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Office of the Provost

Working Group on Quality

Charge letter

January 12, 2023

  • Lynn Dietrich, Assistant Dean, Undergraduate Programs and Teaching Professor, College of Education; Chair, Faculty Council on Teaching and Learning, Co-chair
  • Darcy Janzen, Director of Digital Learning, UW Tacoma, Co-chair
  • A.J. Balatico, GPSS President
  • Timothy Billing, ASUW President
  • Megan Callow, Associate Teaching Professor, Director of Writing and Director, Program for Writing Across Campus, Department of English, College of Arts & Sciences
  • Becky Corriell, Director, Academic Program Review & Strategy, Graduate School
  • Sean Gehrke, Director, Office of Educational Assessment, Undergraduate Academic Affairs
  • Tadesse Ghirmai, Associate Professor and Chair, Engineering and Mathematics Division of STEM, UW Bothell
  • Janine Jones, Professor and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, College of Education
  • Deanna Kennedy, Associate Professor and Associate Dean for Academic Programs, School of Business, UW Bothell
  • Penelope Moon, Director, Center for Teaching and Learning, Academic and Student Affairs
  • Linh Nguyen, Assistant Professor, American Ethnic Studies and Adjunct Assistant Professor, Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies, College of Arts & Sciences
  • Mikelle Nuwer, Associate Teaching Professor, Oceanography, College of the Environment
  • Daniel Ratner, Associate Dean, Academic Affairs and Professor, Bioengineering, College of Engineering
  • Joel Ross, Associate Teaching Professor, Information School; member, Faculty Council on Academic Standards
  • Libi Sunderman, Teaching Professor, School for Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences, UW Tacoma

Dear Colleagues,

As we emerge from the pandemic, we are energized by the fact that in an incredibly short period of time, our faculty have learned so much about using instructional technologies, and about the importance of equitable learning outcomes in the face of great societal upheaval. Our experience reflects national trends that point to the growing need for higher education to rethink the future of learning as the higher education landscape changes at a faster pace than that to which universities are accustomed.

In Spring 2022, the president and I convened a group of faculty, staff and students to informally and collectively identify key questions regarding the future of teaching and learning at UW, and related issues that we should address on behalf of our students as we emerge from the pandemic. Faculty Senate Chair and Astronomy Teaching Professor Chris Laws and Vice Provost and Chemistry Professor Phil Reid co-led this group of innovative thinkers who care deeply about the future of education at UW. They explored and then prioritized multiple dimensions impacting the future of teaching and learning, and recommended three broad areas for us to consider going forward: access, quality, and the overall culture of teaching and learning at the UW. Based on their recommendations I have decided to launch two working groups in the coming year:

  1. to address providing better access to courses and programs, including more flexible options for students (a separate group) and
  2. to enhance the quality of instruction at UW (this group)

It is not surprising that the quality of instruction at UW varies across courses and academic programs. However, the sudden switch to remote instruction at the height of the pandemic, and subsequent changes in teaching modalities that have followed have led to both more variability in quality, but also of course new opportunities for examining the effectiveness of teaching. Our long-standing commitment to instructional autonomy has ensured academic freedom in teaching and allowed for instructors to pursue innovations in their courses, although not in all areas. While many UW faculty have pursued teaching excellence, systematic efforts to support them in this work have been limited, and are in need of revitalization. The rapid introduction of a wider array of instructional modalities, including hybrid and online instructional options, have increased faculty demand for support. In addition, concerns over course quality given these new modalities have increased the desire to define and ensure quality in all modalities.

Work is under way by faculty development units across the UW’s three campuses to support faculty and their departments, schools and colleges in prioritizing quality assessment and instruction. This work represents an important initial step with regards to instructional support, and the proper administration and utility of student course evaluations will constitute a case in point. However, a more cohesive, UW-wide approach is needed to realize the true value of attending to the quality of instruction.

Attention to instructional quality will serve the UW and our students. It will maintain or enhance the academic reputation of the UW, and bolster excellence in our accreditation outcomes both university wide and at the school/college and program levels. More importantly, attention to quality of instruction will help us better serve our students, creating processes for continual improvement of our instructional programs and safeguarding the educational value of courses and programs across instructional modalities.

As you meet, we ask you to address this key question:

“Given the variety of instructional modalities we now need to support, how do we develop means to promote, aid and assess efforts to maintain/improve instructional quality for ALL modalities of student learning?”

There are several topics, tactics and implications the initial working group identified for you to explore as you answer this question:

  1. Evolving our current assessment strategies with an eye towards student learning outcomes and authentic assessment.
  2. Exploring the intersection of instructional quality with Tenure and Promotion
  3. Addressing legacy academic policies around quality (e.g., Distance Learning designation).
  4. Identifying support services for faculty throughout their careers to approach teaching as an ongoing reflective practice.
  5. Establishing a shared language, common criteria and processes to promote and achieve quality instruction across modalities.
  6. How Universal Design and access for students with disabilities intersects with quality.
  7. What short and long- term culture change at the UW would support quality.
  8. Assessing needs for upgrading and expanding available educational technologies.

While we ask that you consider these topic areas, you need not be limited by them. Your work may uncover additional areas for consideration, exploration and action.

As you undertake this work, we ask that you:

  • Take a broad view – the good of the UW community as a whole across our three campuses – rather than that of a particular group, school, college, or unit.
  • Represent the groups of which you are a member, gathering their feedback as needed and taking responsibility for communicating back with them, as and when appropriate.
  • Be prepared to implement and act on the recommendations the group puts forward. This is not merely a recommending body. We will need your leadership going forward.
  • Adopt a bias toward action and continuous improvement, both for this committee’s work and resulting recommendations and actions. It is preferable to recommend an idea that can be piloted and refined as we go than to get bogged down in perfecting it.
  • Keep UW’s diversity and equity goals in mind when making recommendations.

We ask that you update us on your group’s progress at the end of autumn and winter quarters, and engage stakeholder groups for vetting and discussion along the way. Related deadlines and deliverables are as follows:

Deadline

Deliverables

January 27, 2023

A preliminary report on likely recommendations and resulting actions for initial feedback from sponsors

Mar 24, 2023

An updated preliminary report based on initial feedback

A plan for eliciting feedback through wider stakeholder vetting and discussion

May 31, 2023

A final report that incorporates stakeholder feedback and includes prioritized action items and proposals for implementing

Thank you for your willingness to join this group and engage in this important work.

Sincerely,

Mark A. Richards

Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs
Professor, Earth and Space Sciences

cc:    Phil Reid, Vice Provost, Academic and Student Affairs

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