We reaffirm our commitment to and pride in the exceptional teaching and careful assessment in the College of Arts and Sciences and its three divisions. Our faculty have always embraced the privilege and responsibility of educating our students with the utmost care, and the Quality Teaching Initiative (QTI) is a testament to their experience, knowledge and dedication.听

Since the launch of QTI three years ago, college units have made substantial progress in advancing their own and others鈥� capacities to enact more transparent, scholarly, equitable and developmental teaching evaluation practices. This work has occurred by improving how we collect and analyze multiple measures of teaching through:

  • peer review, such as the work of the Program in Writing and Rhetoric鈥檚 Universal Observation protocols, the Department of History鈥檚 Peer Course Evaluation and mentoring efforts, or the Department of Mathematics鈥� Course Portfolio Guidelines and rubrics听
  • student voice, such as the Department of Integrative Physiology鈥檚 work on mid-term evaluation and letters, or the Department of Linguistics鈥� work with student focus groups听听
  • self reflection, such as the Department of Sociology鈥檚 Guide for Reflecting on Teaching and five-minute reflections, or the Department of Geography's Self Evaluation Guide.

These sorts of novel approaches for data collection and review are then integrated into overall rubrics and definitions of merit and excellence. The integrated rubrics of the Residential Academic Programs, the Departments of Physics, and German and Slavic Literature and Languages all provide quality examples of how such work might be done.听听

These materials鈥攁vailable at the听CTL site听and associated听resources听of the QTI, such as the听鈥攕howcase the impressive work to advance our educational practices.听

We eagerly anticipate the completion of plans by all college units, which are encouraged to use consultants and听谤别蝉辞耻谤肠别蝉听that offer valuable suggestions and sample rubrics.听

Daryl Maeda, Interim Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences听

John-Michael Rivera, Dean of Arts and Humanities听

Irene Blair, Dean of Natural Sciences听

Sarah Jackson, Dean of Social Sciences听

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