New faculty can participate in Effective Teaching 101: Starting the Semester Strong, a course offered through the Association of College and University Educators (ACUE) with support from the Student Success Center and the Wally Cordes Teaching and Faculty Support Center.

This program will be accepting 40 new faculty members for the next cohort beginning in early September. Interested faculty can sign up here.

"We're excited to offer this course for our newest faculty members to help them gain valuable teaching skills and provide them with quality mentorship," said Richard Cassady, a TFSC co-director. "When working with ACUE to develop this program, we wanted to make sure mentorship was an important component in addition to the course material."

The course is designed for faculty who are new or relatively new to university-level teaching. The course involves engaging in five to eight hours of asynchronous course materials. Participants are then assigned to small groups where they will meet remotely once a week during the course. These meetings will be led by a faculty mentor who has already received or is about to receive full ACUE certification. These small groups will continue to meet after the end of the program, so participants have access to additional support from their peers throughout the fall semester.

In addition, the Student Success Center and TFSC are seeking faculty members who have received full ACUE certification to serve as mentors for this program. Margaret Butcher, teaching associate professor of communication, and Leslie Massey, advanced instructor in the First-Year Engineering Program, served as faculty mentors and led the most recent cohort, which was held over the summer. Due to the success of the course under their leadership, the pilot program is being extended into the fall semester. 

"Both Margaret and Leslie were instrumental to the success of this course over the summer," said Deborah Korth, senior associate vice provost for student success and academic excellence. "They provided outstanding leadership and mentorship to our new faculty, and we are seeking additional faculty mentors, like Margaret and Leslie, to lead this program as it progresses over the coming months."

For more information about the program or to become a mentor, contact Korth at dkorth@uark.edu or Cassady at cassady@uark.edu. Faculty can sign up to participate in the next cohort.

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