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.
Faculty Development includes a range of activities and programs led by faculty experts designed to improve faculty retention, job satisfaction, and expertise, which directly impact student experiences at UVA Wise. Although faculty are experts in their discipline field, most faculty do not have training or experience in learning theory, educational pedagogy, national best practices in teaching, or in the many other demands of full-time faculty positions. CEEI was created to fill this gap by providing support and instruction at every level of faculty development.
CEEI develops and promotes teaching and learning resources, professional development workshops, Faculty Learning Communities (small multidisciplinary 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.
Faculty participants in CEEI are engaging in professional development well beyond the expectation of traditional service obligations. They develop College-wide resources, lead workshops, and year-long reflective multidisciplinary discussions, and learn, test, and share experiences with best national practices and innovative new ideas. They commit hours of their time, boundless enthusiasm, and significant expertise to improve teaching, service, and scholarship at UVA Wise.
In 2023-2024, CEEI successfully planned and promoted 11 Teaching Workshops, 12 Professional Development workshops, 8 Faculty Learning Communities, and 4 community-building events. There were more than 32 faculty presenters, a 23% increase, and a total of 208 participants, a 49% growth in attendance.
The program is assessed with an annual program review sent to all Faculty. Faculty responders in workshops report an average satisfaction rating of 92% Very Satisfied and 8% Satisfied on all CEEI programs. Faculty Learning Communities rate an even higher 98% very satisfied participants.
Programs and Workshops at CEEI
CEEI is happy to offer the following NEW programs and workshops for Fall 2024: a Promotion Learning Community, a Freshman Teaching Learning Community and workshops on Grant Basics, Improving Your Teaching Voice with Hannah Ryan, and a Book Club on Improving Class Discussion.
In addition, we welcome back the New Faculty Learning Community, Tenure Learning Community, and the Master Teacher Learning Community.
Click above to read descriptions of workshops.
Calendar Coming Soon!
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.
Programs: Faculty Learning Communities
Click above to read more about our current and past Faculty Learning Communities.
Resources for Teaching, Service, and Scholarship
Resources for Teaching, Service, and Scholarship
Click above to access the CEEI Resource page with 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.
Don't see something you need?
Email Emily Dotson at ead2y@uvawise.edu to request a workshop or event.
Have a Question or Need Individual Attention?
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:
Who is the Director of CEEI, what do they do, and to whom do they report?
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 2023-2024 CEEI Mentor of the Year Award
Karen Carter, Associate Professor of Computer Science
Winner of the 2022-2023 CEEI Mentor of the Year Award
Christa Moore, Associate Professor of Sociology
Winner of the 2021-2022 CEEI Mentor of the Year Award
Elizabeth Dotson Shupe, Assistant Professor of Education
CEEI proudly salutes the Academic Affairs Faculty Award Winners for 2023-2024
Questions?
Contact Emily Dotson ead2y@uvawise.edu for more information.