Friday, November 10, 2017, 1–2 EST Facilitator, Laura Cruz, Director, Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence, Tennessee Tech University If you are reading this description, you are likely in the field of educational development (or aspire to be). You may work in for center of teaching and learning (or similar organizational unit) or support faculty…
Our conference theme was Defining What Matters: Understanding and Enhancing the Impact of Educational Development. We offered this theme in part as a response to our membership’s desire to refine the ways we assess the impacts of our work, but also as an opportunity to explore more deeply what it means to matter in our field—to ourselves, our colleagues, our clients and collaborators, and our communities. By examining that broader view of impact, we hoped to recognize and share the value of our work, as well as discover paths for expanding our opportunities to matter within higher education.
Our conference theme was Transformative Relationships: Fostering Cultures of Deep Learning. We hoped that this theme would inspire us to consider the ways that our work impacts change on a broader level through the relationships that we forge within our communities of teaching and learning. After critical reflection during the POD Network’s 40th anniversary where we looked inward about our own practices, we turned to look outward to consider the types of relationships that would help us to expand our impact.
We invited educational developers to explore how to build deeper connections within our institutions and larger societies. How can these personal connections be seen as gateways to transforming our own professional practices and values, encouraging deep learning for our students and strengthening educational and organizational development missions on micro, meso, and macro-levels?
May 6, 2016, 1–2 pm EST Facilitators: Victoria Bhavsar and Charlotte Mundy Lieutenant Commander Charlotte Mundy will speak briefly about military vs academic cultures, acknowledging the fundamental differences and exploring similarities. She will offer thoughts on why a written leadership or command philosophy is important, the importance of knowing your own leadership style, and how…
April 8, 2016, 1–2 pm EST Facilitators: Michael Reder and Francine Glazer Using the metaphor of an orchestra conductor, we explore different ways to lead collaboratively, either within a center, in a classroom, or at an organizational level. We refer to a TED Talk by Itay Talgam, called “Lead Like the Great Conductors.” TED talk…
March 11, 2016, 1–2 pm EST Facilitators: Erik Palmore and Christine Rener What does it mean to “lead from where you are?” In this roundtable, attendees will be presented with a set of ideas that explain why leadership at all levels is needed in organizations now more than ever, and will explore examples of practical…
February 26, 2016, 1–2 pm EST Facilitators: Esther Zirbel and Susan Robison We will discuss “exemplary leadership” and what it means to you. You will receive materials prior to the session summarizing the leadership model by Kouzes and Posner. Main questions to be addressed are: How do you lead the way? How do you motivate…
The 2015 conference theme was Back to the Future: Critical Reflection, Effective Practice. This theme guided us as we celebrated an amazing accomplishment, our 40th annual conference, and afforded us a unique opportunity to appraise our past and present work as educational developers. The theme also sought to inspire conversations about the future direction of our organization by connecting the previous presidential addresses by Kathryn Plank, who encouraged us to look at ourselves in the present, and Leslie Ortquist-Ahrens, who guided us through an examination of our past.
The conference theme for 2014 was Leverage. This theme invited us to explore the various roles that we play as faculty developers, administrators, teachers, and students, and the ways in which we capitalize on the assets around us to meet the many needs of the higher education community, ideally doing more and better work with less effort. We hoped this theme and conference would build on Kathryn Plank’s 2013 Presidential Address, during which we all contemplated who we are and our relationship to the meaningful work that we do. In that spirit, how do we leverage who we are to better accomplish all that we are asked to do, and why do we persevere?