, websites, and other communications. While these requirements were originally set to be enforced beginning April 24, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice has issued an Interim Final Rule delaying enforcement of the digital accessibility rule by one year. This means that public entities serving populations of 50,000 (which includes institutions like WCU, as part of the UNC System) will now be required to comply by April 24, 2027.

Even with this delay, WCU is continuing to move forward with accessibility efforts because accessible content supports our students, employees, and community and helps ensure everyone can fully participate in all aspects of the university. Building accessibility into digital content from the outset reduces the need for later remediation and helps ensure content is usable by the widest possible audience from the start. WCU is offering resources to support this work, including guidance aligned with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), which are internationally recognized standards for accessible digital content. Our learning management system, Canvas, also includes tools that can help address accessibility. Please visit digitalaccessibility.wcu.edu for additional information and watch for future updates.

“Bringing Myself to Class”: What Students Tell Us About Presence and Learning

by Scott Seagle | Apr 23, 2026 | Blog, Teaching & Learning Tip

May’s Teaching & Learning Tip

By Scott Seagle

One of the favorite aspects of my job is conducting Teaching Analysis Polls at the midpoint of the semester. A couple of weeks ago, in response to “What are you doing to help your learning in this course?” a student reported simply “bringing myself to class.” I guess it’s easy to read this as passive, just showing up. But research suggests something far more intentional may be at work.

Coulter Faculty Commons' Teaching & Learning Tip

Student engagement scholars describe learning as encompassing three interlocking dimensions: behavioral, cognitive, and emotional. Engaged students are not just absorbing content; they try to make meaning of what they are studying by putting in intellectual effort and working through challenging ideas. Engaged learners care about the subject, feel motivated or excited to learn, and take ownership of their own learning (Barkley & Major, 2020, p. 6). When a student consciously decides to bring themselves to class, their full attention, curiosity, and personal stake, they are doing exactly this. They are making a deliberate psychological investment rather than merely occupying a seat. Student engagement occurs when students make a psychological investment in learning: they try hard to learn what school offers, taking pride not simply in earning the formal indicators of success like grades, but in understanding the material and incorporating it into their lives. That kind of intentional presence, chosen rather than required, may be one of the most powerful things a student can bring to a classroom.

While “bringing oneself to class” is a good first step students can take, we as instructors can help create a learning environment that fosters engaged learning. A positive classroom climate characterized in part by strong, trust-based relationships helps facilitate a sense of belonging among students, which improves learning, development, and wellness, especially for those who are at higher risk for poorer outcomes. Research on student identity in the classroom reinforces this: when students have opportunities to integrate their multiple identity dimensions and feel whole as a result of bringing their full selves to their learning and growing experiences, this inclusion and validation is foundational to cultivating belonging, agency, and purpose. In practical terms, this means that a student’s ability to “bring themselves” is not solely a matter of individual motivation; it’s also a response to whether they feel seen, valued, and safe enough to show up fully. Instructors who build in moments for connection, invite students’ prior knowledge and lived experience into discussions, and signal that the whole person is welcome (not just the note-taking, test-taking self), actively create the conditions in which that kind of engaged presence can take root.

Barkley, E. F., & Major, C. H. (2020). Student engagement techniques: A handbook for college faculty (2nd ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Ferlazzo, L. (2025, February 13). Student identity is complex. Here’s how to honor it (opinion). Education Week. https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/opinion-student-identity-is-complex-heres-how-to-honor-it/2024/08