From the Director: Sieve! Sieve! Sieve! More than a Hockey Chant…

In our previous newsletters, we introduced the HITS framework (Hub–Incubator–Temple-Sieve) for enhancing the effectiveness of Centers for Teaching and Learning (CTLs). In this final block of the year, we move to the final letter in the framework: Sieve.

The sieve concept in the HITS framework represents a strategy where CTLs act as filters, discerning and disseminating evidence-based teaching practices. This approach emphasizes the importance of vetting educational research to inform and improve teaching methodologies across the institution.

At the Crown Center for Teaching (CCT), we are committed to elevating educational practices by serving as a conduit for evidence-based teaching strategies. Through initiatives and programs like our DocuGuides, Instructional Coaching, and Critical AI Literacy reading list, we strive to provide faculty with tools and insights to continue to innovate in the classroom. We aim to foster a dynamic learning environment where educators and students thrive by continuously filtering and sharing the latest educational research.

What resources are you looking for, and how can we help?

The CCT will plan our programming for the AY25-26 throughout Block 8 and summer. Is there a topic or set of resources you would like to see developed? Would you like to organize a Crown workshop or lunch gathering? Please let us know!

We hope you’ll explore the many opportunities available throughout this newsletter. And we send best wishes for the final weeks of this academic year!

Sincerely,

Ryan Raul Bañagale
Associate Professor of Music and Director of the Crown Center for Teaching

Thursday, May 15, 9 a.m.-3 p.m.
Tutt Library Room 105

Wrapping up a year of cross-campus conversations on Generative AI (GenAI) at CC, this Crown Educational Development Day addresses the present moment while inviting future exploration. Together, we will explore foundational concepts, ethical considerations, and strategies for navigating GenAI within the context of our liberal arts, antiracism, and sustainability values. The morning session will focus on where we are now, while the afternoon will follow the World Café Method to foster collaborative discussions on various topics as we look to the future.

Coffee service, snacks, and lunch will be provided. 

Morning Session (9 a.m.-noon): Where We Are

Afternoon Session (1 p.m.-3 p.m.): Where We’re Going

Topics for discussion include:

Participants are encouraged to join us for either the morning or afternoon session, or both! Register for Educational Development Day

Please let us know if you want to host one of the afternoon table conversations!

Become a New Faculty Mentor:  

The Mentoring Alliance Program seeks two tenured faculty members to mentor this year’s new tenure track cohort. Our new faculty members bring ideas, experiences, and passion to CC. The program’s goals are to recognize their skills and perspectives, ensure all new professors have equitable access to the tools and resources available on campus, and create spaces for new faculty members to support each other in transitioning into their CC careers.

Each mentor will work closely with 4-5 new faculty from across divisions, orienting them to CC logistics, and creating space to share their ideas and concerns and learn from each other. In exchange for compensation of $2750, mentors must commit to:

If you are interested in being a mentor, please send an e-mail explaining your interest in the position to MAP Faculty Fellow Corina McKendry at cmckendry@coloradocollege.edu by Wednesday, Apr. 30.

Become an Instructional Coach:

The CCT Instructional Coaching (IC) program supports CC educators’ anti-oppressive pedagogical development, including classroom environment, assessment, instructional practices, critical consciousness, and discourse. The program leverages CC faculty’s knowledge and skills by hiring interested CC faculty members who then serve as coaches to fellow faculty seeking instructional coaching support.  

The IC program seeks to hire two new instructional coaches for the 2025-26 school year. We currently have a strong pool of coaches from the Natural Sciences Division, so we are looking for applicants representing the ID programs, Social Sciences, and Humanities Divisions for this round. Preference will be given to applicants who have previously participated as coachees in the program.

Instructional coaches serve as pedagogical thought partners responsible for observing and supporting the development of one to two colleagues throughout a semester, or the academic year, through two to four coaching cycles. Coaching cycles typically include a pre-observation conversation, a two-stage classroom observation using the Inclusive Pedagogies Observation Protocol (IPOP foundations and advanced and a shorter version of these tools), and a post-observation debrief. Coaching cycles can also include syllabus support, assignments, and assessment design.

Applications are due no later than Wednesday, Apr. 30. New coaches must attend instructional coach training on Wednesday, May 7 and Tuesday, May 13 from 3-5:30 p.m., and a two-hour asynchronous training between these dates.

All coaches must attend semesterly check-ins, and returning coaches must participate in further training during the fall semester.

Instructional Coaches are paid $2,750 each academic year to support the professional growth of one or two coachees for four coaching cycles. 

Apply to become an Instructional Coach

Critical AI Literacy Course Development Grants:

The CCT invites faculty to apply for Critical AI Literacy Course Development Grants to support courses in 2025-26 AY that engage with generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) in ways that reflect CC’s commitments to the liberal arts, antiracism, and sustainability. These grants are designed to support critical engagement of GenAI technologies in teaching and learning, not necessarily their use.

We encourage proposals from faculty who wish to explore thoughtful uses of GenAI and those who want to examine its non-use through deliberate curricular choices.

For example, a course might include modules that raise awareness about GenAI’s ethical, environmental, social, or epistemological implications, even if the tools are not used. 

Applicants are encouraged to:

Proposals are due by the second Friday of Block 8 (May 2), and decisions will be made before the end of Block 8. The summer salary grant amount is $1,000. 

Apply for a Critical AI Literacy Course Development Grant

Crown Leadership Projects in Teaching and Inquiry

The CCT Leadership Projects in Teaching and Inquiry support faculty advancing innovative, reflective, and impactful approaches to our teacher-scholar model at CC. This initiative responds to requests for increased opportunities to try out ideas and hone project development processes. It recognizes that leadership in a liberal arts context emerges through thoughtful practice, collaborative exploration, and a commitment to learning within and beyond the classroom.

Call for Proposals

Faculty members are invited to propose year-long projects that enhance the learning community at CC. We are particularly interested in proposals that leverage a faculty member’s specific interests and expertise and demonstrate potential for future impact on our campus. Such opportunities could be related to alternative assessment practices, scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL), integrating arts-based learning, etc.

Please submit a proposal of approximately 500 words that includes the following:

Faculty selected for Leadership Projects in Teaching and Inquiry will receive a $4,000 salary stipend for their respective projects during the 2025-26 academic year.

Proposals should be emailed directly to CCT Director, Ryan Bañagale, and will be accepted through the last Wednesday of Block 8 (May 14). If you have any questions or want to discuss ideas as you prepare your application, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

Summer Crown Manuscript Workshop

The Crown Manuscript Workshop supports and promotes productive scholarship at CC. It brings together a CC scholar member and up to two external colleagues who are knowledgeable about the project topic for an intensive two-day seminar to discuss and revise the scholar’s manuscript. Over the past decade, the workshops have supported scholars in producing excellent publications in various fields.

This workshop is for scholars who have a book project, major dissertation revision in the form of a nearly completed manuscript, or significant creative work.

Scholars may arrange a seminar with up to two external colleagues (one of whom may be a publisher) working intensively on the full manuscript with the author. The honorarium for knowledgeable scholars is $500 each, plus additional travel, lodging, and meal costs. 

Applications for a Summer 2025 Workshop are due on the last Wednesday of Block 8 (May 14).

Application Process:

Completed applications and supporting materials (in PDF format, please) should be emailed to Ryan Bañagale (rbanagale@coloradocollege.edu).

Proposals must include:

Other considerations:

Call for Applications: Creative Courage Cohort 2025-26

Creativity & Innovation invites faculty in all disciplines to join the Creative Confidence Cohort (CCC). This year-long program offers those in the cohort opportunities to explore creative thinking and problem-solving exercises. The cohort begins on Aug. 11 and 12 with an immersive experience. The CCC will benefit anyone hoping to support students’ creative thinking or those who wish to align new or existing courses with the Creative Process general education requirement. Each faculty member who completes the program will receive a summer course development grant of $2,000 to modify an existing course or $4,000 to develop a new course (awarded in Summer 2026). See the website for more information.

To apply, email your goals for participating in the cohort to Kris Stanec, Director of Creativity & Innovation, kstanec@coloradocollege.edu by Friday, Aug. 1.

How Do You Experience Place? The Permanent Collection Reinstallation at the FAC

The FAC looks forward to the reinstallation of the museum’s permanent collection in Gathering Place, opening September 5, 2025. This transformative reinstallation spans the first-floor galleries, immersing visitors in the powerful, complex, and overlapping histories connected to the Southwest. Featuring collection highlights alongside rarely exhibited works, Gathering Place opens new opportunities for Colorado College classes to engage with the story of this place.

In addition to the curatorial team at the FAC, guest curators include Cassandra Atencio, artist, elder, and member of the Southern Ute Tribe; James M. Córdova, santero and Associate Professor of Art History, Latin American Art at the University of Colorado, Boulder; Josh T. Franco, artist and art historian; and Pat Musick, artist and educator.

Request a class visit through the FAC website or contact Blair Huff, FAC Academic Engagement Manager, to explore the possibilities. 

CCE: PEAK (Publicly Engaged Actionable Knowledge) Project

Are you interested in transitioning a course you teach this fall to community-engaged learning, but need community connections? If so, you are invited to participate in the PEAK Project by filling out this brief interest form by the end of Block 8 (Sunday, May 18). The PEAK Project bridges campus knowledge to community impact by connecting CC educators to nonprofit partners for community-engaged learning classroom projects. 

For a limited time, those who participate in the PEAK Project and are successfully “matched” will be eligible to receive project development stipends ($500 each for faculty and community partners) to honor the time, capacity, and thought-work that goes into developing new community-engaged learning projects. This funding is generously provided through the Bonner Foundation’s Community-Engaged Learning Initiative, through which the CCE received a grant. Funds will be offered until grant funding is exhausted.