Welcome week preview
As we gear up for the start of the fall 2025 semester, the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning team will offer a variety of programs to help instructors start strong in the weeks ahead.
As we gear up for the start of the fall 2025 semester, the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning team will offer a variety of programs to help instructors start strong in the weeks ahead. Below, we share a preview of our welcome week programs, along with links to register for each.
Note: These events are open to all University of Mississippi-affiliated faculty/staff and graduate students. We will post a recap of these events here on our blog afterward for those working on other campuses or who cannot attend.
Monday, August 18: Who Are Our Students?
Time: 2:00-3:00 pm
Location: Zoom
This year, Emily Pitts Donahoe will once again offer a one-hour workshop exploring the demographics of our students, the state, and the contextual factors that can help us better understand who’s in our classes. Drawing from UM institutional data, national studies and statistics on college students, and other resources, Emily effectively prepares instructors to follow a cardinal rule of teaching: “Know thy students.” While this workshop is specifically geared for new(er) faculty, it will be helpful for anyone who wants to learn more about the undergraduate population at the University of Mississippi.
Tuesday, August 19: Graduate Teaching Orientation
Time: 9:00 am-4:00 pm
Location: Jackson Avenue Center
The entire CETL team is excited to spend Tuesday with graduate students at our annual Graduate Teaching Orientation. This event is geared towards grad students who want to hone their teaching skills, whether they’re first-time TAs and section leaders or more experienced instructors. It’s hosted in collaboration with the Graduate School (which offers its own New Student Orientation for issues of broader concern).
Graduate Teaching Orientation is designed to help you establish your role as TA or instructor, provide an introduction to UM students and university teaching, and give you the tools to teach and assess effectively, no matter your discipline. We leave ample time at the end of the day to answer questions about teaching at UM.
Wednesday, August 20: The National Academies’ 2025 Report on STEM Education: Findings and Applications
Time: 1:00-2:00 pm
Location: Zoom
Improving STEM education is a key priority for many at UM, most visibly evident through the Jim and Thomas Duff Center for Science and Technology Innovation and core to work in multiple academic departments on campus.
In partnership with the Duff Center’s science educators, Josh Eyler will offer an overview of the 2025 National Academies report, “Transforming Undergraduate STEM Education: Supporting Equitable and Effective Teaching.” The report, which is the result of a years-long initiative, collects a number of evidence-based steps to enhance student learning.
In this session, we will present the top-level recommendations from the report and facilitate a discussion about how to implement these strategies in the classroom.
Wednesday, August 20: Ideas for Introducing Your Syllabus
Time: 2:00-3:00 pm
Location: Zoom
Syllabus day? No thanks! For all our concerns about student engagement and motivation, we know that student motivation is often at its peak in the first week of the semester. Take advantage of that motivation by creating a first day (and week) of class that goes beyond a didactic tour through the syllabus, promoting relatively little student engagement.
In this panel discussion, we’ll hear from several UM instructors about how they start the semester off on a more interactive foot. Attendees will leave with multiple examples of how to engage students and convey critical information in ways that build community and set the tone for an engaged classroom environment.
Invited panelists include Laura McLellan (biology), Kate Kellum (psychology), Jackie DiBiasie-Sammons (classics), and Candies Winfun-Cook (teacher education).
