Workshops and Professional Development

Peer Coaching

Are you a full- or part-time faculty member interested in receiving peer coaching?

• Would you like to be able to demonstrate teaching effectiveness for your annual performance review or tenure and promotion?
• Would you like to have someone observe and provide you constructive feedback on an individual class session, assignment, or course?
• Are you interested in expanding your teaching horizons or to productively shake up your teaching habits?

What does the peer coaching process look like?

1. Send an email to otafa@tamut.edu expressing interest in receiving peer coaching.
2. OTAFA will pair you with a peer coach who will then contact you, and you and the coach will agree to the
   1. parameters of the coaching (e.g., individual class, assignment, course)
   2. desired outcomes; what is it that you would like to get from the coaching? Is the coaching for personal benefit? Is the coaching something you’d like to include in a performance review or tenure portfolio?
   3. coordination of calendars (if face-to-face) or access (if online).
3. The peer coach will perform their observation based on your agreed-upon parameters and write up their feedback.
4. You and the coach will meet to discuss feedback.
5. The coach will notify OTAFA that the coaching assignment has been completed, and OTAFA will provide you with a letter confirming completion of the peer coaching process without revealing outcomes, discussions, or feedback.

Become a Peer Coach

The Office for Teaching and Faculty Advancement (OTAFA) invites your application to be an OTAFA Peer Coach. What is a peer coach? A peer coach is an experienced faculty member who provides service mentoring colleagues. Mentoring could be in the form of a teaching observation, review of an assignment or Canvas shell, or anything under the purview of classroom instruction. Your contribution would follow from your expertise and how you think you can contribute to the development of your colleagues. OTAFA will provide training and support, and the office will act as the organizing hub for peer coaches and faculty who would like to take advantage of the coaching. If you are interested in applying, please express your interest in an email to otafa@tamut.edu.

Requirements:

• A minimum of five years of continuous, full-time faculty employment at A&M-Texarkana
• Availability to coach both on campus and remotely

Time commitment:

• Availability to attend a two-hour in-person training
• For each peer coaching assignment, two hours. Of course, times may vary. Observing a class takes both the class time, a conversation with the faculty, and documentation; reviewing an assignment and offering feedback may be less, naturally.

Benefits:

• You will receive a certificate acknowledging your service at the end of the semester
• You will be providing much-needed service to the university community by assisting colleagues with documenting evidence of teaching effectiveness

OTAFA Advisory Board

Faculty members with at least one year of experience at TAMUT are invited to apply to serve on our advisory board. Members serve one academic year but may reapply for consecutive terms. Members are encouraged to attend and/or participate in OTAFA’s programming, including New Faculty Orientation, Lunch & Learn events, and other workshops and professional development opportunities. The board also meets once per long semester with OTAFA co-directors to provide regular feedback and propose new ideas. Please email otafa@tamut.edu for more information.