From the Director: A Temple to Teaching Forged Across Campus

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 Block, we move to the next letter in the framework: Temple.
The Temple concept in the HITS framework represents a space of reverence and recognition where the art and craft of teaching are honored. Such celebration elevates the value of our pedagogical endeavors wherever and whenever they occur. Accordingly, this takes many forms at CC.

The Dean of Faculty Teaching Excellence Awards are announced at the outset of each academic year during Faculty Forum. They recognize a faculty member’s sustained excellence in teaching and transformative impact on students. For Fall 2024, the recipients were: 

Similarly, the CC Student Government Association (CCSGA) bestows the Lloyd E. Worner Teacher of the Year Award upon faculty each spring at Honors Convocation. Students recognize professors based on their exceptional qualifications, intelligence, and care provided to students.  In Spring 2024, the honorees included:

In addition to these annual awards, it is essential to remember the celebration of excellent teaching that regularly emerges in multiple forms. We see this arise from the insights and observations of our students in their course evaluations. It emerges from the feedback we provide each other following a teaching observation, and it comes from the emails and reunion conversations we receive from alums who continuously remind us of how our transformational practices have impacted their path over time.

Looking ahead, we’re exploring additional ways to honor and support faculty dedication to student learning. We aim to enhance recognition of innovative and inclusive teaching practices and continue to shape a campus where exceptional teaching is increasingly valued, shared, and celebrated.

How can the Crown Center celebrate your continued educational development, your big or little accomplishments in the classroom, or amplify the incredible work we know often remains unseen?

Teaching at CC is something special and needs to be celebrated in as many ways as possible.

Sincerely,

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

Have you ever wondered how CC faculty leverage the FAC in their teaching? As the Crown Center celebrates teaching across campus, we highlight three faculty members who developed impactful, museum-integrated courses.

Associate Professor of Southwest Studies Karen Roybal used the Agents of Care gallery as a classroom for her Art, Power, and Resistance course. Artwork selected to inform their work surrounded the class as they met daily in the museum to examine the relationships between art, identity, and power.

Using the FAC as a learning lab, Assistant Professor of Music Lidia Chang asked her students to grapple with how museums can display music. Her Music and the Museum course culminated in an exhibition, where the students’ final projects included sharing their learning with FAC visitors.

Coming up in Block 8, Assistant Professor of Mathematics & Computer Science Varsha Koushik will guide her students through applying what they have learned at the FAC. Her Accessible User Interfaces class will task students with designing tech solutions for real-world museum accessibility challenges.

Want to integrate the FAC into your class? Contact Blair Huff, FAC Academic Engagement Manager, to explore the possibilities.

The Faculty Fellows Program supports project-based professional leadership development of CC faculty members by providing opportunities to administer and collaborate on cross-campus, academic-related initiatives while strengthening institutional engagement. The fellows were selected by a committee comprised of members of the Crown Center, the College Transitions Program, and the Butler Center.

We are pleased to announce our following colleagues in their new roles as Faculty Fellows:

While our Bridge, Mentoring Alliance, and Instructional Coaching Fellows are extensions and revisions of existing faculty roles, our Teaching Excellence and Student Engagement Fellows represent additional ways that faculty leaders can enhance the experience of our first-year students in, and beyond, the classroom. To this end, Professor Aline Lo is “excited to collaborate with others to keep FYP going strong so that students feel confident beginning their college careers.” Likewise, Professor Lisiecki expresses enthusiasm “to work to develop and implement initiatives that promote and deepen a sense of academic belonging and community among first-year students at CC. A commitment to student thriving will guide this work. It will seek to empower students to shape their liberal arts education in ways that are academically, professionally, and personally meaningful to them.”

Please join us in celebrating this inaugural cohort of Faculty Fellows!

Crown Lunch: Spring Faculty Advising Workshop: From Nuts & Bolts to Meaningful Advising Conversations 

Friday, Mar. 28, 12:15 –1:30 p.m.
Tutt Library 105
Hosted by Marion Hourdequin, Professor of Philosophy and Assistant Dean of the Faculty; Lori Driscoll, Professor of Psychology; Christina Rader, Associate Professor of Economics; Leo White, Student Success Specialist; and Ashley Belton, Assistant Registrar.
Register for B7 Advising

This lunchtime workshop will cover key, need-to-know information for faculty advisors and academic mentors, including tips for effectively using Stellic and Banner, and the nuts and bolts of pre-registration advising. In addition, we will discuss ways to develop constructive advising relationships and have meaningful advising conversations that support students in their personal, academic, and professional development. All members of our educational community are welcome, and faculty advisors are especially encouraged to attend in preparation for spring pre-registration advising.

Crown Lunch: Elevating Competency Awareness in the Classroom and Off-Campus Blocks

Tuesday, Apr. 1, 12:15–1:30 p.m.
Tutt Library Room 317
Hosted by Brett Woodard, Career Center, Allen Bertsche, Center for Global Education and Field Study, and Ryan Bañagale, Crown Center Director.
Register for B7 Experiential Learning & World Readiness

Join us for a dynamic workshop to explore practical, low-lift strategies to help students recognize and articulate the critical competencies they’re developing in your courses. Join us to discover and exchange simple practices that can empower your students to articulate their foundational skills to the world confidently!

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 August 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 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. 

CCE: Community Engagement Recognition Night Award Nominations Deadline

Do you know someone who has made an impact in the community? Nominations for Community Engagement Recognition awards are open. Award categories honor students, staff, faculty, and community partners who have gone above and beyond in contributing to the public good. Community Engagement Recognition Night Award categories include: Community Collaborator, Advocacy and Activism, Public Problem Solver, Campus Organizer, Excellence in Community-Engaged Teaching, Excellence in Community-Engaged Research, and Outstanding Community Partner. The deadline to nominate is Apr. 7 

CCE: PEAK (Publicly Engaged Actionable Knowledge) Project

Are you interested in transitioning a course you are teaching this fall 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 priority deadline at the end of Block 7 (Sunday, Apr. 20) with a final deadline at 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.

CCE: Liberal Arts in Correctional Facilities (LACF) Initiative

The LACF initiative is currently seeking educators to teach courses in the 2025-26 academic year and beyond. The mission of the program is to address inequities in higher education by expanding access for incarcerated persons. Through the LACF, CC faculty and qualified staff offer for-credit courses at no cost in the Youthful Offenders System (YOS) facility in Pueblo, which serves a population of 19 to 25-year-olds. Students receive credit through Pueblo Community College (PCC), and courses are guaranteed to transfer as degree requirements at any Colorado public institution of higher learning. CC faculty or qualified staff receive a grant-funded stipend to teach evening courses (typically twice a week) over the course of a semester. Please visit our website to express interest, or email jradke@coloradocollege.edu with questions.

Save the Date for the CCE’s Annual Senior Symposium on Tuesday, Apr. 22nd from 3-5 p.m.

Every year, graduating seniors from some of our civic leadership programs and our Newman Fellow present their Presentations of Learning to reflect on their community engaged experiences, and Capstone projects in a conference style event on the 2nd floor of the Tutt Library. Here’s a sneak peak of this year’s presentation schedule! We hope that you can join us.

 Global: Faculty-Focused Online Resources for Taking Students Off-Campus

Global Education & Field Study continues to update and improve our online resources for faculty interested in taking students off campus. For faculty interested in developing an off-campus Block (domestic or international) there is the Canvas course “Building a Block Away” which focuses on the idea-to-proposal process, including CC policy and practice on course design, budgeting, and use of partner organizations or OPA (Off-Campus Program Assistants). 

For faculty with planned field experiences, Blocks away, or longer study-away programs, there is also the Canvas course “Taking Academic Courses Off-Campus”, which is designed for faculty who are already scheduled for off-campus travel with their class. This course is required of all faculty who are leading students outside of El Paso County and contains policy, guidelines and advice around safety, health, risk management, and your role as a faculty leader of off-campus experiences. It must be completed before you lead your course off-campus, but is valid for the entire year.

In addition to these resources, both Drew Cavin (Field & Domestic Travel) and Allen Bertsche (Block Away and International Travel) are happy to walk through the travel plan development process, review college requirements and expectations, or help you brainstorm about ways to maximize the experiential education potential of your course and its off-campus components. 

Applications are still open for the AAYLC Community Enhancement Prize!

Are you passionate about making a difference in the world? The African American Youth Leadership Conference (AAYLC) is awarding up to $2,000 to a student who is involved in curricular or co-curricular activities related to the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals — from climate action and social justice to quality education and beyond.

If you’re doing work that drives change, we want to hear from you! The winner will be recognized at Honors Convocation on Tuesday, May 6.

Awarded funds can be used to:

The deadline to apply is next Friday, April 4. The winning applicant will be notified by email the week of April 14.

To apply, complete the application. Be prepared to upload:

We look forward to reviewing your project! Please contact Sam Heim with any questions or concerns.

Faculty and staff are invited to Block 7 Faculty Lunch, where Assistant Professor of Physics Adam Light will present “Tabletop Plasma for Environmental Remediation and Student Research Agency” on Tuesday, Apr. 8 from noon-1:15 p.m. in Gaylord Hall in Worner.

In this talk, Light will give an overview of work relevant to remediation of contaminated water funded by the National Science Foundation, and highlight student-led projects in fungal inhibition, fast high-voltage switching, interferometry, adhesion, circuit development, and more. Non-thermal atmospheric pressure plasma, or “cold plasma” is ionized gas that can produce active chemical species at the surface of a material on demand and without significant heating. These discharges drive energetic processes efficiently and produce useful outcomes in contexts as different as wound care, nanoparticle generation, hazardous waste disposal, and textile modifications. Learn more about this event.

Lunch will be provided. Please register by Wednesday, Apr. 2.

Antiracism. Diversity. Equity. Inclusion. 

For years, CC has used the acronym ADEI, often known nationally as DEI, but it is important that we state with intentionality these full words and not allow their meaning to be distorted. 

Paraphrasing Paulette Granberry Russell, president of the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education, at our annual meeting: 

To be against diversity is to be for homogeneity. To be against equity is to be for discrimination and the elimination of the 14th amendment. To be against inclusion is to be for exclusion. 

Of course, at CC we also know that to be against antiracism is to be for racism. We will not let our words be co-opted, misconstrued, or weaponized. And we will not allow our values to be misrepresented. 

In solidarity, 

Rosalie 

Please join us in welcoming Dr. Chistopher Sewell as the Assistant Vice President for Institutional Equity and Belonging. Christopher is joining us from Talladega College in Alabama, where he most recently served as Director of the Dr. Jewel Plummer Cobb Honors Program and Associate Professor of Humanities. Previously, he was Associate Dean of Students and Dean of First-Year Students at Williams College and served as Curriculum Manager at Praxis Labs. Christopher has worked across the educational spectrum. His scholarship focuses on the experiences of gifted students of color with college access, the

Dr. Christopher Sewell

transition to college, and the experiences of Black students at Predominantly White Institutions. He serves on the Editorial Board for the Journal of African American Males in Education (JAAME) and the Journal of Queer and Trans Studies in Education (JQTSiE). 

From Christopher: “I am so excited to join the Colorado College community and build on the work done around antiracism, diversity, equity, and inclusion. I look forward to partnering with students, faculty, and staff to build out more resources and spaces to make the College an inclusive environment.” 

At CC, we believe that Academic Freedom, Freedom of Expression, and protecting our community from harassment and discriminatory practices such as antisemitism and Islamophobia, are not inherently at odds. In fact, we must vehemently protect our vulnerable populations and defend academic freedom if we are to uphold the values of a liberal arts tradition.

An executive order and accompanying memo aimed at increasing enforcement for Title VI violations related to antisemitism on college campuses was issued on Jan 22, 2025. Over the coming weeks, you will see additional communication about how the College is navigating this topic, resources available, and an invitation to provide feedback to the group of faculty and staff who have been revising our Freedom of Expression Policy. There will be multiple opportunities to provide input throughout Block 7 and additional Know Your Rights Trainings from the Colorado Immigrant rights Association and the ACLU of Colorado. Details for these events and other can be found in the “Events” section below. We encourage you to make time to lend your perspective to this important discussion. 

In January, the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education (NADOHE) and American Association of University Professors (AAUP) joined others to file a lawsuit against two anti-DEI executive orders. If you would like to stay abreast of the updates in this case, please visit the NADOHE/AAUP folder in the Belonging@CC Team.

New Resources Available:  

As concerns about interacting with immigration enforcement both on and off campus continue to arise, we want to remind you of the protocol for on campus interactions which were laid out in the Protecting your Privacy email on January 22.  You can now find the same information on our Guidance for interacting with Immigration Campus Webpage. 

In addition, you can find quick guides for off-campus interactions with law enforcement and guidance for interacting with immigration enforcement while traveling in the Belonging@CC Team.  

Additional pocket guides on various aspects of law enforcement interaction can be picked up in the Institutional Equity & Belonging office – Worner Campus Center, suite 234.

Antiracist Book Club 

Don’t forget to collect your free copy of Eating the Landscape: American Indian Stories of Food, Identity, and Resilience from the campus bookstore, and stay connected to the Antiracism Book Club Teams channel for reading guides, resources, and information about upcoming engagements. 

Freedom of Expression Community Dialogues

Wednesday, Mar. 26, 1-3:30 p.m. in Gaylord Hall  

Freedom of Expression Staff Dialogue Session 

Thursday, Mar. 27, 3-4:30 p.m. in Gaylord Hall 

Freedom of Expression Faculty Dialogue Session 

Join the Freedom of Expression Policy Group for Community Dialogues. In these collaborative sessions, we’ll get feedback from our staff and faculty about CC’s Freedom of Expression Policy. For questions, please contact deanofstudents@coloradocollege.edu. 

Disability! Let’s Talk About It! (Excel at CC) 

Thursday, Mar. 27, 3 – 4:30 p.m. in Ed Robson Arena: Chapman Room

Language matters! “Person with a disability?” “Disabled person?” “Differently abled?” “Neurodivergent?” According to the CDC, 61 million (or 1 in 4) adults in the United States live with a disability. The student population at CC mirrors this data. Despite this prevalence, many people feel uncomfortable or unprepared to engage in conversations about disability. We invite you to join the Accessibility Resources staff to talk about disabilities, appropriate language, and how to be inclusive in the words you choose. You can register through Bridge! 

2nd Annual Drag Show Fabulosity Ball 

Friday, Mar. 28, 8 p.m. (doors open at 7 p.m.) in Cornerstone Main space 

Join the Butler Center and host Jessica L’Whor for an incredible line up of Queens and Kings, including CC student performers and special guests. Check out the Butler Center on Instagram for more information. 

Know Your Rights with Colorado Immigrant Rights Association 

Wednesday, Apr. 2, 10-11:30 a.m. in Barbara Yalich Board Room 

Wednesday, Apr. 2, 3-4:30 p.m. in Tutt Library Timothy Fuller Event Space 

Annette Leyva, CIRC South Regional Organizer, will once again present a workshop to share information on your rights, resources, and support when facing potential immigration enforcement. The objective of this workshop is to increase one’s sense of security, increase family stability, and promote mental health by assisting individuals and families in organizing their personal information in the event that the family faces immigration enforcement.

The Role of Mental Resilience in Social Change and Community Leadership 

Monday, Apr. 14, 12:30 PM in Tutt Library, Timothy Fuller Event Space Activism, Community, and Mental Health Panel

Tuesday, Apr. 15, 1:00–3:00 PM in Hibble Community Center Classroom Managing Stress and Preventing Burnout in Activism Workshop 

Please join the CC Political Science Department for two special events on mental health and activism! These events explore the intersection of activism and mental health, offering insights and practical skills for activists, students, faculty, and community members. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn from experts and gain valuable tools for resilience! 

Additional events and details can be found in our Belonging@CC MS Team, and on The Butler Center and CC Chaplains office Instagram pages. 

Throughout the Block, there are many cultural and religious observances. Please visit our website to learn about the many ways you can engage and support these observances on campus and in the community. 

We are one week away from Election Day! There is plenty of time to fill out and cast your ballot in the Colorado Springs General Municipal Election. This election will determine who will sit on City Council. Make sure your voice is heard in who will represent you! In Colorado, all eligible voters automatically receive a mail ballot, so you can easily vote by mail or ballot drop-box.  

Reminders for the upcoming election: 

It is never too late to register to vote in Colorado! Register or update your voter registration today, March 25, to receive your ballot in the mail at GoVoteColorado.org. After today, March 25, you will need to visit the City Administration Building (30 S Nevada Ave, Colorado Springs, CO 80903) to register to vote, update your voter registration, or vote in person.

You can find information on how to vote, and how to get involved in campus Get-Out-The-Vote efforts on the CC Votes page. Vote by 7 p.m. on April 1! 

We want to inform you that early this morning, Mar. 25 at 2:24 a.m., a vehicle was stolen from its parking space in the E-6 Parking Lot. The Colorado Springs Police Department (CSPD) has been notified and is actively investigating the incident.

As a reminder, we encourage everyone to take a moment to review your vehicle safety and security practices:

Staying vigilant and taking simple precautions can help deter theft and protect your belongings. If you notice any suspicious activity, please report it to Campus Security immediately.

For emergencies, please contact:

CSPD Emergency: 911
CSPD Non-Emergency: (719) 444-7000
Campus Safety Emergency: (719) 389-6911
Campus Safety Non-Emergency: (719) 389-6707

This information is being released in compliance with the federal Clery Act (formerly known as the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act). Timely warnings, emergency notifications, and security notices are issued to inform the community about potentially dangerous situations at or near CC, enabling our students and employees to make informed decisions and take appropriate actions for their safety.

Thank you for prioritizing safety on our campus.