The Reporter, February 2006

The Reporter is a publication produced by Western Carolina University featuring news, events, and campus community updates for faculty and staff. The publication began in August of 1970 and continues digitally today. Click on the link in the “Related Materials” field to access recent issues.Reporter fnr th e Facultv February 13, 2006 News for the Faculty and Staff of Western Carolina University Event Celebrates Faculty Commitment to Quality Teaching Educators from as far away as Wisconsin and as close as Cullowhee gather at Western this month to share what they've learned about teaching — from how to use virtual office hours to 'Teaching With Your Mouth Shut" to encourage questions. Presentations will be held in the A.K. Hinds University Center throughout the day Thursday, Feb. 23, as part of Western's second annual Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Faire, which expands this year into a regional event and next year to two days. "It is my hope that the event will develop into a main national Scholarship of Teaching and Learning conference," said Alan Altany, a senior fellow with the M.L.Coulter Faculty Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, or SoTL, is an evidence-based approach to developing teaching methods, learning outcomes and forms of assessment that create the best learning experiences possible for students. Through SoTL, faculty members from all disciplines apply their research skills to exploring teaching issues, testing changes and sharing their findings. Western faculty will present projects at the SoTL Faire centered on online course development, campus-community partnerships, theatre in education and strategies for engaging online students. Faculty who work outside Western will present projects exploring topics such as gender and learning styles, what students say about how they learn best, Cherokee Middle School students act out scenarios with Western theatre students during a recent Theatre in Education workshop, an initiative that was part of a project to be presented at the SoTL Faire on Feb. 23. and methods of getting "fast feedback" to improve teaching and learning. The SoTL-related work of Western faculty members is capturing attention across the nation. For instance, Georgia Hambrecht, associate professor of human services, will present a research project at the SoTL Faire that she recently presented in San Diego. The mission of Hambrecht's project was to incorporate "evidence" in designing a course. Meanwhile, she already has begun work on a new SoTL project studying what students learn incidentally within a class outside of continued on page 2 For MBA Program, Selling Center In his new role, Smith oversees the recruitment and advisement of MBA students, monitors courses, schedules classes in Cullowhee and Asheville, promotes graduate education to area businesses, and builds contacts that can lead to placement of MBA graduates. DeConinck, who teaches sales management and negotiations, joined the College of Business faculty in 2002. He previously taught at Central Missouri State University and the University of Dayton, and worked for 10 years in private business, including stints as a warehouse supervisor for Sears, an account manager for NCR Corp., and a sales representative and sales manager for a small telecommunications company. DeConinck has provided business consulting and training services to numerous companies. As director for the Center for Professional Selling and Marketing, DeConinck is responsible for a facility designed to enhance Western's instruction in sales and marketing techniques through a state-of-the-art calling center, video conferencing and other hands-on practical applications for students majoring in business. Beginning operation within the Center for Applied Technology in the fall of 2004, it provides students with realworld business communication and business-to-business selling skills. Phil Little, former director of the MBA and Master of Accountancy programs, will be continuing as director of the Master of Accountancy program. —by Bill Studenc Western Announces New Directors Two members of the business faculty at Western are starting the new semester in new positions, as Leroy Kauffman, dean of the College of Business, recently appointed directors for the university's Master of Business Administration Program and its Center for Professional Selling and Marketing. Michael E. Smith James DeConinck Michael E. Smith, assistant professor of management and international business, is the new director of Western's MBA program. James DeConinck, professor of marketing, is director of the Center for Professional Selling and Marketing. A member of the faculty since 2000, Smith teaches strategy and supply chain management at the graduate and undergraduate levels. He has taught supply chain management and operations management classes as a visiting professor at Michigan State University and Portland State University. Smith spent more than 15 years in executive management before turning to teaching and research aimed at promoting business performance through systemic management of inter- and intra-firm relationships. SoTI Celebrates Teaching continued from page I class objectives. "I am trying to quantify that they are, in fact, learning some of these additional concepts," Hambrecht said. Western's focus on SoTL distinguishes the university from others, said John Habel, associate professor of psychology and faculty fellow. "At many institutions of higher education, teaching ranks far lower than traditional research as a worthy activity that should be rewarded, but, here at Western, our main focus is on teaching and promoting student learning," Habel said. SoTL is the guiding principle for the university's faculty center programs including the upcoming faire, a summer institute for teaching and learning, an international e-journal called MountainRise, cross-discipline faculty leaning communities, readers' roundtable, a seminar for new faculty and open classroom circles that encourage instructors to observe each other as they teach. Faculty members say the programs have helped them bond and build excitement for teaching. Laura Cruz, assistant professor of history, said she found co-authors for articles and collaborators on projects through such programs. "I think the center is the reason why the culture of teaching at WCU is changing to embrace innovative, interesting and diverse methods of teaching," Cruz said. Altany, who leaves Western in May to take a position as director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching at Georgia Southern University, said he thinks Western has come a long way in incorporating SoTL initiatives in the last four years. Altany says he envisions Western becoming a national model for SoTL and "for the transformation of an academic culture into one where conversations, collaborations, investigations, experimentations, applications and dissemination about teaching and learning form the kind of academic community that attracts and retains the best faculty possible, the kind of place where faculty dream of being." Alan Altany —by Teresa Killian >ofL Mr