Programs and Initiatives

Faculty member points to poster on wall while addressing other faculty members

CTE Programs for AY 25-26

CTE offers several programs and funding opportunities for faculty members who are interested in improving their teaching. Find programs to fit your interest on this page and sign up today!
Working Groups and Learning Communities Working Groups and Learning Communities
Course Transformation Support Course Transformation Support
Programs for Academic Units and Teams Programs for Academic Units and Teams

CTE Programs and Iniatives

AY 25-26 Program Themes

This academic year, CTE is focusing on key areas to support your teaching and enhance student learning.

Our AY 25-26 Themes

National, International and Grant-Funded Initiatives

CTE is involved in several collaborations and networks that enable KU faculty to connect with colleagues on other campuses and bring national visibility to KU’s work on educational improvement an innovation.
Grant Funded Initiatives

CTE Signature events Guide

CTE hosts three annual university-wide events on teaching and learning, one at the beginning of the academic year, one mid-year, and one at the end of the year.
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Program Eligibility

Find out how you can qualify for funding to participate in select programs. See our information page on program types.
Program information

AI Working Group

This working group focuses on the challenges and opportunities in higher education presented by generative artificial intelligence. Led by Doug Ward (CTE associate director/Journalism), Benjamin Rosenthal (Visual Art) and Sara Wilson (Mechanical Engineering). In Fall 2025, this working group will meet online from 2-3 pm on the following Fridays: 9/5, 10/3, 11/7, 12/5

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More about AI from CTE

Online Teaching Working Group

This working group meets monthly to discuss strategies for effective, inclusive and engaging online teaching. In Fall 2025, this group is facilitated by Doug Ward (CTE/Journalism) and Susan Marshall (Psychology) and meets online from 12-1 on the following Mondays: 9/8, 10/6, 11/3, 12/1

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Supporting Teaching Resource

Mentoring for Success

Join a community of practice that will bring together mentors from across campus to collaborate, develop their skills, and learn from each other. Each month, we will meet over lunch to discuss our student and postdoc mentoring experiences and learn more about the research behind best practices in undergraduate mentoring. Discussion topics will focus on various journal articles aimed to develop mentorship skills. Mentoring Learning Community Dates: 9/22, 11/17, 12/8

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Alternative Grading Learning Community

A discussion group organized around non-traditional approaches to grading (e.g., competency-based grading, mastery grading, contract grading, ungrading) that move away from gatekeeping and instead focus on student growth and skill development. Participants meet regularly to discuss new approaches and how to apply them to their own practice. Led by Drew Vartia (CTE), Jane Barnett (Theatre and Dance), and Nisha Fernando (Interior Architecture). We will poll participants for a meeting time in early Fall 2025.

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Alternative Grading Resources

Teaching Scholarship Collaborative

A bi-weekly learning community focused on teaching innovation, educational leadership, and institutional change. Open to anyone interested in teaching and learning, TSC provides a space to troubleshoot challenges, celebrate successes, and explore topics shaped by the group’s interests, from alternative grading and AI’s impact on engagement to SoTL projects, attendance, and open educational resources. We will poll participants for a meeting time in early Fall 2025

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Learn more about TSC

Fall 2025 New Faculty Book Club

A community for early career faculty organized around the book Small Teaching, about small changes instructors can make to their teaching that can make a big difference for students. Participants will each receive a copy of the book. Led by faculty fellow Jane Barnette (Theatre and Dance), this group will meet from 2:30-3:30 on the first Tuesday of each month: 9/2, 10/7, 11/4, and 12/2

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New Faculty Links

Course Transformation Grants

Grants of up to $1,500 for individuals or up to $3,000 for teams of faculty to support well-planned project proposals that will enhance or innovate the student learning experience at KU. We are particularly interested in supporting work that extends from a CTE working group/learning community to support participants in applying new ideas to a course/curriculum. Priority deadline for Fall 2025 proposals is Sept. 15, 2025. Applicants will be notified of funding decisions by Sept. 26, 2025. Grant recipients produce a poster on their work for the Celebration of Teaching.

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More about Course Transformation

AI Course Integration Grants

We invite proposals for grants of up to $2000 to support student centered integration of generative AI into courses this academic year, with particular focus on AI literacy. CTE has created a series of AI literacy modules in Canvas, and we encourage instructors to use or adapt those modules for their courses. Awardees will also participate in a learning community to help them develop their ideas and course materials. Priority Deadline: September 23, 2025

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More about Course Transformation

KU IRISE Course Initiative

The KU IRISE Virtues Initiative is seeking faculty who would like to integrate character development (integrity, respect, innovation, stewardship, excellence) into their courses. This grant funded initiative offers $7,000 stipends, support and community for faculty to design or redesign an undergraduate course to better prepare students for lives of purpose. Faculty will participate in a year-long seminar in AY25-26 and will be expected to implement their redesigned course the following two years. Applications due September 10.

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More about IRISE

Faculty Seminar: Making Learning Work for You and Your Students

This Spring 2026 faculty seminar will be organized around the 2023 book, How Learning Works: Eight Research Based Principles for Smart Teaching. The seminar is a semester-long learning-community in which a small group (5 to 10) of faculty members will meet regularly to reflect on their teaching and explore how to apply lessons from the book and discussions to one or more courses. Participants receive a stipend and produce a poster for the Celebration of Teaching after completing their work. The Call for Applications will be released in late Fall 2025.

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Preview the book

Course Design Institute

A multi-day institute in which faculty will design, refresh or reimagine a course for deeper learning and engagement and later, assess the impact on their students’ learning. The institute follows a backward course design model. It is a collegial, hands-on program for instructors who want to develop engaging and effective courses for today’s KU students. Participants receive a stipend and produce a poster for the Celebration of Teaching after completing their work. The 2026 CDI is scheduled for May 19-21. The call for applications will be released in early Spring 2026.

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Course Design Institute Stories

Ideas to Action

I2A empowers teams of faculty and staff from an academic unit to engage in collaborative inquiry into their students’ success and learning. Dept teams identify questions and CTE program leaders work with other units (e.g., AIRE) to produce databases, online dashboards, and reports, and convene the teams to guide interpretation of results and action planning and foster cross-department queries.

I2A Call for applications I2A Application

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Transforming Teaching Evaluation: The TEval Initiative

CTE partners with academic units to implement the Benchmarks for Teaching Effectiveness Framework: a multidimensional, multisource approach to documenting and evaluating teaching. Originally funded by a multi-institutional grant from NSF, over 80 units at KU, CU Boulder, and UMass Amherst have adopted more holistic and equitable teaching evaluation practices. CTE provides ongoing consultation and resources to departments seeking to adapt the Benchmarks framework.

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Benchmarks Resources

National, International and Grant-Funded Initiatives

CTE is involved in several collaborations and networks that enable KU faculty to connect with colleagues on other campuses and bring national visibility to KU’s work on educational improvement an innovation.
Teval/Benchmarks Teval/Benchmarks
HHMI IE3 Initiative HHMI IE3 Initiative
Bay View Alliance Bay View Alliance

Ongoing Grant Projects

2.05M
The TRESTLE project implements and assesses a model for promoting widespread transformation of undergraduate STEM courses (and faculty members) using department-embedded pedagogy experts and community building, at a network of 7 research universities.
TRESTLE, Bay View Alliance Project
614k
The TEval Grant is a collaborative grant with UMass Amherst, CU Boulder, and Michigan State to foster department adaptation of a multidimensional, multisource framework (Benchmarks for Teaching Effectiveness) for the documentation, review and evaluation of teaching.
TEval/Benchmarks for Teaching Effectiveness Project
530K
The Inclusive Excellence in STEM grant, from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), aims to foster greater inclusion and equity in the introductory science experience through cross-curricular alignment and innovation. Department partners are Undergraduate Biology, Chemistry, Geology, Physics and Mathematics.
HHMI Inclusive Excellence in STEM Grant
100k
CTE is a partner on an Association of American Universities grant awarded to Chemical and Petroleum Engineering to develop a more effective teaching evaluation system. C&PE's process draws on CTE's Benchmarks for Teaching Effectiveness framework, and uses evidence from peer triads, instructors, and students to capture diverse teaching contributions and diminish bias.
AAU STEM Department Demonstration Project