Dear Faculty,
We wanted to thank everyone who was able to join us for Sara Varnum Institute on October 12th. We hope more part-time faculty will continue to join us each year. Many faculty have asked about the history of Sara Varnum Institute so we wanted to share that as well.
History
Sara Varnum understood the importance of part-time instructors to the success of community colleges. She worked at Chemeketa from 1970-1993. During her time at Chemeketa, she hired and worked with hundreds of part-time faculty members, who touched the lives of thousands of students. In 1989, Sara and her staff initiated the “Institute for Instructional Excellence.” It was a full day of training designed to meet the unique educational needs of part-time faculty members throughout the state. The goal was to inspire and energize participants by providing opportunities to learn, share and network.
Faculty Feedback
Things that went well
- Number of participants 42
- The percentage that was attending the 1st time 38.7%
- Overall experience was positive 100% (Rating of 4 or 5, out of 5)
Areas for Improvement based on qualitative feedback
- More content related to online teaching
- Remind participants to bring technology tools to participate
- More breaks
Participant Feedback
Here is some of the thoughtful feedback received from participants after attending.
- “I was pleased with the whole day. I came to the institute [approx.] 2 years ago, and I almost didn’t register for this one but I’m glad I did! It covered all new information, the AVID speaker was wonderful, and I’m taking away several things to incorporate in my teaching next week.”
- “I came for Clickers, came away with Zoom, videos, and Kahoots! Thanks.”
- “I appreciate being exposed to ideas and resources I would not have known to ask about. Thank you!”
Next year, we’ll work to incorporate more breaks and components for different teaching modalities!
We look forward to working with you and hope that you had a great fall term.