Last week, over one hundred CCV instructors gathered at the Lake Morey Resort in Fairlee for the Faculty Summer Institute, an annual two-day conference devoted entirely to faculty professional development.
Notable Now – July 2016
It’s been a relatively quiet few weeks for CCV now that we’re well into summer, but we still had some good things happening all over the state.
Making Problems Fun
Marguerite Dibble wants to tackle big problems. The title of her address, “Unlocking Behavioral Change with Games,” which she delivered at this year’s Faculty Institute, is itself evidence of Dibble’s ambition.
Forecast: Clear Skies Ahead For St. J
Often, when good things happen we say that the stars have aligned. That may or may not literally be what’s happening in the sky at that moment, but whenever it does happen, CCV-St. Johnsbury students will get to see it. Literally.
A New Read for CCV Archaeology Students
We all have skeletons in the closet, but CCV instructor Luisa Millington brings hers out to share with students.
“I have analyzed more than 3,000 human remains because Rome is a very unique situation,” said Millington, who is a native of the Italian city. “Rome has volcanic rock that is very acidic, so what happens is the acidity decomposes the flesh very quickly but preserves the bones, which is why we have so many necropoli around Rome, and every necropolis has hundreds and hundreds of human remains that need to be studied.”
April Yee Discusses Student Engagement at Faculty Retreat
Students have varying experiences at college. We all know this. But instructors attending CCV’s annual faculty retreat last week were given a much clearer picture of how social class affects student engagement and in turn, student achievement.
From College to Career
CCV instructors got a glimpse of the impact they can have on students last Friday when four graduates laid it out for them.
“I love CCV,” said Harry Knowles, a 2011 graduate. “ I can honestly say I didn’t have one bad teacher at CCV, and that doesn’t happen too often at other schools.”
CCV’s People Millionaire
Melissa Elwell insists that being a people millionaire is one of her greatest strengths as a teacher.
“I literally called in every favor I had and said ‘I want top of the line fingerprint kits, I want top of the line laser systems, I want stringing kits so I can do blood splatters.’ That’s the people millionaire thing,” the CCV Bennington instructor said of her prep work for the forensics class she teaches. “I really believe that my students deserve everything you would get at a major university.”
And while it may be true that having lots of connections makes for great classes–Elwell has had author Archer Mayor visit class and called on judges to open up court rooms for use–in actuality there are likely other factors at play. For instance, one could say students are drawn to her classes because they feel like the real world.
The Big Picture: Service
Faculty member and author Joe Covais was very clear in his lecture on Veterans Day.
“I’m not telling you about the content of the book…I’m telling you what the book is about in the big picture.”