By Mike Watters, Professor of Biology Student retention is important to any university, especially keeping commuter students who are traditionally less anchored in campus life. Even more at risk, given the leaky STEM pipeline, are STEM commuter students. To address this issue, a group of Valpo faculty and staff proposed a National Science Foundation grant. […]
Tag: retention
Teaching Underprepared Students and The Hidden Curriculum
By Tiffany Kolba (Math & Stats), Jenna Van Sickle (Lilly Fellows), Jesse Sestito (ME), & Lauren Sestito (ME) This academic year, fifteen Valpo faculty and staff members met biweekly for a Faculty Learning Community (FLC) on “Teaching Underprepared Students and The Hidden Curriculum.” During the fall semester, we focused on reading two books: Teaching Unprepared […]
Collaborative Spaces: One Size Does Not Fit All
By Ed Finn, Executive Director, CITAL Collaboration can happen almost anywhere; we see it all the time. Whether it is students sitting underneath a tree on a fall afternoon, or faculty members engaged in discussion at Grinders, the need to congregate and discuss big ideas is ever-present on a college campus. In this short article, […]
Getting Your Students Excited about Learning
By Cynthia Rutz, Director of Faculty Development, CITAL Two proven ways to get students excited about learning are research and philanthropy. In the article below, you will learn about how the students of Kristi Bugajski (Biology) are raising money to combat malaria. You will also hear about two alumni whose introduction to research at Valpo […]
Self-Care for You and Your Students
By Cynthia Rutz, Director of Faculty Development, CITAL The second half of fall semester is bound to be a stressful time both for you and your students. For students, major assignments start to pile up and they begin to feel that they can’t stay on top of things. For faculty, keeping up with grading becomes […]
Using Starfish to Help your Students Succeed
By Cynthia Rutz, Director of Faculty Development, CITAL Starfish is one of Valpo’s primary retention tools. Used properly, it lets both students and advisors know early on when a student is struggling in your class. Yet many faculty don’t use Starfish at all or don’t take full advantage of its features. In this article, student […]