CFE NEWSLETTER

UPCOMING CFE EVENTS

If you are located outside of Bozeman and would like to attend a workshop via Webex, please request a link in the comments section and it will be sent to you before the session.

Course Evaluation Reports Release on May 21st

To access your course evaluation reports, please go to your account and make sure the Selected Term is set to Spring 2022.

Here are a template and short articles that provide some strategies and tips for contextualizing and interpreting course evaluations.

Ask a Trusted Colleague to Help

Course evaluations can provide insight into your students’ experiences in your class separate from their learning, and guide your teaching for future classes. If reading your course evaluations is a stressful activity for you, consider asking a trusted colleague to read your evaluations and put them in perspective for you using the Peer Feedback Template  assembled by Dr. Shihua Brazill, CFE instructional designer. You may want to provide the same service for your colleague.

How to make the best of bad course evaluations

This short article provides good advice on how to interpret common criticisms from students and put them into a bigger context.

Course evaluations as a tool for growth

This short article offers ideas for using reflection to identify common themes and areas to improve in without having to reread and revisit prior course evaluations.

My worst student ratings ever

One faculty’s experience with lower ratings after making a change that did not initially go well and what they learned from this experience.

Consultations Available

If you have trouble accessing the articles or would like to review and discuss your course evaluations with a CFE instructional designer, please email [email protected] to set up an appointment.

TODAY- Two-part writing workshop for faculty offered in May

TODAY, May 14|| 1:00 PM- 3:00 PM || Romney Hall, Room 236||Register||iCalcal

While you know that you should write "clearly," how to write clearly is not always obvious. Grants and proposals present particular challenges because what is clear to one audience may not be to another. In this two-part workshop, we will review one of your drafts and discuss various editing strategies you can use to create direct, clear, and compelling prose. 

Part 2

Thursday, May 16 – Register here

Effective Mentoring: Addressing Equity & Inclusion, Aligning expectations and Effective Communications

Tuesday, May 21 ||10:00AM- 12:00 PM || MSU Library 324 Teaching Space||Register || iCalcal

Looking for some ideas on how to best mentor graduate and undergraduate students in research? This training uses materials from the Center for Improved Mentoring Experiences in Research to explore many different subjects around mentoring.

• Tuesday, May 21 - Research mentoring for Faculty/Principal Investigators
• Wednesday, May 22 - Undergraduate Research mentoring

NSF Deputy Division Director Luis Cubano to visit MSU 

Tuesday, May 21|| 3:00 PM- 4:00 PM ||Chemistry & Biochemistry Bldg, Byker Auditorium||Register||iCalcal

MSU will host Dr. Luis Cubano, National Science Foundation Acting Deputy Division Director for Equity and Excellence in STEM within the Directorate for STEM Education (EDU). He will give a public presentation on NSF and EDU funding opportunities in Byker Auditorium from 3-4 p.m., and will meet one-on-one with interested faculty from 2-3 p.m. and again from 4-5 p.m.

2024 Fall New Faculty Orientation

Thursday, August 15th ||9:00AM- 4:00 PM || Romney Hall, 211||Register ||iCalcal

Orientation of new faculty at any institution is essential for creating the culture of the university. At Montana State we aim to build a welcoming and inclusive culture that spreads into classroom, research, creative and community spaces, and to equip faculty with the knowledge of how to promote student success through achieving excellence in teaching, scholarship and service. 

OTHER MSU ANNOUNCEMENTS

Canvas Transition News

Please visit ato.montana.edu/canvas for news about Canvas - MSU’s transition to a new LMS. Check back for updates posted on the website:

• Transition timeline and important dates
• Information about course content migration
• Instructor resources and training information
• Resources for students
• Previous communications

Important Dates

• Faculty, staff and students can obtain a generic Canvas account to explore Canvas.
• August 2024: Faculty can access their MSU Canvas accounts
• May 2025: All courses will be fully transitioned to using Canvas.
• June 2025: D2L/Brightspace will no longer be available.
• Questions? about the upgrade to Canvas can be sent to [email protected]

Consultations

Nina Mondré Schweppe the Center’s newest Instructional Designer, is available for consultations for support and feedback related to teaching and learning.

• To schedule a one-on-one consultation, please contact Nina at: [email protected]  

NCFDD WEBINARS

Moving from Resistance to Writing

Thursday, June 13th|| 12:00pm -1:30p.m. MST|| Register Here

Presenter: Joy Gaston Gayles, PhD

You will need to log into your National Center for Faculty Diversity and Development (NCFDD) account and then click the link above to access the event. This online resource is available to the MSU community free of charge. Learn more about how to register.