[GuidedPathways] {Disarmed} Meaningful Integrative Learning Experiences for Learning Communities, First-Year Experiences, or Guided Pathways Programs

Fri Apr 2 12:54:21 PDT 2021

Dear Friends and Colleagues:

Those of you who have known me for a long time know that I am passionate about student learning communities. When I was tenured English faculty at GRC, I co-taught several student learning communities (I'm dying to tell you how cool they were) and I served as chair of the Learning Communities Committee (I'm yearning to write more about that too). Those experiences provided me some of the best on-going, contextualized professional development I have ever experienced: I was forever transformed as a practitioner and as a human being.

Something some of you might not know: during the early days of Guided Pathways, when we were just beginning the conversation as a Washington State CTC system, I was struck by a core theme threading through learning communities, first-year experience, and guided pathways: INTEGRATED LEARNING.

What you don't want: a memoir/dissertation from me. I know. While I'm dying to share more ... I humbly suggest you skim through this FABULOUS retreat planned by the Washington Center for Improving Undergraduate Education. And note the price point: $25! WHAT?

  *   Faculty members Angela Rasmussen (English, Spokane) and Sharon Spence-Wilcox (Library, Seattle Central) will be co-facilitating a session on Designing Integrative Assignments: Leading Students to Transformative Learning. This kind of design work is fundamental to the fourth design principle of "Ensuring Student Learning on the Path." Plus, anything with faculty leaders Angela and Sharon (and they are together! in the same virtual room!) is always amazing. THIS topic with these two inspiring women? This session alone is worth the low, low, low cost.
  *   AND ... to get a chance to hear four of the past directors dialogue together about learning communities as a high-impact practice? I just can't even. Words fail me. But I'll just say this: I have MISSED JOYE HARDIMAN. So here's a chance to reconnect with Dr. Hardiman's wisdom, generosity, and brilliance. And if you haven't had a chance to learn through Dr. Hardiman's amazing gifts as a storyteller ... now is your chance! What are you waiting for? Sign up already!

I'll end with this: the Curriculum Planning Retreat is a long-standing institution for the time and space and structure to be inspired and PLAN in response to that feeling of "WOW. Mind blown, heart expanded, imagination on fire."

  *   Then: In 2012 (2013?) I attended this retreat when I was English faculty at Clark with my then-colleague William Durden: we were planning an I-BEST course that I never got to teach because I ended up accepting my current role at SBCTC. One of the silver linings of COVID is that now this retreat, being virtual, means that more people can access this unique opportunity. For $25!
  *   Now: And because I can't say enough about this line-up ... my now-colleague William Durden, our director of Basic Education for Adults (BEdA), is presenting on team teaching with faculty member Matt Scammell. Having worked with both Will and Matt for literally over a decade ... their presentation will also be wonderful, I can assure you.

I'm signing up RIGHT NOW, and I hope you will too ... and then tell me, after you have a FABULOUS experience, that I was right. 🙂 Just kidding.

What I'm more interested in ... how might integrated learning that leads with racial equity drive your guided pathways redesign in ways that create a culture of belonging that maximizes student potential and transform lives? If I create a multifaceted Venn diagram with "Learning Communities," "Guided Pathways," "Leading with Racial Equity," and "Integrated Learning" ... what might show up in the middle?

I'm so excited about this retreat.

PHEW!

Peace,

Jen

PS-- I've never gotten to meet Barbara Leigh Smith, but I am totally inspired by the Native Case Studies<http://nativecases.evergreen.edu/> work she leads at TESC, which she began, to my understanding, while serving as the inaugural director of the Washington Center. I'm looking forward to being in her virtual presence for the first time!

[Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges compass]Jennifer Whetham (pronouns: she/her/hers)

Student Success Center & Strategic Initiatives | Policy Associate

Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC)

jwhetham at sbctc.edu<mailto:jwhetham at sbctc.edu> • o: 360-704-4354 • c: 206-310-1291

Join a STEM Community of Practice<https://bit.ly/2PHRW7z>

Antiracist Writing Assessment Ecology Grant: Read More<https://bit.ly/2CcZoo0>

SBCTC Vision: “Leading with racial equity, our colleges maximize student potential and transform lives within a culture of belonging that advances racial, social, and economic justice in service to our diverse communities.”

________________________________
From: The Washington Center for Improving Undergraduate Education <washcenter at evergreen.edu>
Sent: Thursday, April 1, 2021 12:39 PM
To: Jennifer Whetham <jwhetham at sbctc.edu>
Subject: Don't forget to register for the virtual Curriculum Planning Retreat!

[https://d31hzlhk6di2h5.cloudfront.net/20210401/aa/07/40/84/2b3037fc738a003a696aa362_1280x700.png]
Registration now open

Washington Learning Community Consortium
Curriculum Planning Retreat
Register Now!<https://t.e2ma.net/click/gaoodd/4kcxkx/kxs2ui>
Registration Fee: $25 for all three sessions
Registration closes April 19
Would you like to develop meaningful integrative learning experiences for the learning communities, first-year experiences, or guided pathways programs on your campus?
Our virtual curriculum planning retreat is designed to support faculty building integrative learning experiences for students. The three sessions in this series are facilitated by experienced learning community professionals.  Whether you are new to integrative learning or have many years of experience with linked/paired courses, student cohorts, first-year experience programs, living-learning communities, or coordinated studies programs - this series will hold value for you! Learn more on the Washington Center website<https://t.e2ma.net/click/gaoodd/4kcxkx/0pt2ui>.
Sessions
Why Learning Communities Matter & How Washington State Led the Charge
April 22, 3:30 - 5 pm (Pacific Time)
We will kick-off with an “all-star” panel of 4 of the 6 past Washington Center Directors. Facilitated by Julia Metzker, Washington Center Director (2019-current), this panel will draw on their experience to explore the value of integrative learning and bring life to the special role Washington State played in realizing learning communities as a high-impact practice.

Panelists:
Joye Hardiman (served as Director from 2017-2019)
Emily Lardner (served as Assistant Director, Director, and Co-Director from 1996-2017), Jean MacGregor (served as Assistant Director and Director from 1985-1996)
Barbara Smith (served as Founding Director from 1985-1994).

Designing Integrative Assignments: Leading Students to Transformative Learning
April 29, 3:30-5 pm (Pacific Time)
Facilitated by:
Sharon Spence-Wilcox, Faculty Librarian & Learning Communities Committee Chair (Seattle Central College)
Angela Rasmussen, Teaching and Learning Center Coordinator & English Faculty (Spokane Community College)

Team Teaching: Planning for Meaningful Integration in the Classroom and Online
May 6, 3:30-5 pm (Pacific Time)
Facilitated by:
William S. Durden, Director, Basic Education for Adults (Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges)
Matt Scammell, Integrative Learning Coordinator & Business & Economics Faculty (Skagit Valley College)

OUR GUIDING PURPOSE
We are for the academic success of all students. Ultimately, the measures of our success are improvements in students’ persistence, achievement, and graduation rates—particularly students who are the first in their families to go to college and those from groups historically under‐served in higher education. As a high impact strategy, learning communities offer a powerful learning environment for students at key points in their educational pathways, and implementing successful learning community programs in an intentional way helps to build institutional capacity for transformation.
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