Washington State University Pullman faculty can apply by 5 p.m. Dec. 15 to join the university’s seventh cohort of LIFT Faculty Fellows and participate in spring programming, the Transformational Change Initiative (TCI) in the provost’s office announced.
LIFT is the acronym for “Learn. Inspire. Foster. Transform.” The program supports educators committed to continuously improving the student experience, transforming their courses, and developing pedagogy to boost student success through the application of active-learning approaches and brief behavioral interventions. To date, more than 175 educators system-wide have become LIFT Fellows since the program began in 2017, impacting the academic experience of thousands of WSU students.
Faculty accepted into the latest LIFT cohort will be notified by Dec. 20 and will receive $2,000. Among those requirements are readings and reflections, attendance at pedagogical trainings, participation in a peer observation and/or co-mentoring training session, completion of a classroom implementation plan, and a progress report. Participants must also attend with cohort colleagues four two-hour trainings; topics and times are:
- Week of Feb. 19: “Introduction to Seeds and Soil,” a model for improving students’ engagement, connection, and learning
- Week of March 18: “Instructional Techniques for Increasing Social Belonging and Connection”
- Week of April 8: “The Role of Values Affirmation and Values-based Decision-making in Supporting Student Success”
- Week of May 6: “Instructional Approaches to Reinforce Growth Mindset”
“We are excited for the new Pullman cohort, and the impact those faculty will have on the educational experience of WSU students,” said Erika Offerdahl, TCI director. “It is also a valuable professional development opportunity for LIFT Fellows to work together. They will learn new teaching methods that have been shown to transform their courses.”
The online application requires faculty to answer such questions as, “What does academic success look like for your students?,” “How have previous professional development opportunities facilitated your ability to meet the needs of your students?,” and “Will you be able to meet the requirement to integrate a LIFT teaching practice in academic year 2024–25?”
In addition to the spring WSU Pullman programming, Offerdahl said there also will be an additional LIFT Faculty Fellows training open to all WSU faculty which will be hosted on the WSU Vancouver campus in late May 2024. Applications for that will open in January.
She also noted that the Peer Observation and Co-Mentoring Program will soon accept its second round of applications for spring semester. It is offered in partnership with the WSU Teaching Academy and Academic Outreach and Innovation.
These and other TCI initiatives are detailed online.
