Collaborations, Referrals, and Invitations: A Reflection on Examples of Better Together from One Institution

Abstract

In this article, Drs. Shenoy and Huxtable-Jester share perspectives from the classroom, research, and central support administrative offices to give concrete examples as well as pose recommendations about how to create partnerships and strategic collaborations for an integrated approach to teaching and learning. Karen Huxtable-Jester is an award-winning professor who works with students in the classroom, and as Director of the CTLat UT Dallas, supporting faculty as they work on improving their teaching. Gloria Shenoy is the Director of Academic Assessment at the same institution, an expert in measuring learning who was involved in a national project looking at student learning outcomes. In this article,  they describe past and current collaborations, including co-presenting at conferences, leading book clubs, guiding a faculty learning community on the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, and facilitating seminars for graduate students and faculty on teaching. Referrals include helping one office find a student worker, assisting faculty to create assessments for grant proposals, and giving feedback on syllabi. Invitations to committees and team meetings round out ways the relationship between assessment and educational development plays out on our campus so that we are "Better Together."