ETLE 2025
Annual Excellence in Teaching & Learning Event
The Coulter Faculty Commons (CFC) invites our campus community to join us for two days of celebrating teaching and learning at WCU.
For this year’s event, we are pleased to have “the present professor,” Liz Norell, PhD, Associate Director of Instructional Support at the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL) at the University of Mississippi, as an invited speaker.
Dr. Norell will facilitate a pre-ETLE workshop in addition to delivering a keynote and workshop highlighting her latest book The Present Professor – Authenticity and Transformational Teaching.
About Liz Norell, PhD
Dr. Liz Norell serves as Associate Director of Instructional Support in the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL) at the University of Mississippi. She has spent more than 20 years teaching in higher education, including stints in composition, journalism, new media, and political science. She completed a PhD in political science at the University of Texas Dallas, along with master’s degrees in journalism from the University of Arkansas and library science from Texas Woman’s University.
Liz’s first book, The Present Professor – Authenticity and Transformational Teaching, is published in the University of Oklahoma Press’s brand-new series, Teaching, Engaging, and Thriving in Higher Ed, co-edited by James Lang and Michelle Miller. The book is aimed at educators who know they want to create meaningful relationships with students but aren’t quite sure how to do that in authentic ways. Liz is passionate about effective teaching and meaningful learning, constructive conversations across differences, and boosting awareness of disability in higher education. You can find Liz on social media (@liznorell) and at her website, liznorell.com.
Session Descriptions
Dr. Norell will facilitate a pre-ETLE workshop in addition to delivering a keynote and workshop highlighting her latest book, The Present Professor – Authenticity and Transformational Teaching.
Pre-ETLE Workshop
Thursday, September 11
3:00 – 4:30 pm
When and Why do Students Read for Class?
Drawing from preliminary findings from a spring 2025 pilot project, this workshop will share the biggest reasons students say they choose to skip the readings for their undergraduate courses. Liz then reviews strategies on how to make the goals of course readings more transparent and meaningful for students. This session includes opportunities for attendees to engage directly with the concepts discussed, with time for Q&A. Attendees will leave knowing how to frame the importance of assigned readings so students can engage with course materials more effectively.
Coffee & Connections
Friday, September 12
8:30 – 8:45 am
Opening Remarks – Chancellor Kelli R. Brown
Friday, September 12
8:45 – 8:55 am
Keynote
Friday, September 12
9:00 – 10:15 am
Authenticity and Presence in Turbulent Times
When the world feels uncertain, authenticity and presence are among the hardest things for humans to embody. As innately social creatures, we have a primal need to belong and to feel psychologically safe. Uncertainty and change exert unconscious pressure for us to change how we interact with the world. In this keynote, Liz Norell will invite us to think about what authenticity and presence mean for each of us in our work at Western Carolina University – and how the current environment might be affecting how we show up for our students and colleagues at work. Grounded in multidisciplinary research and experience, this keynote will focus on creating psychological safety and vulnerability in a context that rarely prioritizes either.
Workshop
Friday, September 12
10:30 am – noon
Tools for Cultivating Authenticity in the Classroom
This experiential workshop will invite participants to engage in some of the reflective exercises and practices in Liz Norell’s book, The Present Professor – Authenticity and Transformational Teaching. We’ll focus on how each practice supports instructor presence and authenticity in the classroom. Participants will leave this session with ideas to build purpose, joy, and relationships into their teaching practices.