OATdb Archive

2013 - 2014

PACE Center

Goal
Assist Instructors To Become More Effective Teachers
The Professional and Academic Center for Excellence (PACE) was created to promote excellence in teaching among faculty.

Objective
Effective Teaching
Instructors who consult with PACE regarding their teaching will demonstrate effective teaching strategies.


KPI
Project Based Learning (PBL)
A new PACE initiative began in 2013-2014 with specific PBL training for interested faculty.  For those faculty who participate in the training, 85% will have generated a PBL assignment for at least one of their university classes.


Result
Assignments Generated
For all those faculty members who completed the training, 100% had generated an assignment for at least one class. Several worked interdisciplinary. Others worked solo.


KPI
Teaching Effectiveness
Effective teaching will improve student perception of the instructor as indicated on the Individual Development and Educational Assessment (IDEA).  The score Excellent Teacher and Excellent Course on IDEA will increase for each individual participant in PACE by two-tenths point (e.g., from 2.25 to 2.45).


Result
Progress
 All but one PACE client increased their score on Excellent Teacher by at least .7 points or higher. The one declined by .7 points; however her previous year's score was the result of a small sample of students who completed the evaluation which questioned the reliability and validity of the scores for that semester. Overall, the indicator was met.



KPI
Consultation
The number of faculty consulters during 2012-2013 will be at least 14, a target number not reached in previous years. 


Result
Increase
Although PACE did not reach 14 consulters in 2013-2014, we did increase the previous number from 5 to 11, over 50% increase.

Action
Moving Forward
A new PBL group will be started in spring 2015.  We will, once again, target that each completed participant will have generated a PBL assignment for at least one university class.  For the IDEA ratings, we will increase the expectation from one semester to another to at least .2 point.  Although we doubled the number of clients wishing to improve IDEA ratings, we still did not reach our goal of 14 clients.  Thus, once again, our goal will remain to increase number of clients to 14.

Goal
Professional Development For SHSU Staff
The goal is to include staff in professional development.

Objective
Professional Development For SHSU Staff
SHSU staff who attend a professional development workshop will be able to name at least one strategy they plan to try.


Indicator
Workshop Evaluation
The evaluation is PACE created to determine what staff learned from the professional development workshop. 

Criterion
Professional Development
After staff attend the professional development session, 80% will be able to name at least one area of the professional development which they can implement immediately.   

Finding
HABIT Presentation
Staff Council requested that PACE present on Habits and Their Effect on Leadership at Every Level. Over 80% were able to name a habit effecting their leadership that they would want to work on.

Action
Planned Staff Development
PACE will work with Staff Council to provide relevant professional development for staff and expect that 85% of participants will find something relevant to their staff position from the presentation.


Goal
Adjunct Appreciation & Orientation
The goal is to present an effective orientation for adjunct faculty.  This will be a new event for PACE and SHSU.

Objective
Adjunct Appreciation & Orientation
Adjunct faculty attending the Adjunct Appreciation & Orientation will be able to list the SHSU resources that will be useful to them in their adjunct faculty position.

Indicator
Adjunct Appreciation & Orientation Evaluation
The evaluation requests a listing of those resources that will be helpful the participants in their adjunct position.


Criterion
Adjunct Appreciation & Orientation Evaluation Results
Participants will be able to list those resources that will be of help to them in their adjunct position.

Finding
Adjunct Appreciation & Orientation Results
At least 90% of participants completed the evaluation and could list at least one resource that would be helpful to them in their adjunct faculty position.

Action
Adjunct Appreciation & Orientation
Although not all adjunct faculty attended the event, the 30+ individuals who did reported its helpfulness to them.  Still, it was decided to invite adjunct faculty to the New Faculty Investment each August.


Update to previous cycle's plan for continuous improvement The PBL training resulted in all participants generating a PBL assignment for one of their university classes.  There was an increase in the number of clients with some coming from two additional colleges.  PACE clients overall raised their IDEA scores on "Excellent Teacher" by at least two-tenths of a point.  Most were higher than this fraction.  PACE presented Habits and Their Effect on Leadership at Every Level to staff at the request of Staff Council. Participants were able to name a habit to cultivate or change that could affect their leadership. Finally, an Adjunct Appreciation & Orientation was attempted in January 2014 with satisfactory results in that participants could name resources they could use in their adjunct positions.

Plan for continuous improvement There will be a new cohort for PBL training developed and start in spring 2015. Once again, the target outcome will be that each completed participant will have generated a PBL assignment for at least one university class. For the IDEA ratings, we will expect from one semester to another to at least .2 point increase. Once again, our goal will be to increase number of clients to 14 and hopefully from colleges that have not participated previously.

PACE will, once again, work with Staff Council to provide relevant professional development for staff and expect that 85% of participants will find something relevant to their staff positions from the presentation.

Finally, rather than have a separate Adjunct Orientation, adjunct faculty and teaching assistants will be invited to the New Faculty Investment in August.