September 2009

What has been going on and what is still coming up this Fall.

Meet new residential faculty Lillian Spencer

I was born in California, and grew up in Santa Monica. I went to UCLA for my undergrad education, and majored in Anthropology. I got hooked by the excitement of studying the past while working in the Paleontology Lab at the La Brea Tar Pits.

I went to graduate school on Long Island, at SUNY Stony Brook. It was quite a change from the West coast! In 1995, I got my PhD there in Biological Anthropology, focusing on early human paleoecology. I have taught part-time at Duke, University of Colorado at Denver, ASU, and MCC.

I love teaching students about the wonders of evolution and of our own history through time, and am so happy to get the chance to do it full-time!

I have two daughters, ages 8 and 14, 1 collie, and 4 cats. In my spare time, I love playing word games, reading, and horseback riding.

Lillian's office is in the 05 building. Bonnie Loss is Lillian's Flame (FYRE mentor).

NEWS FLASH - A.T.O.M.S. breaks 50!!

    ATOMS - Acronyms Terms and Other Maricopa Stuff    
There are now over 50 acronyms that you can lookup in A.T.O.M.S. - and it is still growing. You are encouraged to recommend additional acronyms (whether or not you know what they are). A.T.O.M.S. was created by and is maintained by Faculty Development.

FYRE September meeting

On Friday, September 11th, the new first year residential faculty meet and discussed teaching and a had brief overview of the FEP.

The second half of this meeting was Wild FYRE - a special version of FYRE that is open to all faculty. During Wild-FYRE, Betty Hufford did her "When Good Gauchos Go Bad" Workshop. The next FYRE and Wild FYRE meeting is October 2nd.

Watch your email for an announcement of the topics, location and how to reserve your spot at the next Wild FYRE.

Active Learning Workshop Starts
Through MCLI, GCC is hosting the Active Learning Workshop this fall on Thursday afternoons from 2:55 to 6 p.m. The first meeting was held on September 24th. If you are interested in attending any of the future meetings (October 1, 8, 15, 22 and 29) Please contact MCLI or GCC Faculty Development. These meetings are approved for FPG clock hours.

Quakes and S.O.I.L.
This fall faculty development will be bringing back Earth Quakes. Quakes are one hour sessions where teachers who teach the same course get together and share creative teaching techniques.

Also, a new group of sessions called S.O.I.L. will be started this Fall. S.O.I.L. stands for Successful Opportunities to Improve Learning. S.O.I.L. uses a panel discussion format to share and discuss ideas on different components of teaching - classroom discussion techniques, test construction, use of small groups, incorporating active learning, effective use of PowerPoint. If you are interested in being a panelist for a specific topic, please email tim.sylvester@gcmail.maricopa.edu


The purpose of Faculty Development at Glendale Community College is to provide a variety of presentations, programs and initiatives to support the development of our faculty.  Our emphasis is on helping faculty share ideas and experiences for the advancement of themselves, their teaching and student learning.   Faculty Development is coordinated by Tim Sylvester with the consultation and assistance of the Vice President of Academic Affairs Jean Ann Abel, the Dean of Instruction for Arts, Sciences and General Education Fernando Camou, the Dean of Instruction for Business and Technology Randy Kimmens.

Faculty development works with and partners with the members of the Faculty Connection Center.

“Good teaching is more a giving of right questions than a giving of right answers." -- Josef Albers