Teaching Fellows Institute

The Teaching Fellows Institute (TFI) encourages innovation, technology, and evidence-based practices to support initiatives that promote student success and advance key institutional objectives at Nevada State College. This intensive six-week summer program unites faculty and staff from across the campus to work on individual or small-group projects. Although a variety of projects are welcomed and encouraged, we are particularly interested in proposals that include one or more of the following:

1. Integrate support services (e.g. library, advising, course assistants, career services) into a course or academic endeavor;

2. Develop what the Association of American Colleges & Universities calls “High-Impact Educational Practices.” These practices include First-Year Seminars, Common Intellectual Experiences, Learning Communities, Writing-Intensive Courses, Collaborative Assignments and Projects, Undergraduate Research, Diversity/Global Learning, Service Learning, Internships, and Capstone Courses;

3. Improve online teaching and learning outcomes.

Competitive proposals will:

• Outline a project that promotes student success or innovative student services;
• Integrate technology and current research;
• Use an evidence-based approach with measurable objectives;
• Address a significant need on campus;
• Have a broad impact (e.g. affecting students across multiple sections or classes);
• Contribute to the overall academic success of NSC’s students;
• Serve as examples of NSC’s overall spirit of innovation, critical inquiry, and teaching excellence;
• Positively affect large numbers of students or exert a substantive impact on the College.

Selected applicants will work together for six weeks to bring their projects to fruition. We’ll meet twice a week for approximately three hours per session, although projects often require additional work beyond the fixed meeting times. During each session, there will be a brief presentation about innovation in teaching. In addition, members of the CTLE team will be present for consultations. As compensation, thanks to the generous funding from the Office of the Provost, each Teaching Fellow will be awarded a stipend of $3000.

Examples of previous TFI projects include:

• The creation of the Canvas shell and overall design for our new Writing Intensive Courses program;
• The creation of our new linked SOC 101/COM 101 class (currently being offered by Dr. Haff and Dr. Harris.)
• The creation of a Psychology 101 repository of active-learning activities available to any PSY 101 instructor;
• The creation of a Course Assistant Program;
• An overhaul of MATH 120 that integrates interactive online assignments, real-world activities, and new technologies (such as Desmos, an online graphing calculator);
• The creation of a tutorial-library for complex visual media equipment (complete with videos and Canvas modules) that can be easily integrated into several visual media classes.