CSUS Conferences
CSUS conducts a number of conferences each year for faculty members at Central, Eastern, Southern and Western Connecticut State Universities to highlight research and creative activity, advance the assessment and improvement of learning, promote excellence in teaching, and generally support the excellent work underway at each of the universities.Faculty Research Conference
The 14th CSUS Faculty Research Conference took place on Saturday, April 16, 2011 at the WestSide Campus at Western Connecticut State University. Eighty-eight members of the faculty and academic administration participated in the full-day event. Seventy-four proposals for conference presentations were approved to participate in the conference. The 53 poster presentations and 21 oral presentations of peer-reviewed papers and publications covered all disciplinary areas and the oral presentations. The most highly represented field this conference year was from education preparation programs at the CSUS. Recipients of the 2011 CSUS Trustees Research Awards were publically recognized at the event.The conference is open to members of the faculty tenure track or non-tenure track (full-time or part-time), graduate and undergraduate students presenting research collaborations with faculty, or Doctoral students presenting their dissertation work. Members of the faculty and students at Central, Eastern, Southern, and Western participate. A broad definition of research is adopted to encompass all disciplines/programs in the CSUS universities. In addition, the Conference incorporates Academic and Administrative Computing work. Community College faculty are invited to participate, particularly in regards to collaborative work in Academic Computing.
The 15th CSUS Faculty Research Conference is scheduled to take place in the Spring of 2013.
2011 Conference Program (pdf)
2011 Conference Abstracts (pdf)
2011 Conference Committee
- CO-CHAIR Dr. Thomas A. Lonergan, Biology - WCSU
- CO-CHAIR Dr. Karen M. Daley, Nursing - WCSU
- Dr. C. Thomas Philbrick, Biology - WCSU
- Dr. Abbey L. Zink, Arts & Sciences - WCSU
- Dr. Thomas J. Vasko, Engineering - CCSU
- Dr. Joseph B. Farhat, Finance - CCSU
- Dr. Angela Morales, Modern Languages - CCSU
- Ms. Susan Petrosino, Registrar - CCSU
- Dr. Alevtina L. Smirnova, Environmental Earth Sciences - ECSU
- Dr. Jeffrey L. Calissi, Performing Arts - ECSU
- Dr. Doncho I. Petkov, Business - ECSU
- Dr. Jonathan S. O'hara, Political Science - SCSU
- Dr. Adiel Coca, Chemistry - SCSU
- Dr. Lisa M. Vitale, Foreign Languages - SCSU
- Dr. Klaus-Ruediger Peters, Computer Sciences - SCSU
- Dr. Germán Bermúdez, Academic and Student Affairs - CSUS
Spring 2012 Learning, Teaching and Assessment (LTA) Conference
Keynote Speaker
Wende Garrison
Assessment and Portfolio Expert and Manager of the VALUE Initiative at AAC&ULearn More (PDF) Former Keynote Speakers
Hosted by Southern Connecticut State University
Hand in Hand Transfer VALUE and Learning Quality - The New Currency in CT Higher Education
General Education/Liberal Arts Core/Liberal Education (GenEd) programs encompass the necessary learning that all students need to master in order to function as educated citizens who are prepared for the world in which they live. GenEd programs include a core component and the foundations for learning in the majors. The core enables students to gain knowledge of human cultures and the physical and natural world, and encompasses a range of academic areas. GenEd programs incorporate a balanced blend of learning disciplinary knowledge and methodologies that include the arts and humanities, the sciences and mathematics, and the social sciences. Beyond learning in the broad disciplinary domains, general education programs incorporate connections between a range of ideas and experiences, the development of students' intellectual capacity, and the nurturing of a personal disposition for responsible and effective participation in society.On March 15, 2012, the Connecticut Board of Regents for Higher Education (BOR) adopted a resolution requiring competency based GenEd curricula in all Connecticut State Colleges and Universities (ConnSCU). The resolution requires that, through the use of these common competencies, transfer degrees for all majors be created in which an equivalent of 30 general education credits are fully transferable. By September 30, 2012, an agreed set of common general education competency outcomes needs to be created.
The April 2012 LTA Conference
The LTA Conference this year will center on the use of competencies and rubrics to define GenEd learning. Approaches such as the AAC&U's Essential Learning Outcomes and Valid Assessment of Learning in Undergraduate Education (VALUE) Rubrics will be examined, and working sessions will address tools needed for implementation of the competencies and assessments for the areas of learning established by the BOR:- Written and oral communication in English
- The ability for scientific and quantitative reasoning
- The ability for critical analysis and logical thinking
- The capability for continuing learning, including the skills of information literacy
GENERAL SCHEDULE (details to follow)
- 8 - 9 a.m.
Registration and continental breakfast - 9 a.m. - 12 p.m.
Keynote, Morning Sessions and Poster Sessions - 12 - 1 p.m.
LUNCH - 1 - 3 p.m.
Afternoon Sessions
Conference Committee
- Yvonne Kirby, Office of IR and Assessment - CCSU
- Dr. Kimberly T. Kostelis, Phys. Ed. and Human Prfmc. - CCSU
- Dr. Carol A. Jones, Chemistry and Biochemistry - CCSU
- Dr. James P. Mulrooney, Biomolecular Science - CCSU
- Dr. Darren Robert ,Health and PE - ECSU
- Dr. David L. Stoloff, Education - ECSU
- Dr. Marianne Kennedy, Office of the Provost and AVP - SCSU
- Dr. Ilene Crawford, English - SCSU
- Dr. Scott M. Graves, Sci. Ed. & Environ. Studies - SCSU
- Dr. Patricia E. Kahlbaugh, Psychology - SCSU
- Dr. Klaus-Ruediger Peters, Computer Sciences - SCSU
- Dr. Jerry Wilcox, Inst. Research & Assessment - WCSU
- Dr. Robyn A. Housemann, Health Promotion & Exercise - WCSU
- Dr. Katie M. Lever-Mazzuto, Communication - WCSU
- Dr. Germán Bermúdez, Academic and Student Affairs - CSUS
Former Conference Keynote Speakers
- 2011 - Trudy Banta - Using Assessment Findings to Improve Teaching, Learning, and the Student Experience
- 2010 - Marilee J. Bresciani - Assessment in Program Review
- 2008 - Cliff Adelman - The Core of Bologna (in the US)
- 2007 - Randy Swing - Assessing the First-Year Experience
- 2006 - Jillian Kinzie - What Matters to Student Success: An Unshakable Focus on Student Learning
- 2005 - Peggy Maki - Assessment of Learning and Collective Educational Practices
- 2004 - Martha Stassen - Program-Based Review and Assessment
- 2003 - T. Bridgett Perry-Galvin - Assessing Critical Thinking
2009 International Education Conference: Review
Several speakers from outside the area interacted with conference participants via the web, including presenters in Czech Republican, Costa Rica and the U.S. In addition to discussions about global warming and climate change, the agenda included investigations of ways to:
- Reduce the environmental impact of international travel through the use of renewable energy, carbon neutrality and carbon-reduction offsets;
- Prepare CSUS students for "Green Collar" jobs
- Determine international trends in sustainability education, and
- Develop grants available through international education services.
In keeping with the green theme, no brochure was printed for participants and the font used to print posters publicizing the event used less ink than is customary. Biodegradable plates, cups and flatware were used.
One attendee summed up the day: "This was extremely well organized, coherently framed, and timely in its focus...the use of online presentations to complement the on-ground presentations was inspired and on point."
The initial CSUS International Education Conference was held in 2008 at Central Connecticut State University, beginning an annual rotation among the four CSUS universities.
