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The six 1998 Hesburgh Awards for professional development include several ideas that
may assist retention efforts.
 | TRANSFORMATIONS at Brooklyn College (CUNY), in which over half of the full-time faculty
have participated, includes the Freshman Year College that improved upon a 50 percent
retention rate by using block scheduling in its 10-course core curriculum coordinated by
Faculty Fellows, summer accelerated programs, tutoring, registration counseling, and high
school outreach.
In addition, biweekly seminars were cohosted by presenters on such
topics as cooperative learning, virtual learning, and laboratories; the 15 participants
wrote formal papers that were circulated to other faculty. To integrate first-year
students into the life of the college, participating faculty were required to make
connections among courses, develop students' analytic skills across the curriculum,
especially within the block programmed courses.
Faculty Fellows also mentored new faculty and coordinated communication
among faculty and tutors working with students in the block-scheduled classes.
Retention increased from 50 to 75 percent, as well as an average of 17 credits taken by
those enrolled after three semesters. Projects related to TRANSFORMATIONS have also
netted nearly $2 million in outside grants. The program has added the Virtual Core
Task Force, which has opened dialog about pedagogical uses of technology among faculty who
teach core courses, resulting in online forums for student-faculty discussions and
development of distance learning versions for core courses. |
| The University of California at Santa Barbara initiated the Instructional Improvement
Program that included an application process for obtaining instructional support that
encourages faculty ownership of finite projects, supported by consulting (Instructional
Consultation unit within Academic Programs) and technical assistance, support for a
variety of teaching methods and technologies (from Instructional Resources), continuing
grants, and evaluative reports. The Microcomputer Lab supports this effort with student
access to online instructional materials, email, and the Web.
This program funded over 400 faculty grants in one 5-year period, such
as moving an anthropology course from lecture to small-group instruction and putting
multimedia segments into ten other courses.
Projects have documented increases in student learning, writing and
other communication skills, and problem solving, as well as decreased dropout rates in
large beginning general education courses. |
| The University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) and Salisbury State University (SSU)
joined together for the New Faculty Initiative Program aimed at sustaining collaborative
projects by strengthening mentoring, classroom management and computer skills, and access.
Formal workshops for 60 new faculty in four years, for which they chose topics,
included assessment, multiculturalism, cooperative learning, multimedia, writing across
the curriculum, and balancing demands of the teaching career.
Results include cooperative programs in 11 subject fields and working
toward a common core of technology. An annual questionnaire has participating
faculty evaluate the year's experiences. |
| 1999 winner = Georgia Tech for its Tech. Teaching Fellows
program for new faculty funded by the Class of 1969 at their 25th reunion. |
| 2000 winner = Community
College of Denver for increasing enrollment, retention, and graduation of its students
of color through its Teaching/Learning Center (TLC). |
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1999