Center for Academic Innovation and Faculty Support
Additional Resources
The Center for Academic Innovation and Faculty Support (CAIFS) offers a broad, holistic approach to faculty development that fosters and rewards academic innovation, in the classroom and beyond, and that includes support for such endeavors as peer mentorship and developing academic leadership.
CAIFS coordinates the university's initiatives in active learning, learning technologies, inclusive pedagogy, distance education and hybrid learning, and service learning and community engagement. Our units include the Office of Distance Education, the Office of Transformative and Inclusive Pedagogy, and the Office of Service Learning and Community Engagement, as well as a staff of Learning Experience Designers who can help with a range of instructional design projects.
The Center for Academic Innovation and Faculty Support also provides a centralized hub for faculty development needs, from adjunct faculty members and new faculty to leaders in faculty governance and academic units.
Visit us in the Media Building, Room 248, 864-503-5850. Email us at academicinnovation@uscupstate.edu.
Our Services
- Instructional design support for faculty and staff projects provided by Learning Experience Designers
- Online Teaching certification and online course and program development support provided by Learning Experience Designers
- Service Learning Teaching certification and service learning course development support provided by the Director of Service Learning and Community Engagement
- New Faculty Professional Development
- Adjunct Faculty Orientation, Adjunct Faculty Professional Development Institute and Adjunct Faculty Online Learning Community
- USC Upstate Academic Leadership Institute and Academic Leadership Online Learning Community for academic unit and faculty governance leadership
- Inclusive Pedagogy Certificate and Engaged Pedagogy and Hybrid Course Design Institute led by the Director of Transformative and Inclusive Pedagogy
- Teaching observations, Quality Matters (QM) online and hybrid course reviews, and teaching evaluation consultations
- Media support and guidance for faculty and staff wishing to integrate video and audio into their projects, including a Lightboard Studio and media checkout
- Customized workshops and consultations for program and curricular development, assessment, and academic innovation project design
- Workshops and consultations for faculty on preparing for promotion, tenure, post-tenure, and developing/fulfilling your research agenda
- Co-sponsored workshops on retention, advising, assessment, curriculum mapping, and public scholarship
Workshops and Programs
- 2022-2023 CAIFS Workshop and Event Calendar
- Facilitator-Led Online Teaching Certification Course, next course begins April 10: Register for the facilitator-led course.
This facilitator-led course is delivered in Ultra Course View through the Blackboard LMS in a fully asynchronous format, with weekly tasks and deadlines for regular feedback and support. Faculty work in the online teaching certification course as students while working as instructors in a "Sandbox" course where they can apply new skills and best practices. Most faculty complete the course in 12 to 15 hours, though faculty members who need additional one-on-one technology support may require more time. The course outcomes include understanding and applying best practices for online course design, organization and navigation, accessibility, instructor presence, student engagement, communication, and feedback. By the end of the course, faculty members will create course outcomes and related online assessments, course content areas, menu items, assignments, discussions, rubrics, and a self-introduction video in their own online Sandbox course. - About a week before the course starts, look for the course in your Blackboard Courses. Search for "Online Teaching" and click the star icon to favorite this course.
- Check your email for a welcome announcement on the first day of your course.
- Be sure to check your Junk Email and/or disable "Clutter" in your USC Upstate email if you have not received a message on the first day of class. Or call/email the facilitator listed for your course to ensure that you are receiving all course messages.
- Self-Guided Course: Teaching Online @ USC Upstate. Alternative Certification for Online Teaching. Rolling Enrollment: SELF-ENROLL or email academicinnovation@uscupstate.edu to request to join the course. Do you need online teaching certification, but you feel comfortable enough with Blackboard tools that you do not need to practice building a course with the support of a course facilitator? By the completion of this 6- to 8-hour self-guided course, you will be able to
- Describe the different types of online learning
- Identify best practices for online courses
- Compare the different types of presences needed in an online course
- Select and use tools to support your curriculum
- Organize your course content on Blackboard in a clear, consistent manner
- Create engaging course content
- Access information about support services for students at USC Upstate
- Self-Guided Course: Remote and Online Communication Principles for Teaching and Learning Success. Rolling Enrollment: SELF-ENROLL or email academicinnovation@uscupstate.edu to request to join the course.
This 3- to 4-hour self-guided course aims to prepare you with best practices, tips, and tools to help you communicate more effectively and efficiently in remote and online course settings. The course is self-guided, meaning you schedule work at your own pace and complete application exercises with automatic feedback or rubrics for self-assessment. By the end of this course, you will be able to - Design a welcoming course environment,
- Maintain an engaging instructor presence,
- Foster an interactive learning community,
- Provide meaningful feedback to promote growth mindset, and
- Deliver an inclusive, accessible, and equitable course.
- Self-Guided Course: Designing Hybrid Courses. Rolling Enrollment: Log in to Blackboard, go to HYBRID-COURSE-DESIGN,and click the green +Enroll button at the bottom of the left course menu, or email academicinnovation@uscupstate.edu to request to join the course.
- This 6- to 8-hour self-guided course was created to assist you in designing your teaching experience in hybrid or blended classrooms. This self-guided course will take you through the basics of selecting content delivery, organization, and communication choices when you interact with students using a combination of online and face-to-face (F2F) experiences. The course is self-guided, meaning you schedule work at your own pace and complete application exercises with automatic feedback or rubrics for self-assessment. By the end of this course, you will be able to:
- Analyze the student success opportunities associated with hybrid and blended learning courses.
- Implement power tools for learning within online, hybrid, synchronous, and asynchronous courses
- Design and organize asynchronous course content in Blackboard with engaging, synchronous learning components.
- Develop and facilitate a range of asynchronous and synchronous assessments to measure student learning.
- Self-Guided Course: Getting Started with Service Learning and Community Engagement. Rolling Enrollment: Log in to Blackboard, go to Upstate-SLCE-Getting-Started, and click the green +Enroll button at the bottom of the left course menu, or email academicinnovation@uscupstate.edu to request to join the course.
This two-hour self-guided module is offered by USC Upstate's Office of Service Learning and Community Engagement. Dr. Dave Marlow is your primary contact. By the end of this self-guided module, you will be prepared to:- define Service Learning and Community Engagement (SL/CE)
- distinguish between Service Learning and Community Engagement
- describe the benefits of SL/CE to students, faculty, and our community
- identify how SL/CE can help students meet curricular goals for your classes
- define the key components of Service Learning: disciplinary content, service, and reflection
- navigate the web-based SL/CE support materials and course development process at Upstate
For an archive of recordings of previous workshops, please visit Webinars and Virtual Office Hours.