Creating and fostering an academic environment rooted in respect in an assumed tenet of a highly-ranked university.

Commissioned by Provost Bras in May 2015, the Task force on the Learning Environment was charged to:
  1. Analyze results of the Student Government Association/Institute Communications student survey in order to assess the nature of academic culture at Georgia Tech - identifying programs and opportunities.
  2. Suggest strategies to increase civility and respect in our academic culture and foster faculty awareness of how to create a positive academic environment.
  3. Identify current and suggest new policies, tools, and mechanisms available to school chairs for responding to issues.
  4. Craft recommendations for consideration by the Provost, Vice Provosts, Deans, and Vice President for Student Life to include educations and awareness programming and/or activities, and best practices for addressing issues and situations that are counter to a respectful climate. 

(A GT 365 login required to download the report and action plan. Please email Susie Ivy if you do not have a GT 365 account and wish to access the report.)

The recommendations will substantially advance the culture of civility, collegiality and respect and thus ensure that the learning environment is uniformly excellent across our instruction and our instructors. 

RECOMMENDATION #1 - ENSURE A CULTURE OF CIVILITY, COLLEGIALITY, AND RESPECT AS THE BEDROCK OF A HEALTHY INSTRUCTIONAL ENVIRONMENT.

  • Development a statement of civility, collegiality, and respect as a campus-wide expectation
  • Raise instructor awareness of the learning environment and its significance
  • Gather and respond to student input on the learning environment

RECOMMENDATION #2 - PEDAGOGICAL GOOD PRACTICES FOR ENHANCING THE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT

  • Basic course information checklist
  • Transparent grading policies
  • Standardization across sections   
  • Mid-semester survey
  • Review of CIOS data and comments
  • Issues of physical environments and scheduling

RECOMMENDATION #3 - DEVELOP INSTRUCTIONAL EXCELLENCE – ON-BOARDING AND ONGOING TRAINING

  • Initial on-boarding, guiding, and mentoring for new instructors as key steps for ensuring healthy learning environments.
  • Beyond initial phase: ongoing instructor development programs.
  • Center for Teaching and Learning
  • Peer Evaluation of instruction

RECOMMENDATION #4 - SCHOOL CHAIRS AS ESSENTIAL ACTORS IN ENSURING THE QUALITY OF THE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT

  • Tools and best practices for school chairs
  • Student engagement best practices
  • Longer-term strategies
  • Related ideas and options for school chairs and curriculum committees