The Power of Leadership in Learning

By Ed Finn, Executive Director, CITAL I was fortunate to attend the 26th Annual International Leadership Association (ILA) Global Conference in Chicago, November 7-10. The impact of leadership in higher education cannot be overstated. In this article, I will mention just a few takeaways and implications that struck me as particularly timely. The title of […]

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Two Responses to AI and An Innovative Approach to Teaching Ethics

By Cynthia Rutz, Director of Faculty Development, CITAL In this blog I will share with you three more sessions from the recent Lilly Conference that could be helpful for your own teaching. The first two sessions have very different approaches to AI. The first provides some practical classroom tips, while the second suggests that faculty […]

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What is Your Favorite Feature of Canvas?

By Cynthia Rutz, Director of Faculty Development, CITAL Many of you are trying the Canvas LMS for the first time this semester. So we asked you what features of Canvas you have found work best for teaching and learning in your classes. Twelve of you responded. Here are some of the features that your colleagues […]

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VU Faculty Test-drive Simple Syllabus

By Cynthia Rutz, Director, Valparaiso Institute for Teaching and Learning (CITAL) This summer several VU faculty piloted Simple Syllabus, a new tool that ensures students can, with a single click, get to the most important parts of your syllabus. In this article two faculty–Theresa Carroll (CONHP) and David Rolling (Kinesiology)– talk about their successes and […]

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Healthy Minds, Healthy Bodies

By Cynthia Rutz, Director of Faculty Development, CITAL Half-way through the semester, both you and your students can start to feel run-down and overworked. Yet some faculty are unaware of the many resources at Valpo for mental, physical, and spiritual health. Here is an annotated list of the resources available both for you and your […]

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What is New in ValpoScholar?

By Jon Bull, Associate Professor of Library Science What is ValpoScholar? Since 2011 ValpoScholar has been Valpo’s institutional repository, hosted by the Christopher Center Library. In short, the platform tries to collect the university’s intellectual output in one place. That output includes University Archives, student work, faculty work, original journals and textbooks. ValpoScholar is like […]

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Valpo Faculty Perspectives on Simple Syllabus

By Cynthia Rutz, Director of Faculty Development, CITAL This fall Simple Syllabus debuted university-wide. For our students this means consistent syllabus navigation across all their courses and the ability to easily access their syllabi via Blackboard or SS directly using their device of choice. A print option is also available for students who prefer a […]

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Valpo Faculty Respond to Generative AI

By Cynthia Rutz, Director of Faculty Development, CITAL At the faculty workshop this August, our keynote speaker Derek Bruff spoke about four possible faculty responses to AI: Red Light: I’ll prohibit the use of AI. Yellow Light: I’ll permit the use of AI, but with limitations. Green Light: Let’s see what AI can do! No […]

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Take the Pain Out of Testing

By Cynthia Rutz, Director of Faculty Development, CITAL Everyone hates tests. For students, test anxiety has long been on the rise. Faculty dread both writing exams and the tedium of grading them. Three of your VU colleagues have found a way to take some of the pain out of testing. Musa Pinar (Business) draws on […]

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