Upcoming Events
Teaching is at the very core of our Holy Cross tradition of academic excellence.
Students benefit from an active and rigorous learning environment that is constantly refined toward a common goal — to inspire to think, learn and grow beyond expectations.
Our History
Established in 1991, the Center for Teaching Excellence grew from the desire to continually elevate the learning experience for students at St. Edward’s. Through the center, faculty members come together to share ideas and strategies for successful teaching. They learn practical and inventive ways to improve teaching methods and respond to the various learning needs of students.
Our Mission
The Center for Teaching Excellence promotes effective, innovative, inclusive, and evidence-based college teaching that fosters sustained learning. The Center cultivates a campus culture that values diverse approaches to learning and teaching. It supports faculty in enhancing pedagogical practices and facilitates the exchange of ideas and development of community among faculty.
Our Goals
The Center for Teaching Excellence focuses on a variety of activities designed to support our mission, which include:
- Advancing new initiatives in teaching and learning
- Supporting effective and innovative teaching that enables student learning
- Facilitating a culture of continuous teaching improvement
- Building communities of teaching and learning across campus
- Providing support for faculty at all stages of their St. Edward's career
- Recognizing excellence in teaching
Director and Advisory Board
Director
Jennifer Jefferson is the Director of the Center for Teaching Excellence. She comes to this role after being a Visiting Assistant Professor in University Studies at St. Edward's University. Previously, she taught at The University of Texas at Austin and Texas State University. Her educational background is in American Studies and Cultural Studies in Education.
She is committed to providing programming and support that is responsive to the St. Edward's community, and she collaborates across campus to address the complex needs of faculty at a liberal arts university. Some of her areas of interest include inclusive course development, reflective practice, and peer learning communities.
Administrative Coordinator
Juanita Servín
Advisory Board
Alex Barron, Associate Professor of University Studies
Arcelia Hernandez, Assistant Professor of Teaching, Learning, and Culture
Stephen King, Professor of Communication
Kate Lopez, Assistant Professor of Accounting
Mity Myhr, Professor of History
Paul Walter, Associate Professor of Mathematics
Programs
The Center for Teaching Excellence offers a variety of programs to improve teaching at the university, including:
- Consultations
- Books & Coffee Reading and Discussion Group
- Faculty Learning Communities
- New Faculty Support
- Innovation Fellowships and Institute
- Teaching Symposium
- Workshops, seminars, and discussion groups
- Resources, including a library of print books and numerous digital teaching guides and articles
- Programs for departments and schools are also available upon request.
Please visit our blog for more information: http://sites.stedwards.edu/cte/
2019-2020 Full Event Schedule
New Faculty Orientation
(Contracted and Adjunct)
Monday, August 19, 2019
8:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m, Fleck 305
Breakfast and lunch will be served. Please RSVP.
New Faculty Orientation Agenda
Teaching Symposium
Thursday, August 22, 2019
8:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m, Fleck Hall, 3rd floor
Breakfast and lunch served. Please RSVP
Schedule and Full Program
Books & Coffee (Wednesday) Reading Group
Creating Wicked Students: Designing Courses for a Complex World by Paul Hanstedt
Wednesdays: September 4, October 2, November 6, and December 4
1:00 - 2:00 p.m. in Holy Cross Hall 105
Books & Coffee (Thursday) Reading Group
Creating Wicked Students: Designing Courses for a Complex World by Paul Hanstedt
Thursdays: September 5, October 3, November 7, and December 5
3:30 - 4:30 p.m. in Holy Cross Hall 105
Read. Try. Chat.
33 Simple Strategies for Faculty: A Week-by-Week Resource for Teaching First-Year and First-Generation Students
Fridays: September 13, October 11, November 8, and December 13
11:00 a.m to Noon in Holy Cross Hall 105
Read. Try. Chat. (FSEM Group)
33 Simple Strategies for Faculty: A Week-by-Week Resource for Teaching First-Year and First-Generation Students
Wednesdays: September 11, October 9, November 13, and December 11
1:00 to 2:00 p.m. in Holy Cross Hall 105.
Working Toward Low-Cost Textbooks: Cross-Sector Faculty Collaboration for an OER Initiative Across 123 Campuses
Co-sponsored by the Office of Information Technology, Munday Library, the Center for Teaching Excellence, and the School of Natural Sciences (St. Edward's Calendar link)
Wednesday, September 25 at 4:00 p.m.
Fleck 314
The Range of Rubrics
Thursday, September 26 at 12:30 p.m.
Holy Cross Hall 105
Range of Rubrics Lunch RSVP
Updates from the Field: Innovation Fellows Discuss Their Initial Forays into the new General Education
A panel discussion with Selin Guner, BSS; Laura Hernandez-Ehrisman, AHUM; Liz Johnson, HDE; Bill AQuinn NSCI; Paul Walter, NSCI
Symposium Throughout the Year
Friday, October 4 at noon
Innovation Fellows: Lunch RSVP
Previous CTE Program Schedules:
2018-2019
Teaching Awards and Innovation Fellows
Teaching Awards
Given annually, teaching excellence awards at St. Edward's University honor faculty for their exceptional talents and dedication to promoting learning in meaningful, engaging and innovative ways. The selection process is rigorous, evaluating candidates' course offerings, curricular designs, instructional methods, classroom performances, and interactions with students.
Four awards are given annually:
- The Sister Donna Jurick Distinguished Career Award is given to one faculty member who has taught at St. Edward's for at least 15 years.
- The Distinguished Teaching Award is given to two contract faculty.
- The Outstanding Teaching Award for Adjunct Faculty is given to one adjunct faculty member.
- The Delayne Hudspeth Award for Innovative Instruction honors a faculty member who has designed an innovative course project or teaching method.
2018-2019 Teaching Winners
Richard Kopec
Sister Donna Jurick Distinguished Career Award
Mary Dunn
Distinguished Teaching Award
Michelle Robertson
Distinguished Teaching Award
Maeri Megumi
Outstanding Teaching Award
Bilal Shebaro & Casie Parish Fisher
Delayne Hudspeth Award for Innovative Instruction
Innovation Fellows
Innovation fellowships support faculty who need time, resources and expertise to include pedagogical experimentation in their courses by providing a stipend, participation in the Innovation Institute, and a community of faculty fellows focused on pedagogical innovation.
Learn about our Innovation Fellows and their projects.
Read about past fellows.
Hudspeth Award for Innovative Instruction
Delayne Hudspeth, retired professor of Curriculum and Instruction and Instructional Technology at the University of Texas, was a mentor to several St. Edward's faculty members and scores of other master's and doctoral students. Through the generosity of an anonymous donor, Dr. Hudspeth's contributions to innovation in higher education are honored by this award.
This award recognizes St. Edward's teachers who create innovative learning environments. One award, in the amount of $500, may be given each year. The winning project is chosen by the Hudspeth Award Committee, a committee of faculty members from at least four of the St. Edward's schools.
All applications for the 2019-2020 Hudspeth Award process are due by the end of the day on January 31, 2020. Applications must be submitted online.
Eligible Course Projects
Who can self nominate? Faculty (full-time, part-time, and staff who teach) of all disciplines and ranks are encouraged to apply. Recipients of the award must wait five years before reapplying.
What course projects are eligible? Self nominations should highlight a specific project, assignment, exercise, teaching method or a new use of technology. They may also focus on the entire course, if the course design itself is novel.
Instructors may apply for the award based on an innovation planned and implemented in any of the three years previous to the application deadline. This year, projects implemented in any of the following semesters will be eligible:
- Academic year 2016-2017, including Fall 2016, Spring 2017, and Summer 2017,
- Academic year 2017-2018, including Fall 2017, Spring 2018, and Summer 2018,
- Academic year 2018-2019, including Fall 2018, Spring 2019, and Summer 2019
A focus on innovation: Since this award celebrates innovation, preference will be given to projects that demonstrate the greatest levels of innovation and that clearly present the value of that innovation for student learning.
How to Apply
Note: There is a 2000-word limit on your application's total length, though no single question has a word limit. Please run a word count on your completed application before submitting it through the online form.
The submission form is designed to allow you to edit your responses even after submitting them.
Selection Process
The winner(s) of the award will be decided upon by the faculty members of the Innovations in Teaching Committee. The CTE director does not influence or participate in the discussion or the voting.
The committee follows an established review practice:
- Applications are masked to enable blind review. This process removes the applicant's name and any obviously identifying information from the application document.
- Masked copies of the applications are circulated to all members of the committee for review. Committee members read each application, complete an evaluation rubric, and rank them, adhering to the application categories and questions.
- The committee then meets and holds an in-depth discussion of the projects, leading to a final consensus decision based on both the scoring and the discussion.
- Currently, only one project can win the Hudspeth Award each year.