Wednesday, April 16, 2014

WHY DO UNICORNS ALWAYS LAND ON ALL FOUR LEGS
Are you ready to discuss your ideas and solutions with your colleagues about how to improve student success at BRCC? As academics, we are at the teaching front-line. The success of our institution is squarely on our shoulders. Having seen the passion you have for the success of your students, I know that the community of scholars at BRCC is ready to start the movement. On Thursday, April 24 beginning at 1:00 pm, we will gather in the Teaching+Learning Center to discuss the happiness effect, strategies for rewiring our brains, random acts of kindness, and how to create a flourishing campus. Engagement specialists Dr. Sandra Guzman and Mr. Paul Guidry will facilitate the session along with me. We need for you to come and have a frank, honest discussion with your colleagues. Will you answer the call? You can register now. Then watch this TEDx video (it is only 13 minutes long) to help prepare yourself for the gathering.

ACADEMIC ADVISING PROGRAM NEEDS YOUR INPUT
Student success depends on many things and one of the most important components is academic advising, as indicated by the coverage it it receiving in the press. That is why many of your faculty and professional staff members came together on April 2 to hear what the current academic advising landscape looks like. The webinar presented several different models for success and we need to adopt our own version to create an advising program of excellence. The next opportunity for you to have input into that process is April 29. We will gather in the Teaching+Learning Center at 1:00 pm to discuss how we plan to move forward. During the last session, we asked that academic advising be defined and we have received a number of suggestions. As we pare the suggestions to one, it is important to receive input for each of you. That is one of the topics up for discussion at the session on the 29th. We will also discuss the creation of an academic advising handbook and how we can build a sustainable model that maximizes student success.

FREE RESOURCES ON FLIPPING THE CLASSROOM
Inside Higher Ed is today releasing a free compilation of articles and essays -- in print-on-demand format -- about the flipped classroom. The articles and essays reflect key discussions about pedagogy, technology and the role of faculty members. Download the booklet here. This booklet is part of a series of such compilations that Inside Higher Ed is publishing on a range of topics. On Thursday May 8, at 1 p.m. Inside Higher Ed editors Scott Jaschik and Doug Lederman will conduct a free webinar to talk about the issues raised in the booklet's articles. To register for the webinar, please click here.