University Service

My service activities for the whole of Santa Clara University include actively engaging with the Lecturer community as part of the Committee on Lecturers and Adjuncts (COLA) and as chair of the Lecturers Best Practices Task Force, partaking in faculty senate council, and serving as part of the Educational Master Plan Subcommittee. However, as I reflect on the impact that these service activities have had on me personally, I can attribute the largest growth in my own skills around leadership. I’ve also become more adept at navigating the University as I interact with governing bodies and offices.

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The Lecturers Best Practices task force is charged to explore best practices in Lecturer respect, equity, fairness, and justice, especially around areas of hiring, promotion and reappointment, benefits, and compensation. I serve as chair of this task force.

The task force has been very active over the past year and a half of service. Our primary results include:

  • Researching and reviewing the literature, as well as policies and procedures for best practices from other institutions
  • Developing and running a design thinking workshop around Lecturer issues at SCU to gain insight and inform our future model recommendations for Lecturers
  • Successfully drafting a report on Model Recommendations for a Teaching Professorial track at SCU
  • Communicating our report findings to the Faculty Senate Council and to the University Coordinating Committee
  • Beginning collaborations with SCU culture and climate coordinators, including Elsa Chen as the Campus Climate Study Response Lead, and several of the Campus Climate Coordinators with overlaping interests including those responsible for the areas of "Honest, Open, and Respectiful Engagement", "Community of Belonging", and "Professional Growth and Fair Treatment" .

The Committee on Lecturers and Adjuncts (COLA) is a standing committee of the Faculty Senate. COLA serves as both a voice and an advocate for lecturers and adjuncts, supporting them in areas of faculty development, hiring, job stability and promotion, and better integration into shared governance. I have served on this committee for over 2 years.

COLA exists to serve Lecturers of all rank at SCU. A primary focus for this past year has been the presence of SEIU on campus. COLA remains neutral on the formation of a union on campus, however, we are interested in making sure that the Lecturers are informed and they are able to feel heard with specific issues and concerns. Additional issues that COLA has working currently include the Student Evaluations of Teaching, balancing concerns of bias among the Lecturer community due to their rank, larger proportion of female professors, larger classes, and younger first- and second-year student population.

Presidents Special Recognition Award for work as part of the Committee on Lecturers and Adjuncts, a sub-committee of the Faculty Senate. Awarded fall 2018 by President Michael Engh.

ACUE Co-Facilitator

ACUE supports and credentials faculty members in the use of evidence-based teaching practices that drive student engagement, retention, and learning. I served as co-facilitator for our inaugural SCU cohort, and will serve again for AY19-20.

From the initial launch, ACUE modules are organized into 5 effective practice core competencies. As facilitators, we are responsible for sending out module communications at the beginning, and end of each week to introduce the topic, make announcements, then summarize and close each topic, connecting it to the rest of the course. During the week, we facilitated and monitored online discussions within the course, answered questions, brainstormed implementation techniques for cohort members, and solved technical issues. Regular meetings were held between the facilitators and the ACUE academic director where cohort progress, assessments, and plans were discussed biweekly. Finally, we also organized in-person cohort meetings and made and presented materials at various events, such as CAFEs, and ACUE events.


2019 ACUE Pinning ceremony at the Forge Garden

Some stunning statistics from our inaugural cohort's summary report! We were able to achieve 100% completion along with huge learning gains from each core competency!

Educational Master Plan Subcommitee (of the Academic Planning Team committee for STEM 2020)

Aided effort to create an educational master plan for the STEM 2020 initiative, including resources around STEM teaching and development, especially around first-year programs. I served as a committee member.

Elected as the At-Large Faculty Senate Representative for Non-Tenured Faculty in 2018 for a two-year term

Sitting on the Faculty Senate Council has been very illuminating. Not only do I now understand University policy and procedures better, but I also understand how decisions relating to faculty issues are considered and promoted within those governance processes. I will continue to act as the at-large representative for Lecturers and also represent my 'department' of General Engineering.