Ensure Your Voice is Heard

The WASC reaccreditation campus visit is next week and faculty have an opportunity to meet with the team on Tuesday, March 5 from 4:30-5:15pm in Colusa 100. This is an opportunity for you to share your input about the campus from the faculty perspective. If you’re unable to attend or would prefer to communicate privately with the WASC team, you can email your thoughts directly to csuchico@wscuc.org through March 7. This confidential email goes straight to the WASC review team and no one at Chico State will be able to read or have access to it. To read more about Chico State’s reaccreditation process, visit the WASC website.

Supplemental Instruction to Enhance Learning

INVITATION: The Faculty Development Office will host a viewing party for a webinar offered by the Chancellor’s Office on Supplemental Instruction (SI) on March 1 from 12-2 in Butte 309 (details attached). If you’re interested in attending all or part of this gathering, please RSVP here so we know how much coffee/snacks to bring.

What is SI?

SI has been shown to increase student engagement and help them perform better on assessments? It is a proven program that provides academic assistance to students via peer-assisted study sessions. Modeled after the International Program at the University of Missouri-KC, the SI Program at Chico State currently supports dozens of courses sections across multiple colleges on campus (mostly high enrollment, high DFW, bottleneck courses).

How does SI work?

SI study sessions are held three to four times per week by an SI leader, who is a student (recommended by you) who has already mastered the course material. SI leaders are trained and funded by the Student Learning Center (or your department’s budget) to facilitate group sessions where students can meet to compare notes, improve their understanding of course material, review and discuss difficult concepts, develop study strategies, and prepare for exams.

How can I get involved?

Requests for participating in the SI program should be made one semester in advance to allow time for hiring and training of the SI Leader. To start the SI request process, complete this SI Faculty Interest Form.

Tuesday Tip – BOOK CLUB on Cultural Inclusivity

Chico State has experienced significant changes in student demographics in recent years. If you’re interested in joining a discussion about creating a welcoming and inclusive classroom for all students, click here to join the Spring ’19 Book Club to discuss the concepts in The Culturally Inclusive Educator. You’ll get the book for free and plenty of coffee and snacks during our four 1-hour gatherings this semester. The book offers evidence-based solutions to prepare teachers for a growing multi-cultural population in their classrooms. Rooted in social construction theory, the author offers guidance on overcoming both personal and institutional challenges to cultural inclusiveness (stereotype threats, microagressions, implicit bias, critical race theory, privilege, social identity, etc.). Apply by 2/18 to reserve your spot!

Teach Students, Not Subjects

It’s 2019 and our incoming students are the first university class born this century. While we serve students from all age groups, most of our incoming freshman grew up very differently than most of us.  For example, they were one year old when 9/11 happened and they’ve always had Wikipedia for “research.”

Here are some realities of our students born after the year 2000…

• Humans have always lived in space, not just traveled there.
• They have grown up afraid that a school shooting could happen.
• Same-sex marriage has always been legal somewhere.
• Oprah has always been a magazine.
• They never used a spitbowl in a dentist’s office.
• A visit to the bank is a rare event.
• Best-selling books have always been available on an e-reader.

Deep learning requires that we know our students and connect with them when we can. As the saying goes, “we teach students, not subjects.”