The meeting began with those attending sharing/discussing examples of articles related to pedagogy that had been helpful to them. There was also an update provided on the status of plans to restructure Summer Term, as early as 2016 – a topic that had been addressed at the May Summit. The meeting then focused on the proposed four key areas that could serve as the bases for initial activities for the Institute: Faculty Support; Inquiry and Scholarship; Policy Development; and Communication. Each of the four was discussed at separate tables, with the emphasis being on what the subcomponents of the four might/should be. That was followed by discussions identifying: additional topics that needed to be included in the four areas; what the short-term and long-term next steps might be; and key obstacles to Institute development and ways to overcome them. The input from that meeting was summarized and currently is being discussed with the Planning Committee.
Summit participants have been invited to another follow-up meeting on Friday November 20, 2015 from 3-5 pm at the Faculty Club, where there will be continued discussion with the focus being a review of a draft of a more formal Institute proposal.
There is a high level of interest and excitement about this initiative, and updates/overviews are being provided to faculty and student groups/committees and University administrators.