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UNC System Equality Policy

by | Aug 19, 2025 | Blog, Faculty Development Workshop, Professional Development, Teaching and Learning, University Support

UNC System Equality Policy: Overview and Its Application to Faculty and Instructional Staff

The University of North Carolina System has adopted a revised policy on equality that emphasizes academic freedom, equal opportunity, and institutional neutrality. The Coulter Faculty Commons is hosting two separate information sessions with Shea Browning and Heather Baker from the Legal Counsel team. They will provide an overview of the policy and practical implications for faculty as well as staff who have a teaching role at WCU. Attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions and engage in discussion to better understand how these changes impact their roles and responsibilities.

We are offering the following two sessions, one designed for faculty and one for instructional staff.

Faculty

 

Tuesday, September 9, 2:00-3:15 pm
Location: Hunter Library Flex Room (1st Floor)

Staff (SHRA and EHRA-non-faculty) who serve as the instructor of record for a course

Tuesday, September 9, 3:30-4:45 pm
Location: Hunter Library Flex Room (1st Floor)

Register for Equality Policy Session

Biltmore Park Day – September 2

by | Aug 5, 2025 | Biltmore Park, Blog, Event, Faculty Development Workshop, Teaching and Learning

Join us for a whole day of workshops in Biltmore Park

The Coulter Faculty Commons is heading to Asheville! We’re excited to host a Biltmore Park Day featuring four hands-on, practical workshops designed to support your teaching, wherever you’re based.

These workshops are open to any instructor who teaches at Biltmore Park, as well as main campus or online instructors who live nearby and would like to participate.

Join us for any or all of the following sessions on Tuesday, September 2, 2025:

Workshop 1: 9:00 – 10:00 am | BP 330

Teaching Philosophy Make & Take

It’s common for instructors to find it difficult to clearly express their teaching philosophy, even after years in the classroom. In this hands-on session, you’ll explore your core teaching beliefs, narrow them down to 3–5 guiding priorities, and learn how to express them in a clear, authentic narrative. Whether you’re preparing a statement for promotion and tenure or simply want to reconnect with your teaching purpose, you’ll leave with a strong draft and next steps. 

Workshop 2: 10:30 – 11:30 am | BP 330

Active Learning for In-Person Classes

Looking to energize your classroom? Explore simple, research-backed strategies to get students thinking, talking, and engaging. You’ll leave with ready-to-use ideas and a renewed sense of what’s possible face-to-face.

Workshop 3: 1:00 – 1:45 pm | BP 330

Grading in Canvas: SpeedGrader, Rubrics & Feedback Tools 

Simplify your grading workflow while maximizing feedback quality. Learn how to use SpeedGrader, apply rubrics, record video comments, and manage your gradebook with ease. 

Workshop 4: 2:00 – 2:45 pm | BP 330

Communication in Canvas: Be Present, Be Heard 

Stay connected with your students with built-in Canvas features. We’ll show you how to use announcements, feedback tools, the syllabus feature, and discussions to build an engaging and communicative course environment. 

Come connect with colleagues, learn something new, and let the CFC come to you!
Register for Biltmore Park Sessions

Join us for ETLE 2025!

by | Aug 4, 2025 | Blog, Event, Faculty Development Workshop, Pedagogy, Professional Development, Teaching and Learning

ETLE 2025: A Celebration of Excellence in Teaching and Learning

The Coulter Faculty Commons invites the WCU campus community to join us for our annual Excellence in Teaching & Learning Event (ETLE) – a two-day celebration of innovative and impactful teaching practices.

ETLE 2025 will feature a dynamic lineup of workshops, presentations, and opportunities to connect with colleagues who care deeply about student success. This year, we are especially thrilled to welcome Dr. Liz Norell – widely known as The Present Professor – as our invited speaker. Dr. Norell serves as the Associate Director of Instructional Support at the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL) at the University of Mississippi.

Flyer for the Excellence in Teaching and Learning Event 2025, including information about the speaking times and titles

In addition to delivering the ETLE keynote and a featured workshop, based on her recent book, The Present Professor – Authenticity and Transformational Teaching, Dr. Norell will lead a special pre-ETLE workshop entitled “When and Why do Students Read for Class?”

Her work centers on the power of showing up fully – with honesty, heart, and presence – in the classroom and beyond.

Whether you’re looking for fresh inspiration or eager to share your own experiences,
ETLE 2025 is for you!

Explore session descriptions and register now on the ETLE 2025 website.

We Recommend: A Psalm for the Wild-Built

by | Aug 1, 2025 | Blog, We Recommend

One Book Celebrates Lifelong Learning

August 2025

Recommended by Josh Rakower, Undergraduate Experience Librarian

This year’s One Book; A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers is a cozy sci-fi novella about a monk and a robot on the fictional world of Panga. The two explore and connect with nature, discuss the nature of life, what it means to be human, and what people truly need. The book starts with the main character Sibling Dex leaving their comfortable life in the city to live in the countryside and pursue a new career as a tea monk. In this fictional world a tea monk is sort of a bartender/ therapist who chats with folks about their problems while serving them tea; a role where Sibling Dex doesn’t immediately excel but eventually becomes adept. I think that the themes of leaving one’s longtime home to move to a rural place, learning to succeed even at things you initially struggle with, and of course being a lifelong learner will resonate with most of us in the WCU community.

Book cover of "A psalm for the wild-built" by Becky Chambers.

Chambers, B. (2021). A psalm for the wild-built (First ed.). Tordotcom, a Tom Doherty Associates Book. 

To access the full collection of teaching-related recommendations, visit CFC’s We Recommend.

New to WCU? Start Strong with These Two Faculty Programs

by | Aug 1, 2025 | Blog, Faculty Development Workshop, Learning Community, Teaching and Learning

Start your WCU Journey with Momentum

Starting a new faculty or teaching position can be both exciting and overwhelming, but you don’t have to navigate it alone. Whether you’re looking to sharpen your teaching practice, build connections, or chart a path toward tenure, two programs offered through the Coulter Faculty Commons (CFC) are designed to support you from year one.

🌱 Faculty Forward

Faculty Forward is a supportive program designed specifically for early-career faculty who want to build a strong foundation in teaching. Faculty Forward is open to faculty and instructors in years 1-3 at WCU.

Through a series of interactive sessions during your first semester, you’ll explore effective, evidence-based strategies to create engaging learning environments, foster student success, and grow your teaching confidence. You’ll also connect with peers from across campus who are on a similar journey – because good teaching doesn’t happen in isolation.

Facilitators:

  • Alesia Jennings, PhD – Chemistry Instructor, CFC Faculty Fellow
  • Anabel Livengood, PhD – CFC Senior Educational Developer

Fall 2025 Meeting Dates
Thursdays | 11:00 am – 12:15 pm

  • August 28
  • September 18
  • October 9
  • November 6
Sign up for Faculty Forward!

🤝 Faculty Mentoring

The Faculty Mentoring Learning Community is a year-long program that empowers new tenure-track faculty to thrive across all areas of academic life.

Rooted in an evidence-based learning community model, the FMLC offers an inclusive, interdisciplinary space where experienced faculty mentors guide you through collaborative growth and goal setting. You’ll explore essential topics like:

  • Promotion and tenure

  • Engaged and effective teaching

  • Scholarly and creative development

  • Work-life integration

  • Building successful mentoring relationships

Each cohort’s experience is tailored to their specific needs, making the learning community both personal and practical.

Facilitators:

  • Resa Chandler, PhD, Associate Professor, CFC Faculty Fellow for Mentoring
  • Derek Becker, PhD, Associate Professor

Fall 2025 Meeting Dates
Mondays | 3:30 – 5:15 pm

  • September 8 (2-hour meeting)
  • September 29
  • October 27
  • November 17
  • December 1
Apply for Faculty Mentoring!