This week I talked to Professor Anneris Coria-Navia, the director of Andrews’ Center for Teaching and Learning about what her job entails and all the ways that she encourages our teachers on campus to learn and grow with one another.
What is your primary role and daily responsibilities as director of the Center for Teaching and Learning?
I am responsible for ensuring that my colleagues have the tools they need to design, deliver, and assess student learning. This happens in collaboration with a variety of academic and service units.
What kind of events (for teachers and/or students) does the center typically put out? Do you have a favorite event that the center has held in the past?
This document highlights the 2023-2024 events the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) leads and supports. Some events are not listed as we need some flexibility to offer “just-in-time” events that respond to an unexpected need. However, it should give you an idea of what the CTL and partners offer for professional learning. Faculty, staff, and graduate students with teaching responsibilities are invited to participate in our offerings. It is hard to choose a favorite as all the events that the CTL designs or supports are special in their own way and meet the needs of different people. Right now, we are working with a student group on an event entitled Unveiling Abilities: A Conversation About Invisible Disabilities. This initiative has been a highlight for me this semester. Save the date! It will be held on March 27 and March 28 at 4:00 p.m. in the HPAC lobby and you can plan to join us to experience what can happen when students, faculty, and staff come together to learn with and from one another. You will hear about the details of this event through the Student Life channels.
The faculty book club is a recurring event at the CTL. How did the most recent book club go and what were your thoughts on this year’s book?
Yes, the book club has been a standing event in our programming for nine years now. The Office of the Provost gifts every faculty member a book every year related to the theme of the year. This year’s theme is “Moving Forward Together: Collaborating for the Future.” The book, chosen by the Faculty Fellows (a special advisory group to the CTL) was “Belonging: The Science of Creating Connection and Bridging Divides" by Geoffrey L. Cohen. The book club discussions of 12-14 participants were facilitated by Dr. Stacie Hatfield, assistant professor of anthropology. She masterfully convened the sessions and utilized activities suggested in the book for all of us to try. I only received positive feedback about the book club on “Belonging.” This year, we also had a group of faculty read “Distracted: Why Students Can’t Focus and What You Can Do About It” by James Lang. This group was created in the 2023 Faculty Institute. They were gifted a second book with the request to 1, join the book club, 2, try a strategy in their classroom 3, report back to the campus what they learned in the 2024 Faculty Institute. We are in phase 2 and look forward to hearing what this group of faculty (14 members) learned about helping students focus on learning in the 2024 Faculty and Staff Institute. This group was led by Drs. Daniela Ortiz and Karl Bailey.
What is the next book on the roster for the faculty book club?
We have talked about Dr. Meredith Jones-Gray’s book on the Institutional Saga to honor the university’s 150th anniversary, As We Set Forth: Battle Creek College & Emmanuel Missionary College.
How did the book club start and how has it evolved?
Anita Gonzalez, the director of training and development in Human Resources in 2015. saw the need for a faculty gathering to talk about teaching. Our first book was “Leaving the Lectern" by Dean McManus. The event became a favorite and it has not stopped since then. We even met virtually during the pandemic. Our topics have not always been directly about teaching but also about ways in which we can grow personally. Dr. Scott Moncrieff and I published an article early on in 2018 about the effects of the faculty book club. We always consult the faculty about the books they want to read and choose from that list. Sometimes, we bring the book’s author to campus. A good example is the fall 2021’ Faculty Institute, where we invited Dr. Christina Bieber-Lake to campus and read her book “The Flourishing Teacher: Vocational Renewal for a Sacred Profession.” Some faculty enjoy reading on their own and we are happy about that too!
What are your favorite aspects of your job here at Andrews?
Learning with and from my colleagues, my student partners, and the vibrancy of convenings where people gather to learn with and from one another. These include and are not limited to the Faculty Institute, a variety of research conferences, student research events, Honors Program gatherings, concerts, plays, and worship services. I believe that AU offers events that are equivalent in numbers and quality to any other large institution.
Do you have any upcoming events that other faculty should have on their radar?
Yes! I send an email every Monday with opportunities for learning with and from one another. These are not exclusively CTL events but other events that my colleagues want advertised. This is what I sent to the campus on Monday. Of course you should note the campus-wide event on Unveiling Abilities scheduled for March 27 and 28.
Who has been an inspiring teacher figure for you (in career or in academics) and why?
An inspiring teacher in my life was Lilian Poelstra, my 4th-grade instructor. She saw me and individualized her instruction to meet my needs as a learner when this was not the way teachers were trained at the time. She nurtured my curiosity and was transformative in her care for me and for each student in the class. At Andrews University, I was inspired by Dr. John Matthews who taught a class on worldview for educators. It was a 7:30 a.m. summer class, and I looked forward to it every day. He read my assignments carefully and responded to them in ways that affirmed and challenged me. I’m also inspired every day by my colleagues at Andrews University and my off-campus educator networks.
What do you hope to accomplish in the next year through your position at the Center for Teaching and Learning?
I’d like to continue developing content that can be accessed at any time. This year we accomplished the development of two asynchronous learning modules on Engaged Teaching (led by Dr. Tammy Shilling) and Faith Engagement (led by Dr. Anthony Bosman). These modules are rich resources that can be utilized by any higher education professional around the world at their convenience. They have a short theoretical framing and lots of great examples, and are a small window into our colleagues’ classrooms.
The Student Movement is the official student newspaper of Andrews University. Opinions expressed in the Student Movement are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors, Andrews University or the Seventh-day Adventist church.