UHV faculty members listen to a presentation by Daniel White, standing, UHV interim associate provost for curriculum and student success, and work on an exercise during the 5C faculty Development Conference in August. Twenty faculty members attended the conference, which was held at a retreat center in Kerrville and was funded by a Title III grant.

A group of 20 faculty members from the University of Houston-Victoria attended a special retreat during the summer to learn and create strategies to create a more engaging and effective curriculum for students in the coming semester.

Woodrow Wagner

“This retreat was an inspiring experience for our faculty members,” said Woodrow Wagner, UHV director of institutional strategies. “We had representatives from all four of UHV’s colleges come together and learn how those from different disciplines can still teach in common and learn effective strategies from each other.”

The 5C Faculty Development Conference was held Aug. 11-14 at the UBarU Camp & Retreat Center in Kerrville. It was funded by a Title III grant that UHV received before the COVID-19 pandemic to sponsor student success and faculty development efforts, including sending faculty members to a training conference for four years. However, the conference was put on hold during the pandemic, then shut down indefinitely. This year, UHV worked with Title III and the organizers of the conference to plan its own faculty retreat.

Joann Olson

“At the end of the conference, our faculty came home energized and ready to face the new year with some new and exciting strategies, as well as relationships with peers outside of their typical silos,” said Joann Olson, UHV interim provost and vice president for academic affairs. “The one question we kept hearing was, ‘Can we do this again?’ It was such a unique opportunity, and I hope we can continue it in the future.”

During the conference, UHV faculty members listened to presentations on teaching effectiveness and student engagement from Carrie Boden, a professor of Organization, Workforce and Leadership Studies at Texas State University, and Jennifer Todd, a senior faculty developer & teaching effectiveness framework program manager at Colorado State University. They also participated in breakout sessions, workshops and individual projects that focused on writing curriculum, creating assignments and teaching strategies that can better connect with and inspire students.

Jesica McCue

“The ability to offer our own conference for 20 faculty members at once created a much more impactful outcome rather than sending five at a time over years,” said Jesica McCue, UHV clinical associate professor of biology and the faculty facilitator for the conference. “It showed us the importance of collaboration and gave us hope for the future of UHV.”

The main goals of the conference were to bolster morale and build trust in higher education. The conference also focused on strategies to improve UHV’s courses and programs in order to boost the university’s student retention, Wagner said.

“There were some frank, important discussions about how the faculty can play a role in moving toward a better future,” Wagner said. “UHV serves many students who are typically in at-risk groups, including first-generation students and those from lower income brackets and underrepresented populations. We can create a positive, successful climate in our classrooms that will offer support to those students and encourage them to keep working toward their degrees.”

Outside of the conference, faculty members were able to spend time together doing various activities at the retreat center, including archery, hiking, stargazing and even taking a trip to a replica of Stonehenge in the Texas Hill Country. But even during the group’s down time, important conversations were happening. Wagner remembers multiple times seeing Olson going on walks with different faculty members and giving them the opportunity to talk about their thoughts and concerns. Seeing that level of involvement and engagement from a member of the university’s administration was exciting and encouraging to the faculty, he said.

“The thing that I kept hearing from the conference attendees was how unprecedented this experience was,” Wagner said. “Our faculty members were able to boost both interdisciplinary cooperation and morale. It was a chance to get back to what teaching is all about. They came home with a new support system and new relationships.”