The Teaching & Learning Center

Since early in the 20th century, academic freedom has been a hallmark of higher education. Yet we as educators are not always clear on what academic freedom protects and what it does not, what our rights inside and outside of the classroom are, and how we can promote academic freedom for ourselves and our students while also adhering to university and legal guidelines.   

This faculty learning community serves both as a support group and as a working group, as we share our experiences and concerns from inside and outside the classroom while developing concrete strategies and actions to take to better understand, nourish, and promote academic freedom within our university community.

The group meets on the third Wednesday of every month from 3pm to 4pm on Zoom. Meetings are on pause until the Fall 2026 semester. 

You can join at any time. 

Do you implement or want to implement alternative grading strategies in your course? Are you looking for ideas, strategies, and support? Join our group to share experiences and details of the various alternative grading possibilities such as

• mastery grading,
• specifications grading,
• standards-based grading, and
• ungrading.

These varied approaches can be used in different contexts to ensure a course's assessment supports and aligns with student learning. Alternative grading approaches seek to transform the way we evaluate student work, shifting the emphasis from traditional measures of performance to fostering a mindset of learning which acknowledges that mistakes are an integral component of an educational journey.   

Participating in the group will ensure exposure to resources and opportunities to promote alternative grading strategies with peers at various WCU and external venues. The group provides support and guidance for faculty at any stage in the alternative grading journey from beginner to experienced. You can join at any time. 

Meetings are the second Friday of every month from 11:00 am to noon with both an in-person option in Anderson 125 or an online option via Zoom. 

Register for Zoom Link

For questions or additional information, please contact the TLC at tlc@wcupa.edu.

The Teaching and Learning Center (TLC) and the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (ORSP) co-lead the 2025-2026 Pedagogical Innovations Faculty Learning Community (FLC). This program is an opportunity for faculty to investigate innovative teaching strategies that enhance student learning experiences and outcomes. Drawing on the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) framework, participants will design and conduct research on the effectiveness of specific teaching innovations. Participants will join an interdisciplinary community of practice that will engage in collaborative planning and research, utilizing the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) framework to investigate pedagogical practices.

The year-long program will run from Fall 2025 through Spring 2026 and is structured in two phases: 

• Fall 2025: Participants will design their pedagogical innovation and research methodology through collaborative planning and development.
• Spring 2026: Participants will implement their innovation in courses and collect data on its effectiveness.

Program Expectations 

During the program, participants will: 

• Participate in a series of 2-hour monthly meetings to discuss a range of topics related to scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL), pedagogical innovation, and student engagement. In fall semester, we will meet from 12 – 2pm on the following dates: Sept 11, Oct 9, Nov 13 and Dec 11.
• Create a detailed project plan with clear milestones for both the design and implementation phases
• Design and conduct a research study to assess effectiveness and impact of your selected strategy on student engagement and retention.
• Present preliminary results at Research Day, Celebration of Teaching and other internal and external forums.
• Be willing, after completion of the SoTL FLC program, to mentor other faculty who are interested in learning about SoTL and conducting their own SoTL projects

Stipend:  Each participant of the FLC will receive $1,000 to support expenses related to developing, implementing, researching, and presenting pedagogical strategies. 

Eligibility: The FLC is open to any full-time faculty from WCU. Preference will be given to faculty who have demonstrated experience in implementing pedagogical innovation and have shared their innovation in some public forum (workshop, webinar, conference presentation).

Application Process

Applicants should submit the following items. All materials are due by 5PM on July 31, 2025. 

1. Application letter (no more than 2 pages total) that will include:
   1. description of how your participation in this program supports your goals as a teacher-scholar, and  
   2. summary of the specific pedagogical challenge you would like to address, along with the innovation you plan to implement and assess for effectiveness.
2. Condensed CV (two pages or less) highlighting teaching experience and relevant pedagogical information.

Notification of FLC selection will be sent out by August 21, 2025.

Questions about the FLC or the application process should be directed to tlc@wcupa.edu.

We invite you to participate in a Faculty Learning Community in Spring 2026. This FLC is designed specifically for instructors teaching courses that fulfill the Diverse Communities requirement. Whether you are new to teaching these courses or are a seasoned instructor in this area, this learning community offers a supportive space to share insights, develop pedagogical tools, and explore complementary approaches to teaching these courses. 
The Diverse Communities requirement plays a crucial role in our university's mission to graduate students committed to creating a just and equitable society. These courses engage students in critical examination of historically marginalized groups and the structural inequalities they face, while also highlighting resistance, agency, and resilience in the face of oppression. 
Through this Faculty Learning Community, you will have opportunities to:

• Share pedagogical strategies for teaching about gender, race, class, ethnicity, religion, disability, sexuality, and other forms of difference
• Troubleshoot challenges unique to teaching courses focused on structural inequalities and social justice
• Develop inclusive practices, such as approaches to supplemental materials that engage all students rather than assigning content to specific groups
• Build community with colleagues who share your commitment to fostering informed and reasoned openness to difference
• Refine teaching tools that help students understand both oppression and resistance 

This learning community is designed to be a collaborative space where you can both offer support and feel supported in this meaningful work. By engaging with colleagues who bring diverse disciplinary perspectives and teaching experiences, we can learn from one another, strengthen our individual pedagogical practices, and amplify our collective impact on student learning. Together, we will build a community of practice that sustains and enriches our commitment to teaching for justice and equity. 

How to Participate:

Please sign up by January 23, 2026.

Once we have received responses, we will work together to determine a meeting time that accommodates as many participants as possible. We understand that faculty schedules are complex, and you are welcome to join even if you cannot attend every meeting. The Faculty Learning Community will meet throughout the Spring semester.

 For more information or to express interest, please contact tlc@wcupa.edu. 

Our campus reflects the diversity of our world. Students bring varied backgrounds, experiences, aspirations, and talents to our classrooms, along with differing needs for navigating academia and achieving success. As instructors, we can support this diversity by creating learning environments where every student thrives. Inclusive teaching is key to this goal. This approach recognizes our students' diverse needs, celebrates their unique identities and experiences, and focuses on reducing barriers while providing targeted support to enhance learning. 

We invite all faculty members who are interested in improving their inclusive teaching methods and promoting equitable learning outcomes to apply for the 2025-26 Diversity and Inclusion Faculty Learning Community (DI FLC). This year-long program will take place via Zoom during the Fall 2025 and Spring 2026 semesters. By participating in the FLC, you will join a multidisciplinary group of faculty members who will collaborate to explore and enhance equitable and inclusive teaching practices. In its sixth year, the FLC has had 49 participants across the WCU campus. Our goal is to create supportive and inclusive learning environments where all students feel a strong sense of belonging. We encourage you to watch our video to hear experiences and reflections from previous participants of the DI FLC.

Faculty engage in readings, discussion, case studies, and workshop activities to increase skill, knowledge in promoting diverse and inclusive learning environments. Six meetings (three per semester) allow faculty to work with peers to increase understandings. Faculty will have the opportunity to steer and construct topics and guidelines.

Topics Covered:

• Course content and planning
  • Assumptions about students
  • Fairness in the classroom
  • Strategies for creating an inclusive syllabus
  • Rules for respectful dialogues and discussions
  • Use of “evidence” and respect for “other ways of knowing”
  • Unconscious bias, personal bias, institutionalized bias, and stereotype threat
• Handling conflicts and challenges
  • Emic/etic voices in course materials
  • Microaggressions and microinterventions
  • Navigating discomfort, shame, and difficult conversations
  • Cultural competence, cultural humility, cultural sensitivity, and other theories for promoting inclusivity
  • How faculty can respond to awareness of both students’ and their own bias

Each participant of the FLC will receive a stipend of $500 for the year. 

The FLC is open to all faculty at WCU (adjuncts welcome!). 

The deadline for WCU faculty interested in participating in this FLC in the 2025-26 academic year to submit applications is Wednesday, September 17.

FLC Participant Expectations:

Attend a minimum of five of the six FLC virtual meetings during the academic year, taking place Thursdays from 5:30-8pm on the following dates:

• October 9, 2025 
• November 6, 2025
• December 4, 2025
• February 5, 2026
• March 5, 2026
• April 16, 2026

Actively contribute to FLC discussions, complete readings to prepare, and produce syllabi or lesson plans incorporating guidelines 
Contribute resources, such as articles and readings, and substantive discussion