Ithaca College

Continuing this year, the Center for Faculty Excellence is offering an excellence institute in inclusive course design. The Early Career Excellence Institute (ECEI) is a yearlong opportunity. Participants work in faculty learning communities to problem solve, design, and reflect on significant and equitable course changes. This is a chance for faculty across campus to build substantive interdisciplinary relationships across campus regarding pedagogical intention and access in student learning.

Please join your colleagues for the ECEI, a year of focused inquiry. This opportunity begins with a full group Institute orientation, Tuesday, January 16, 2018, 8:30 am-1:00 pm, in Gannett 319.

With the focus on inclusive course design, we can support 15 participants. While all faculty can apply, preference will be given to early career faculty. It is financially incentivized in recognition of the extra work that is involved. See further information and testimonials below. Detailed information and the full application (due to the CFE, cfe@ithaca.edu, Tuesday, January 2) can be found on the Center for Faculty Excellence website homepage.

ECEI Description

The Early Career Excellence Institute (ECEI) is a yearlong faculty learning community created with early career faculty in mind. It is an opportunity to work alongside your peers while conceptualizing a new class or carefully examining an ongoing class for inclusive teaching and learning. Perhaps you have identified a particular challenge to students, have difficulty in teaching a large class, or teaching a particular unit etc. The ECEI will help you with course alignment as you refine learning objectives, student assessment, assignments, and teaching activities to assure better student learning outcomes within an inclusive and equitable environment.

Faculty Experiences

"The Early Career Excellence Institute was a fantastic opportunity! I learned how to design and implement a course in ways that can deeply benefit students and teachers alike. Some of the techniques I learned were so helpful that I use them every week in class! I feel like this is an especially helpful opportunity for new faculty who are committed to developing the craft of teaching and learning from students."

“I found the Early Career Excellence Institute’s meetings around the theme ‘Significant Learning’ to be very inspiring and engaging. I benefitted a lot from attending these meetings as it allowed me to learn ‘with’ my colleagues ‘what‘ significance learning is and ‘how’ to create an environment that would be enriching for students and instructors alike. Under the guidance of Judith and Wade we took part in various group or individual discussions where we brainstormed and discussed various approaches in designing coursework and assignments, creating classroom activities and discussion questions that impacted learning. Those who wanted to focus on certain aspects of teaching such as experiential exercises or reflective analysis got together in small groups to further develop their curriculum in those areas. I would recommend the ECEI to all junior faculty!”

“Participating in the Early Career Excellence Institute was a wonderful experience. I was able to deepen my understanding of pedagogical methods and clarify my priorities related to teaching while connecting with faculty members from across the college.” 

“How do we create valuable learning experiences for our students?  I learned how to answer that question during the Early Career Excellence Institute.  In this program, I met wonderful and dedicated teachers and teacher educators, had many opportunities to interact with others throughout the semester, and received copious resources.  These experiences have impacted my teaching in powerful ways.”

“The ECEI was a life saver and really opened my eyes to SOTL.  The institute provides focused training on course design, student engagement, and addressing students needs in your classroom.  The information sessions help to unpack problems and focus on possible solutions through group brainstorming.  The follow-up and small groups sessions really hold you accountable and help you introduce change in your classroom.”