Consultations

The TLC director offers individual and group consultations on strategies to enhance teaching and learning. For more information, contact TLC director Scott Hicks at (910) 775-4032 or scott.hicks@uncp.edu. 

Midsemester Class Check-ins

Student evaluations of instruction are helpful in understanding how students perceived a class—but because they take place at the end of the semester and are shared with faculty after final exams, they come too late to identify problems or miscommunications that otherwise could be easily corrected for the good of the class. A Midsemester Class Check-in conducted by a TLC consultant elicits students’ perceptions of your class before midterm and engages students in taking responsibility for the continued success of the class, all while maintaining student anonymity and faculty confidentiality.

Whether your class is face to face, hybrid, or online, check-in has two components: data-gathering and consultation. For a face to face class, a TLC consultant visits your class for about 20 minutes, either at the start or before the end of your class. You leave the room, and the TLC consultant leads students in a Keep/Quit/Start assessment followed by group reflection. After her or his visit, the consultant compiles the feedback into a report, assuring student anonymity. For an online class, a TLC consultant will email all class members a Qualtrics survey link active for 24 hours. The survey will solicit students’ understandings of class expectations, perceptions regarding how the class is helping them learn, advice for you as the class’s instructor, and reflections on how they can better contribute to the success of the class.

The second component, consultation, occurs at a confidential meeting between you and the TLC consultant. During your time together, your consultant will share with you the report resulting from her or his findings. Together, you will interpret student comments, identify successes and areas for improvement, and plan a course of action that makes use, as you see fit, of students’ feedback.

The purpose of this service to assist you in meeting students’ needs for deepened, enhanced, ongoing learning. The anonymity of the process makes students more comfortable sharing their feedback; the students’ feedback tells you which elements of your teaching methods are effective or could be more effective. What’s more, soliciting midsemester student feedback is valuable in helping you improve and refine your teaching because it allows you to hear your students’ successes and concerns while there is still time in the semester to make appropriate changes. Finally, all components of this process—data gathering, reporting, and consultation—remain completely confidential, for your use as you see fit.

For more information or to request a Midsemester Class Check-in for your class(es), please contact TLC director Scott Hicks at (910) 775-4032 or scott.hicks@uncp.edu. Check-ins will be scheduled on a first-come, first-served basis as consultants are available.

Certificate in Accessibility and Inclusion in Teaching and Learning

The Accessibility Resource Center and TLC are pleased to offer a Certificate in Accessibility and Inclusion in Teaching and Learning in support of the University's commitment, as a matter of mission, to inclusion and excellence in teaching and learning: “The University … serves a diverse student body and encourages inclusion and appreciation for the values of all people … [and] exists to promote excellence in teaching and learning, at the master’s and undergraduate levels, in an environment of free inquiry, interdisciplinary collaboration, and rigorous intellectual standards.” Thus, this series aims to develop the skills and competencies of UNCP faculty in the areas of accessible course design and inclusive teaching, practices that operationalize and/or enhance inclusive and excellent teaching and learning.

All EHRA employees, faculty and non-faculty, who (1) are employed fulltime or part-time, (2) have instructional responsibilities, and (3) are in good standing at UNCP are eligible to participate. Individuals interested in certification must inform the directors of the Accessibility Resource Center and Teaching & Learning Center of their desire to participate via this survey, and eligible individuals shall be admitted to the program upon approval by the directors.

Upon admission, participants must complete successfully the following activities for certification:

• Accessibility in the Classroom or The Accessibility Summer Camp
  • Accessibility in the Classroom (link) is a fully online, asynchronous, six-week course provided by NC State University and available to all UNC-system faculty and staff. The course introduces you to accessibility and offers practical methods for incorporating multiple accessibility techniques into in-person, blended, and online classrooms. Upon completion of this course, you will receive a digital certificate; please upload a copy of this certificate as documentation via the form described below.
  • The Accessibility Summer Camp (link) is a one-day, conference-style, fully virtual program based in Wichita, Kansas, and available to faculty worldwide. The conference connects professionals and educators and emphasizes best practices for accessibility and Universal Design. Please take screenshots of the sessions that you complete; please upload copies of these files as documentation via the form described below.
• A Grant for Syllabus Transformation (link), through which you redesign the syllabus of a course of your choosing that you regularly are assigned to teach. Your transformed syllabus must demonstrate understanding of principles of accessibility and inclusion through the integration of accessible and inclusive practices and methods, in alignment with UNCP’s statement (link) regarding the rights and responsibilities of people with disabilities.  

The ARC and TLC shall maintain a current schedule of all coursework and roster of certified faculty on their websites.

Participants shall provide documentation of successful completion of all requirements via this survey for review by the ARC and TLC directors. Upon their approval, participants shall be certified in Accessibility and Inclusion in Teaching and Learning. Faculty thus certified shall be recognized at the annual Faculty Awards Dinner and paid a stipend of $350 per the terms of the TLC’s Grant for Syllabus Transformation. Certification shall be valid for three years and is renewable thereafter.

For more information, please contact ARC director Vanessa Hawes at (910) 521-6695 or vanessa.hawes@uncp.edu and TLC director Scott Hicks at (910) 775-4032 or scott.hicks@uncp.edu.

Book Club

Book Club is a faculty, staff, and student learning circle of three to five participants who meet to discuss, in person and/or online, a selected book, article, or dataset chosen by the TLC consistent with its mission. A guiding principle of the learning circle is that no one is, or need be, an expert; all who take part share, listen, and reflect, connecting with colleagues from all areas of campus. Together, participants will identify, explore, develop, and apply effective and impactful pedagogies and teaching techniques and collaborate with peers to advance and cultivate enhanced pedagogies and teaching techniques.

The TLC provides readings to all participants, free of charge, and the club will meet throughout the semester in person and/or online on a schedule that works for all participants. To foster in-person connection, UNCP Dining/Sodexo will provide free coffee or tea when groups meet at Starbucks. 

For more information or to join the club, please contact TLC director Scott Hicks at (910) 775-4032 or scott.hicks@uncp.edu.