About
About the Ohio College Teaching Consortium
The Ohio College Teaching Consortium comprises representatives from the Ohio Association of Community Colleges, the Ohio Department of Higher Education, the Ohio Faculty Senate for Technical and Community Colleges, the Inter-University Faculty Council, and state colleges/universities and their centers or offices for teaching and learning.
OCTC was formed in the spring of 2020 as the Ohio Professional Development Network to respond to the following:
- Increased demands on post-secondary instructors to teach remotely, in physically distanced f2f or hybrid/hyflex contexts, or online.
- Budgetary challenges experienced by many Ohio colleges and universities that impact breadth or depth of professional development offerings available to those who teach.
- Current and future enrollment trends that require instructors be equipped with instructional strategies that increase achievement of learning outcomes or enhance the learning experience of an increasingly diverse student population.
- Recognition of the excellent developing programming Ohio institutions provide to faculty and an ability to elevate teaching and learning across institutions through sharing of these opportunities.
The first OCTC partners gathered in a reading room at Thompson Library on the campus of Ohio State University to discuss the possibility of collaborating to bring professional learning opportunities to instructors across the state of Ohio using a Teaching Endorsements model first envisioned by former Ohio State University Institute for Teaching and Learning Director Kay Halasek.
For the 2022-23 year, the OCTC Planning Committee, website, and endorsement certification are overseen by Miami University’s Howe Center for Writing Excellence (HCWE). Contact the HCWE Director, Elizabeth Wardle, or Assistant Director of Writing Across the Curriculum, Mandy Olejnik, with questions.
The name change after our pilot year most accurately reflects the mission and work of the consortium.
Partners
Our partners provide and promote excellence in teaching and learning at community colleges and four-year institutions across the state of Ohio. These faculty development leaders share expertise and resources with the OCTC through a collaborative and generous model of open resources benefitting higher education instructors across ranks, disciplines and geographic areas.
Executive Committee
OCTC Executive Committee members represent major and critical contributing partners. They guide OCTC organizers and planners and provide advice and recommendations on overall consortium direction, mission and vision. In the future, they will be developing detailed policies and processes to ensure sustainability of the consortium and its work.
Planning Committee
The OCTC Planning Committee relies on the expertise of teaching and learning faculty developers and consultants across the state of Ohio. This group is responsible for the development and deployment of programming to support the Inclusive Teaching Endorsement, as well as serving as a network for leaders of teaching and learning centers and offices.