Track Session Type
Creation: OER Creation & Management, Copyright, Licensing, and CC101, Instructional Design and Ed Tech for OER, Open Pedagogy
Presentation Type
Presentation
OER Level of Expertise
Intermediate, Advanced
Audience
Faculty, Librarian, Administrator
Tenure and OER: using assessment to strengthen the case for excellence in teaching
Session Abstract
We plan to discuss interviews we conducted with numerous departmental chairs and school-level administration faculty at UNO regarding using OER work in tenure packets. Specifically, that OER adoption and assessment is an extremely effective way to gain an “excellent” rating in tenure packets. Tenure narratives and packets require demonstration of performance in three areas: research, teaching and service. New faculty often begin their careers with a good idea of their research interests and how to publish in the field. They do not, however, often know how to achieve a rating of excellent in teaching. It is not enough to simply teach a certain number of courses and provide positive student evaluations. Faculty must demonstrate innovation and development. OER work and assessment provide a highly effective way to do just that. We will close with a list of recommendations based on these interviews for how to go about such a project.
Keywords
Tenure, tenure narratives, course development, assessment
Objectives of the Session
Attendees will understand what is required to achieve an assessment of excellence in teaching in tenure
Attendees will understand that OER adoption and assessment presents and uniquely powerful tool to gaining an assessment of excellent in teaching during their tenure review
Full Description of the Session
This presentation is based on our book chapter, “Using OER work in narratives: Conversations with Tenure Experts,” forthcoming in a collected edition on OER and tenure from DOERS3. For this chapter, we interviewed 16 department chairs and school-level administrators at the University of Nebraska at Omaha regarding the use of OER work in tenure packets. All interviewees had reviewed multiple tenure cases and guided multiple faculty through the process. From these interviews, we developed a strategy for the potential of OER adoption and assessment to be an extremely effective tool in gaining an assessment of excellence in teaching during a tenure review. New faculty often do not know that excellence in teaching will not be awarded based on number of courses taught and student evaluations. Rather, evidence of course development and innovation are required for such a rating. OER work provides an opportunity to do just that. By adopting OER, assessing the impact on student success, and refining implementation, faculty can easily make a strong case for excellence in teaching based on development and innovation. Our interviewees were unanimous in this opinion. We encourage attendance both faculty who are still going through the tenure process and department chairs interested in helping their faculty complete it. The presentation will include a list of recommendations gleaned from our interviews as to how to undertake such a process, and a workshop component for attendees to discuss with peers how they might utilize OER work in their own teaching and tenure journey.
Presenter Bios
Craig Finlay is the OER and STEM Librarian and Isabel Soto Luna is the Business Librarian at C.C. and Mabel L. Criss Library at University of Nebraska at Omaha.
Publishing Permission
1
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Start Date
5-4-2024 1:30 PM
End Date
5-4-2024 2:20 PM
Tenure and OER: using assessment to strengthen the case for excellence in teaching
This presentation is based on our book chapter, “Using OER work in narratives: Conversations with Tenure Experts,” forthcoming in a collected edition on OER and tenure from DOERS3. For this chapter, we interviewed 16 department chairs and school-level administrators at the University of Nebraska at Omaha regarding the use of OER work in tenure packets. All interviewees had reviewed multiple tenure cases and guided multiple faculty through the process. From these interviews, we developed a strategy for the potential of OER adoption and assessment to be an extremely effective tool in gaining an assessment of excellence in teaching during a tenure review. New faculty often do not know that excellence in teaching will not be awarded based on number of courses taught and student evaluations. Rather, evidence of course development and innovation are required for such a rating. OER work provides an opportunity to do just that. By adopting OER, assessing the impact on student success, and refining implementation, faculty can easily make a strong case for excellence in teaching based on development and innovation. Our interviewees were unanimous in this opinion. We encourage attendance both faculty who are still going through the tenure process and department chairs interested in helping their faculty complete it. The presentation will include a list of recommendations gleaned from our interviews as to how to undertake such a process, and a workshop component for attendees to discuss with peers how they might utilize OER work in their own teaching and tenure journey.