PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas (May 18, 2020) – Having a great professor can make all the difference in a student’s academic career. That’s why the Association of College and University Educators (ACUE) and the National Association of System Heads (NASH) have teamed up to offer support on best teaching practices to faculty at Prairie View A&M University and hundreds of other faculty across the nation. The initiative is expected to impact at least 300,000 students each year.

“Strengthened teaching effectiveness is an important factor in moving the needle on retention and, ultimately, graduation,” said James M. Palmer, Ph.D., provost and senior vice president of Academic Affairs at PVAMU. “This collaboration between the ACUE and NASH will further support this continued mission at PVAMU in better preparing our faculty for the front line.”

“This is an initiative that I have envisioned for our faculty for several years,” said Laurette Foster, Ed.D., director of PVAMU’s Center for Teaching Excellence (CTE) and professor of mathematics. “I am excited to guide this unique opportunity of faculty development and credentialing for the PVAMU faculty.”

Through PVAMU’s CTE, full- and part-time faculty, teaching assistants, and instructors can take ACUE’s online course on effective teaching practices, which includes how to design an effective course, establish a productive learning environment, use active learning strategies, promote higher-order thinking, and assess to inform instruction and promote learning. Faculty who complete course requirements will earn a Certificate in Effective College Instruction endorsed by the American Council on Education (ACE).

“This initiative is aligned with NASH’s focus on supporting transformative, collective strategies that work for students,” said NASH Executive Director Rebecca Martin in a statement. “We know quality learning experiences and strong relationships with faculty, whether in person or online, are a major element of student success. This partnership with ACUE will help to build a strong culture of quality teaching that will pay dividends for thousands of students beyond this school year.”

The four initial systems selected to participate in the initiative are the California State University System, the City University of New York, the University System of Missouri, and The Texas A&M University System (TAMUS), of which PVAMU is a part.

“ACUE’s program promises to improve the biggest factor we can control to ensure our students thrive, and that’s their experience in the classroom,” said John Sharp, chancellor of TAMUS. “Training our most talented faculty in research-based ways to improve their classroom performance is a good investment we expect to yield great results.”

The ACUE and NASH initiative is being supported with $2.4 million from the Charles Koch Foundation.

More information about the initiative can be found here and in this Q&A. Faculty at PVAMU can contact Foster at lbfoster@pvamu.edu or 936.261.3640 for additional information on how to enroll.

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