Centering Centers

This episode of Centering Centers explores how educational developers are responding to the rise of generative AI in higher education. The conversation touches on faculty creativity, student learning, ethical tensions, and the importance of building AI literacy across disciplines. It’s a thoughtful look at how AI is reshaping teaching, learning, and the work of educational development itself. Tran...

What happens when we stop focusing on grades and start focusing on learning? In this episode of Centering Centers , we explore the practice of ungrading in higher education. Our guests reflect on how traditional grading systems can undermine motivation and share insights into alternatives like specifications grading, feedback-centered approaches, and project-based learning. Along the way, they dis...

This episode explores the transition from faculty member to educational developer, highlighting how past experiences as students and instructors shape approaches to faculty support. They share insights into the challenges of course design, the value of community, and the ongoing learning required in their new roles. The conversation emphasizes how educational development work can help faculty reco...

Today’s episode features Elizabeth Dickens (University of Virginia) and Nausheen Shafiq (University of British Columbia) in discussion of a manuscript on curriculum developers in educational development, which is under review at  To Improve the Academy .    This is the fifth episode of the partnership between  To Improve the Academy  and Centering Centers. We hope to pull back the curtain on the j...

Today’s episode features Bill Pilny, Benjamin Brock, and Stephanie Laggini Fiore in discussion of their recent  To Improve the Academy  article, “Impacts of campus disruption on educational developers’ role-identity and teamwork.” The authors apply the Dynamic Systems Model of Role Identity (or DSMRI) to the work of educational developers during the disruption of COVID-19 on our campuses. They pre...

Dr. Kim Case, Senior Advisor for Organizational Culture to VCU's Chief Diversity Officer and Vice President for Inclusive Excellence. Dr. Case is a tenured professor of psychology at Virginia Commonwealth University and previously served as VCU's inaugural Director of Faculty Success in the Office of the Provost. Dr. Case’s work blends her roles as a social justice educator, faculty develo...

Dr. Liza Bolitzer is an experienced researcher, teacher and project manager dedicated to advancing teaching and learning in higher education. She uses qualitative methods to study how college faculty, institutional leaders, and higher education professionals can advance college students' academic learning. She has shared her work in Higher Education: Handbook of Theory and Research, the Review...

Adrianna Kezar is the Dean’s Professor of Leadership, Wilbur-Kieffer Professor of Higher Education and Director of the Pullias Center for Higher Education at the University of Southern California. Dr. Kezar holds a Ph. D. and M.A. in higher education administration from the University of Michigan and a B.A. from the University of California, Los Angeles. She joined the faculty at USC in 2003 after...

Today’s episode features Jane Hammons (The Ohio State University), who talks about her recent  To Improve the Academy article, “Academic librarians as educational developers: Overview, case study, and discussion.” An academic librarian who offers faculty-facing information literacy workshops, Hammons argues that educational developers may have untapped allies in instructional librarians. Her artic...

For some, artificial intelligence represents the latest development in an age-old series of fantasies about escaping our vulnerable, imperfect, animal bodies. Humans have continuously developed tools to boost our capabilities; in the case of AI, we’re amplifying the speed of cognitive processes. But what capacities remain distinctively human? Dr. Susan Hrach is the author of the 2022 Silver Nautil...

 Kelly Ferris Lester , Associate Vice Provost for Teaching and Learning, received her BFA in Theatre and Dance from the University of Memphis, her MFA in Choreography and Performance from The College at Brockport (SUNY), and her Ed. D. in Higher Education Administration from the University of Southern Mississippi.    Lester is a Professor of Dance. Prior to her role as Associate Vice Provost, Lest...

In the second of our new To Improve the Academy (TIA) partnership episodes on Centering Centers, Associate Editor, Liz Norrell (Associate Director of Instructional Support at the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning at the University of Mississippi), Marina Smitherman (Director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning at Dalton State College in Northwest Georgia and Editor i...

Chris Hakala talks with Dr. Leslie Alvarez about her move from psychology to educational development. Dr. Alvarez recounts her work with marginalized students and its impact on her path to faculty development, highlighting the role of equity in teaching. She discusses building a faculty development program and her transition to a director role amid the pandemic. Dr. Alvarez's experience unders...

Today’s episode features Jovan Groen (Western University), Carolyn Ives (Thompson Rivers University), and Veronica (Roni) Bamber (Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh), who talk about their recent  To Improve the Academy  article, “Evidencing the value of educational development: Charting a course on the waves and winds of change,” which they wrote with coauthors Carolyn Hoessler (Thompson Rivers...

Chris Hakala and JT Torres talk about operating a center with very limited human resources. JT is a center of one, and in that role, he is working to build relationships, create educational development opportunities and support faculty and student teaching and learning. He does this by developing relationships. In the episode we discuss how JT is able to be so successful in an environment that is...

In this episode, Liz Norell shares her educational developer journey and discusses plans for the forthcoming partnership between Centering Centers, a POD Network podcast, and To Improve the Academy , its flagship peer-reviewed journal. Dr. Liz Norell is Associate Director of Instructional Support at the University of Mississippi's Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning. Prior to joinin...

  In this episode of Centering Centers, Diane Boyd shares how she guided faculty through the pandemic by first having them connect to their core values before diving into new teaching modalities. She explains how articulating one's values provides an internal compass when navigating challenging situations--keeping you grounded in your strengths and priorities, and she emphasizes the importance...

In this episode of Centering Centers, Co-Chair of the POD Network’s Digital Resources and Innovation committee, Yianna Vovides, engages in a transformative conversation with the POD Network's newly appointed Executive Director, Danielle Gabriel. Danielle Gabriel's professional background encompasses program management in educational and museum settings. At the George Washington University...

In Episode 53 of Centering Centers, we hear from three brand new educational developers who recently attended the POD Conference in November of 2023. Grouped in the "getting started" two day workshop, these new PODsters share their takeaways and reflections on their experience. This conversation will be of interest to those who are new to an educational development role as well as to tho...

In this episode, Joan Zaretti from Bryant University, Karen Hopkins from Auburn University, and Josh Luckens from Wentworth Institute of Technology discuss their experiences creating playful and play-based programs and activities aimed at engaging their campus and building community. They share strategies for cultivating a sense of belonging, purpose, and trust among students and faculty through t...

Josh Eyler, acclaimed author of How Humans Learn, delves into the pivotal role of storytelling in teaching, learning, and educational development and some of the systemic issues around grading practices tackled in his upcoming book, Scarlet Letters . He offers reflections and stories about his own developmental journey leading different CTLs and shares insights and inspiration for others engaged i...

Mary Wright is the Associate Provost for Teaching and Learning, Executive Director of the Sheridan Center, and a Research Professor in Sociology. She is a former president of the POD Network in Higher Education. Before joining Brown, she served as Director of Assessment at the University of Michigan's CRLT. She holds degrees in sociology and higher education administration from Princeton and t...

How do we optimize our Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL's) organizational structure for maximizing impact and resources? In this episode, Chris Hakala , Director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching, Learning, and Scholarship and Professor of Psychology from Springfield College in Springfield, MA and Bonnie Mullinix, a Research Fellow at the  Centre for Integration of Research Teachin...

In this episode, we speak with Stacy Grooters, the current President of the Professional and Organizational Development (POD) Network in Higher Education. Stacy shares her vision for leading POD, reflects on its history of diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, and discusses how educational developers can advocate for higher education. Stacy Grooters is currently the Executive Director of the Ce...

What is the role of a graduate student in a center for teaching and learning? Does it vary by institution or are there predictable patterns that we as educational developers can use to craft job descriptions, direct projects, and provide opportunities for growth through assessment and reflection? This episode is hosted by Yianna Vovides from CNDLS and features an interview with Haya Jalal. ⁠Transc...