The Center for Educational Excellence and Innovation

The Center for Educational Excellence and Innovation, CEEI, is dedicated to inspiring, enhancing, and advancing educational excellence and innovation in teaching, service, scholarship and academic life at UVA Wise.  

Want to Connect with Others Over Teaching and Learning? 

CEEI develops and promotes teaching and learning resources, professional development workshops, Faculty Learning Communities (small faculty study groups that offer an extended focus on an advanced topic), and community-building activities to spotlight UVA Wise faculty excellence, promote research-driven national best practices, introduce new pedagogy and practices, and nurture deep reflection and cross-disciplinary connection around teaching and learning at UVA Wise.

What is Happening at CEEI IN April 2024?

CEEI is happy to offer the following NEW April workshops and events: Grant Basics with Grant Accountant Barry Sullivan, Improving Your Teaching Voice with Hannah Ryan, and an Academic Portfolio (SOPA) Writing Workshop.  

In addition, we welcome back Christa Moore’s Engaged Teaching/ACE Course workshop, Cody Sanders Spring Wellness Workshop, and the Master Teacher Discussion Groups. 

Also, CEEI is hosting a Total Eclipse of An Afternoon (Eclipse Watching Party with free glasses provided) on April 8, 2024 at 2PM in the Casteen Plaza (the grassy area outside the Library 4th floor entrance). 

Detailed Workshop Descriptions and the Calendar of Events 

IN 2023-2024 CEEI is offering the following Faculty Learning Communities for extended study, reflection, and connection: Master Teacher Learning Community, New Faculty Learning Community, Tenure and Promotion Learning Community, Community Engaged Teaching with Christa Moore, Work-Life Balance with Cody Sanders, International Faculty Meet Ups, Faculty Book Club and the Faculty Writing Group. 

 Learn More about the Faculty Learning Communities

Don't see something you need?  

Email Emily Dotson at ead2y@uvawise.edu to request a workshop or event.

Want to offer a workshop?

If you would like to offer a workshop to help develop college-wide teaching or professional development, please send your workshop title, a brief description, and proposed dates to Emily at ead2y@uvawise.edu at least 30 days before the anticipated workshop. 

Need Resources NOW for Teaching, Service or Scholarship? 

The CEEI Resource page offers updated Academic Affairs policies and a variety of recorded workshops, handouts, videos, podcasts, and other materials developed by our own faculty and from national experts to help you with any questions you may face in teaching, service, and scholarship.

 Find Resources for Teaching, Service, and Scholarship NOW

Contact Emily at ead2y@uvawise.edu for more information or to find a resource not listed here. 

Have a Question or Need Individual Attention? 

Email CEEI Director 

The Director, Emily Dotson, is a tenured Associate Professor in Language and Literature.  She has thirty years of teaching experience and has won multiple awards for teaching and service at UVA Wise, Midway College, and the University of Kentucky.  She maintains an active research agenda in two disciplinary fields. 

She is always happy to meet privately to discuss your pedagogical philosophy, solve a teaching challenge, or brainstorm ways to live a more meaningful and engaged faculty life. She is also happy to observe your class and provide feedback or survey your students at any point in the semester. 

Frequently Asked Questions About CEEI

What are CEEI workshops like? 

 In 2022-2023, CEEI hosted 85 workshops with twenty-six faculty presenters and over 150 participants.

CEEI workshops on teaching or professional development allow faculty to drop in for a 40-minute presentation with a ten-minute Q&A on a specific topic.  

Faculty Learning Communities offer a series of collaborative multidisciplinary conversations with colleagues in fifty-minute meetings held regularly over an entire academic year. 

Most workshops and Faculty Learning Communities are led by a campus expert on the topic. 

CEEI promotes UVA CTE and other off-campus events open to us or when the host institution is no more than an hour from Wise.

When registration is required in advance, this information will be listed in the workshop description on the calendar page. 

Who can attend a workshop or event?

CEEI workshops are free and open to anyone in a full or part-time teaching position at UVA Wise. 

While some CEEI workshops are open to faculty and staff, CEEI is not connected to Human Resources, so CEEI cannot offer workshops or resources targeted to staff development or involving HR concerns. We encourage you to send any requests for staff development and all Human Resource issues to the Director of Human Resources, Stephanie Perry.  See more information about UVA Wise Human Resources.

How do I find out about upcoming CEEI workshops or events?

Workshops are advertised on the faculty listserv and updated on the calendar on this site monthly. Significant notice may not always be possible with events scheduled and promoted by other Colleges, organizations, or people.  

Please check your email for updates or changes to dates/times/ locations, or email Emily at ead2y@uvawise.edu to confirm events.

Where are CEEI workshops held? 

Because we are an in-person campus, all CEEI workshops are on campus in the CEEI Center, 230 Smiddy Hall, and in person unless otherwise stated.  

Can I attend remotely or watch a recorded workshop? 

Zoom participation is possible at most workshops if you request this in advance. 

CEEI makes every attempt to record and post our events. However, please be aware that events hosted by someone other than the Director may not be recorded as the presenter always has the final say in whether their talk or workshop will be recorded or made publicly available. 

Recorded workshops are made public on the CEEI Resources page.

Where can I find info about past events or workshops?

The description of all of this academic year's workshops can be found on the calendar.

Learn about workshops and events from a prior year at: 

Fall 2021-Spring 2022 Report

Fall 2022-Spring 2023 Report

Who is the Director of CEEI, what do they do and who do they report to?

The Director of CEEI is Emily Dotson, a tenured Associate Professor in the Department of Language and Literature. See her bio at https://uvawise.box.com/s/70gb1m7r74p18npja1qiqssfkxadse2l

The CEEI Director is a member of Academic Affairs and reports to the Dean of Faculty Affairs and the Provost.

CEEI Director Job Description at https://uvawise.box.com/s/csuv1f4lwrtr0dfq2ezbuph6p7oxe3dn


CEEI Mentor of the Year Award

CEEI is proud to offer one award annually for exceptional faculty mentoring at UVA Wise. This person has shown exemplary connected and collegial service to others and served as a model of the teaching, service, scholarship and academic life we imagine in the very finest of UVA Wise faculty.  

 

Winner of the 2022-2023 CEEI Mentor of the Year Award
Christa Moore, Associate Professor of Sociology

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Winner of the 2021-2022 CEEI Mentor of the Year Award
Elizabeth Dotson Shupe, Assistant Professor of Education

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Questions? 

Contact Emily Dotson ead2y@uvawise.edu for more information.