Email from Center for Teaching Excellence

Message from the Director

Dear USC Educators,

I’m excited to share a range of professional development opportunities and initiatives from the Center for Teaching Excellence that support teaching, learning, and instructional innovation across USC.

This semester’s offerings reflect priorities we continue to hear from faculty, staff, and graduate teaching assistants: designing inclusive and accessible learning experiences, navigating generative AI with intention and care, strengthening student engagement, and supporting effective teaching across modalities. Whether you are looking for a short, focused session, a deeper programmatic experience, or resources you can explore on your own schedule, we hope you’ll find opportunities that meet your needs and align with your teaching goals.

In addition to workshops and programs, this newsletter highlights ways CTE is expanding its outreach – connecting more directly with departments, supporting peer learning through communities of practice, recognizing innovative and thoughtful teaching work, and creating new resources to support online teaching and course design. Across all this work, our goal is to meet educators where they are with practical, research-informed support.

I invite you to explore the opportunities and stories shared below and to connect with CTE for support as you move through the semester.

Sincerely,

Matt E. Thatcher, Ph.D.

Director, Center for Teaching Excellence

Explore Spring 2026
Professional Development Opportunities

Spring 2026 professional development opportunities from the Center for Teaching Excellence support faculty, staff, and graduate teaching assistants in strengthening instructional practice. Offerings focus on key teaching priorities, including Universal Design for Learning (UDL), digital accessibility, generative AI, and instructional technology, with practical strategies that can be applied directly in courses and instructional roles. Additional opportunities support educators as they work with tools such as Blackboard and strengthen engagement and course organization. For more information on upcoming opportunities, visit the pages below to explore how you can continue to grow and make an impact as an educator.

CTE Expands Outreach through Department Visits

During Fall 2025, a new outreach effort connected directly with academic departments across the university, with visits to 33 departments to share information about teaching and learning resources and support. Coordinated by Courtney Bailey, CTE instructional designer, the visits created space for questions and conversation and offered insight into departmental needs. The initiative has continued in Spring 2026, with eight department visits already scheduled and additional visits planned.

Learn More: CTE Department Visits

Effective Teaching Course

Continues to Support Teaching Practice Across USC

The Foster Student Learning through Effective Teaching course continues to serve as a university-wide professional learning resource for those who teach and support teaching. To date, 119 participants from across the USC community have completed the course, including 90 new faculty members. Coordinated by Aisha Haynes, Associate Director and Director of Distributed Learning and Innovation for the CTE, the course is offered through facilitated cohorts and a self-paced option, takes less than five hours to complete, and supports effective teaching across disciplines, roles, and instructional contexts.

Learn More: Foster Student Learning Through Effective Teaching

CAREolina Highlights Empathy and Care

in Teaching and Learning

CAREolina will take place March 23-27, 2026, offering a week-long focus on empathy and care in teaching and learning. This inaugural event highlights practices grounded in Pedagogies of Care and includes workshops, webinars, curated videos, and practical resources that support educators in navigating difficult conversations, supporting student success, attending to personal well-being, and strengthening learning relationships. CAREolina culminates with the First-Generation Symposium on Friday, March 27, which brings together faculty, staff, and campus partners to explore research, stories, and strategies that support first-generation student success. Previews of CAREolina programs and resources will be shared through the CTE website and social media channels.

Learn More: CAREolina

EXCITE Active Learning Certificate
Expands Opportunities for Engaged Teaching

A new EXCITE Active Learning Certificate of Completion is now available to support educators interested in strengthening student engagement through active learning. The certificate brings together a flexible set of learning opportunities that encourage educators to experiment, reflect, and apply active learning strategies in ways that fit their teaching contexts. EXCITE reflects a focus on Exploration, Creativity, Immersion, Technology, and Engagement in teaching and learning. Coordinated by CTE Instructional Designer Kristin Harrell, the initiative emphasizes creativity, intentional instructional design, and practical application across disciplines and course formats.

Learn More: EXCITE Active Learning Certificate

Faculty Engage in Student Experience Project

Community of Practice

During Fall 2025, a cohort of 23 faculty members participated in a Student Experience Project (SEP) community of practice as part of USC’s engagement with a national initiative focused on student learning experiences. Supported through a partnership between the Graduation and Retention Network (GARNET) and the Center for Teaching Excellence, and facilitated by faculty leaders Charlie Pierce and Sarah Carroll, participants reviewed formative student feedback and collaborated on strategies that support learning conditions such as student self-efficacy and social connectedness. All participants were recognized with certificates acknowledging their engagement and contributions.

Learn More: Student Experience Project (SEP)

CTE Launches the Digital Accessibility
Appreciation Program

The Digital Accessibility Appreciation Program provides a way to recognize members of the USC community who demonstrate a commitment to digital accessibility in teaching and learning environments. Accessible course design supports student access and reduces barriers across instructional contexts. Examples include captioning instructional videos, improving the structure and readability of course materials, using tools such as Blackboard Ally, and supporting colleagues with accessibility practices.

Members of the university community may submit messages of appreciation through the Digital Accessibility Appreciation Program form. Messages are shared directly with the individual being recognized. Selected submissions may also be included in CTE communications to highlight examples of digital accessibility in practice.

Learn More: Digital Accessibility Appreciation Program

Supporting Teaching Practice Through the
GenAI Showcase

The Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) Showcase will take place on Friday, February 27, 2026, from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in the Ernest F. Hollings Special Collections Library, Thomas Cooper Library. The event highlights instructional uses of generative AI at USC through applied, course-level examples shared by 12 fellows from the Provost’s AI Teaching Fellowship. Presentations emphasize peer learning and instructional practice, with a focus on instructional goals, student engagement, and responsible use. The showcase is part of broader generative AI programming supported by the Center for Teaching Excellence.

Learn More: GenAI Showcase

New Course Launch: Designing and Delivering Effective Online Courses

Designing and Delivering Effective Online Courses is an asynchronous, online course that supports those who teach online or plan to teach online. The course focuses on intentional decisions that guide course planning, development, and delivery, with content aligned to evidence-based practices, the High-Impact Design for Online Courses (HIDOC) framework, and university principles related to quality teaching and student success. Available in a self-paced format, the course is relevant for faculty, staff, and graduate students across disciplines and emphasizes practical strategies that can be applied directly to online courses.

Learn More: Designing and Delivering Effective Online Courses

Fall 2025 Completers Recognized for Teaching and Learning with GenAI

Educators who completed the Teaching and Learning with Generative Artificial Intelligence webinar series during Fall 2025 are being recognized for their engagement with instructional uses of generative AI. Led by Gloria Washington, instructional designer with the CTE, the series supported faculty, staff, and graduate teaching assistants in developing practical strategies for responsible and intentional integration of generative AI aligned with course goals. Participants completed a structured learning pathway focused on instructional decision making, active learning, assessment design, and student engagement, and earned recognition for program completion.

Learn More: Teaching and Learning with GenAI Fall Completers

New Universal Design for Learning Resource Supports Inclusive Teaching

A new Universal Design for Learning (UDL) resource supports educators as they design and revise courses to better meet the needs of all learners. Led by CTE Instructional Designer Mitchell Dallas Herring, the resource introduces UDL as a framework that anticipates learner variability and reduces barriers to participation and success. The UDL resource page includes practical tools such as a Getting Started Guide, Design Flowchart, Self-Checklist, and Self-assessment Rubric, along with links to materials that connect UDL with digital accessibility practices.

Learn More: Universal Design for Learning Resource

Digital Accessibility Microlearning Series Supports Accessible
Course Design

The Digital Accessibility Microlearning Series includes a set of 30-minute sessions focused on specific aspects of digital accessibility in teaching and learning materials. Topics include Blackboard Ally, accessible Word and PowerPoint documents, PDF accessibility, and video captioning and transcription. Sessions include brief demonstrations, examples, and shared resources intended to support application to course materials.

Learn More: Digital Accessibility MIcrolearning Series

Video and Multimedia Support
Strengthens Quality Online Course Development

Video and Multimedia Support provides faculty who teach online courses with resources to create clear, accessible, and intentionally integrated instructional media. Available through the Center for Teaching Excellence, this support aligns with Quality Standards for Online Courses (QSOC) and the High-Impact Design for Online Courses (HIDOC) framework by strengthening course organization, instructor presence, and student engagement. Faculty can work with multimedia staff to plan and record lecture videos, course introductions, weekly overviews, and demonstrations, with guidance that supports accessibility, alignment with course outcomes, and consistent structure across online courses.

Learn More: Video and Multimedia Support