Announcements and Current Events
Call for Proposals: Spring Teaching Symposium
Friday, Feb. 20 | 9 a.m.–3 p.m. | Fromm Hall, Maraschi Room
We are excited to announce that CTE’s full-day Teaching Symposium will be held on Friday, February 20, 2026. We invite faculty, librarians, and staff from across programs and schools to share their strategies, challenges, and experiences in fostering meaningful relationships through teaching.
In a recent article, Nick Potkalitsky cautions that education is “Losing the Thread on AI in Education” by forgetting that teaching is, at its core, about building relationships. We take up Potkalitsky’s call by centering this year’s symposium on the theme: Building Relationships Between Teachers and Students. We invite proposals for sessions that explore how your teaching practices, disciplinary approaches, or areas of focus foster meaningful, trusting, and positive connections with students.
We especially welcome proposals that explore assessment, evaluation, and grading, open educational resources (OER), and active learning in practice. Together, we’ll reflect on how these practices can deepen our relationships with students, enrich their learning, and help them thrive both in and beyond the classroom.
Suggested Areas of Focus
- Rethinking assessment and feedback to promote growth and belonging
- How can assessment and feedback harm or improve the relationship between faculty and students? What practices do you use to improve the impact of grading on your relationships with students?
- Designing equitable grading systems that center on transparency and care
- What practices do you use to improve the impact of grading on your relationships with students?
- Adopting or creating open educational resources that increase access and engagement
- How does using OER aid in building community in a classroom setting? How can it foster a healthy/trusting relationship between faculty, students, and the university? What does using OER signal to students about what we value?
- Sharing classroom practices that spark active learning and collaboration
- What classroom practices foster relationship building between students and also, faculty? How do these practices signal trust and risk-taking?
- Building meaningful assignments that connect course content to the world beyond the classroom
- How do assignments reflect our values? In what ways do they serve as agents of relationship building rather than authority or control?
Session Details
Presenters should plan for a 60-90 minute session designed to engage faculty in conversation and offer practical, transferable ideas. Exemplary sessions will deliver clear, actionable takeaways for attendees. Live demonstrations, interactive segments, and mini-workshops are encouraged.
Who Can Apply
We invite proposals from all USF faculty, librarians, and staff (individually or in teams). Cross-disciplinary collaboration is encouraged.
Proposal Deadline
Friday, December 15
If you have an idea in mind but want to talk it through, we’d love to hear from you. Reach out to cte@office.usfca.edu to connect with the CTE team.