QEP Primary Program Components

RISE Faculty Institute

  • Student centered and active learning pedagogy faculty development and course revisions, focusing on 100-  and 200-level required courses
  • Designed to support faculty in removing barriers to learning and fostering academic belonging
  • 5 cohorts of 20 faculty members (from Main Campus and RUC) in each cohort, going through 2 semesters and a summer (Spring, Summer, & Fall or Spring)
  • Training includes in-person workshops and online modules with 16 required sessions and 10 optional sessions. Examples of session topics:
    • fostering a sense of belonging in classroom and online;
    • syllabus audit—content, format, & tone;
    • backward course design
    • transparent assignments; active learning
    • effective teams;
    • Metacognition
    • Open Educational Resources;
    • problem-based learning
  • After the formal part of the Institute, faculty participate in a facilitated Community of Practice for ongoing support and learning
  • Assessment of the Institute includes pre-  and post-redesign surveying of faculty, review of course deliverables, and faculty reflections
  • First cohort will begin forming in Spring 2023

RISE Community Action Teams (R-CATs)

  • To facilitate campus belonging, each college & RUC will have an R-CAT
  • Students of varying majors & 1 faculty member from each department on each R-CAT
  • R-CATs will do the following:
    • Review and discuss annually college equity gap reports and research on belongingness to situate programming within college’s equity context
    • Develop and execute at a minimum two activities, one in the early Fall and one in the early Spring, to promote campus belonging in the college, with an emphasis on facilitating belonging for underserved student populations
    • Conduct “College Days,” which are Academic Club Fairs within each college to invite participation in organizations within the college
    • Manage the QEP-funded RISE Food for Thought breakfast program within the college
    • Collect and report event participation data to the QEP Assessment Team
    • Assist with distribution of an annual belongingness survey
  • There will also be an R-CAT Council to provide communication, collaboration, and support between and with R-CATs
    • 1 student and 1 faculty representative from each R-CAT will sit on the Council
    • QEP Program Director will facilitate the Council
    • Will form in Spring 2023, programming to begin Fall 2023