To the Academic Senate, Santa Cruz Division:

The Committee on Teaching (COT) met approximately twice per month to carry out its charge of fostering and promoting the teaching mission of the campus. The work and accomplishments of the Committee during the 1998-99 year are summarized below.

The Millennium Committee (MC) made three recommendations for COT to consider. First, a campus Student Learning Center was proposed. COT endorsed the proposal as a good idea that could help coordinate opportunities for students. COT agreed that it would be willing to serve in an advisory role in the planning or oversight of a Learning Center. Additionally, the COT chair wrote a column in support of a Student Learning Center for the Winter issue of Faculty Focus.

Second, the MC Report recommended an evaluation of the UCSC student advising system. COT discussed this topic with AVCUE Lynda Goff at an October 27, 1998 meeting. Associate Vice Chancellor Goff indicated that campus advising was an issue that she would pursue during the year.

One last COT-related recommendation appeared in the MC Report. COT was encouraged to support applications for projects that combine teaching with research when considering Instruction Improvement Program grants. This recommendation is consistent with COT’s existing policy of supporting teaching projects that also make connections to research. At the same time, COT recognizes that many worthy projects do not readily allow for integration with research.

One of the Committee’s more substantive charges is to evaluate faculty and staff applications for Instructional Improvement Program (IIP) Grants. COT considered a total of 77 proposals. In all, 63 applications were funded for a total of $307,383. This is more than double the amount granted in previous years, thanks to a $125,000 augmentation approved by EVC John Simpson to fund instructional technology in teaching. A significant balance forward from the previous year and funds returned in 1998-99 further increased resources available.

IIP grants fell into the following categories:

To facilitate applications for IIP grants, various methods were used. The Call for Proposals went out via campus mail in the last week of October. Announcements were also made on electronic mail. The Chair of COT and the Director for the CTE participated in an open forum during the fall quarter for faculty and staff interested in the application process. The CTE Director participated in an additional forum for interested applicants during the winter quarter. The Center for Teaching Excellence also offered individual consultations to grant applicants all year long.

In an ongoing effort to make the Call for Proposals clearer and more inviting to potential applicants, the Committee on Teaching and CTE Director Eileen Tanner carried out the annual review of the Call during COT’s last meeting of the year on May 19, 1999.

With the Associate Vice Chancellor for Undergraduate Education and the Center for Teaching Excellence, COT co-sponsored the Fifth Annual Convocation on Teaching held on May 11, 1999 at the UCSC Arboretum. State University of New York (SUNY) at Stonybrook President Shirley Strum Kenny offered a keynote address entitled, "Reinventing Undergraduate Education." President Kenny was chair of the Boyer Commission on Educating Undergraduates in the Research University. She was introduced by Chancellor Greenwood. In her talk, President Kenny highlighted several key points from the Boyer Report. Following her presentation, faculty members Lynda Goff, John Isbister, and Tyler Stovall related President Kenny’s remarks to undergraduate education at UCSC. The Convocation was moderated by the COT chair. Approximately 40 faculty and staff attended the event.

COT would like to see more faculty turn out for the Annual Convocation. This year, scheduling was constrained somewhat due to the respective schedules of President Kenny and Chancellor Greenwood. In a May 14, 1999 memo on the academic calendar, Executive Vice Chancellor John Simpson proposed having a "Teaching Colloquium" on Advising Day. At its May 19^th meeting, COT endorsed the idea of holding the Convocation on Teaching on Advising Day.

The COT Chair attended a national meeting on instructional technology sponsored by the TLT Group, an affiliate of the American Association for Higher Education (AAHE), held in Phoenix, Arizona in July 1998. Also attending the conference from UCSC were Associate Vice Chancellor for Undergraduate Education Lynda Goff, Associate Vice Chancellor for Undergraduate Admissions Michael Thompson, Center for Teaching Excellence Director Eileen Tanner, Professor Shelly Errington, Instructional Computing Director Beth Riddle, and Librarian Sue Chesley. The conference led to AVCUE Goff’s subsequent formation of a Teaching, Learning, and Technology Roundtable (TLTR) at UCSC. The TLTR includes leaders of various teaching-related committees or offices on campus, including COT.

Another AAHE conference was held in San Diego in January. The COT Chair, two COT members (Professors Locks and Padgett), and CTE Director Tanner attended. At a subsequent COT meeting, COT Chair Leaper highlighted one lesson he derived from attending the conference; that is, efforts to change the teaching culture in a university are most effective when focused on new faculty.

Following a visit to the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, CTE Director Eileen Tanner proposed the formation of a UCSC Teaching Academy at COT’S February 3^rd meeting. A Teaching Academy would bring together UCSC’s most outstanding teachers. The goals of the Academy would include affirming and encouraging a campus culture that values teaching. Potential members would include recipients of teaching awards, Pew Scholars, the Chancellor, the Executive Vice Chancellor, the Associate Vice Chancellor for Undergraduate Education, COT members, and the Director of the Center for Teaching Excellence. Director Tanner’s proposal was generally met with a positive reception at the COT meeting. However, no action was taken at this time. This is an agenda item that is apt to be considered further during the 1999-2000 academic year.

COT followed up on its prior efforts to devise a campuswide policy for giving faculty teaching credit for team-teaching courses. The proposal that COT drafted during the 1997-1998 year was forwarded to the Academic Senate Committee on Educational Policy (CEP) on October 30, 1998. CEP Chair George Brown submitted a reply on April 7^th stating that "CEP supports the pedagogic benefits of courses … conceived as team-taught…." However, CEP did not consider how credit is awarded to faculty for team-teaching to be within its purview. On June 21^st, Chair Leaper sent a request to incoming Committee on Planning and Budget Chair John Hay to consider a standardized policy across campus departments for giving faculty teaching credit for team-teaching.

Awarding the Excellence in Teaching Awards to our colleagues is COT’s most satisfying event during the year. This year COT in coordination with CTE continued its efforts to increase publicity for these awards. The Call for Nominations appeared in all departments and colleges as well as other key locations on campus. Electronic mail announcements were sent to all faculty, department chairs, curricular deans, the Graduate Student Association, the Student Union Assembly, and All Messages. The result was a total of 31 nomination letters from students.

To select the recipients, COT considered the nomination letters from students, endorsement letters from department chairs, and statements on teaching from the nominees themselves. Nominees who had already received an Excellence in Teaching Award within the last 5 years were excluded from consideration. The COT chair, though nominated, exempted himself. COT also took into account information provided by the Registrar's Office about outstanding narrative evaluations. Nominees with missing evaluations were given an opportunity to explain or correct the Registrar’s report. Only those who were completely up to date on their narratives were considered for an award.

At COT’s May 10^th meeting, members decided that beginning next year only students would be allowed to sign nomination petitions for Excellence in Teaching Awards. Past practice has allowed faculty and staff to add their signatures.

COT selected 11 faculty for Excellence in Teaching Awards. They were presented by the Chancellor and the COT Chair at a University House reception on May 27. Recipients were Judith Aissen, Linguistics; Margarita Azmitia, Psychology; George Brown, Physics; Jacqueline Brown, Anthropology; Giulia Centineo, Italian; Brent Haddad, Environmental Studies; Bruce Levine, History; Barry McLaughlin, Psychology; Nicole Paiement, Music; Sarah Rabkin, Writing; and Judy Yung, American Studies.

The Director of the Center of Teaching Excellence has regularly worked closely with COT over the years. For example, the CTE Director is critical in the administration of the Instructional Improvement Program grants. More generally, the CTE Director’s primary role is to facilitate excellence in teaching. To acknowledge the important link between COT and CTE, COT voted at its April 21 meeting to modify the Senate COT bylaws so that they state that the Director of the Center for Teaching Excellence "shall be invited to sit with the Committee." The proposal was included on the Senate’s May 26^th agenda. However, upon request, a vote on the proposal was deferred until the Senate completes a general review of administrative involvement in Senate committees.

The Committee is grateful for the valuable assistance and contributions of Eileen Tanner, Director of the Center for Teaching Excellence; and Laurie Babka, staff to COT from the Academic Senate Office. Additionally, we thank the following representatives for their valuable consultations: Lynda Goff, Associate Vice Chancellor for Undergraduate Education (AVCUE); Jan Dickens, Director of Media Services; and Chris Laxton, Media Services. Nathan Sanger also offered thoughtful input as the undergraduate student representative to COT.

October 15, 1999