{"id":20768,"date":"2024-09-14T10:55:25","date_gmt":"2024-09-14T15:55:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/?p=20768"},"modified":"2024-09-15T10:25:00","modified_gmt":"2024-09-15T15:25:00","slug":"catfd-at-30-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/catfd-at-30-part-1\/","title":{"rendered":"CAT+FD at 30, Part 1"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"The
A special logo for our trigintennial!
Original by Jim Rose.
Adapted by Bart Everson<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

By now, everyone at Xavier knows that the university will be celebrating its centennial in 2025. Not everyone may realize that CAT+FD is currently celebrating its
30th anniversary. (I think it's a shame we've let a word like trigintennial<\/a><\/em> fall out of common use.) Since this is my first year as director, I thought I'd use this space to reflect on how things have changed over the past 30 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Established in 1994, CAT+FD is one of the older centers for teaching and learning (CTL) in the country. This is perhaps not surprising considering Xavier's commitment to excellence in teaching. Over the coming year, we will be posting a variety of reflections about the evolution of CAT+FD on this blog. If you're interested in a deep dive into the history and evolution of CTLs in general, pick up a copy of Mary C. Wright's excellent Centers for Teaching and Learning: The New Landscape in Higher Education<\/em><\/a> (2023, Johns Hopkins University Press).<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Page<\/a>
The first edition of the CAT News Report. Click the image for a PDF of the newsletter.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

CTLs came about, in part, through the recognition that while graduate programs were doing excellent work developing their students into expert scholars in their disciplines, they were not always doing a good job of developing their students into expert teachers. However, because of the timing, the earliest CTLs placed a lot of emphasis on what would eventually become know and educational technology, or EdTech. In the inaugural issue of the Center for the Advancement of Teaching News Report, Dr. Ann Barron, then interim director, explained that the the new Center was committed \"to advancing the art of teaching \u2014 at ALL levels \u2014 in a technological age,\" an interesting and significant distinction. That issue includes an article about the first Kellogg Mini-grant awards, which supported faculty interested in revising one of their classes, and an article about using Apple's HyperCard<\/a> to create \"multimedia courseware\".<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The link between CTLs and technology should not be surprising. Consider the year CAT+FD began (for newer readers, CAT+FD was originally just CAT). 1994 was a particularly significant year in terms of publicly available technology. That year, Netscape Communications released Netscape Navigator<\/a>, which would become the first widely used web browser; Sony released the PlayStation<\/a>, which, now in its fifth generation, is still one of the most widely used gaming consoles; Sun Microsystems introduced the Java programming language<\/a>, one of the most influential programming languages; and Kodak released its DC40 camera<\/a>, one of the first consumer-level digital cameras. The world changed that year, and CTLs like CAT+FD stepped up to help faculty adapt to those changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thirty years later, CAT+FD continues to be true to that original committee, even as the scope of our work has expanded. We are committed to supporting faculty in all aspects of their career in this ever-evolving technological age. Whether faculty want become expert users of our LMS, Brightspace,<\/a> or improve their student mentoring<\/a>, whether they want to learn how to incorporate artificial intelligence into their classes<\/a> or ways to embrace a pedagogy of kindness<\/a>, CAT+FD continues to provide faculty with the resources they need to shape their professional lives at Xavier.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Established in 1994, CAT+FD is one of the older centers for teaching and learning (CTL) in the country. This is perhaps not surprising considering Xavier's commitment to excellence in teaching. Over the coming year, we will be posting a variety of reflections about the evolution of CAT+FD on this blog.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":20772,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[510,5],"tags":[508,509,507],"class_list":{"0":"post-20768","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-directors-corner","8":"category-faculty-development","9":"tag-anniversary","10":"tag-history","11":"tag-trigintennial","12":"h-entry","13":"hentry","14":"h-as-article"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/CATNewsReport_Page_1.png?fit=2550%2C3300&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p82MQk-5oY","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":17358,"url":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/meet-our-new-associate-director\/","url_meta":{"origin":20768,"position":0},"title":"Meet Our New Associate Director","author":"Elizabeth Yost Hammer","date":"September 23, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"\"[M]y time at Xavier has allowed me to understand and appreciate the mission of St. Katharine Drexel and the University. This insight is vital for understanding the needs of our students and the demands upon our faculty and how this impacts programing at CAT+FD. -Dr. Mark Gstohl Although we are\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Faculty Development"","block_context":{"text":"Faculty Development","link":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/topic\/faculty-development\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Meee-18.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Meee-18.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Meee-18.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Meee-18.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":13695,"url":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/online-hybrid-instructor-resources\/","url_meta":{"origin":20768,"position":1},"title":"CAT+FD Online\/Hybrid Instructor Resources","author":"Janice Florent","date":"May 2, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"In a US News and World Report article, Ian Quillen identified six signs of a bad online instructor. The list included things like a syllabus that is unclear, no set timetable for responding to emails, and simply converting print resources used in the face-to-face class. Ian\u2019s article was intended to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "CAT & Mouse: E-Learning"","block_context":{"text":"CAT & Mouse: E-Learning","link":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/topic\/online\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"CAT+FD Online Teaching Resources logo","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/catwiki.xula.edu\/images\/2\/27\/CAT%2BFD-OnlineHybrid-Instructor-Resources.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":10456,"url":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/catfd-online-hybrid-instructor-resources\/","url_meta":{"origin":20768,"position":2},"title":"CAT+FD Online\/Hybrid Instructor Resources","author":"Janice Florent","date":"January 5, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"In a US News and World Report article, Ian Quillen identified six signs of a bad online instructor. The list included things like a syllabus that is unclear, no set timetable for responding to emails, and simply converting print resources used in the face-to-face class. Ian\u2019s article was intended to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "CAT & Mouse: E-Learning"","block_context":{"text":"CAT & Mouse: E-Learning","link":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/topic\/online\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"CAT+FD Online Teaching Resources logo","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xulacat.wikispaces.com\/file\/view\/CAT%2BFD-OnlineHybrid-Instructor-Resources.png\/602187354\/CAT%2BFD-OnlineHybrid-Instructor-Resources.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":14346,"url":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/catfd-welcomes-two-new-faculty-in-residence\/","url_meta":{"origin":20768,"position":3},"title":"CAT+FD Welcomes Two New Faculty-in-Residence","author":"Elizabeth Yost Hammer","date":"September 3, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"CAT+FD is pleased to welcome two new members to our staff this Fall! Dr. Harish Ratnayaka joins us as the new Faculty-in-Residence for First-Year Faculty. In addition to supporting CAT+FD activities and initiatives, Harish will lead the programming for first-year faculty. This includes new faculty orientation, serving as a CAT+FD\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General Housekeeping"","block_context":{"text":"General Housekeeping","link":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/topic\/housekeeping\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Ratnayaka.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":16931,"url":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/gratitude\/","url_meta":{"origin":20768,"position":4},"title":"Gratitude","author":"Harish Ratnayaka","date":"June 16, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"The opportunity to work at CAT-FD as the Faculty in Residence for new faculty support was really exciting.\u00a0 That is partly because I had experienced the friendly and caring atmosphere around CAT-FD for a long time myself.\u00a0 At the beginning, I attended CAT-FD workshops only if I thought I really\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10883,"url":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/catfd-welcomes-new-faculty-in-residence\/","url_meta":{"origin":20768,"position":5},"title":"CAT+FD Welcomes New Faculty in Residence","author":"Bart Everson","date":"August 4, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"CAT+FD is pleased to welcome Dr. Florastina Payton-Stewart for a three-year term as our new Faculty in Residence. Dr. Payton-Stewart is an Associate Professor in Chemistry, and is very passionate about teaching, mentoring and advising students. 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