One slice of my musicological research considers the role of the “greatest hits” album in manufacturing and maintaining an artist’s legacy—the careful selection and presentation of the highlights of their work as part of communicating a creative narrative aimed at diehard fans and casual listeners all at once.

It should come as no surprise, then, that I was delighted to discover an acronym for change-making within Centers for Teaching and Learning (CTLs): HITS. The Hub-Incubator-Temple-Sieve (HITS) framework offers four general strategies for enhancing educational development opportunities that can be applied at the organizational level, benefiting individuals and the collective. You can learn more about how Mary C. Wright’s book Centers for Teaching and Learning: The New Landscape in Higher Education explains how HITS has been applied to more than 1.200 CTLs across the country.

Over these next four blocks, I’ll use this space to outline the four key strategies of HITS, starting here with the letter “H.” According to Wright’s survey of more than 1200 CTLs, a hub strategy is the most applied theory of change. As the name suggests, centers acting as hubs serve as conveners, connectors, and coordinators within their institutions. They bring faculty, staff, and students together to foster collaboration, share resources, and create a cohesive learning environment. The Crown Center for Teaching takes pride in connecting our academic community, and we do so in numerous ways: Crown Lunches, Block Breakfasts, Educator Learning Communities, Creative Courage Cohorts, Educator Development Days, Mentoring Alliance Program, Scholarly Research and Writing Groups, and Instructional Coaching. Each program functions as its own hub while serving—perhaps to extend this metaphor further than necessary—as a spoke to the Crown Center itself. Whether you are a Crown superfan or are experiencing our collection of tracks for the first time, I hope our exploration of the HITS framework this semester provides you with a little more insight into the work we do to support innovative pedagogy across CC. And I invite you to consider how we can serve as a hub for your continued educational growth and development. If you have ideas for additional hub-related activities we can support, don’t hesitate to be in touch!

Sincerely,

Ryan Raul Bañagale

Associate Professor of Music and Director of the Crown Center for Teaching 

In talking to faculty and staff, we often hear regret over the loss of opportunities for social connection on campus. Technology, the pandemic, the pressure for everyone to do more—for whatever reason, our daily lives have become increasingly fragmented. The Crown Center hopes that hosting where colleagues from across campus can convene will help us all forge new relationships and feel more connected to existing friends. So please join us to share knowledge and a meal together.

Crown Faculty Lunch: Possibility Books

Monday, Jan. 27, 12:30 p.m-2 p.m. *lunch provided
Tutt Library, Room 105
Click here to register

Experience Possibility Books (PB), a brief daily pedagogy for classes across disciplines. Spend time over lunch adapting the prompts to align with any course. Outcomes of using PB include increased sense of community, well-being, creative thinking, and engagement with course content.

Over a thousand students across all disciplines have used PB.  Materials are provided by C&I for each class using this method.  Open to anyone teaching a course at CC.

Crown Faculty Lunch: Writing Letters of Recommendation

Hosted by the Health Professionals Advising Committee
Thursday, Jan. 30, 12:15 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.*lunch provided
Tutt Library 317
Click here to RSVP

Join a session focused on writing letters of recommendation hosted by the current Health Professions Advising Committee (Jane Byrnes, Eryn Murphy, Sara Hanson, and Amy Kohout). This session will cover what makes an excellent letter of recommendation, as well as strategies for managing lots of requests and gathering the most useful information from the students we write for. While our committee sees many letters focused specifically on medical and dental school applications, this session might be useful for both newer letter writers and seasoned recommenders from all divisions, writing to support students pursuing a wide range of opportunities. 

Creativity & Innovation Workshop: Perception and Creativity at FAC

Hosted by  Jessica Hunter, Associate Director of the Crown Center   
Thursday, Feb. 6, 2 p.m. -3:30 p.m.
Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College
Click here to RSVP

Although remaining open and receptive when faced with ambiguous situations is a component of creative thinking, we typically make decisions about unfamiliar things quickly. This session features exercises designed to help participants build their tolerance of ambiguity so they can eventually make more creative decisions.     

Block Break Breakfast

Thursday, Feb. 13, 8:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.
Cossitt Lounge

Responding to a request for more informal space to converse about all things teaching, the Crown Center for Teaching hosts Block Break breakfasts. Come grab a bagel and some coffee or tea. Join your Crown Center colleagues for conversation and support. We welcome all to enjoy a bagel on us! No RSVP is required.

At Crown, we continually seek inspiration from peer institutions as we consider how Centers for Teaching and Learning can act as hubs to unite people, practices, and ideas. The UVA Teaching Hub provides an excellent example of a CTL acting as a repository for innovative and effective teaching practices by providing carefully selected resources for faculty. We encourage you to check out their website and listen to Associate Director Derek Bruff talk about their process for selecting faculty resources.

Shout out to Corey Hutchins, Manager of the Colorado College Journalism Institute, for this article in The Conversation that highlights CC students’ involvement in a project about Colorado local news sources.

CCE: PEAK (Publicly Engaged Actionable Knowledge) Project 

Are you interested in transitioning a course you are teaching this summer to community-engaged learning, but need community connections? If so, you are invited to participate in the Publicly Engaged Actionable Knowledge (PEAK) Project by filling out this brief interest form by the end of Block 5 (Sunday, Feb. 16).  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 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. 

GLOBAL ED : Pondering the Idea of an Off-Campus Block? 

If you’re thinking about leading an off-campus block, the time to get Global Education involved is in the conception stage, even before you start to consider a proposal. We can assist you with ideation, modeling, use of site, partnerships, logistical support, staffing, and budgeting.  We are happy to have one-on-one meetings to discuss your idea or you can attend a Build a Block Away Workshop to bounce your ideas off others. The next BABA Workshop is Thursday, Mar. 6 in Armstrong 210. Email Allen Bertsche to RSVP. Finally, there is a great resource in Canvas. Search for the course titled “Build a Block Away” for resources, guidance, and college policy about off-campus blocks. If the 1-on-1 option is your preference, just reach out to Dr. Bertsche to schedule an appointment to discuss your idea and how it might become a CC Block Away.