Mentoring & Peer Evaluation
Peer Evaluation | Support for New Faculty Members
Peer Evaluation
The CATL Peer Evaluation Program is intended to provide all teaching faculty and academic staff members with a supplemental process by which they can examine or assess their teaching. Interested instructors work through CATL in order to invite a Peer Evaluator into their class; the Evaluator will observe and provide feedback on one or more topics as suggested by the course instructor.
If you would like to have a Peer Evaluator visit your class, first establish a goal for the visit. Do you want a formative or summative assessment, or elements of both? Would you like the evaluator to watch student interactions, listen for clarity of explanations, provide suggestions for engaging pedagogies, etc.? Once you can clearly define what you would like out of the visit, simply fill out the Peer Evaluation Request Form.
The CATL Office will process your request and assign a Peer Evaluator to your class. You will typically meet with the evaluator once before the visit to discuss the goals. Following the visit, feedback will be provided via another meeting. You may also request a summation of the feedback in written form. Note that these visits are for your use only. No materials from CATL Peer Evaluation visits will go into your file unless you choose to put them there.
If you are interested in becoming a Peer Evaluator, contact catl@uwgb.edu for information and training opportunities.
Support for New Faculty Members
New Faculty Orientation:
New faculty members at UWGB typically receive a 3 credit course release in their first year in order to participate in New Faculty Orientation. Orientation events include a luncheon and campus tour following the Fall Convocation, a one-day Faculty Development Conference on campus in January, and six workshop sessions over the course of the academic year. The schedule of events can be found under Conferences and Workshops.New Faculty Mentors:
Each tenure track faculty member is paired with a mentor from within his or her home unit. Assignments are coordinated by the unit chair. These mentors are a valuable resource in many ways—especially for learning the procedures and expectations of the home unit and for feedback during the process of establishing a scholarly program on campus. New faculty members are also strongly encouraged to turn to other members of their unit: chairs, executive committee members, and other members of their unit and department for additional views on these and other topics.CATL Network:
In addition to home unit mentoring relationships, many new faculty members find it valuable to seek out networking relationships from outside their units. The CATL Network is an optional way to do just that, and is available to all interested pre-tenure faculty members on campus. The goals of the CATL Network are to provide support to new faculty members as they transition to teaching on this campus and to the broader UWGB community.If you are interested in any of the options below, just fill out the interest form or contact the Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning at x2199.
CATL Network Opportunities Open to All Pre-Tenure Faculty Members
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Network Circles | Four to six junior faculty members will be matched with one or two facilitators for monthly conversation. Although the facilitators will provide topics for the first one or two meetings, the most successful Network Circles are the ones in which junior faculty members bring questions and suggestions to the table. |
| Teaching Techniques or Pedagogy Reading Groups | Participants in these groups will select one or more topics focused on teaching techniques (e.g. cooperative learning, classroom management) or pedagogies (e.g. backwards design, assessment for learning) and meet around those topics with a group facilitator. Activities could include, but are not limited to, readings and classroom visits. Click here for a list of books available through the CATL library. |
| Women in Academia Reading Group | Participants in this group will select a book such as Ms. Mentor’s Impeccable Advice for Women in Academia or Lifting a Ton of Feathers. 4-6 facilitated meetings over the course of the academic year will provide the group with the opportunity to discuss both the reading and the challenges and rewards that they encounter. |
| Teaching Techniques or Pedagogy Webinar Groups | Webinar Groups are much the same as Reading Groups, but rather than selecting books as the focus of discussion group members will have the opportunity to participate together in taped Webinars, with discussion during and/or following the presentations. Click here for a list of videos and webinars available through the CATL library. |
| New Faculty Webinar Group | Participants in this group will select Webinar topics such as 15 Survival Strategies for New College Instructors for viewing and discussion with each other and a group facilitator. |
| Peer Evaluation | Interested faculty members may request a peer evaluation visit to one of their classes. The peer evaluator will meet with you ahead of time to discuss goals and questions that you have for the visit, and will provide you will oral and/or written feedback as you request. Feedback may be included in your personnel file only if you include it yourself. These reviews are intended for your use and development. |
Informal Network Opportunities Open to All Pre-Tenure Faculty Members
| Informal Network | This non-facilitated group is purely a chance to meet others who are also new to teaching at UW-Green Bay. The CATL Office will maintain an e-mail list of interested first and second year faculty members. Subscribe to the list by sending an e-mail to catl@uwgb.edu. Several times a semester, e-mails will be sent to list members to notify them of social events (for example, dinner and an on-campus play) which the group can attend together. Note that costs associated with these events are the responsibility of the participants and are not covered by CATL or UW-Green Bay. |
Additional Opportunities Open to Faculty Members After Their First Year
| Teaching Scholars | The Faculty Scholars Program has one central focus: to provide an opportunity for faculty to engage in discussion and activities that enhance teaching and learning. Scholars identify a teaching-related project which they design and conduct over the course of the academic year, and participate in monthly discussions and readings. Acceptance to the Faculty Scholars Program is required. A Call for Scholars goes out each Spring for the following academic year. |
If you are interested in being a CATL Network facilitator, please fill out the facilitator application to be placed on the list of interested facilitators. Please note that you will never be automatically assigned to a group but will always be asked for your current interest and availability if there is match between your interests and a group of new faculty members.