Working together to achieve excellence—for students, faculty, and the entire City Colleges of Chicago system.
The Academic Excellence Framework (AEF) intentionally prioritizes the skills, dispositions, activities, initiatives, and roles that directly support superior learning experiences and student academic achievement at City Colleges of Chicago.
The AEF reflects collaborative efforts across City Colleges to:
- Define aspirational functions for Faculty
- Define aspirational functions for Academic Leaders
- Enumerate District commitments
- Organize efforts to attain aspirational functions
- Establish metrics for evaluation
Three overarching components are critical to creating a system of academic excellence:
Seven Pillars
In collaboration with the Faculty Council, seven “Faculty Excellence” pillars have been identified to embody what it means to teach at City Colleges. These pillars will serve as a framework for Offices of Instruction and other units to set objectives that support all instructors’ efforts to help students learn.
FOCUS ON STUDENT LEARNING & SUCCESS
Faculty maintain focus on students’ learning and success.
CONTINUOUS REFLECTION
Faculty are curious and demonstrate the application of continuous reflective processes in the classroom and beyond.
CULTURAL RESPONSIVENESS
Faculty are self-aware, culturally responsive, and actively anti-racist
INCLUSIVITY
Faculty demonstrate inclusivity in their instructional approaches and practices.
TEACHING WITH TECHNOLOGY
Faculty can integrate technology into their instructional design and delivery.
TALENTS OF TEACHING
Faculty have a foundational knowledge of the Talents of Teaching and can apply this knowledge within and outside the classroom.
SERVICE-DRIVEN
Faculty are leaders and are engaged in service to the college and broader City Colleges of Chicago community activities.
The Faculty Journey
The seven pillars outlined above will look different in practice for full-time and part-time faculty members during the evolving phases of their time at City Colleges. An instructor’s professional lifecycle at City Colleges will generally include these phases:
Upcoming Academic Excellence Framework Events
This calendar is your hub for sharing and finding details about all professional development opportunities that are relevant to teaching and learning at CCC. College events, external sessions, and districtwide programming all belong here.
You can search these resources for the topics, formats, and faculty excellence pillars that are most relevant and interesting to you. If you don’t see a topic that you hope to find, you can reach out to academicexcellence@ccc.edu to request future sessions.
Contact
Have questions or need help?
Email: AcademicExcellence@ccc.edu
Need help adding or creating your events?
Email: emauro1@ccc.edu