New Professional Development Workshops in Preparation for Fall

As NOVA’s Board noted when commending our college for its work in response to the pandemic this spring, our outstanding faculty went above and beyond in moving their courses to remote delivery so quickly. NOVA faculty members dedicated themselves to ensuring our students could continue and complete an unprecedented semester, and time and time again, our students have expressed their appreciation for the support they received. Now, our college and our students are turning to fall, a semester in which most courses will again be taught remotely, but with time to prepare, NOVA looks to use the remainder of summer to offer professional development opportunities that will assist faculty in developing and delivering high-quality, synchronous remote courses.

Over the past few weeks, the faculty-led High-Quality Remote Synchronous (H-QRS) task force has been working to leverage the success of the spring in defining NOVA’s quality standards for remote delivery. This task force included the CETL lead faculty from every campus, along with academic deans, associate deans and instructional trainers. To develop H-QRS standards and workshops, the task force used the input of nearly 500 faculty who provided insights into meaningful pedagogy with an eye on best practices for teaching remotely. Of note, this training has been developed by faculty, for faculty.

Using NOVA’s CARES Act Institutional Stimulus funds, the college will compensate faculty to complete the H-QRS professional development workshops, which will begin in July, with the expectation that all faculty demonstrate competency in designing and delivering H-QRS courses before the fall semester begins.

NOVA faculty will have access to training, technology and pedagogical resources that support H-QRS competency in course design and course delivery. Faculty have defined four H-QRS domains that are the foundation for the training: Instructor Presence & Communication; Assessment, Assignment and Activities; Grading & Feedback and Engagement. All training will be offered fully online with details provided weekly in the Daily Flyer and in follow-up emails.

CETL will establish a repository on Canvas with curated resources, CETL lead faculty will be available throughout the summer to respond to individual questions. In addition, a Virtual Teaching and Learning Summit on Remote Teaching will take place the week before classes begin, and conversations about the H-QRS competency standards will occur within the Discipline Groups in advance of fall classes.

Special thanks to the CETL lead faculty, instructional staff and the nearly 500 faculty who have shared their ideas and suggestions as to what should be included in the training modules. Just as in the initial move to remote, our faculty’s focus is on student success and academic excellence, and I am grateful for your leadership. I sincerely hope that you will find these experiences to be timely, helpful and encouraging in your preparations for fall.